A week at the Museum...

Since March 2020 there has been a big focus for us at Large Print Works to adapt our normal way of working and offer Social Distancing graphics. Our customers range from different sectors and backgrounds, so the timing and supply of the social distancing graphics has differed for us during this period. And here we are one year later, having tackled 3 national lockdowns, a vaccine roll out under way and finally a road map out of this pandemic. So remember, better days are coming.

The Challenge

Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, a much-valued customer started their plans in June 2020 to get prepared to re-open their doors to the public after a difficult few month of closure. We worked closely with TWAM making sure each and every venue would be following all Covid guidelines and to make sure all Health and Safety regulations were followed. The museums are such a huge part of the North East and were a massive miss to us all when they were closed, so from the off it was great to be part of the process with TWAM to get the museums opened again.

The Site Visits

Before we could get started, a site survey was required at all the venues and a walk through of the one-way systems we have all become accustomed to over the past year, I don’t think we’ll miss them when they’re gone…

Lee and I guided and suggested to the teams at TWAM what was needed where and what material would be best suited in and around the many different areas of each venue. As you may know a lot of the museums such as, The Discovery Museum, The Great North Museum and South Shields Museum are jammed packed full of exciting interactives which sadly could no longer be in use during the pandemic.

The Materials and Printing

As each venue is unique, we used a wide range of different materials such as:

-         Easytac Vinyl

-         3mm and 5mm Foamex

-         Wonderstuff Poster Paper

-         PVC Banner

-         Black 3mm Foamex

-         Floor Vinyl (Indoor R10, Outdoor R12)

-         Polybubble

-         Vinyl (Gloss, Matt, Grey Backed) 

We supplied over 160 Wonderstuff posters ranging from A4 to bespoke sizes. Our Wonderstuff posters are rip and water resistant so they were used everywhere from outdoor poster units, toilet signs, snap frames and some were supplied with a low tac so they could be displayed in windows and on glass doors. Easytac was put to it is uses, especially in The Discovery Museum and The Great North. The stickers were used to cover all the interactives that were temporary out of use. We also printed 2528 indoor floor vinyls on the R10 rated slip vinyl and a small number of outdoor floor graphics for venues such as The Discovery and Stephenson Railway Museum. Polybubble, one of our amazing NEW eco-friendly materials was used at every venue. Knowing that at some point everything would get back to normal and social distancing would be a thing of the past it was great for us and the guys at TWAM to know that the majority of the prints we supplied will be recycled when all this is over.

The Installation

Once the printing was complete per venue, Lee prepared to start the installation. The opening of the venues was staggered, and this allowed Lee to focus on one venue at a time.  Over 10 days Lee installed at all the venues and he thoroughly enjoyed himself, he bagged himself a free ride on the Steam Train at Stephenson, it is not every often that you find yourself behind closed doors in a museum, not unless your Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke or an extremely small Owen Wilson. There does come a lot of complications when it comes to fitting and many things must be considered from, health and safety, surfaces that are being installed on, what cleanings chemicals can be used, the correct equipment and lastly, the amount of time it takes to install each item.

It was a pleasure for myself and the rest of the team to work with TWAM and being part of the process to help the venues get prepared for the re-opening. This will defiantly go down as one of our job highlights from 2020. The museums are a well appreciated asset to the North East and without them, it would not be the same.

Words from TWAM

‘’We worked with Large Print Works to produce signage for our nine museums and galleries to make social distancing information and one-way routes clear when we opened our venues during the Covid 19 pandemic. This included everything from outdoor signage, to large window vinyls, directional signage and hundreds of floor vinyls. They did site visits and recommended the best signage solutions and specifications and were friendly, helpful, and patient when requirements changed along the way. The signs looked fantastic and really helped make our staff and visitors feel safe.’’

Sheryl McGregor , Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums