Abu Dhabi based printshop, The Designer has executed a building wrap on the iconic coin-shaped Aldar HQ building in the capital. The 100 metre high installation featured an image of the Starkiller Base, from the latest episode of the blockbuster Star Wars franchise.
According to Laith Al Taei, (owner of The Designer) the company was faced with the challenge of applying the installation in a very short time—trying to attract the attention of movie fans before the premiere of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The printshop opted to execute the order using the Durst 512R UV Printer, a super wide format UV printer, ‘which was used for the first time ever in Abu Dhabi’.
Al Taei said, “We are very pleased at the overwhelming response that we received for this project. Giffin Graphics provided us with the essential logistics and technical support needed in completing this project. In addition, using the Durst 512R proved to be a very good decision as it gave us the ability to print and install 17,000 square meters in only 18 working days--without interrupting our daily pre-scheduled printing jobs.”
Talking about the challenges they faced while completing the job, Al Taei explained: “It was a real challenge to complete the task within the deadline, plus the shape and height of building (approximately 100 meter from the ground) was another hurdle. As you can imagine, 17000 square meters of UV printing in perfect colours is quite a task, added to that the windy weather, climate and safety factors posed their own challenges. I am satisfied with the performance of the Durst printer which has proved to be reliable in maintaining the colour variation from A to Z and bright colours. Besides that, the UV ink is beneficial for the environment. We have used Variodrop technology that creates multiple impulses for modulating the droplet size to prevent the drop satellites common in conventional gray-scale printing. We also integrated Durst’s latest Quadro Array 12M printhead technology, which features a very small ink drop size of only 12 picolitres.”
Concluding the interview, Al Taei said: “Abu Dhabi is the capital of UAE, and with the vision of 2030, there are a number of project and events happening inside Abu Dhabi. So it’s a very good market for advertisements.”
