Excited to have Chris Taylor sharing content with PMC! He writes about wide format, and certainly started off BIG with this topic! As will be evident below, Chris is from the UK so sizes are provided in metrics (ACK!) and a “football pitch” is a “football field” in American… enjoy!
Exploring some of the largest posters ever made
by Chris Taylor
Let’s face it – the world has seen a lot of posters. They are used to promote everything from tins of beans to pop concerts, so to make a poster stand out takes a lot of work. That’s why, over the years, some people have taken the bigger-is-better approach in a bid to stand out from the crowd. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the biggest posters the world has even seen…
Sorouh Real Estate’s record-breaking print, made by Ad-Air
On October 22nd 2007, Sorouh Real Estate – a company based in the UAE – unveiled what was, at that time, the world’s biggest ever poster. In fact, it took around 70 people to create it. Placed upon a flat piece of ground at Dubai International Airport, the poster boasted a size bigger than that of three football pitches put together.
Some 20,000 square metres of canvas went in to the grand design, which was created from pictures of 1 million people’s faces. For each photo of a face that was submitted, Sorouh donated $1 to the UAE Red Crescent, which ultimately resulted in a $1 million donation to the charity. At the time, Sorouh estimated that 14 million people would view the poster (which highlighted the plight of the UAE’s underprivileged) in the first year alone.
Adidas’ ‘Cometh the Hour’ poster
Featuring a large portrait of sporting hero David Beckham, Adidas’ ‘Cometh the Hour’ poster was unveiled back in May 2002. Plastered across Birmingham’s Fort Dunlop building, the poster (or, more appropriately, billboard) was dark red and located 25 metres off the ground. Although it was significantly smaller that Sorouh’s attempt, it certainly created a lot of fuss in the media; measuring 20 metres by 20 metres. At the time, Beckham himself said it was “absolutely amazing” and that he couldn’t believe it. Larger than a football pitch, the piece could be seen from over a mile away and definitely gave those driving along the M6 something to stare at.
Heathrow’s ‘Michael’
A colourful portrait of Michael Jackson, which was created in 2010 to celebrate the official release of the ‘Michael’ album, is the current world champion when it comes to massive posters. Measuring 171×170 feet (around 52×51 metres), the PVC print is currently the world’s largest poster and is made up of pure PVC. Situated only 3,000 metres away from one of the main runways at Heathrow, it’s there for all to see; boasting a greater length that six Routemaster buses put end to end. What’s more, if it was propped upright, it would stand taller than Nelson’s Column.
Photo credit: © High Level Photography Ltd / Sony Music (UK) Entertainment Ltd.
Three engineers spent hours placing the poster, which formed a large part of the album’s promotion (one stipulation of the Guinness World Records is that the poster must “advertise a commercially available product”). At the time of its creation, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records said it comprised “incredible scale” and “intricate detail”. Although the poster stayed there for many weeks, it was eventually moved and now tours around Europe.
Article penned by graphic design lover Chris Taylor, who writes on behalf of Perfect Colours, a UK-based large format print equipment distributor of big name brands such as HP and Roland printers. Read more about the company on Twitter @perfectcolours.
