The English town of Reading in the Royal County of Berkshire has a new architectural attraction: The One Reading Central office building, which features a 38-m high piece of glass on which an image of the townscape is printed. To get the art onto the glass, the motif, by the London glass designer Graham Jones, was first digitized and then transferred onto the glass surface by Interpane at its Hildesheim facility using ceramic digital printing.
The new office building is also an energy-efficient construction: With the thermal insulation glazing iplus neutral E in the unheated stairway and ipasol neutral solar control glazing in the offices, the energy requirements are so low that the building has achieved a BREEAM rating of Excellent, according to the company.
Using lenticular 3D technologies a whole range of 3D graphic effects can be applied to printed images. While 3D graphics were once a concept limited to movie theatres, with specialised printing methods almost any image or surface can had added depth and motion applied.
There are many applications of lenticular 3D graphics. A flip image or flip animation is one of the most popular forms of lenticular 3D images. In this instance two images are combined and then covered with a lens. When the finished product is moved the two images interchange.
A Multi flip animation works in a similar way except that three or more different images are combined. This can be used to achieve many effects; it could be a series of movements, a zoom in on an image or a dramatic change or morph in a single scene.
3D effects can also be achieved through using lenticular 3D graphics. A sense of depth can be given to any picture, making it realistic and eye catching. All the elements of a scene are layered together to give the illusion of space and movement.
Animation and high definition lenticular 3D allows between five and fifteen seconds of imagery to be contained in a postcard sized bit of paper. Can you imaging a direct mail out flyer that contains a video in high definition quality? What a great way to deliver a message to your audience.
This technology is no longer something out of reach to companies looking for creative advertising solutions. It is ready and available for a wide array of uses. Direct mail outs, posters and promotional materials are only the beginning.