FASTSIGNS Leeds delivers an experiential extravaganza with graphics supporting a pop-up circus in Leeds City Centre…

LeedsBID (Business Improvement District) was established in 2015 and is a not-for-profit organisation with no political affiliation that was set up to deliver the mission of improving Leeds City Centre for all. Leeds is the largest BID outside London and yet characterises itself as being agile and able to respond quickly to the transient needs of an expanding city where there’e always something going on. 

Businesses, almost seven hundred of them, pay a levy to fund the BID and its many projects which range from street-cleaning to welcoming visitors to the city; training and animating public spaces. One of its latest events, quite literally, transformed Briggate in the city centre into a pop-up circus complete with everything except the big-top. It came to Leeds in association with Yorkshire Circus and Super Friendz and offered people of all ages and abilities the chance to get involved and learn circus skills. An added incentive to rock up with the kids and give it a go involved free candy floss and facepainting, not to mention arts and crafts.

Leeds’ Briggate needed a bit of help to transform itself into a circus-like environment and got it thanks to FASTSIGNS Leeds. The team at FASTSIGNS was asked to produce and install temporary window graphics inside adjacent glazing on temporary structures provided for the purpose. The designs were supplied and impart a colourful, performance-led vibe evoking ‘circus’ with stylised performers and ambient circus decor. After a little judicious editing production could proceed.

The FASTSIGNS’ production team used their Epson print hardware and Metamark Removable Clear to produce the graphics. MD3-RC is a removable clear film that can be cleanly removed up to 6 months. Being an MD-Class digitally printable film the results it delivers are colourful and resistant.

The FASTSIGNS’ team printed the images on the film and backed the process layers with white so the film could be applied behind the glazing immune from knocks and scrapes. The finished result achieves precisely what the designers and LeedsBID intended and speaks well of FASTSIGNS’ production and application skills. 

It’s not every day that you get to mix with stilt walkers or have a go at spinning plates, so the events centred on the pop-up are memorable to say the least. And that’s the point. By bringing activities that involve a wide swath of the population to a city centre, the city gets invigorated and becomes a great place to visit. LeedsBID’s team clearly knows how to run an event. 

Once FASTSIGNS’ works are removed all that’s left is an enduring memory and that’s the point too. It is possible to promote events with graphics that look like a permanent part of the manmade landscape but that are in fact easily removable, very attractive and surprisingly affordable.