Impressions Business Magazine in Innovative Print Media edition 04•2014
ExpoShow 2013 Multimediale exhibitions Gigantic Delft Blue teapot
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Contents
Spotlight on the client Melcher de Wind is the director of Local World, an agency for communication projects and media concepts. This agency regularly develops and carries out ambitious multimedia projects ranging from TV programmes to exhibitions and events. Van Straaten is one of the biggest external specialists working with Local World.
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Brand perception through visual communication
Interview with account manager Martijn Kreemer
Van Straaten occupied a prominent place at the annual live communication trade fair ExpoShow 2013. Our spectacular stand showed the public exactly what we mean by brand perception through visual communication.
Martijn Kreemer joined Van Straaten as account manager in August 2013. As an intermediary between clients and Van Straaten, Martijn advises and assists our clients and supervises projects from start to finish.
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Gigantic teapot symbolises community spirit Van Straaten has decorated the front of the Humanitas Home for the Aged on West-Kruiskade in Rotterdam with a gigantic Delft Blue teapot. This traditional Dutch teapot fits in perfectly with the neighbourhood’s multicultural character.
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Cases GLOW 2013: Van Straaten created a 240-metre-long walkway in vinyl flooring for this light art festival in Eindhoven. Van Straaten also designed a eye-catcher for the SIF Group stand.
giant
Photos of Hilversum in the 1950s have a stimulating effect on people with dementia at De Zonnehoeve Home for the Aged.
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Visual Magnetics and Van Straaten
IMPRESSIONS
Van Straaten is now the Certified Solution Provider for Visual Magnetics, the revolutionary display system that combines magnetic technology with top-quality prints.
Business Magazine in Innovative Print Media is published every four months, excluding ‘specials’.
Light Boxes with LED lighting by Philips Van Straaten sells Light Boxes under licence from Philips. This means that our Light Boxes are illuminated by the world’s most advanced LED technology.
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Responsible publisher: Van Straaten PO Box 27 - 1170 AA Badhoevedorp The Netherlands Tel. +31 (0)23 - 555 18 61 Fax +31 (0)23 - 555 19 21 info@vanstraaten.com www.vanstraaten.com
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The walkway designed by Van Straaten for the GLOW light art festival
In this edition: Inspiring visual communication This edition of Impressions looks back on the ExpoShow 2013. Van Straaten occupied a prominent place at this annual live communication trade fair. Our spectacular stand showed the public exactly what we mean by brand perception through visual communication.
Local World There’s also an interview with Melcher de Wind, director of Local World. This is an agency for communication projects and media concepts that carries out ambitious multimedia projects at regular intervals. Van Straaten is one of the biggest external specialists working with Local World.
Glow And of course, in this edition we’ll be taking another look at a number of projects that Van Straaten recently carried out, including a 240-metre-long walkway for the GLOW light art festival. We’ll also be telling you about the huge 10-metre teapot in Rotterdam, which has resulted in enthusiastic responses from local residents and the media. As you would expect from us, this edition gives you lots of inspiring examples of visual communication. Let’s impress!
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Brand perception through visual communication Exposhow 2013 Van Straaten occupied a prominent place at ExpoShow 2013, the annual live communication trade fair. Our spectacular stand showed the public exactly what we mean by brand perception through visual communication. Nico van Straaten looks back on ExpoShow 2013 with satisfaction: ‘Van Straaten moved the bar up a few more notches for this edition. Our stand won the public award during the 2012 edition, and we were nominated for the ‘Gouden Giraffe’ live communication award. Although the award wasn’t presented this year, that didn’t stop us from launching out on a grand scale and showing what we could do. We worked with our partner Labate and came up with something really impressive.’
Van Straaten’s stand was a stunning masterpiece of technology
Stand Presentation Visitors were welcomed in the street of a Mediterranean-style town complete with blue sky, arches and balconies. The house fronts were decorated with an incredible range of visual communications and promotions that made imaginary brands come to life. ‘This created a cosy village square atmosphere in the stand,’ says Nico. ‘It was like stepping into a whole new world.’
