At ER2, we’ve been known to take the “grand” part of grand format printing pretty seriously. The bigger the project, the more outrageous – the better we like it. If people say it can’t be done, we say they haven’t talked to us. Cover the side of a building? Sure. Set the stage for Chicago’s most famous outdoor concert venue. Yep. Reproduce a full sized painting of George Washington? Did it. So what are some of the wildest challenges we ever took on? Glad you asked. Here’s a recap of the craziest challenges we ever knocked out of the park.
Sort Of Crazy, A Little Insane And Very Tall
Charity fundraising site CrowdRise had a wild idea: create a virtual tower that would grow as donations came in for their Giving Tuesday campaign. They built an app that would augment reality by allowing viewers to see a hologram tower on their phones that would rise higher and higher as money came in. The key, though, was creating physical markers in various cities around the country that the app could read to anchor the illusion.
All kinds of things could have gone wrong. The markers had to be installed on time, be durable enough to stay standing in the wind, and be read correctly by the app. With all those concerns in mind, CrowdRise turned to ER2 to ensure the Giving Tower would reach the clouds. “We had never worked with an application that uses augmented reality,” said Nick Fracasso, the ER2 Account Executive who led the project. “We thought this was an excellent opportunity to learn and experiment and see exactly what capabilities we could bring to the table.”
Thanks to a partnership of talented people and focused execution, the event was a huge success. The $2.1 million raised created a tower that rose to 2,700 ft. tall! See for yourself how we did it and what the final skyscraper looked like.
Transforming a Major Intersection into a Work of Art
How did the biggest public art installation in the history of Chicago come together? Well, it didn’t happen overnight. But it certainly seemed that way. In the span of just two weeks, despite having to work with over 70,000 square feet of vinyl, four different types of material and the occasional downpour from Mother Nature, we transformed a bustling Chicago intersection into a 3-D multimedia explosion of colored vinyl called “Color Jam 2012.”
“It took every part of our business and our experience and every skill we’ve developed since the company was founded to pull this project together,” said Alan Schellerer, Vice President of Marketing at ER2. “Everyone was involved from our graphic designers to installers to our talented print staff to our sales people and our entire support staff.”
According to artist Jessica Stockholder, “The whole idea only seemed possible after we met up with ER2. Before that we weren’t sure if it could be done.”
This video captures exactly how ER2 converted the vision of artist Jessica Stockholder into the imaginative display that millions of Chicagoans experienced all summer long. Check it out.
The Amazing Shrinking Graphics
Small can be just as challenging as big. Some of our clients are a bit on the tiny side…and they’re adorable! A few of them have a condition called plagiocephaly. It is relatively common and occurs when an infant develops a flat spot on the back or side of the head. Custom cranial helmets are the standard way to treat the situation.
But hey, nothing says your helmet has to be boring, baby! Our little friends do it in style with graphics provided by ER2. While their skulls gradually mold into shape, these tots are walking (well, crawling) works of art. Our charge for this service is baby smiles and giggles – and we get paid in full.
Wanted: Our Next Extreme Project
Will we ever surpass the scale of these three projects in the future? Well, we’re still the same group of talented, dedicated (and yes, a little crazy) people we’ve always been. Contact us. Chances are the response you get will be “Challenge accepted!”
