Zippo partners product and pop-up with London Mural Festival
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Zippo has collaborated with globally renowned urban contemporary artist D*Face, to create a 7 x 11 meter mural, as part of its partnership with the inaugural London Mural Festival, in celebration of the launch of its latest design innovation, the new 540 Color decoration process. At the cutting edge of creativity and artistic innovation, Street Art is the perfect medium to showcase the brands latest innovation which enables them to create the most vivid and impactful designs to date.
The large-scale artwork, which will be unveiled to the public next week, will feature a new take on one of D*Face’s iconic “Stripe” motifs. A subversive self-portrait of sorts, that combines pop-media and imagery, not only as a satirical comment on content consumption in the 21st century but as a nod to Zippo’s iconic pop culture status and commitment to individual expression.
The mural, located on the side of the Theatro Technis Theatre in London’s Kings Cross, is one of over 40 large-scale murals and artistic events, taking place throughout September as part of the festival’s celebration of Street Art in the Capital.
Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries, said: “London is brimming with creativity, and street art can be the perfect canvas for artists to express themselves. The first-ever London Mural Festival brings together an exciting collection of works to brighten up our public realm, and provide an open and accessible way for art enthusiasts and visitors to the capital enjoy visual art.”
Those visiting the artwork will also be able to immerse themselves in The House of Zippo, located behind the D*Face mural wall in King’s Cross. The unique art x retail space will provide fans with a full street art immersion, featuring live experiences from participating artists throughout the opening weekend from the 4th-6th September. The mural is due to be completed on the 5th September, so fans will have the unique opportunity to see D*Face’s artistic process up close, whilst on their visit.
The mural design has also been captured on a limited edition Zippo windproof lighter, a canvas for self-expression, using the new 540 Color decoration process. This latest design innovation from the brand allows Zippo to add any design, in full color graphics, to the windproof lighter, wrapping around all edges and surfaces – creating surround sound or visual information, both reflective of the mural design and fitting of our times.
D*Face commented; “As a heritage brand it’s really exciting to be a part of this project with Zippo. Being a born and bred Londoner I’ve grown pretty used to using its streets as a canvas my whole life, so it feels right to be a part of the very first [London] Mural Festival. As for the lighter itself, I’ve grown accustomed to accepting my murals as temporary but it’s great that this one will have some form of miniaturised permanence that you can slip into your pocket. Cool to think that a lighter has become this unconventional conduit for urban art.”
The D*Face limited edition lighter forms part of the new Zippo Street Art Collection featuring designs from four artists; D*Face, Marija Tiurina, Pref and Tristan Eaton alongside a bespoke London Mural Festival lighter. The full Collection will be available at The House of Zippo and artist lighters will be available online soon at zippo.co.uk
Senior Brand Manager, Global Marketing, Zippo, Lucas Johnson; “A Zippo windproof lighter has been an unconventional canvas for almost 90 years, a small but sturdy platform for individuals to showcase their own personal style and creative spirit. The level of detail provided by our new 540 Color decoration process enables us to display and showcase D*Face’s incredible design with as much impact as the mural itself.”
Co-founder and CEO of Global Street Art, partner and festival organizer, Lee Bofkin, comments: “The team at Global Street Art are proud of our ongoing partnership with Zippo. It has been a challenging year to launch the first ever London Mural Festival, but we are thrilled it’s happening – pushing our mission to live in painted cities one-step further. It’s great to see our home city London as a blank canvas, with more than 40 large scale murals being painted around the Capital and to work with partners like Zippo that support artists and artistic communities.”
With over 300,000 designs created since 1932, Zippo is passionate about individual creative expression. The Zippo x D*Face partnership and Street Art Collection of windproof lighters is the latest in a line of artistic collaborations to celebrate art in all its forms.
Zippo will release behind the scenes content and exclusive imagery across its social channels from the 18th September. Follow the creative journey of Zippo x D*Face on Facebook (@Zippo), Instagram (@OriginalZippo) and Twitter (@Zippo).
