Electronic publishing/cross-media Swiss Mountain Aid uses a clever cross-media concept to illustrate how the effects of web and print can reinforce each other. "What would Switzerland be without mountains?" This question opens the 60-second image documentary about Swiss Mountain Aid on www.berghilfe.ch. Image sequences and short texts transport the viewer into the mountain world and give an exemplary insight into a mountain farming family whose livelihood has been improved by donations to Schweizerische Berghilfe. On the Schweizerische Berghilfe homepage, you will discover various other information offerings that present the different areas of support for the Swiss mountain population in a media-appropriate, up-to-date and clear manner. The web in the valley and on the mountainOn tours with various interaction options, donors, applicants and other interested parties are guided quickly and directly to their destination. "A family from the mountain region that needs support should be able to find the relevant information or contact persons just as quickly as a donor can find the right information or donation form," summarizes Barbara Rutschi, Head of Communications at Schweizer Berghilfe. The aim is to effectively meet the needs of different target groups.
On the one hand, donors who want to know more about the people supported and the impact of the support or who want to find out about donation options are addressed. On the other hand, the mountain population can enquire directly and unbureaucratically about support options and obtain the relevant application forms online. The operators of the Mountain Aid website benefit from the fact that online media can increasingly be used in remote mountain regions and thus enable a more direct exchange of information.
Conceptually well thought outThe new Schweizer Berghilfe website is based on a concept that was developed together with the CP agency Denon Publizistik and implemented in collaboration with Denon Interactive. This concept focuses on Schweizer Berghilfe's projects as the interface between fundraising and the use of funds. Potential donors should have quick and uncomplicated access to the desired information and be able to donate directly and easily. Potential applicants should be shown by means of project examples which projects can be supported and how the application process works.
Inclusion of the Berghilf-Ziitig magazineThe quarterly publication also played an important role in the conceptual definition of the website. Berghilf-Ziitig's primary task is to provide donors with a picture of the organization's broad commitment using concrete examples. The magazine makes it clear that the mountain population is dependent on a functioning environment. This applies not only to agriculture, but also to the education and health sectors, for example, as well as the energy and tourism sectors. "The Berghilf-Ziitig is extremely popular and an important fundraising tool. Donors want and should also find out from us where their money is being used," says Barbara Rutschi. The journalistic presentation of the topics creates additional trust in the aid organization.
Teaser boxes in the magazine regularly refer to further information on the web. There are also tips for hiking opportunities, events and visits related to the projects described, for which detailed information is also available on the web in a media-friendly way. Conversely, the Swiss Mountain Aid website regularly refers to the possibility of ordering the Berghilf-Ziitig and other information brochures. The web and magazine are closely linked in terms of subject matter, but the content is prepared specifically for the media. This has enabled Schweizer Berghilfe to further expand its communication services in the interests of the mountain population, donors, partner organizations and the general public in recent months and also to increasingly address new target groups who are interested in the topic of the Swiss mountain population and mountain regions.  
Facts & Figures Schweizer BerghilfeConcept and editing of the cross-media concept: Denon Publizistik AG and Schweizer Berghilfe
Web publishing:
Denon Interactive AG 
The Berghilf-Ziitig magazine is published four times a year in German and French.
Circulation: 185 000
Concept, editing and design: Denon Publizistik AG and Schweizer Berghilfe
www.denon.ch, www.berghilfe.ch
Daniel Steim, Denon Journalism

Outdoor advertising In Leipzig, the world's largest panoramic image attracted half a million visitors. When the "8848 Everest 360°" exhibition was opened in Leipzig on May 24, 2003 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of the world's highest mountain, nobody could have guessed that the huge public response would lead to the exhibition being extended until the end of January 2005. The "magnet" of the exhibition in a huge disused gasometer hall was a 360° panorama showing Mount Everest and the surrounding eight-thousanders from the perspective of a valley floor 6000 m above sea level, the starting point for most climbs. Using digital airbrush technology, the company Big Image Systems transferred the circular painting by Yadegar Asisi (see box) in strips onto several 33 m long canvases, which were then sewn together to form a 105 m circumference.
Digital airbrush versus inkjetThe character of Yadegar Asisi's painting is retained in the panoramic image, even if you step close to the sprayed fabric and search in vain for halftone dots. In contrast to digital inkjet printing, digital airbrushing is not based on stochastic or even autotypical screening. Bitmap and vector graphic data can be converted into large output bitmaps to scale. The advantage lies in a halftone-like image reproduction.
The family business Big Image Systems (www.bigimage.se), founded in 1987 by Werner Schäfer, a Swedish general agent for an American airbrush system manufacturer, specializes in spraying large-area flexible materials. Scaffolding advertising, balloon covers, sails, stage and studio backdrops, trade fair stands, flags, banners and the like are among the "print" orders, which are often one-offs. The production is an unusual mixture of high-tech, craftsmanship and art.
