Hoardings

You don't really see them. Whether they're erected around construction sites, temporary works, new shopping centres and closed shops, unless you're thinking specifically about them, hoardings just merge into the urban landscape.

But what you will have noticed over the last decade is the prevalence of hoarding graphics - instead of the familiar blue or green painted wooden panels, blocking out the (usually not very picturesque) view, you'll see big colourful mission statements, cool architectural renderings, close-up colour photographs of delighted smiles, and pretty much the same kind of images you might come across flipping through the pages of a glossy magazine.

The price of  large format printing has dropped, thanks to its huge popularity, and projects that would once have been prohibitively expensive - like wrapping a complete construction site with full-colour graphics 3 metres high - are now much more affordable.

Smaller hoarding solutions benefit from these economies of scale too, and the choice of inks and substrates offers an ever-widening menu of characteristics making this type of print product astonishingly versatile.

Of course, a successful installation relies on choosing exactly the right materials for the job. Outdoor installations pose particular environmental challenges. Being blessed with most kinds of weather, often in the same week, the UK is a challenging environment for outdoor graphics and the solution you choose will need to be frost, wind, water, rot, and fade proof to one extent or another.

There are dozens of individual factors to consider as well: how long will the hoardings be in place? How will they be affixed? Do they need to be easily replaceable or updateable? Do they need to be biodegradable or recyclable? The answers to these and other questions will help you narrow down your choices.

At Ottimo, we're experts in selecting the right combination for hoardings and other rigid substrate print for use in things like signage, stadia advertising and exhibition displays. Our years of experience have taught us the combinations that work best for almost every given situation, and we'll be able to find the perfect solution for you too.

Here’s our quick guide to the best hoarding materials:

• Hoarding Panel

  
  Material: Economically priced aluminium composite, exceptional strength, and rigidity to weight ratio
  Size: Range of thicknesses in aluminium skin, allowing you to tailor your budget to the best available product.
  Applications: Designed for the hoarding panel market around construction sites, but also works well for single-sided signage
  

• Aluminium Composite:

  
  Material: Only display grade aluminium composite material to be lined with the unique A/Mg1 alloy-based aluminium which allows the product to be recycled.
  Suitability: Applications requiring easy routing and folding, a relatively low weight product with great stiffness and dimensional stability.
  Applications: Interior or exterior use for signage, sign trays, POS/POP applications, and shop fascias.
  

• Fluted Board

  
  Material: Lightweight and semi-rigid
  Size: Available in various thicknesses up to 10mm
  Suitability: Interior and exterior use.
  Applications: Ideal for estate agent signs, short term signage - stadia advertising, pitch boards, and post sleeves