Having been applying graphics to vehicles for over thirteen years, we have come across many varied and interesting requests.However, when we were contacted recently by London creative agency OOTB, we were to take on our most challenging and daunting project yet…

To coincide with a major promotion by ‘Transport For London’ to encourage the public to make greater use of public transport, we were asked the question:-

“Can you make the London Eye capsules look like tube trains and double decker buses?”

Our immediate answer was yes, but then we were given more details regarding the job, which made us doubt our initial enthusiasm.

We were told that the application of the graphics could only be carried out at night, in-situ above the River Thames, and there were very strict health and safety guidelines to be adhered to. Also, we had just eight days to complete the project before London Mayor Ken Livingstone and a whole host of celebrities were due to launch the promotion.

It was time for ‘Team Raccoon’ to spring into action…

A series of site visits were made, all at odd times of the day and night when the attraction was closed, and a plan of action formulated. The capsules were accurately surveyed and measured, and all safety implications discussed and addressed.

Due to the compound curves of the capsule, the materials to be used and the production of the graphics were paramount to the success of the project. We tested a series of materials on-site, and opted for Mactac JT5929, a specialist, highly conformable self-adhesive wrapping film. We were now confident that the capsules could be successfully ‘wrapped’.

The Raccoon Team in Action

Our artwork team set about scaling the supplied photographic images, making sure they would fit the egg shaped capsules. Over a three-day period, all of the images were printed, in-house, using our Grande-X digital print system, and shipped to site ready for application.

To ensure all members of the Raccoon team were not endangered at any time, we employed a specialist rigging company to fit everyone with safety harnesses, all attached to secure lines. Everyone wore lifejackets, and a safety boat was positioned in the Thames below.

On the first night we had a seven-hour window in which to wrap the first capsule, and transform it into a bright red bus. Eight members of our specialist wrapping team got to work, with three suspended from ropes above the capsule, wrapping the glass roof panels, whilst the other five concentrated on the sides.

Working from a small maintenance platform, 40ft above the Thames, at night and with a light wind blowing, the moment of truth was upon us! Six hours of hard work later, at 5am on a Sunday morning, and a capsule had been fully wrapped. Relief all round.

We were all back the following night, transforming the second capsule into an Underground tube train. A second team of fitters also applied full colour imagery to the front glass concourses of the London Eye, to finish the transformation, and provide an eye catching backdrop to the whole promotional event.

The following morning journalists and camera crews from across the UK descended on London’s Southbank, to film and photograph the wrapped capsules. Ken Livingstone, the actor Rob Lowe and a host of performers and celebrities helped to launch TFL’s ‘Everyone’s London’ 2 for 1 promotional campaign.

Heavy press coverage of the event, and fantastic pictures of the wrapped capsules appeared on most news bulletins and made various national papers, including The Times, where it made ‘image of the day’. It even appeared in OK magazine.
Probably the most high profile wrap of all time, and proof once again that Raccoon are the UK’s leading vehicle graphics company. Only this time we wrapped something to make it look like a vehicle!

For more information about our services, please visit www.vanwraps.co.uk