As the airbrush systems could not grow in line with customer requirements, Schäfer decided to develop and manufacture its own airbrush systems. Today, three Big Image Digital Printers are available at both the Swedish headquarters in Täby and the German production facility in Berlin-Stahnsdorf (www. bigimage.de), which was founded in 1995; in Täby, a Vutek UltraVu 5300 wide-format inkjet printer with a print width of over 5 m complements the range of services. Big Image's "own brand" has won several awards, including the Swedish Design Award in 1996.
The drums of the digital airbrush systems with a man-high diameter have working widths of 5 and 12 m respectively. As with inkjet systems, which do not reach such widths, however, the drums only "rotate" very slowly; the enlargement of the Mount Everest circular image was sprayed in line-by-line increments of 3 mm across the format width. "We don't calculate in dpi; for us, the line spacing represents the resolution of the motif reproduction," explains Manfred Müller, Production Manager in Berlin.
Ink is sprayed onto the material from commercially available spray guns, which are combined into digitally controlled, continuously operating spray heads in a freely selectable number. Tapestry tulle, silk, flag fabric, Trevira, image paper, projection film, Rolltex, nettle, painter's linen, canvas, felt carpeting and PVC flooring as well as mesh vinyl, transparent and opaque vinyl are the most frequently sprayed materials. The environmental compatibility of the materials used and their recyclability also play a role here. The fact that Mount Everest was depicted with solvent-free ink is in line with the artistic objective.
Distortion-free motifsThe development department in Sweden has written software that makes it possible to reproduce complex motifs accurately and without distortion, even on curved surfaces. The Digital Balloon and Sail Printing System breaks down the motifs, e.g. for mainsails, spinnakers and balloon envelopes, into segments - so-called panels - and "projects" the motif onto the sail shape, which is calculated from the sail manufacturer's data. The result should be that the inflated sail largely compensates for the perspective distortions so that the viewer thinks they have a flat poster in front of them. Sails do not simply form a trivial curve, but end in pillow-like points of tension. The software therefore models a three-dimensional representation, which can be coordinated with customers from all over the world via the Internet. After the "good to print" stage, Big Image Systems sprays the panels onto the canvas. This is then sent to the sail manufacturer, who cuts out and sews the panels using laser cutting systems.
In addition to the actual digital airbrushing, organizing the cutting and sewing together of complicated objects is generally part of Big Image Systems' complete service. For the panoramic picture "Mount Everest", a large hall had to be rented especially and helpers had to be hired for sewing and assembly.
Another in-house development is the FlexiT exhibition system, consisting of black aluminum poles, feet and caps, spots and flexible rails. This allows the large images to be set up quickly and easily without tools and also packed and transported again - a worthwhile alternative to rigid, often non-reusable walls for trade fair appearances and company roadshows.
Standards for original dataWhen it comes to extreme enlargements, where small imperfections can grow into large blemishes, attention must be paid to the correct data type and the quality of the data. JPEG, GIF and BMP are therefore frowned upon. All graphic and image files (TIFF, EPS and PDF as well as native formats from Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Corel Draw! and Macromedia FreeHand) and layout documents (QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign and PageMaker) must be created in CMYK and/or Pantone. The enlargement scale should be 1:10 and have an original resolution of 350 ppi. Stuffit, Dropstuff or DiscDoubbler for Mac and WinZip for PC are the desired compression programs to limit the data volume to a maximum of 300 MB.
When creating 360° panoramic images, Big Image Systems refers photo and video artists to Reality Studio from Panoguide.com, among others. The versatile software package supports the processing and playback of panoramic images as an applet clip on a website, calculates smooth transitions in composite partial images and is also suitable as a basis for designing panoramas such as Mount Everest.
Big Image SystemsBig Image Systems, based in Täby near Stockholm, specializes in large-format artistic, decorative and advertising communication (www.bigimage.se).
The Everest panorama was produced by the German branch in Berlin (www.bigimage.de). Large digital images are produced there for trade fairs and events, for theater, film and TV, for museums and exhibitions, for store design and for façade advertising. (dk)
The architect and painter Yadegar AsisiThe Mies van der Rohe Award winner Yadegar Asisi (49) admits: "Creating panoramic pictures and films is my passion! I want to create illusions."
In 1986, he made a section of the Berlin Wall "disappear" in Kreuzberg by painting on the west side of the Wall the part of a church in East Berlin that was concealed by it.
In 1995, as part of the "Berlin 2005" project, he hung huge panoramas in circular tents - also realized together with Big Image Systems - many of them his own designs, which showed the cityscape in ten years' time at their respective locations.
And in New York in 2002, he developed a panoramic video together with star architect and later winner of the competition Daniel Libeskind, which simulates his plans for the development of Ground Zero. (dk)
Sewn together: A large hall had to be rented to sew the 3,500 square meter Everest panorama (above). Simulated: "Alpenglow" can also be found in the Himalayas (left).
Raised: 360° view of Mount Everest in the gasometer (cross-section and sectional drawing).
The Everest panorama was created using digital airbrushing.
The production facilities of Big Image Systems in Berlin.
Dieter Kleeberg