“Mona and Lisa” – two Mutoh XpertJet 1641SR Pro printers – take pride of place at AP Lettering’s production workshop. The artistic names given to these printers are no coincidence: AP Lettering, standing for “Art & Printing” is a Brussels-based company with a penchant for creative projects. And if they’re technically complex to produce, all the better! Lettering, billboards, banners, indoor and outdoor signage, covering, glazing… AP Lettering also offers a variety of advertising applications, with or without printing.
AP Lettering
Founded in 1992 in Forest, AP Lettering was originally an exclusively advertising lettering company, specialising in vinyl cutting for vehicle wraps and lettering. Digital printing was not yet part of the company’s offerings. Three years after its creation, the family business experienced its first turning point with the arrival of Patrick Van Lierde, the current Managing Director of AP Lettering.
At the time, he was an estate agent: “I met Albert Petrus because he had premises for sale and for rent… One thing led to another and I became a shareholder in the company alongside the Petrus brothers”, says Patrick Van Lierde.
In fact, it was Patrick Van Lierde who initiated AP Lettering’s transition to digital printing, a technology that was then taking its first steps on the market. “In the early 2000s, I insisted to the Petrus brothers that the company should invest in its first digital printer in order to stop subcontracting. The downside was that we had no control over deadlines or quality,” explains Patrick. That’s how AP Lettering got its first solvent ink digital printer. It was not yet a Mutoh printer, but from another Japanese manufacturer.
In 2017, Patrick Van Lierde took over the reins of AP Lettering with his partner Laurent Cobut. Over time, AP Lettering was rebranded as Art & Printing, in line with the visual communications company’s current activity and identity. “Art & Print are two words that represent what we like to do,” says Patrick Van Lierde.
Switching to eco-solvent for a healthier environment
In 2018, Mona joined the company. This marked a new turning point for AP Lettering, which received its first Mutoh XpertJet 1641SR Pro. It wasn’t long before Mona’s little sister, Lisa, also took up her post in the print shop. “With the first Mutoh, demand was so high that we soon needed a second, similar machine to increase our digital printing production capacity,” explains Patrick.
The advertising lettering company took another major step forward by switching from solvent-based to eco-solvent printing with Mutoh’s MS41 inks. “We no longer need an extractor hood for the inks and there is no longer any smell emanating from the printers during production. The team can breathe easier and the working environment is much more pleasant and healthy,” confides Patrick.
The 162 cm wide Mutoh XpertJet 1641SR Pro large format printers are specially designed for signage and display applications. Mutoh MS41 inks are GREENGUARD Gold certified. This ensures that posters and other printed applications can be used indoors, including in sensitive environments such as schools and hospitals.
Impeccable, stable print quality
In addition to the environmental benefits of eco-solvent inks, AP Lettering was also looking for a new digital printing system capable of delivering better visual quality in terms of colour. “With our old printer, we had problems with colour consistency,” says Patrick Van Lierde. “From one print to the next, the colours were not the same. With Mutoh, the print quality is impeccable and stable from the first to the last print run. The colours are also much easier to calibrate than with our old system,” he continues. In addition to the two Mutoh printers, AP Lettering’s production workshop is also equipped with finishing machines, including Summa cutting plotters and a laminator.
Artistic projects worthy of Mona and Lisa
With Mona and Lisa, the two Mutoh XpertJet 1641 SR Pro, AP Lettering does more than just produce everyday signage and display applications. The company also likes to take on technical and creative challenges. Most recently, the forest-based digital printer made a name for itself with the artistic work ‘Balade sous-marine’ by artist-inventor Philippe Schleret.
“Balade sous-marine” is an urban work of art that can be admired on the large glass roof of the tram and bus stop on Place Flagey in Brussels. Brightly coloured illustrations of giant swimmers, depicting a swimming scene, adorn the 1,000 m² glass roof. Made up of around sixty characters and accessories, this scene creates a symbolic extension of the Ixelles ponds, while evoking the former Grand Étang that once covered Place Flagey. The work is an invitation to escape from the sometimes grey world of everyday life. It can be seen by looking up or down at the pavement. “When the sun is vertical, it back-projects the printed images onto the ground. It also works with artificial light, which floods the space under and around the glass roof with colour, creating a sunny, cheerful atmosphere,” explains Philippe Schleret.
To bring his artistic project to fruition, Philippe Schleret collaborated with the printing company AP Lettering, which used Hexis V202CG1 transparent adhesive films as a support. Several layers of ink were applied to the film, while maintaining a certain transparency so that the illustrations could be projected onto the floor. As the characters are up to 4.50 m tall, the illustrations were printed in one piece on rolls and then cut to shape. To reinforce the adhesive films, AP Lettering also laminated the prints.
The printed and laminated films were then installed over three nights using a gondola by three AP Lettering installers. Installed in September 2023, the Underwater Walk can still be admired in Place Flagey. Since then, it has been enhanced with an artistic version in augmented reality. This is not the first time that AP Lettering has produced an artistic work for Philippe Schleret.
