Bradford City AFC has upgraded the interior of its stadium with the installation of nine giant-sized wall murals, designed and printed by Leading Edge Signage in Liversedge, West Yorkshire.
The PSP worked directly with the football club to update the client-facing areas of the Utilita Energy Stadium that included corridors, conference and hospitality suites. The murals - measuring between 3-11m in width and 2.5-3m in length - were printed on Gecko Greyback PVC-free Kavalan from CMYUK.
“We like to lead by example, and we know that the onus now is everyone being kinder to the planet. When it came to picking the material for the job, we not only wanted to put our beliefs forward but modernise the stadium by using an eco-friendly product,” said Matthew Evans, managing director at Leading Edge.
Bradford City AFC wanted to pay homage to the club’s past and use a photographs from its archives - many of which were small, grainy and poor quality - and supersize them for large wall graphics.
While the only black and white original photograph depicting an historical shot of the ground reproduced well when enlarged, Leading Edge graphic designers had to devise a strategy to handle the rest of the coloured photos dating back to the ‘80s and ‘90s.
“We just couldn’t blow them up and retain any quality. So we applied a stylised treatment to the images. They were enlarged and any obvious blemishes were covered up, then run through a series of filters that were blended together. This worked really well capturing the club’s history but in a modern way. The style is a blend of geometric backgrounds with a painted style - bringing together the old and the new,” said Evans.
Initially, Leading Edge Signage and Graphics produced eight murals but the club liked them so much, it requested another. In all, 180m2 of Kavalan was used.
The company began evaluating Kavalan back in 2020 and Matthew added: “As we grow and learn, so do our clients. Through the past year we’ve seen increasing numbers of our big customers ask us to help them finder greener solutions for their existing signage. Whether it is more eco-friendly wall coverings, sustainably engineered fibreboards for window displays, or plastic sheeting with recycled foam cores, we’re constantly finding new solutions.
“The world is changing and learning, and staying at the forefront of the eco-wave can only benefit everyone in the long term.”