How to choose a media wall backdrop

A media wall is the printed backdrop people stand in front of for photos at a launch, an awards night or a press call. Every photo taken in front of it carries your logo, so the wall has to be wide enough for the group, smooth enough to look good on camera, steady on its feet and allowed in the venue.

This page covers the media walls we make: the sizes, the three frame systems, how to choose between them, and what to check with the venue. If you're still working out how wide the wall needs to be for your group, start with what size media wall you need for group photos, then come back here to choose the frame.

The sizes we make

We make media walls in three systems. Each one uses a one-piece printed fabric graphic on an aluminium frame.

Production times run from your order and print-ready artwork. Allow extra time for freight. Printing both sides of a SuperWall costs more: a 3 m x 2.25 m double-sided wall is $2,840. Need a size that isn't listed? SuperWalls are made in custom sizes and shapes too, so ask us.

Straight or curved?

Straight is the classic media wall. It gives photographers a flat, even background, and the logo pattern reads the same from end to end. It's the right choice for a press call or a step-and-repeat.

Curved walls wrap slightly around the people in front of them and give the wall some depth from the side. They suit a launch or an activation where the wall also works as a branded backdrop to the space. Both the SuperWall and the Big Mural come curved, and a Brandframe can include a curved section.

SuperWall, Big Mural or Brandframe?

SuperWall

The SuperWall backdrop is a snap-lock aluminium frame with a fabric skin that slides on like a pillowcase and zips closed along the base. The zip pulls the fabric taut, so it photographs without creases. The skin is 270 gsm polyester, printed by dye sublimation, and can be printed on one side or both. A complete wall, with frame, graphic and carry bag, weighs 7 to 14 kg depending on size.

Choose it when you want the widest choice of sizes, a single seamless image up to 9 m wide, or a lower 1.5 m wall for a shopping centre. It comes in a curved version too.

Big Mural

The Big Mural pop-up wall is the fastest to put up. Its spider-style frame folds up with the graphic still attached, so one person can pop it open and clip it together in under 90 seconds, and nobody has to handle the print on the day. The graphic is 320 gsm polyester, fixed to the frame with hook-and-loop tape, and wraps around the sides of the frame. A 3 m Big Mural weighs 13 kg including frame, print and spotlights.

Choose it when the same wall goes to many events and is put up by different people, such as a roadshow or a regional team.

Brandframe

Brandframe fabric frames use silicone-edge graphics (SEG). A silicone strip around the edge of the print pushes into a groove in the frame, so the print is held smooth and tight within a clean frame edge. Frames can be made to any size, and you can add sections, a curve or even a roof. A Brandframe Glow has LEDs inside the frame that light the graphic from behind.

Choose it for a premium, framed look, a wall made to fit a particular space, or a backlit wall for a gala or an evening event.

What photographs well

• Fabric, not gloss. A glossy surface under flash bounces light back into the lens. Our walls are printed by dye sublimation, which takes the ink into the polyester itself rather than leaving a glossy layer on the surface.
• Tension. Creases show up in every photo. The zip on a SuperWall, the tension hooks on a Big Mural and the silicone edge on a Brandframe all exist to keep the fabric tight.
• Light on the wall. A pair of LED lights can be added to a SuperWall or a Big Mural for $215. If the room is dark, a lit wall or a Brandframe Glow lifts the backdrop. Lit walls need power, so book an outlet.
• Width to spare. Let the wall run past the group on both sides, so the background doesn't stop at the edge of the frame.

Artwork and logo layout

For a step-and-repeat, the logo pattern needs to repeat often enough that every photo crop shows at least one complete logo. Keep the key logos at head height and away from the floor and the outer edges, where they are most likely to be cropped or hidden by people.

We have artwork templates for each wall size, and our in-house designers can lay out the artwork for you if you'd rather not. Check our artwork specifications before you prepare the files.

Stability and venue rules

All three systems stand on their own frame and feet, so they don't need a wall behind them. Still, place the wall where people can step back for the photo without stepping into a walkway, and keep cables and feet clear of where guests will stand.

Check two things with the venue before you book:

• Height. Shopping centres often limit how tall a display can be, which is why the SuperWall comes in a 1.5 m height. Ballrooms and foyers can have low ceilings or chandeliers, so confirm the clear height.
• Fire rating. Venues can ask for backdrops to be fire retardant. ICC Sydney's Exhibition Manual (release date 15 December 2023), for example, requires materials used for "backdrops, blinds or overhead structures, signs, banners" to be "fire retardant as per the methods defined in AS/NZS 1530.3:1999", and says ICC Sydney "may require documentation confirming the fire retardant capabilities of the materials." Ask for the venue's current rules, and allow time to supply any paperwork it asks for.

Hire or buy?

Hire suits a single launch or gala. Our exhibition wall hire uses printed SuperWalls, from 2.4 m wide to a single 9 m piece, and custom heights can be made. Photo backdrops for launches, awards nights and conferences are a common job for it. Each hire is quoted for the event period. A 3 m hire wall is about 12 kg packed, and one person can put the frame together in around five minutes. If you'd rather we set it up at the venue, ask when you book.

Buying pays off when the wall goes to several events a year. The frame stays and the graphic changes: slide a new skin onto a SuperWall, pull the old print off a Big Mural and attach the new one, or press a new SEG print into a Brandframe.

Send us your event date, venue and the largest group you expect to photograph, or call 1300 240 250, and we'll recommend the right media wall.