design:retail - July 2017 - 36

how'd they do that?

036

POP-UP RETAIL MEETS 3-D PRINTING

ORGET THE LONG lead times that used
to come along with creating a distinct and
visually stimulating experience-now
with 3-D printing capabilities, retailers
and designers can make magic happen
in a much shorter timeframe. Try 18 days to be exact, which is how long it took OMUS, Australia's
first dedicated large-format 3-D printing house, to
construct what is believed to be the world's first 3-D
printed pop-up retail store.
Luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton was engaging in a month-long menswear campaign at
Sydney's Westfield Shopping Center and had its
design agency, Gold Coast Displays, team up with
OMUS to create an unforgettable superstructure to
launch the collection. The production of this approximately 30-ft.-wide-by-33-ft. long structure
showcases a new realm of possibilities for the creative minds of the retail world.
So how did they do it? By working 24/7 with
Massivit 1800 3-D printers. Due to the stringent
JULY 2017

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deadlines, the project required help from Massivit's
Israeli headquarters for printing strategy and prepress file preparation. When OMUS received the job,
they only had one operator for the machine, so headquarters flew in assistance, and OMUS hired a third
operator. For further help, Sydney-based Composite
Images was enlisted for support.
The dome-shaped design was broken down into
48 sections that each would take nine to 20 hours
to print. Careful planning allowed for two sections
to be printed at a time in some instances. While
printing was in motion 24/7, there was still more
to the completion of this complex project. The sections had to be marked for easy installation, packed
and then transported from Melbourne, Australia,
to Sydney, more than 500 miles away. In total, the
job required 1,984 pounds of UV-curable Massivit
Dimengel printing material.
Once on-site, the entire pop-up was finished in
an Avery Supreme Silver adhesive film with Louis
Vuitton logotype added using vinyl-cut lettering.

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The space was completed with flooring, a digitally
printed elephant graphic on TexWalk floor-grade
vinyl, and then merchandised. In the end, the project took two weeks to print and three days to install.
"There was less than three weeks from the
project approval to opening night," says Lilach
Sapir, vice president of marketing and business
development for Massivit. "The combination of
the project size and time pressure make this a
considerable accomplishment."
The project took this process to the extreme and
tested the limits, but in the end, it shows where
the retail world can go with 3-D printing. "This
project didn't have straight lines, it was curvy and
complex," Sapir adds. "It shows that with this technology available, teams no longer need to say 'we
can't do this.' You can do whatever you want; you can
give your creativity freedom-3-D printing lifts barriers and gives the retail industry endless possibilities
for energizing the brick-and-mortar experience."
- Jenny S. Rebholz

http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

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