Local print and display company Liberty Signs has completed a mammoth print and installation project across 23 locations for the Manchester International Festival.
“As printed display projects go, this one is about as big as it gets and we were determined to show the organisers that as a company we had the professionalism, capacity and capability to deliver a first-class solution that met the high standards required by MIF. We had plenty of challenges to overcome and it was certainly tough, but the team worked tirelessly to ensure we delivered on time and to the quality the project demanded,” said Liberty’s owner Will Smith.
The Manchester International Festival was launched in 2007 to present new works from across the spectrum of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture. For 2021 the organisers wanted to commission something that encouraged the people of Manchester to reconnect with their city through public artwork. US-born, Berlin-based artist Christine Sun Kim created ‘Captioning a City’, a series of statements to help trigger memories, emotions and sensations and installed on streets and buildings across the city. The works are made up of more than 900m of PVC-free, recyclable material supplied by Innotech Digital and printed and prepared over five days and installed across a few nights by Liberty Signs.
Smith said important elements of the project included the sheer volume of material that would be required for the job - installed on internal windows, external windows and also external brickwork - and on souring materials with the right eco credentials and adhesion properties.
"This was a government funded project, so being as sustainable as possible was crucial. We encouraged MIF to consider using only PVC-free materials that could be fully recycled. Innotech has a broad range of PVC-free materials and worked hard to ensure we had everything we needed in terms of samples and swatches to present to MIF and help us select the right products for the project. In the end we recommended three different products - Vistamax Cling PET static cling film for the internal windows, Vistamax PVC Free Blockout PET Semi-Permanent White Matt Vinyl block out film for external windows and Vistamax PVC Free PP High Tack White Matt Greyback Vinyl for the external brickwork installations."
Smith concluded: “With Innotech’s support, and with the right people, planning and products, we have shown that companies like ours can deliver high volumes of print at the highest quality to meet the needs of major sign and display projects."