Guests were greeted with a world of pure imagination at a “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”-themed fundraiser for Sunset Ridge School District 29 in Northfield, Illinois. Repro Graphics was tasked with creating visuals incorporating the motif from the well-known 1971 film based on the famous children’s book by Roald Dahl. With minimal direction for the project besides the theme, Repro Graphics’ designer, Mariam Moreno – who was unfamiliar with the movie/book – gave herself a crash course in everything Wonka to create the designs from scratch.
The shop used its Fujifilm Inca Onset R40i printer to image the designs onto 3A Composites Gatorplast for the structure and smaller cutouts. A Seiko ColorPainter M-64 printed onto General Formulations 212 Traffic Graffic vinyl for the candy wrapper components. An MCT Digital VersaTech cutter was employed for finishing. The client planned to assemble the display themselves on the day of the event, a factor that was considered in the design of the structure. Repro Graphics included support poles attached with Velcro to the back of the display. The final product features whimsical prints of colorful Oompa Loompa characters surrounded by candy, which served as a backdrop for attendees to snap selfies at the fundraiser.