Visitors to this year's Vivid Sydney festival are being treated to an unusual (and sustainable) sight: signage printed by VFX Print Group on Oppboga outdoor board supplied by Starleaton, which has survived a lashing from the rain none the worse for wear.

The paper-based board offers 3 months of outdoor durability in an ultra-smooth, white and flat sheet, at a cost comparable with fluted products. This year, Oppboga boards are decorating a number of projector hoardings around Sydney's CBD for the Vivid festival. According to Bill Apostolidis, general manager at VFX Print Group, which printed the boards, Oppboga's appeal is its sustainability. "It's 100 percent biodegradable, and 100 percent recyclable. I don't think there's any other outdoor product that can match it on that front," he said.

Despite the wild weather, VFX's printed signage has held up well all throughout Vivid. "It prints very nicely, it's very forgiving and easy to use, and we haven't had a situation where weather has created any problems regardless of how long it's been out there," said Apostolidis.

James Merhab, business development manager at Starleaton, is very happy with how the Oppboga signs have endured at Vivid, and believes this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of a sustainable product with several advantages over substrates such as corflute. "This was a really good demonstration of the product’s capabilities, especially using it for a big campaign. Compared to other products, it allows for easy application, quick removability, and efficiency," he said. "Aside from sustainability, Oppboga has another advantage over corflute – its flat finish, with no corrugated lines running through it, gives a better quality print graphic."

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Print 21 is Australia and New Zealand's premier graphic arts and printing industry management magazine. The bi-monthly publication combines the highest production values to illustrate the best in graphic arts printing, embellishment and paper quality.