Photo mural ” A greatly enlarged photograph or series of photographs placed on a wall especially as decoration.” Free Online Dictionary’s definition

Two events in history influenced change of the ordinary photo mural into the extraordinary grand format photo mural, as seen in this photo.

I. In the art world in the middle seventies, there a great new conceptual artist and partner became visible known as Christo and Jean-Claude. They were the first conceptual artists to introduce large scale environmental works of art. They dared to dream “big” when they wrapped yards and yards of fabric, and wove it into the exterior landscape scenes.  The “Running Fence in Sonoma Valley” in 1976 is a popular example that comes to mind.

II. Marry the concept of grand scale exterior art with digital imaging technology, and what you get is a limitless opportunity to produce wide or grand format imaging like never before! Digital technology including inkjets and other wide bed printers have helped to expand the field of possibilities with “large format printing.” Now it is also available in dye sublimation fabric graphics printing or flatbed UV printing to any substrate..

The recent Queen’s Diamond Jubilee exposed an image of grand scale image proportion, never before seen. This image was produced by Service Graphics in London, a grand format print provider.  They displayed it on the Thames River by covering the Sea Containers building with an enormous image of the royal family.  This huge PVC graphic measures 100 meters wide by 70 meters tall. This photo mural is the largest scale royal family portrait to date!

Not all print service providers (PSP) can create something of this epic proportion. However, here in the states, there are quite a few “grand or large format print producers” who can produce photo murals of reasonably large proportion.  What Service Graphics has shown the rest of us, is what can be accomplished with the right resources.

Grand format graphics for photo murals takes on many forms.  An image could be turned a wallpaper mural, which is the form most people are familiar with. Photo murals can be printed as a peel-able fabric or vinyl decal. The image could be turned into what is commonly referred to as fabric graphics.  The process needed for this is “dye sublimation transfer printing.” The fabric image can then be stretched like a canvas.  In the display industry, often  a silicone gasket is sewn into each edge, and then slipped into a channeled frame.  And lastly, many print service providers (PSP) often print directly to any flat substrate by a process known as UV direct-to-substrate printing.  This process allows you to print on wood, glass, metal and much more.

If you are looking for a PSP who may be able to answer your questions or assist with your next large format graphics project, please contact the PhotoWorksGroup@ 1800.829.4562 or check us out @ www.photoworksgroup.com.

photo credit: Service Graphics