During the presentation that formed part of the ExpoShow seminar programme, commercial manager Lex Duller and Blind Agency’s marketing advisor Bart Henau described the concept behind the stand in more detail. ‘Van Straaten designs a really astounding range of printing projects for visual branding, events and stand building & interior decorating,’ says Lex. ‘This stand shows what kind of work we do - and it also tells you The visitors were obviously amazed by the stand. ‘A lot of our visitors about our vision.’ thought it was just like a film set,’ says Niels van Straaten. ‘People were fascinated to see what we can do simply by combining curved aluminium ‘There’s an increasing focus on perception in the segments we target,’ frames with printed fabric and LED lighting. You can see a whole street adds Bart. ‘This is because people need more real-life, non-virtual excoming out of the printers and it all looks really streamlined. I heard a lot periences as a result of the Internet, social media and mobile phones. They want live communication with real people. And this street symbolof oohs and aahs from people at the stand.’ ises face-to-face contact.’ Lex says: ‘We’re adding perception to our own Van Straaten designed the stand in collaboration with our permanent brand, in the same way as we do for our clients. This town decor shows partner Labate & Co, which manufactures aluminium profile systems. what we’re good at: brand perception through visual communication. We ‘This was a pretty complicated stand to build,’ says Managing Director transform shops, stands, interiors and events into a magical fairyland Natalino Labate. ‘The record 7-metre height and the combination of that will conjure up brand perception to inspire and motivate people.’ straight and curved profiles with illuminations made this project unique for us as well. The 9-metre-wide ceiling was a perfect eye-catcher. Although it’s a large-scale construction, the stand still gives a lightweight For an impression of the ExpoShow, please go to www.vanstraaten.com impression because it’s built up from aluminium elements and fabric.’
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Van Straaten’s stand at ExpoShow 2013: facts and figures Concept and design
Van Straaten
Execution
Van Straaten and Labate
Measurements
9 x 13 metres, 8 metres high
Construction
In 2 days, by Van Straaten’s assembly crew
Materials used
Aluminium profiles combined with fabric Vinyl flooring printed with the cobbles at the Dam (Amsterdam) Rear of stand: 104 square metres’ surface area printed with the campaign logo
Ceiling
Curved frames printed with sky and projected lighting
Technology
LED Light Boxes for branding Soundwave Frame for music and soundscapes Projected lighting
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06 Van Straaten’s stand at ExpoShow 2013
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Interview with
account manager Martijn Kreemer: ‘We always try to exceed our clients’ expectations’ Martijn Kreemer joined Van Straaten as account manager in August 2013. As an intermediary between clients and Van Straaten, Martijn advises and assists our clients and supervises projects from start to finish.
What’s the nicest question you’ve been asked so far? ‘Well, actually this was a client who asked if we could print a teapot measuring 10 by 10 metres for a recent project. This was a project in Rotterdam and the idea was to increase community spirit in the neighbourhood, so it has a great social function as well. And the press gave it a lot of attention, which made it even more enjoyable. After we’d finished this project I thought: yes, this is definitely the place for me.’
What do you like doing in your spare time? How did you end up working at Van Straaten? ‘I answered a job advertisement. I’ve been working as account manager in the printing sector for almost 7 years, so I’ve got the necessary experience in this field. I’m mainly responsible for accounts in the southern part of the country.’
‘I enjoy keeping fit, going for walks in the woods, good food, having a drink with my friends and going out. But I also want to spend a lot of time with my family - I’m very fond of my young daughter. And I’m going to make sure I always enjoy my work, as this makes you a nice person outside work too.’
What do you enjoy most about your work? ‘The nice thing about this job is the variety, not only the projects but also our clients. We’re getting more and more new clients, and not everyone has previous experience with visual communication. So working with these people isn’t the same as working with regular clients who are familiar with our products: they need a different approach. Our activities cover a lot of different areas, which means that no two projects are alike. One day we’ll be working on a big retail campaign, and the next day we’ll be discussing the dressing of an event or putting up visuals on a stand. But it always comes down to creating beauty out of simple materials. And we always try and exceed our clients’ expectations in our work.’
How would you describe the company? ‘No two days are the same at Van Straaten. It’s a really dynamic company and there’s always something going on. The company is continually changing and innovating. Not only technology, but the products and solutions we offer. We always lead the field with new developments in the sector. And the atmosphere is fantastic. We’re a team. You really notice it at work.’
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Martijn Kreemer, account manager at Van Straaten: ‘My colleagues always call me Smiley because I’ve got a smile on my face all day long.’
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Melcher de Wind’s latest project: 100 jaar BN’ers in de Reclame
Spotlight on the client A small company that handles big multimedia projects Melcher de Wind is director of Local World, an agency for communication projects and media concepts. This agency regularly develops and carries out ambitious multimedia projects ranging from TV programmes to exhibitions and events. Van Straaten is one of the biggest external specialists working with Local World.
