Moving images in public spaces are in demand

Raphael Waeber, Managing Director of Westiform, welcomed more than 150 guests to the open day.The open day at Westiform Schweiz AG in Niederwangen proved to be a crowd-puller: More than 150 guests, including customers from the advertising, marketing and communication sectors, suppliers and other interested parties took the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of illuminated advertising and digital signage. "The number of visitors exceeded our expectations," said Raphael Waeber, Managing Director of Westiform AG Switzerland, who took guests on a step-by-step tour of the company to see how illuminated advertising elements are created: Westiform produces in Niederwangen on an area of 3,400 square meters. The skilled workers produce high-quality, customized and innovative illuminated advertising elements that show customers around the world in the best light. Visitors were able to see for themselves that, despite state-of-the-art equipment, a lot of manual work is involved and were able to try their hand at building their own illuminated cube. Its task is to make innovative and energy-saving products ready for the market in which LED technology, plastics processing and construction are perfectly coordinated. Westiform's outstanding products include wf I Libra and wf I Mira. The wf I Libra lighting control system reacts to the ambient light and automatically regulates the light intensity of advertising systems. wf I Mira is an ultra-slim and energy-saving illuminated banner for indoor use that achieves perfect illumination with a minimum number of LED points. The front is made of printed textile fabric and can be replaced in just a few simple steps. The supporting program included several speakers who explored the question of which customer needs and technologies are influencing and changing the advertising industry. The participants in the panel discussion, Alain Schindler (Board of Directors of Westiform Holding AG), Bernard Liechti (Head of Advertising Permit Office for Urban Development Zurich), Jimmy Schmid (Professor of Visual Communication at Bern University of the Arts) and Steffen Granz (Designer at Mutabor Design GmbH), believe that advertisers have a responsibility: their products are part of the public space - subtlety and integration into the architecture and surroundings are in demand, especially against the backdrop of the densification of living and working space in cities. The use of materials is likely to decrease. Little, high-quality information is needed instead of a flood of images. Moving images in public spaces are the big trend. The city of Zurich will be installing its own LCD screens next year, as Bernard Liechti announced.The official part of the open day ended at 4.00 pm. Afterwards, the Westiform premises belonged to the employees, relatives and friends: More than guests were treated to culinary delights until late in the evening with rocking accompaniment from the Westi band, who played live.