LIVERPOOL – Having spent four years living in New York, the Director of a new designer clothing store in the English city of Liverpool wanted to spread a little holiday cheer through a Christmas display inspired by those of the big apple’s major department stores. To do it, he enlisted the help of local production company UK Events Group who used 184 of ADJ’s new AV4IP LED video panels to create an incredible display that completely transformed the store’s façade and became a major talking point for city shoppers throughout the holiday season.
More details from ADJ (www.adj.com):
Launched at the beginning of 2017, Union 22 is an independent fashion store that specializes in effortlessly stylish menswear. Created by Director John Cooper, Union 22 stocks designer clothing by small luxury fashion houses from across Europe and around the world, many exclusively in Liverpool and even throughout the UK. Having previously spent time living in New York, John was inspired to create something breath-taking for his store’s first holiday season.
“I lived in New York for four years, so I saw what places like Macys and Saks do; the Christmas spirit is there in abundance! Since coming back to Liverpool, I’ve always wanted to do a large-scale project that was a showstopper and I knew UK Events Group were the ones to do it,” says, Cooper. “We are all very proud of the project and can’t wait for people to see it and get their feedback when they come to the store.”
The store is located on the ground floor of Union House, which is an imposing five story building that was built 135 years ago and originally occupied by the Tetley tea company. John’s vision was to go way beyond a typical Christmas window display and transform the whole frontage of the building into a dynamic seasonal attraction. Having seen their work on other local large-scale projects – such as the launch of the new Liverpool2 container terminal – John approached Liverpool-based UK Events Group with his vision for the installation.
Although he knew that he wanted something impressive, John was happy to let the UK Events Group team’s imaginations run wild, as company Director James McMahon explains, “When clients give you free reign on a project to create concepts that excite you and you can get passionate about it really makes it all worthwhile. Christmas is about magic and making memories to cherish. Liverpool is full of beautiful architecture but in this day and age people are too busy looking down at their phones. I wanted them to stop in their tracks and be blown away by what they were looking at and I think that this installation has achieved our objective”.
To create this undeniable wow factor James and the UK Events Group team installed a total of 184 ADJ AV4IP LED video panels behind all of the windows on the building’s four upper floors. This provided a huge canvas for which a custom video show was created that ‘opened up’ the windows to provide a glimpse inside to reveal Santa’s workshop! The two-minute show, which also featured an audio soundtrack and the use of synthetic snow machines to add an extra touch of magic – ran every half hour from 9am to 9pm throughout the holiday season.
Part of ADJ’s growing AV Series of professional LED video products, the new AV4IP is the first in the range to feature a weatherproof design. With an IP65 rating for its front panel (IP54 on the back), the 4.8mm pitch AV4IP can be used for temporary outdoor events even in the rain. Offering brightness of 4000 NITs and two separate LED modules for easy serviceability, these keenly-priced video panels are extremely flexible, making them ideal for use by production companies such as UK Events Group which undertake a wide variety of different types of event.
“We are big advocates of ADJ products,” enthuses James, “and have had huge success with the AV6, so natural progression for us was to invest in the AV4IP. Kris [Dawber, ADJ UK and Ireland Sales Manager] always turns our orders round quickly and we were excited to be the first in the UK with this product. It came straight out of the box and onto a Christmas Light Switch-on event, and then into this installation where it will be in use for 6 weeks – as after the Christmas display we are working with Culture Liverpool in celebrating 10 years since Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture in 2008”.
Not only did the Union 22 holiday installation spread festive cheer among Liverpool’s shoppers, it also helped to raise awareness for a local charity campaign to provide Christmas gifts for the city’s most disadvantaged children. Following each show an advertisement was displayed for the Mission Christmas campaign organized by Liverpool’s Radio City. Viewers were encouraged to make a £5 txt donation or buy an extra gift and donate it to the charity which provides gifts for children who wouldn’t otherwise receive them. Due to the generosity of the people of Liverpool and support by organizations such as Union 22 and UK Events Group, the campaign supported 36,875 local children with gifts totaling £1,276,823.
Production:
Union 22 Christmas Display, Victoria Street, Liverpool
http://www.union22.co.uk
Production Company:
UK Events Group
http://www.ukeventsgroup.com
Production Designer:
James McMahon
Video Technician:
Lee Isserow
Photography:
Kyle G. McGloghlin
Gear List:
184 x ADJ AV4IP LED Video Panels
For more information Contact ADJ:
ADJ USA – Tel: 800-322-6337/+1-323-582-2650 • info@americandj.com
ADJ Europe – Tel: +31 (0)45 546 85 00 • info@americandj.eu
ADJ UK – Tel: +44 (0)1257 476 010 • ukshowroom@americandj.eu
ADJ Mexico – Tel: +52 (728) 282 7070 • ventas@americandj.com