Communication strategist
Socially oriented
Melcher de Wind is an experienced communication strategist. He has masterminded a great many famous events and exhibitions such as Citroën 75 Jaar Toekomst, Reclameklassiekers and multimedia exhibitions on Van Gogh and Rembrandt. His latest project, 100 jaar BN’ers in de Reclame, is currently running at the Beurs van Berlage exhibition hall.
‘Local World is a small company that’s able to carry out large-scale projects,’ says Melcher. ‘We specialise in culturally and socially oriented exhibitions. We look for topics that interest the public, like cars, design, culture and advertising. And we use these as themes for innovative exhibitions that our visitors find fascinating.’
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09 Telling a story Local World’s exhibitions are quite different to those held at museums. ‘A museum’s primary objective is to display the objects in its collection’, says Melcher. ‘But we haven’t got a collection. What we do is look for themes that people are interested in, where no collection is needed. For example, we organise multimedia exhibitions that focus on the artist’s story instead of on objects. We converted a number of paintings into 3D animations for our latest Van Gogh exhibition. This enables visitors to go right inside the paintings and experience what we think Van Gogh was actually saying. A museum wouldn’t be very keen to adopt this approach, mainly because the public want to see the original paintings. We don’t have this problem. We can do whatever we feel is right and enjoyable, and this gives us a tremendous sense of freedom.’
we’re concerned is that Van Straaten can print top-quality reproductions of paintings. Rembrandt or Van Gogh reproductions have to be perfect and Van Straaten can provide us with this exceptional quality. And Van Straaten can now supply us with absolute top-quality prints on presentation materials. This complete package is just what we need.’
Cooperation
Working together means much more than production alone. ‘A good working relationship and close cooperation are very important to us,’ says Melcher. ‘Van Straaten always gives us constructive input and helps us carry out fairly complicated projects. After all, there’s a lot more to it than just printing. We always discuss the entire concept with Reproductions Van Straaten at an early stage in the proceedings. We discuss the types of materials we should use and the supportive technology we’ll need. Van Straaten is Local World’s permanent partner in creating the exhibi- And we can include this information in our concept. So we really intertions devised by Local World. ‘The way we work involves a lot of visual act with one another. Van Straaten makes very creative contributions communication,’ says Melcher. ‘In actual fact, Van Straaten makes to our successes.’ everything for us except the screens. Another important point as far as
100 jaar BN’ers in de Reclame
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A multicultural setting Gigantic teapot symbolises community spirit Van Straaten has decorated the front of the Humanitas Home for the Aged on WestKruiskade in Rotterdam with a gigantic Delft Blue teapot. This traditional Dutch teapot fits in perfectly with the neighbourhood’s multicultural character. The ten-metre teapot immediately attracted attention from the local media, and local residents, shopkeepers and passers-by were asked to give their opinions on this work of art. Practically everyone is enthusiastic. People are pleasantly surprised and often stop to look more closely at the teapot. One of the most frequent reactions was that it really makes the street look a lot nicer, especially when the teapot lights up after dark. Multicultural The teapot was designed by Rotterdam artist Anne-Mercedes Langhorst, who was born in Lima. One of the major themes in her work is the multicultural melting-pot. During an interview with RTV Rijnmond, she says: ‘There are a great many different cultures in this neighbourhood. I was free to design what I wanted, but I had to include community spirit and conviviality in my design. The work was intended to bring people together, so I looked for similarities among all these cultures. And this is symbolised by the teapot. Drinking tea unites all cultures, it represents a cheerful and convivial atmosphere in which people start chatting to each other. This work expresses the community spirit existing among all the cultures on the street.’
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Production The teapot is a joint project by Alliantie West-Kruiskade, Stichting Humanitas and STAD010. ‘We were originally planning to make a three-dimensional object, but this turned out to be too expensive,’ says Martijn Kreemer, account manager at Van Straaten. ‘So we decided to make a design using foil and panels. We used three types of material due to the different kinds of substrate: contour-moulded Dibond panels on the brick walls, printed Clearvision foil on the windows, and permanent foil with matte laminate on the window frames.’ Van Straaten also assembled the teapot, which measures 10x10 metres. It eventually took six days to affix it to the building. ’We’d allowed four days for the project, but we weren’t able to do anything for one and a half days due to bad weather,’ says Martijn. ‘Fortunately, the materials are wind and weatherproof after affixing. Residents and passers-by can now enjoy this fantastic work of art to their hearts’ content.’
