Modern technological advances have enabled virtually anything to be possible. In the outdoor advertising industry, newly-developed wrapping technology has completely changed the look of buildings, vehicles, airplanes and subway stations etc.

Wrapping Every where

Modern technological advances have enabled virtually anything to be possible. In the outdoor advertising industry, newly-developed wrapping technology has completely changed the look of buildings, vehicles, airplanes and subway stations etc. These days, the industry is faced with a highly visual generation of people who are accustomed to hi-impact, multi-dimensional graphics. To meet this visual generation's needs, today's outdoor advertising, during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, tried to encapsulate a variety of application areas despite of its own challenge in spite of the challenges involved with this process Building Wrap Building wraps have already been thought of as a common method of outdoor advertising in foreign countries. For example, during the 2002 winter games in Salt Lake City, twelve-wrapped builds allowed advertisers to achieve an effective and eye-catching medium, helped fulfill a life-long dream for many of people in the world. During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, a number of buildings in Seoul were wrapped with graphics that gave the 2002 FIFA World Cup a festival-like atmosphere for the entire nation to enjoy. The largest graphic ever in the world was on the World Trade Center at Samsung-dong in Seoul. The World Trade Center Building wrap, sponsored by Korea Telcom Inc., measured 426×118' and covered 58,338 sq. ft. KT(Korea Telecom. Inc.) released the statement that said it was the largest ever in the World, and that the images with the text of "Dream with KT" expressed the Korean people's dearest wish of success for their team. All graphics were respectively cut out in window size of 9.8×3.9 ft. of window size. And each image was attached to the building : a top to bottom pattern. The project required 1,434 vinyl panels to cover windows of building. For easy installation, a numbers was assigned to each window graphic that corresponded with its designated destination. In spite of high winds and rains, the successful completion of the world's largest building wrap took only ten days. Vehicle Wrap Throughout the 2002 FIFA World Cup, one of the most visual forms of outdoor media was vehicle wrap. Wrapped buses, cars and subways hit the streets, thereby attracting the passenger's gaze and delivering targeted and timely messages at relatively small costs. So, the cool thing about vehicle wraps was that they really stood out, got noticed, and provided a powerful tool for advertisers. Samsung's World Cup vans began operating throughout all of Korea, and served as a transportation for foreign celebrities. In this case, twelve buses were wrapped to give a favorable impression of Korea to foreign visitors. The vehicle wrap incorporated the soccer ball and the various blue color tones to symbolize Samsung Co,. Ltd. And five colors that represent Korea. The graphic was heat-sublimating printed on color ink film with Martine Digital Printing's Sprinter Beta. The sublimation process uses heat and pressure to transfer images printed on the substrate. It enables the user to make high quality prints and guarantees 3~6 year outdoor application without the need for finishing touches like laminating. In terms of its possibility, the vehicle wrap market will be totally unrestricted under Korea sign codes in 2003, and, therefore, will likely increase its domestic market share. Success in Ten Days Recent events have proven the impossible is no barrier to Korea people. Hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup and surprising success were miracle that inspire us that nothing was beyond and our grasp. However, also in the large-format printing industry, a company created an interesting and festive environment for the FIFA World Cup 2002 by entirely wrapping a subway station. Known as "the World Cup Theme Station", the project was sponsored by top brand sportswear company, NIKE Co., Ltd. for the purpose of rousing public concern about International sport game. The images consisted of several world-famous soccer players such as Romario, Figo, Henry, etc., and the Korean team players. The prints were installed on walls, columns, stairs, curved walls and floors throughout a subway station. Total graphics applied into this project were approximately 3,109 sq.-yard. And data quantities was over 50GB. Kim Hyun-hong, the project manger of LGAd Co., mentioned that since it was unusual job, we met with the staffs of Seoul Metropolitan Transit Corporate and explained the details of the project. The project also posed the additional challenge. After the FIFA World Cup promotions, the station needs to be restored to its original state. For that reason, the graphics were printed on 3M's changeable film with Scotchprint 2000. The substrate adds more advanced technology than removal film from 3M because there is no stain or adhesion element on the applied area after removing the prints. Installation manager Lee Jinho said that one of the biggest challenges was taking the 2-D template submitted to us and creating an image that would fit the actual 3-D surface of a stair. All graphics were printed during the day and installation was performed only at night so as not to inconvenience passengers. The project took only ten days to complete. it was a big miracle. Airplane Wrap There are a great deal of liabilities in wrapping an airplane. Unlike building or vehicle wrap, the installer has to understand material specifications due to different weather conditions like significant temperature drop. The material used in wrapping an airplane is a special proprietary aniline film. The graphics were produced using Scotchprint 2000, and the wrap was printed in 55 panels. Each panel is 3.9×7.8 ft., totalling 78.7 by 24.6 ft. The clearcoat placed over the graphic was silkscreen printed. Final products were submitted to the installation area. The specialists from 3M trained the installer and allowed only qualified workers to wrap the airplane. Throughout the installation process, maintaining constant temperature and humidity to increase adhesive power was an additional challenge. Since the project was for a large well-known international corporation, images needed to be consistent and accurate. The airplanes that had completed the whole installing process needed to be cured at the installation area for 24 hours. Korean Airline Corp., unveiled five wrapped airplanes across the world. Additionally, Korean Airlines began operating twelve wrapped buses around Seoul.