Every January, Park City is transformed into a wintry gala for the world-famous Sundance Film Festival. Libraries and schools become theatres for screening artistic films, and plain walkways evolve into red carpets where rosy-cheeked celebrities brave the snow to pose for photographers.
The idyllic environment may look as if it were effortless to produce and if so, that’s the point. That magic is made possible by Sundance’s environmental graphics team and HP’s Graphic Arts portfolio, including HP Designjet printers, HP Scitex printers and HP Indigo digital presses.
HP has sponsored the Sundance Film Festival for several years by providing a variety of workstations, technical support and hardware, including the latest HP graphic arts technology. This year, HP will provide printing for all official theatres and venues in Park City. For Kelly Schaefer, graphic design manager for the Sundance Film Festival, this translates into a unique opportunity to experiment and learn. Part of Schaefer’s job is to create the environmental graphics – such as signs, posters and banners – that beautify Park City and identify Sundance sites.
“We’ve made an incredible leap,” Schaefer says. “What HP has enabled us to do is expand the scope of our environmental graphics system, creating a more cohesive brand presence in Park City during the festival.”
The graphics team uses HP printers to create everything from personalized invitations to limited-edition posters to 60-foot backdrops that transform regular buildings into instantly recognizable Sundance locations.
Schaefer says working with HP has produced the most successful environmental graphics campaign in all of Sundance history. The graphics team has enjoyed greater creativity with HP equipment, as well as the versatility to print a wider range of posters, banners, backdrops and more.
“The variety of HP’s large format digital printers allows us to greatly diversify the materials we use – from a wide selection of vinyl and paper products to foam core, metal and other composite substrates,” he says. “Without the support of HP, we’d only be able to do half as much as what we do.”
Sundance works with Utah-based communications company Rastar to execute their digital printing. The results are showcased on all exterior Park City theatres and venues, main street signs and more.
For high-quality posters and banners, Schaefer counts on HP Designjet printers. “HP Designjets are really great printers. They combine the quality of a high-end fine art printer with the speed of a printer that typically wouldn’t be able to print at the higher dpi needed for quality prints. We try to use Designjets in places where people are going to be very close to the final printed work whenever possible,” he says.
Schaefer’s team uses the HP Designjet 9000 to produce these vibrant, long-lasting images. They also use a high-quality, versatile HP Designjet 5500 to create limited-edition posters and prints. The posters were quick and easy to produce, featuring the fine art print quality and archival durability Sundance’s audience demands.
The HP printers offered the huge advantage of printing on a wide variety of materials. The Sundance crew experimented with mesh, fabric and vinyl media, among others, that would stand up to the harsh winter weather and still look beautiful.
The team uses an HP Scitex printer to produce billboards and building wraps. These printers are their printers of choice to accommodate such large-scale applications. Schaefer’s team covered large, unattractive areas, such as fences, with graphics printed on mesh. In addition to offering an inexpensive way to cover expansive areas, mesh allows air to pass through the media so signs and banners don’t turn into wind sails. Another vinyl fabric was used as a backdrop for press lines, where the actors, directors and producers of the films pose for photographers. These durable solvent prints are designed to last up to two years outside without fading.
One innovative project produced on an HP Scitex printer was a backdrop for a 60-foot wall, printed on a lightweight tent fabric and lit from behind. Schaefer calls the result “sophisticated, clean but kind of calming.”
“We didn’t realise it was that simple to print on a giant, 60-foot piece of material like that,” he says.
The team also used an HP Indigo press 5000 to create personalizsd pieces such as invitations and an exclusive book of photography. The press offers offset quality along with variable data printing, making professional, customized projects easy.
Schaefer enjoys test-driving printer models, such as the HP Scitex FB6300 – an extremely versatile digital flatbed printer. “You can basically put any material on that machine. We were able to print stunning graphics on floor mats for our venues, as well as create signs from aluminum composite,” he says.
With support from HP technicians, he also learns which equipment he should use for different jobs. It’s now easy for Schaefer to recommend printers, media and printing techniques.
“As a graphic designer, I’ve been able to take my knowledge of the digital printing world to another level,” he says. “We couldn’t do it without HP’s support.”
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
