All That Jazz

If you’ve been reading your copies of Big Picture closely, you’ll know that younger generations love the concept of experiences. From augmented reality-enabled magazine covers to interactive retail displays and the “unboxing” packaging phenomenon, there’s a shift taking place to make the mundane a one-of-a-kind experience. (Brownie points if it’s cool enough to post about online.)

While the main attraction at summer food, drink, or music festivals remains food, drink, or music, many of these events have sought out ways to add other cool happenings to the lineup. The annual Festival International de Jazz de Montréal spans 10 days, draws hundreds of thousands of attendees, and features 500 performances across 20 indoor and outdoor venues. Festival attendees can take a break from the main attraction to play on a musical instrument jungle gym, add stickers to interactive art, pose with zany street entertainers, go for a ride in a hot air balloon, or check out sponsor booths for demonstrations, giveaways, and photo ops. For the 2018 festival, car manufacturer Hyundai’s space featured viewing docks for the new 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric with brand ambassadors on-hand to answer any questions passersby may have about electric vehicles as they check them out for themselves.

Local large-format PSP PNH Solutions was tapped to engineer three multilevel, fully custom, branded viewing docks for the cars measuring 30 x 13 x 12, 32 x 13 x 20, and 48 x 13 x 20 feet, as well as printed material for a VIP lounge and one of the festival stages. Because the space was outdoors in a high-traffic area, PNH turned to soft signage for the majority of materials “to ensure the products would remain in-place for the duration of the event and respect all the necessary safety requirements,” says Katherine Hudon, PNH marketing coordinator.

For the viewing docks, PNH sublimated 1100 square feet of the shop’s Techno Mesh and Torino banner media with a Durst Rhotex 320; the lightweight, perforated polyester Techno Mesh material was chosen for the walls because of its airflow capabilities, reducing billowing in the wind, while the Torino banners covered the docks’ truss system. 

The VIP lounge required 625 square feet of graphics for banners and a media wall. For the banners, PNH imaged 8-Oz Mesh Vinyl on an HP Scitex XL Jet 1500 and 13-Oz Flex Vinyl with an HP Latex 3000. The media wall visuals utilized PNH’s pop-up frame system with Torino media printed with a Durst Rhotex 320. As for the stage graphics, the shop imaged 3600 square feet of fabric banners using Techno Mesh, Torino media, and Bellagio fabric that was dye sublimated on the Durst Rhotex 320.

“The main challenge [was] wrapping the truss system on the viewing docks and ensuring the visuals, which sometimes spanned across a couple of fabric banners, lined up perfectly without any gaps or spaces,” says Hudon. “As PNH Solutions was required to cover all four sides of the truss system, there was no room for error.” The shop was diligent throughout all stages of production – even when making last-minute, client-demanded design changes – to ensure the final graphics lined up without a hitch.