Fresh Fruit and Buses

The Client Target Fresh grocery stores

The Player MetroMedia Technologies (MMT, mmt.com)

Tools & Supplies Epson GS6000 printer, ColorBurst RIP, 3M IJ3552C and IJ8171 vinyl, 3M 8519 and 8914 overlam, GBC Pro-Tech Orca III laminator

The Job When Target cut the ribbon last fall on its 35 redesigned stores in the Washington, DC area, it took to the streets of the nation’s capital  to draw the attention of shoppers. The company rolled out 10 bright and colorful, fully wrapped buses featuring stunning images of fresh fruit and, naturally, Target’s recognizable logo.  The bus campaign was implemented by MetroMedia Technologies’ Chicago office in consort with the local transportation operator.

Production Target provided MMT with finished, templated art. Little work was required from MMT’s prepress team – no color corrections or editing were needed – but the crew turned a keen eye to detail to ensure that the window perfs for each bus were perfectly aligned and ready to print in precisely the right location. Once approved, the graphics were output on MMT’s Epson GS6000 with ColorBurst RIP using Epson inks. The company chose two different media on which to print: 3M IJ3552C self-adhesive vinyl with 8519 overlam for the bus main bodies, and 3M IJ8171 vinyl with 8914 overlam for the window perfs. Overall print time was about a week, and finishing was done on the company’s GBC Pro-Tech Orca III laminator. All told, more than 10,100 square feet of material was printed for the job.

The real challenge, says Traci Grieme, account director for MMT’s Chicago office, came when it was time to collate and ship the various pieces of the job. “In this case, the installer didn’t have a lot of space to work with, so he could not lay out all the graphics and figure them out. It was really important that the materials came packaged very organized, and that there was a rhyme and a reason to how they are packaged so that they can go up quickly.”

Careful labeling of each item within the set of graphics was key. “The self adhesive comes in four-foot strips and the buses are 40 or 50 feet long, so we’re talking about a lot of pieces. You have to properly order the pieces, number them, and then stack them.” Grieme says the installer was extremely appreciative of the company’s attention to detail in packaging and shipping the graphics, and the system helped him complete the job in record time.

“You have to be really methodical and be really conscious, and to put yourself in the shoes of the installer,” Grieme says. “That’s what we do well.”