A Panoramic Polygon

The Job Food for the Hungry—which provides health, medical, and nutritional relief to impoverished people in more than 26 countries worldwide—needed a new display for a major convention in Louisville, Kentucky, this past June.

The association’s graphic designer, Stephen Olmstead, had formulated a concept for a 12-sided exhibit. “He wanted to create an exhibit that comprised two 360-degree images, showing an African village’s poverty; one where viewers could walk into and around,” says Jeff Burris, president of Group Imaging, the print provider selected for the project.
 
Production Using photos from photographer Rodney Rascona, Olmstead stitched the images together in Photoshop CS4. He corrected the lighting in the image, and touched up overlapping regions; he also cloned the image to enable the its height to match up with the display height. Once the file had been fi nalized, it was FTP’d to Group Imaging.

For output, “We chose fabric because it would be the only way to make the display both portable and able to shape it into the fi nal shape we needed,” says Burris. “We liked dye-sub as our first choice because of the options it affords for shapes and portability, as well as the vibrant color that it produces.”

Following a proofing round, Group Imaging used its 64-inch Mimaki JV4 and Manoukian dye-sublimation inks to output the image onto Coldenhove Jetcol 4000 transfer paper. The image was then transferred to Fisher Textiles’ 4417 knit cloth. Total time to print: 8 hours; output totaled 880 square feet for the 44 x 10-foot display.

“We did this in two halves and each half was approximately 22-feet long, folded over at the top, and sewn together at the bottom to make what amounts to a pillowcase,” Burris explains. “The two ‘pillowcases’ had zippers sewn into the open end, and when placed over the frame, we zipped them together making the final image.” The 60-inch-wide pieces were then tiled with an overlap seam, using a Miller Weldmaster Impulse Extreme heat-seaming welder. Finishing took about three hours. In making the frame, Burris and crew used 7/8-inch-diameter aluminum tubing and connectors to join the 4-foot sections to create the 360-degree effect.

The Client Food for the Hungry
The Player Group Imaging Mesa, Arizona
Tools & Supplies Mimaki JV4, Manoukian inks, Coldenhove Jetcol 4000 transfer paper,
Fisher Textiles 4417 knit fabric, Miller Weldmaster Impulse Extreme welder.