The Aqua Panel- Like You've Never Seen It Before!

We have been approached by a café to produce Aqua Panels for the re-brand on their figurehead location with a view to expand this all over the country.

Now, since we've never broken the 2 metre barrier for the size of this, you can imagine our surprise when they asked for a main 3m x 1m panel followed by several other smaller sizes. This is a herculean task that we've been set, moving the panel around requires 4 of the guys to chip in- even I've gone and help move it (picked for my sheer manliness of course!).

Here you can see Nick, our Foreman, attempting to help you grasp the magnitude of manufacturing such an item.

Custom Lighting for Selfridges- London.

Here we have an interesting project that entails a lighting company who manage a listed frontage for the London Selfridges store. Initially he was after a glass alternative to replace damaged light covers.

These covers were made out of a heavy glass that, though looking effective, were flimsy and discoloured due to the heat.

We offered a solution that not only was feasible but improved the original item, thus the decision to exchange the full frontage has been made to this frosted acrylic item.

See the photos of our prototypes. Photos of the frontage to follow.

Prostar black acrylic leaflet holders.

Working with Prostar to create a printed leaflet holder for their new brochures in large sporting retailers. This item certainly showcases our ability to manage the jobs from start to finish and incorporate specialist skills such as silk screen printing to give you, our customers, a complete item.

We received excellent feedback on this job and are looking to expand on the portfolio.

5th Schuh store re-design complete!

I'm proud to announce that we have now completed the 5th store re-desgin in Milton Keynes. This was a very important job as we have now branched out from the north of England. The on-going relationship between Schuh and AQUA has been a smooth and hassle free. I personally make a point of doing these deliveries myself to ensure they go according to plan, something that the store managers like as they are dealing with someone who knows how the refits go and if anything does go wrong I'm onsite to fix it rather than relaying with a courier.

On to the next one!

Jonny.

Medical supply dispensers with hinged lid.

I had the pleasure of working with Peter, who works for a distributor of medicinal supplies, on this particular job.

It's basically an oversized dispenser with hinged lid. Made from a thicker acrylic than that of what we'd normally allow for this item. Peter requested a clear holder to be thicker so that the item would be of better build quality and more attractive to his end users. He certainly got what he asked for.

Peter has since made subsequent orders for a tinted version for a well known retailer too. Showing our versatility on giving the client exactly what they are wanting.

Jonny.

PVC vs. Polypropylene

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Vs. Polypropylene (PP)

A comparison and some environmental issues.

· There are significant intrinsic differences between polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP) .

· Polypropylene is one of the most neutral plastics, containing only two elements: carbon (C) and hydrogen (H).

· PVC by comparison contains about 30% by weight, of the element Chlorine (Cl) in its basic structure. It is well documented that chlorine, like all halogens, is a dangerous substance in the environment.

· When PVC is incinerated or present in accidental fires it produces toxic byproducts such as dioxins, chlorocarbons and hydrochloric acid. Complete combustion of PP, on the other hand, will generate only carbon dioxide and water.

· PVC is intrinsically heat unstable and can even decompose during processing. PP is much more tolerant to heat; even under extreme conditions it will only decompose to lower molecular weight paraffins, which are elementally compatible with the base material.

· Not only is PVC inherently dangerous in its basic form, but it also needs a large amount of lead to stabilise it. Lead is highly toxic both during the life cycle of a product and after its disposal. This is why there is neither lead nor other heavy metals used in the manufacture of PP sheet.

· Polypropylene sheet is manufactured from propylene monomer, a relatively safe gas, which is a waste byproduct of the petroleum industry that used to be burned off into the atmosphere contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. As a consequence, the more polypropylene used in products helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

· Contrariwise, the monomer unit, which forms the building blocks of PVC, is very toxic. Stringent guidelines are in place for its proper handling as it is highly dangerous to transport and store. There have been numerous studies of the negative health effects on workers exposed to PVC monomer.

· A further problem with flexible PVC is that the flexibility and softness must be induced by the addition of a large amount of plasticisers, usually phthalates, at concentrations of 30 - 50%. These phthalates may have carcinogenic properties or affect endocrinic activity in humans. They do this by mimicking the female hormone oestrogen, causing biological imbalances in humans as well as other species.

· These plasticisers are mobile by nature, hence migratory. They leach out into the environment during long-term storage and into soil and aquifers after disposal. The 'mist', which accumulates on windscreens of cars containing PVC trim, is evidence of plasticiser migration. Other evidence of this instability may be seen where the print from a document migrates onto the PVC binder or file in which the document is stored.

· It is impossible for these effects to occur in relation to polypropylene. The soft blend materials get their softness and flexibility from the actual molecular structure of the material, which is stable, rather than from any migratory additive.

· Polypropylene is 100% recyclable .. PVC is not recyclable to the same extent, firstly because of its intrinsic chemical composition and also because of the additives it contains.

In summary, there is clear evidence that PP is a safer, non-toxic and environmentally friendly alternative to the obsolescent technologies that gave us plastics such as PVC.

UFC Exhibition in Berlin

Having being asked to to a handful of bespoke items for UFC exhibition stands previously, we were tasked to create an LED lit 1 metre by 4 metre 3D sign. We constructed the main part of the item with red Perspex branded acrylic as requested and mounted the HiBrite RED LEDs on a separate foamed PVC backing.