Brazil-based Artwork Digital has created two eye-catching and decorative displays for Centro Universitário Una. These exhibits, printed on heavy 5 and 10 mm acrylic using an Inca Spyder 320, also served as containers to be used as recycling bins – one for magazines, books and newspapers, the other for expired prescription medicines.

“Printing on acrylic is always difficult,” notes R?mulo de Abreu Guimar?es of Artwork Digital. “We pre-treated it with a primer before sending it to print.” However, each of the bins still presented its own unique print dilemmas. In the case of the paper-recycling container – whose defining feature was a tree towering over the bin – it was the use of solid color that proved challenging. “Printing solid colors on any substrate is tough enough,” adds de Abreu, “but it was even more difficult on the acrylic.” Thankfully, Artwork Digital’s Inca Spyder 320 was more than up to the task: “We printed it on the back of the clear acrylic, and it came out brilliantly,” he said. “We then cut it with a laser machine and assembled it.”

In the case of the prescription medicine container, the desired effect was very different. Instead of solid colors, the client requested the illusion of a tank of fluid. Printing on the back of thick, frosted acrylic created the perfect effect, giving just the right amount of transparency to suggest the appearance of liquid. The result was a display that made people look twice. “It doesn’t contain any real water, but it looks like it does,” declares de Abreu proudly.

“The Inca Spyder 320 allowed us to complete the project on time and to the exact specifications set by the client,” he adds. “Given the demands of both the printing and the substrate, this was something of a miracle.” In addition to catching the attention of countless students from Centro Universitário Una, the attractive, durable displays also impressed the Inca judges, who awarded the project an IDEAS Award in the Décor and Furniture category.