Puma – London Marathon event stand

The Graphical Tree are lucky enough to work on lots of great events. This includes a stand for top athletic brand Puma at the London Marathon pre-race induction event.

We were commissioned by creative agency Parrott & Miller to bring their vision for the stand design to life. We had worked with co-founder and Creative Director, Simon Parrott, for a number of years while at other design agencies. Previous work included graphics for Nokia's offshoot Blyk, so he knew he could trust us with this high profile event.

Our large format print with event and exhibition production experience makes us a perfect fit for projects of this kind. Our skill set in both production and project management means we're happy to manage, produce and install all stand aspects.

Before starting we held a number of design production meetings with the client to establish the scale of the job. This enables us to advise and contribute to creative logistics where appropriate right at the beginning of the job. At this point we are able to plan a course of action and tasks for who undertakes what. Tasks may include speaking to the venue about electrics, wi-fi connection, lighting, and flooring. These jobs mean the designers can concentrate on designing and The Graphical Tree can take care of the production and logistics.

Our experience in set build means we can suggest the size of the stand structures required, as we did in this case. For this stand the main walls of the space were wide and hollow. This allowed the stand to act as a storage area for merchandise to be sold on the day of the event. With a comprehensive set of drawings our set builders constructed the individual pieces of the stand, which were later transported to the venue and fitted together on site.

The large graphics were produced in single seamless pieces of printed self adhesive vinyl. These were then stretched across the in situ wooden stand frames for maximum impact. Along with the main structure graphics, we also needed to make and cover bespoke iPad podiums and cushioned seating. The podiums were fitted with plug point access and a lockable door to store the iPads overnight. The seating, emulating iconic boomboxes, held actual speakers pumping out music. The seats were a printed cushion meaning customers could try on running shoes in comfort. Stylish, innovative yet still practical.