Large-format graphics are a part of everyday life - from billboard posters to vehicle graphics and the point-of-sale displays encountered on any typical shopping trip. The latest large-format printing techniques and materials are opening up further niche opportunities for specialist products, as demonstrated by the companies involved in the examples below.

1 Surface View
Reading-based VGL's plant list reads like a Who's Who of digital print capabilities and the company can count itself among the pioneers of the modern large-format printing movement. Managing director Michael Ayerst decided to branch out into the business-to-consumer area with the Surface View website (www.surfaceview.co.uk). It allows anyone to own a huge-scale botanical print, or perhaps a VW Beetle technical diagram, thanks to licensing deals agreed with the owners of image collections such as the National Gallery, Natural History Museum, V&A and Haynes Manuals. Options include murals (printed onto wallpaper paper or self-adhesive vinyl), fabric blinds and canvas or dry-mount prints - all produced at the bespoke size a customer requires. Most interior graphics are produced on a Durst Rho 320, although VGL also has an Océ CS9065 for printing onto Formica using low-solvent inks, a DuPont Artistri digital fabric printer, as well as Nur, Vutek and Inca kit. In addition, a new Inca Onset has just been installed to increase this digital arsenal. Coverage of the Surface View offering in glossy lifestyle and home magazines is helping to generate a steady flow of orders from the general public, as well as interior designers.

2  Architexture from Service Graphics
Surfaces that are unevenly textured, such as brick walls and concrete, are usually a no-no when it comes to the direct application of large-format graphics, which consequently rather limits the branding opportunities. St Ives subsidiary Service Graphics anticipates that its Architexture offering will open up a whole new market because it allows these previously unsuitable surfaces to be used for branding and promotions. The firm helped to develop the special film needed to utilise these spaces, which is printed on the inkjet printers it would use for outdoor applications in general.
 "The film is applied under heat, so it forms into the nooks and crannies of the wall. The end result looks like an amazing piece of graffiti," explains group marketing director Rob Kelly. It has the same lifespan and weather resistance as typical outdoor prints and Kelly says that UV-cured inks give Architexture up to a two-year lifespan. Images are removed via a de-install process that also uses heat. The price per square metre of printed film is akin to normal large-format inkjet products - the difference being that the installation and de-installation requires a site survey to determine the project price, as every application is likely to be different. Service Graphics is promoting the new offering to design agencies and envisages a number of possible applications, including the blank expanses of walls within leisure centres and similar facilities. The potential opportunities for the London 2012 Olympics are also very much in the firm's sights.

3 Props for television producers
A chance association, formed when a television production company rented some storage space from Cardiff-based ISIS Print (also known as Illustrated Stationery), has resulted in the latter producing a variety of printed materials needed in the production of TV dramas. The ISIS facility is home to a diverse array of printing kit, including a Fuji Acuity that came into play when BBC Wales needed to produce some convincing versions of famous paintings for a recent drama. The storyline of Framed revolved around a plot in which the National Gallery needed to relocate its treasures due to a flood. "We had to prepare prints that were as life-like as possible. We've done modern canvas prints, but nothing quite like this before," explains ISIS director Paolo Scaglioni. Creating the replicas involved printing onto a rough canvas material, as well as onto MDF, in order to replicate paintings that were originally painted on wood. "We slapped on a rough undercoat and then we printed a further undercoat of white with the Acuity before printing in full-colour. The sizes varied from A3 up to 2.1x1.5m, which we printed in two pieces. Everyone was very pleased with the results," adds Scaglioni.

4 Eco Coffin cardboard coffins
Death is big business - in a typical year more than 500,000 of us shuffle off our mortal coils. Most coffins are made of chipboard, which isn't one of the friendliest materials on earth in terms of the way it's made and what's in it. Increasing eco-awareness means the growing "green" funeral business now accounts for about 10% of the whole market. These natural coffins are made from material such as wicker or cardboard variant. Some 70% of funerals involve a cremation, therefore cardboard has benefits over chipboard as far fewer toxins are released (chipboard contains formaldehyde) and 90% less CO2. This was the opportunity spotted by Eco Coffins, which has been trading for about two years. Take a large sheet of corrugated board, print it with a huge flatbed digital printer, cut to shape accordingly and voila - you have an eco coffin. It's no flim-flam piece either, as the choice of board and the way the coffin is constructed make the end result capable of bearing up to 20 stone. The company offers a series of standard designs, including a cardboard coffin printed to look like wood that is "a nod to the traditional" as managing director Nick Brealey puts it. But its brighter designs, such as a poppy field with a sky blue lid, or autumn leaves, are popular for those choosing a "celebration of life" type send-off. Also a hit is a white coffin that families can then personalise with their own designs. Brealey is coy about the details of his print suppliers as he wants to retain the firm's competitive edge, but both the board and the printing is sourced in the UK.

5 Multiuse banners from DS Smith Multigraphics
Promotional banners have traditionally been printed onto PVC but, while PVC can be recycled, it has a poor environmental image and isn't as readily recyclable as some other substrates. It was with these factors in mind that Multigraphics Bradford managing director Gary Lasham went on a quest for an alternative. "It dawned on me a couple of years ago that the environmental pressures on retailers were growing," he explains. "We set about trying to find an alternative substrate." The result was Multiuse banners, made from a polypropylene-based (PP) substrate that Lasham describes as "highly reusable". What's more, if old banners are properly sorted as PP waste (even the eyelets used are PP rather than metal) they have the potential to attract a premium waste price over some other plastics. Since the new banner's introduction, more than 500,000 have been produced for the UK market, mostly screen printed, though it is also possible to print digitally using a UV printer if small quantities are required. "The surface is incredibly smooth and, coupled with the screen printing process, it creates a very high-quality, punchy and high-impact product for the same price as PVC , but is totally recyclable," adds Lasham.

6 Acoustic panels
Think Scandinavian interior design and one tends to conjure up images of lots of smooth, wooden floors, uncluttered surfaces, and blinds rather than curtains. However, such cool minimalism can lead to unpleasant acoustic effects and harsh sounds. This was the inspiration for a new product from AP Denmark - a long-established supplier of sundry products, including canvas and stretcher bars, to the large-format sector. "People who work all day in environments such as kindergartens and schools get home with a real problem because of the acoustics," explains chief executive Ib Norholm. "Canvas is good acoustically by itself, but it needs to be huge to really help." As a result, AP has developed a software application - Mosaic - that allows the creation of very-large-format wall decorations made up of individual canvas panels that might only be 12-24in2 in size. So, in effect, this is a large-format app that doesn't necessarily need a very large-format printing device. "Our software puts a grid on top of the image and tells the printer exactly how much to print, and the overlap required. The funny thing is, people love the space in between the panels too," explains Norholm, adding that AP customers such as Sumopix use the HP Designjet printer range because the ink absorbs into the canvas fibres without blocking the holes in the weave, so the sound-deadening properties of the resulting prints are not impaired. Lab tests have shown that these canvas mosaics typically reduce harsh sounds by 60% and this can increase to 100% if acoustic plates, such as those produced by Rockfon, are included within the panels.