Planning before anything is printed

The project begins around four weeks out. We receive initial drawings from Paramount’s team and immediately move into planning mode. Rather than emails and scattered documents, everything lives in a shared Google Spreadsheet.

This isn’t a simple checklist. It’s a live production document detailing every graphic element across the stand: sizes, materials, print methods, finishing specifications, artwork requirements, and most importantly, status. With more than 250 individual items, clarity at this stage is non-negotiable.

Once the spreadsheet is signed off, it becomes the single source of truth. Everyone involved can see exactly where each item sits at any moment, and nothing moves forward without visibility.

Artwork across time zones

Paramount’s team is based in California, which means artwork uploads often land just as our UK working day ends. That’s not a problem — it’s built into the plan.

As artwork is uploaded to a shared Google Drive folder, the spreadsheet status updates to ‘artwork uploaded’. Our night shift then takes over, checking files for resolution, size, bleed and specification compliance. Files are set up for print, low-resolution proofs are generated, and approval links are added back into the spreadsheet. Status moves to ‘awaiting proof approval’ before California wakes up.

It’s a steady rhythm: artwork, checks, proofs, approvals. Nothing rushed, nothing assumed. Once approvals land, files are added into Caldera for nesting. Print queues are only released once minimum requirements are met, ensuring efficiency without compromising consistency.

Production: fabric, heat and patience

The majority of graphics for the stand were produced using blockout fabric — a recycled textile designed to prevent light transfer. These were dye sublimation printed on our Agfa Avinci.

Once printed, each roll is transferred through our Klieverik calendar. The fabric passes around a heated oil-filled drum at high temperature and constant speed, completing the sublimation process and locking colour permanently into the fibres.

Then we wait.

Fabric needs time to settle after calendaring. Typically around twelve hours. Rushing this stage is a false economy, particularly for SEG systems where tolerances are unforgiving.

Once settled, fabrics are cut on our Kongsberg CNC. Here we apply our own calculated allowances — a refined approach developed through years of SEG production — ensuring that once silicone edging is added, every graphic fits its frame perfectly. At this stage, QC photographs are taken to evidence finished sizes.

Finishing, QC and transparency

After trimming, graphics move upstairs to sewing, where silicone edging is applied using one of our industrial machines. A second round of quality control follows, again with photographic records of the finished pieces.

At every stage — printing, cutting, sewing — the spreadsheet is updated. If something doesn’t pass QC, it’s flagged and reprinted before it ever becomes an on-site issue. That transparency is deliberate. It keeps projects calm, predictable, and collaborative.

Packing and transport to Cannes

Once complete, graphics are grouped logically by stand location and type, then packed into clearly labelled boxes. They travel to Cannes by road alongside the stand structure, a three-day journey timed precisely around the build schedule.

Installation on site

The build begins with floors and walls. We arrive a few days into construction, at which point our project manager meets with the graphics fitters and Paramount’s team on site. Together, we review build progress, confirm timings, and agree the installation sequence.

In high footfall areas — where multiple contractors are still working — we deliberately wait. Wall fabrics go in as late as possible to avoid damage.

Once the builders head out for the evening, our fitters move in. Working into the night gives us uninterrupted access to the stand, space to unpack methodically, and the freedom to install in the most efficient order.

Everything runs close to the wire. It always does at MIPCOM. But it finishes on time.
Every graphic fitted perfectly. Nothing missing. No last-minute fixes.
The client was over the moon.

Why projects like this matter

Large-scale exhibition graphics aren’t won or lost on press speed alone. They succeed because of planning, communication, and experience — especially when deadlines don’t move and the audience is global.

This project is one of several annual collaborations we deliver for Paramount, and it’s a great example of how we approach complex event environments: quietly, methodically, and with complete ownership from first drawing to final install.

You can see more from this project, including the client testimonial, in the full case study.

And if you’re interested in how we handle other high-pressure exhibition and event builds, there’s more coming soon.