In September 2022, the HG Graphics team completed a project for the Great North Run, an event which is one of the UK’s biggest in the calendar. The project involved printing and installing print film to the cabinet of the main TV tower at the finish line in South Shields where thousands would be following along with the coverage.
As touched upon, the event is one of the biggest events of the year, and is in fact the largest half marathon in the world which has ran annually since its inception in 1981. Around 60,000 runners take to the start line in early September, many of which are taking part to raise money for various charities, with a whopping £25,000,000 being raised in 2022 alone.
The 2022 edition was in major doubt due to the untimely death of Her Majesty The Queen, despite this, it was eventually decided that the event would still take place.
The Project
With regard to the project itself, HG Graphics did this on behalf of InEvent Branding Ltd, a branding solutions company from Leeds.
‘’InEvent Branding Ltd are a company that we’ve worked with on a number of occasions over the years on events like this and they are a fantastic team to work with. So, when the opportunity came to work on an event like this with them, we didn’t hesitate to jump at the chance,’’ said Gavin Cocliff, Owner of Team HG!.
Gavin continued, ‘’The project itself was not without its challenges, however. Like many of event jobs we get involved in, the timescales are always very tight, as everything seems to have to happen last minute, and this was no different. Once the job came in, we only had 3 days to turnaround the whole project, this included getting the print exact sizes signed off, printing the material, as well as the installation itself. On top of this, there was the untimely death of The Queen which put the whole event in doubt.’’
The Solution & Installation
Once the project got the green light, it was all systems go at Team HG! HQ due to the fact there was only 3 days till the event itself.
With no time to waste, HG’s Creative Designer Manager Laura was straight to work in consultation with InEvent Branding around the print, with a particular focus on the sizes, ensuring the print would fit perfectly on the TV cabinet. As hundreds of thousands of people at the event and potentially millions round the world would be seeing the massive unit, it was imperative that this was done right, coupled with the deadlines not allowing time for this to be redone. Once given the go ahead on the artwork, this film was printed, and all was left to do was to complete the application itself.
When it came to the installation, this was one of the easiest parts of the whole process for the HG Graphics team. 3 team members from the team went north to South Shields to complete the job, and in just a mornings work the 50 metres of material was applied to the cabinet exterior. With the application being mainly flat, coupled with confidence that the prints fitted perfectly due to the diligence of Laura beforehand, the expert team were in and out of the venue in no time at all.
Project Review
‘’When looking back on a job like this, I do have a lot of pride in the team for getting this one over the line before the deadline. As mentioned before, the nature of these projects means that they really do come at you at pace, and they can be really stressful to complete but here at HG we really do come together to make sure we get projects over the line, and this was yet another case of this,’’ said Gavin.
Gavin continued, ‘’One of the great things about doing what we do is the diversity in the projects we get involved in, no two days are ever the same. Having a little contribution to an event like the Great North Run makes you feel good that you’re having a positive impact, even if it is a small one on an event that raises so much money for charity.’’
This brings us to the conclusion of this project write up. If you would like to find out more about the Great North Run, and the brilliant work the event does, or even apply for an upcoming edition, visit their website at www.greatrun.org.
If you would like to explore the possibilities in print wrap film, or have a project in mind where you think this concept could be utilised, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line at hello@teamhg.co.uk, or call us on 01977 651017.