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Cases GLoW: LIGHT ArT FesTIVAL In eInDHoVen Van Straaten really made its presence felt at GLOW 2013. The company created a 240-metre-long walkway in vinyl flooring for this light art festival in Eindhoven. Project manager Petra says: ‘This event consisted of a 4-kilometre-long route through Eindhoven city centre which was filled with amazing light art and lighting systems.’ The IRIS project, devised by six Industrial Design students from Eindhoven University of Technology, also formed part of this ‘urban playground’. ‘They used lighting effects and patterns on the walkway to create a really beautiful effect,’ Petra adds. To quote the project group: ‘Colours don’t actually exist, they are made in our heads. They are the result of complicated perception, adjustment and comparison processes. We can make huge patterns come to life merely by changing the colour of the lighting. People may perceive completely different colours as being the same all of a sudden, and they see that red isn’t really red any more and can actually appear yellow.’
FrAnKFUrT: sIF GroUp EWEA is the world’s biggest conference and exhibition in the field of offshore wind energy. It was held in Frankfurt this year, and Van Straaten created a giant eye-catcher for the SIF Group stand. This group is one of the biggest manufacturers of steel pipes for the offshore industry. ‘The sloping cylinder shape was a reference to the client’s core business,’ explains project manager Petra. ‘It’s one thing to design a shape like that, but it’s quite another to execute the design. We used four layers of fabric to prevent transparency, because the eye-catcher was white and there were visuals inside and out. We hung up the entire construction in our production building to see if everything fitted as we’d calculated it. Luckily everything was OK.’ The client was very happy indeed with the eye-catcher. ‘I’m told that this eye-catcher attracted a lot of attention for the SIF stand. An unusual stand like that is the best way of making contact with visitors,’ Petra adds.
HILVerZorG: InTerIor ZonneHoeVe Zonnehoeve Home for the Aged, which is part of the Hilverzorg group, cares for people with dementia. Together with Cura Interieur and Zonnehoeve, Van Straaten created a walkway through the building. Van Straaten’s account manager Patrick says: “Research shows that exercise stimulates the brain, so this project encourages residents to follow a route on foot. They can see photos of familiar scenes in Hilversum in the 1950s, places where they used to live. These images have a stimulating effect on them, which is enhanced by certain aromas.” Van Straaten used printed fabric in slim frames for all the visuals and printed stickers for the doors. “We used soundproofing material for the slim frames to prevent reverberations in the corridors,” says Patrick. Everyone was absolutely delighted with the project when it opened. ”All the residents were tremendously impressed with the atmosphere we created,” Patrick adds.
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Van Straaten is the leading production company for innovative visual communication. We can supply you with all you need for outsized and special print projects, from design development and execution with fantastic prints and frames to expert workmanship and on-site assembly. Come and see for yourself why professionals choose Van Straaten.
Go to www.vanstraaten.com for all info, or call us now on +31 (0)23 - 555 18 61.
Van Straaten and Visual Magnetics Van Straaten is now the Certified Solution Provider for Visual Magnetics, the revolutionary display system that combines magnetic technology with top-quality prints. As a Certified Solution Provider, Van Straaten is even closer to Visual Magnetics, so you can choose from the entire range of products. You’ll find the very latest features and innovations in this system at Van Straaten, and you’ll be assured of the original Visual Magnetics brand and no inferior imitations. This means that all the fantastic applications for the VM system are actually feasible. And our team will follow certified training courses to enable us to get the very best out of the VM system. Go to www.vanstraaten.com for all info on Visual Magnetics.
Light Boxes with LED lighting by Philips Van Straaten sells Light Boxes under licence from Philips. This means that our Light Boxes are illuminated by the world’s most advanced LED technology. LED lighting by Philips is regarded as the very best lighting technology on the market. Philips’s lighting solutions provide you with attractive, vivid and top-quality lighting. You can see this for yourself in Van Straaten’s Light Boxes, especially when combined with our top-quality prints on backlit fabric. Go to www.vanstraaten.com for all information on Light Boxes.
Schipholweg 939 • 2143 CE Boesingheliede • The Netherlands • Tel. +31 (0)23 - 555 18 61 • Fax +31 (0)23 - 555 19 21 info@vanstraaten.com • www.vanstraaten.com
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