West London signage company FD Signs has delivered nearly 100,000 social distancing floor graphics for use across the London transport network.
“We do jobs for TFL fairly regularly but we’ve never done anything for them on this scale,” said Fintan Delaney, founder and director of FD Signs which used its Acuity LED 1600 and another roll-to-roll printer to produce the work, printed on Polar Grip vinyl supplied by Drytac.
He added: “As our ink and media requirements went up exponentially during this job we were really impressed that, despite the logistical challenges posed by the coronavirus lockdown, our suppliers managed to get what we needed to us. Our distributor, CSL Digital, was reliable as always, and Fujifilm also stepped in to send ink to us directly when our requirements exceeded what CSL was able to supply within the very tight timeframe we were working to.”
FD Signs’ five permanent staff normally work a nine-to-five, five-day week. This job turned that on its head. “We were all working 18-hour days for ten days straight,” says Delaney. “And we had a guy coming in at three o’clock in the morning to change the rolls on the printers every night - so they could keep printing right through. I even celebrated my 50th birthday on the job!”
FD Signs team delivered 6,000 graphics a day, for 10 consecutive days, to 30 different installation teams around the capital who installed them in London Underground stations during overnight closures. Similar graphics were created over the same time period for other parts of the London transport network, including the Croydon Tramlink and Network Rail.
FD Signs is now working on other, similar jobs for major retailers and brands as they begin to anticipate an easing of the lockdown. “Clear signage to ensure people keep their distance from one another is going to be increasingly important as people slowly return to everyday life,” said Delaney. “We’re anticipating quite a few jobs like this in the coming weeks and months and we’ve also been providing some of this sort of signage free of charge to small local businesses and to the NHS.”