March 2011 Volume 16 No. 3
Job Log: Page 40 The Client Prada
The Players Altitude Color Technologies (altitudecolor.com)
Tools & Supplies EFi Vutek UltraVu 2360, HP Scitex XL 1500, Caldera Rip, 3m Ij3552C media and 3M 3519/8914 overlam, INX Triangle inks, AGL 64i laminator
The Job The Crystals Retail and Entertainment at City Center in Las Vegas is home to the world's most elite couture and luxury brands, including renowned fashion house, Prada. During the early development of Crystals, construction delays forced the retail stores to devise a solution to hide the un sightly constuction from Vegas passerbys. Prada's answer: digitally printed graphics. Prada contracted Vegas based Altitude Color Technologies to wrap nearly 21,000 square feet of windows on Crystal's entrance.
To promote the store's international appeal, collaged images of hundreds of Prada stores from the globewould adorn the windows. Prada also called for a large portion of the design to be completely black for two reasons: to ensure no one could see through to the unfinished storeroom, and to reflect the subtlety that Prada is so famously known for. After they recieved the intial phone call from Prada, the Altitude staff had only four day to complete the eye-cathing job.
Production The Prada store images were delivered in collage format via Altitude's FTP site from Prada headquaters in Italy. Prada also provided a design for the all-black graphics, but left the more meticulous measurements of the designs to Altitude. The print provider created the design using Adobe Illustrator and mapped out corresponding diagrams for the installation team to follow.
Once Prada approved the images, the photo-collage graphics were output onto 3M Controltac IJ3552C self-adhesive cast vinyl using an EFI Vutek UltraVu 2360 with INX Triangle inks. For the all-black graphics, meanwhile, Altitude turned to it's HP Scitex XL1500 - because of the increased speed it offers, says Altitude Color's Amy Terrile - also with Triangle inks and onto the same media. Finishing was done on the company's AGL 64i laminator with 3M 8519 and 8914 laminates.
The hand-cut graphics were assembled on site by Vision Sign Company (visionsigninc.com), and the installation was completed within two days of the final print work. Prada signage, comprising simple channel letters, was place on top of the graphics during the second phase of installation.
"Given the caliber of this client, we knew we had to move forward diligently and efficently. The team leveraged every opportunity possible to get the project completed," say Terrile.
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