Gdynia's public transport system is joining in the celebrations of Gdynia's centenary. The final touches are currently being made to the large-format prints on public transport vehicles. They feature a fragment of Jan Rutka's birthday poster depicting the inhabitants of Gdynia (including the founders of the city) and the centenary logo. Twenty vehicles marked with the 100th anniversary symbols will be running on the streets of Gdynia – 10 buses and 10 trolleybuses.
The residents of Gdynia can already start spotting the buses, and after the weekend, trolleybuses decorated with graphic elements identifying the 100th anniversary celebrations of Gdynia will hit the streets.
Starting next week, ten of our trolleybuses will display graphics celebrating the city's centenary. Five trolleybuses will have images across the entire vehicle, and five on the rear. We invite all residents of Gdynia to look for trolleybuses with illustrations related to the celebrations of the city's birthday, says Marcin Połom, president of Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Trolejbusowej (Trolleybus Transport Company).
The graphics on the rear of the vehicles depict the central element of the birthday poster designed by Jan Rutka, the address of the 100.gdynia.pl website and an invitation ‘Let’s meet at Gdynia's birthday party’. The centenary logo appears on the sides.
In order for the large-format print to adhere perfectly to the surface of the bus, placing these elements requires exceptional precision. A heat gun and a squeegee are helpful. However, it all starts with the design.
First, we prepare a sketch of a specific type of bus, then a graphic designer prepares the design, and I later transfer it to the bus on my computer, prepare the printouts and send them to print. If the vehicle with the image is to travel around the city for a longer period of time, the printout is additionally laminated to preserve the colours. If there is another advertisement on the bus, we have to remove it and clean the surface. The gluing itself does not take long, about 15-20 minutes and the graphic is ready, says Leszek Sirocki from Media Nord, a company that handles the labelling of vehicles in Gdynia.
The decorated buses and trolleybuses will run on the streets of the city until the end of September 2026.
Photos: Dorota Patzer