Power of the Pyramid

The Client Endangered Planet Foundation

The Players Super Color Digital (supercolor.com)

The Tools EFI FabriVu 3360 EC printer, Klieverik GTC 3400 heat-transfer machine, MultiCam 3000 CNC router, Lincoln Electric Precision TIG 375 welder

The Job The Art Miles Mural Project, an organization that aims to promote peace through mural painting, partnered with the Endangered Planet Foundation for this pyramid project.
 

The Endangered Planet Foundation had previously worked with Super Color Digital in Irvine, California and knew the company could utilize eco-friendly products that would be perfect for the eco-conscious Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach.

Production Children of different backgrounds, economic levels, and age groups from around the world hand-drew all of the original art for the mural. The art was then scanned, producing the digital images used for the final output. The individual bricks “emphasized the idea that every person and every action are important pieces towards conservation,” says Super Color Digital’s Christian Florin.
 

The image size for each full side of the pyramid averaged 500MB and called for high-resolution output. To achieve this, Super Color Digital used its EFI FabriVu 3360 EC printer to create 360-dpi images onto transfer paper, which were then run through a Klieverik heat-transfer machine and applied to Dazian Eco-Celtic cloth fabric. Four triangular pieces were printed—opposite sides featured the same images—and then sewn together, says Florin. Each side measured 80.8 square feet, for a grand total of a wrap measuring 323.3 square feet. Graphics were adjusted, RIP’d, printed, and transferred in about three to four hours.
 

The pyramid structure itself posed its own challenges. Constructed from aluminum tubes, the FabriFrame was designed to be lightweight and collapsible. The structure had to be strong enough to hold the tension of the fabric wrap in order to prevent damages in case of minor accidents as well as hold up to standard wear-and-tear.
 

To create a sleek look for the structure, custom connection plates were designed by Super Color’s in-house design and drafting department and then cut using a MultiCam 3000 CNC router. The structure’s base measured 118 x 118 inches and boasted a height of 79 inches. Stretched out, says Florin, that’s 90 linear feet of 1 3/8-inch, SCD-standard aluminum tubing. All the leftover aluminum scraps were recycled.
 

Super Color Digital also produced all the banners for the event.
 

Super Color Digital

www.supercolor.com