An Italian streetscape in The Netherlands

Overarching blue skies, overhanging brick balconies and oversized windows filled with colorful backlit ads made the Van Straaten Group’s exhibit an overwhelming favorite at the ExpoShow 2013 in The Netherlands. The 30-by-40-foot booth featured an Italian street scene, complete with faux brick pavement and stone-fronted shops, made with printed tensioned fabrics by Van Straaten Group (which operates by that name in The Netherlands and as sister company Cees Smit® Inc., Pasadena, Calif., in the U.S.) The companies expanded printing capacity with a 55,000-square-foot production facility, and pulled out all the stops for the ExpoShow 2013 display.

All building walls were UV printed on Cees Smit’s Universal Textile, which can be inked in sizes up to 16 feet. Aluminum extrusions formed the balconies and the sky canopy, which was printed on the companies’ Blockout Textile, coated with black on its reverse side to block out light. LED light boxes in the window openings featured colorful, amusing or sexy photos and graphics, backlit to project the ambiance of a vibrant street scene. Cees Smit plans to launch a new website soon and continues to develop its vision for the future.