Business - Applications

When a company with a culture of innovation, a great product designed to better society, and people with the skills and desire to make a difference, all come together, it makes for a great success story.

Birmingham-based Nocturnal U.K. Ltd. has been in business for more than 15 years and is an expert in vehicle graphics and wrapping, digital printing, point of sale graphics, promotional displays and signs.

The company supplies signs to businesses across the U.K., creating innovative and engaging displays for shops, offices, vehicles and more. One of Nocturnal’s most recent projects involved wrapping a minibus in HEXIS materials to create a stunning ‘Airbus’ minibus for High Society Limousines.

Richard Phillips, Managing Director at Nocturnal, explains: “We have a long-standing relationship with High Society Limousines and have worked on a significant number of vehicle wrapping projects for them over the years. Subsequently, we had a good understanding of what they wanted to achieve with the ‘Airbus’ project.”

The vehicle delivered to Nocturnal for the wrap was not ideal as there were some issues with body work. However, Nocturnal took advantage of the benefits offered by HEXIS products to ensure that the final wrap was as stunning as possible.

Nocturnal used HEXIS HX190WG2 50-μm vinyl for the eye-catching graphics and sealed the images with HEXIS PC30G2 gloss laminate. The HX190WG2 film is perfectly suited to complex surfaces, and adheres particularly well to glass, steel, aluminium, PVC and melamine. Its high technical performance and conformability means that it can be used for full wraps, and on curved and riveted surfaces.

Following its external makeover – and to add to the drama and wow factor of the ‘Airbus’ – High Society Limousines added amplified sound mimicking an aircraft idling, along with running lights for the wings and wheels. Inside, it has had a full fit out including inflight screens, an in-vehicle bar, disco lights and a karaoke machine.

Richard Phillips comments: “The ‘Airbus is proving to be very popular for school proms, hen nights and much more. It makes quite an impact at night when it comes past you on the road, that’s for sure! At first glance it really does look like a plane is running alongside you.”

On working with HEXIS, Richard Phillips adds: “We like their attention to detail and the one-to-one approach and see them as a business partner rather than just a supplier. They are always our first choice for materials - and an excellent source of advice when we need it.”

The biggest challenge on this project was image availability – or lack thereof – for the vehicle wrap. Richard Phillips explains: “We spent a long time researching viable images of the correct size, aspect and appearance and, in fact, the image we used was the only one we could locate that met these criteria. As a result, the company the jet belonged to found out we had used the image and invited High Society Limousines to take part in a photo shoot at Birmingham Airport alongside the actual aircraft.”

Scott Wilkins, Managing Director of HEXIS UK Ltd, concludes: “The ‘Airbus’ project has been a great success. The philosophy and passion within the HEXIS Team means that customer care and customer service – along with our strong customer relationships – are just as important as the high-quality products that we sell. This is evident with our long-lasting relationship with Nocturnal UK Ltd.”

For more information on Nocturnal U.K. Ltd., please visit www.nocturnalonline.co.uk.

For more information on HEXIS U.K. Ltd. please visit www.hexis.co.uk.

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Earlier this year, comedian Bill Bailey surprised commuters at St Pancras International train station with a pop-up performance on Roland (UK) Ltd’s LX-7 digital piano. The activity was a part of the world leader in electronic musical instruments’ promotion for the newly launched product, with a competition for entrants to take one home. Keen to maximise the impact of the LX-7 digital piano, Roland (UK) Ltd turned to sibling company Roland DG UK and wrap-specialist Think Image to collaborate on the production of the wrapped graphics, ensuring that the instrument was not only heard, but the competition mechanic was clearly visually communicated.

Tony Lane, of Bristol-based Think Image, produced the piano wrap on his Roland DG SOLJET PRO 4 XR-640 print and cut machine, a part of the SOLJET PRO series, offering high-speed, high-quality production in 7- and 8-colour configurations for versatility. The crisp lettering and vibrant text colours could be clearly seen on the piano, directing onlookers to take part in the promotion.

Tony said: “As a branding and graphics company we know accuracy is essential for global brands such as Roland UK. Colour matching and print-and-cut on our Roland kit is not only accurate every time but very simple to use. That's why we love and buy Roland DG printers.”

Roland UK’s promotion proved to be a success, with more than 2 million people viewing Bill Bailey’s performance recording posted on their Facebook page. The competition mechanic saw many talented individuals entering by recording themselves playing the Roland LX-7 piano live in St Pancras station and posting their videos online, the most popular of which can be seen here: http://www.roland.co.uk/stpancraspiano/. In all entry videos the clear and simple wrap communications can be seen to help further promote the competition. And the worthy winner was announced as being Davide Stramaglia, selected by Bill Bailey from all of the entrants.

Natalie Lewis, Marketing Manager at Roland UK, said: “This promotion was a fantastic opportunity to work with Roland DG technology; in such a public environment we knew we wanted messaging that would accurately reflect our brand colours, and most importantly stay pristine and vibrant for the duration of our LX-7 piano’s stay at St Pancras. The wrap by Think Image provided both of these things and more.”

Roland DG’s technology is the ideal solution for wrapping on a wide variety of objects, from vehicles to pianos or anything in-between. The new TrueVIS range, the VG series and SG series, also offer businesses an easy print and cut solution for producing both wraps and decals for a wide range of surfaces. As well as this, The Roland DG Academy also offers vehicle wrap courses for those interested in learning the art of wrapping.

To find out more about Roland UK’s range of instruments, visit www.roland.co.uk

To find out more about Roland DG UK’s print technology, visit www.rolanddg.co.uk

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