WestRock Wraps Discovery Channel Shark Week Blimp

This past July, you may have seen a giant shark flying through the skies along the East Coast. The shark, a 128′ long and 44′ tall wrapped blimp, was part of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week promotions. The blimp, which traveled roughly 250 miles each day, was wrapped by WestRock Company of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The graphics for the wrap were designed by AirSign Airship Group, while the materials were provided by distributor Laird Plastics and printed by WestRock Company using HP Latex 3600 printers and manufacturer inks. WestRock Company used 4,500 linear feet of 54″ wide GF 224 TransMark, which was installed in a non-traditional way. The material was perforated before it was applied in order for it to withstand the expansion and contraction of air within the blimp.

Being such a large project, you could assume there would be challenges along the way. However, Pat Reis of WestRock Company says it was quite the opposite stating, “WestRock did not encounter any challenges on the production side. The customer had a program that outlined what size panels they needed with the joining art and WestRock printed them. WestRock sent the GF 224 TransMark Vinyl rolls to IPS in NC first to perforate the material for less weight and to allow the blimp to breathe.”

Aside from the sheer size of the project, Reis tells GRAPHICS PRO, “The exposure this project got all over social media is what made this blimp project special. It was definitely an attention grabber.”