XLight — urban communication, Ankara

The XLight installations in Ankara illustrate how an urban surface can be developed into a communication space through design, lighting and monitoring capabilities. Archive photographs show campaigns from different brands and public messages displayed within the same installation area.

XLight panel wall at night — archive, 2006

Reading the spatial opportunity

In the application area in Kavaklıdere, location, visibility, lighting and monitoring possibilities were considered together. The panel system was developed as a communication space where the campaigns of different brands and public messages met city life.

Project card

Need: Outdoor advertising audiences could not be measured; the communication value of an urban surface was unused.
When: 2002–2006; wall of the Kavaklıdere Tennis Club, Ankara. Archive photographs are dated 2005–2006 (EXIF).
Role: The founding team, under the XLight brand: panel system, lighting and measurement software.
Application: Modular illuminated panels of 3×2 m each, joining up to 33 m; first sensors, then from 2002 image-processing vehicle counting and audience-profile estimation; internet monitoring for tenants. Three-dimensional message panels in 2004 and 2006.
Measure: The location of the urban area, the panel implementation and campaign visibility were considered together; measurement and reporting were part of the service provided to advertisers. The photographs show the campaigns on display; no audience figures or brand-level results are given on this page.
Result: A measurable medium for advertisers; the counting technology became the basis of the Adana installation. The 2006 application was covered by the national press.
Limits: Historical work (2002–2006). The pedestrian/vehicle traffic figures and the measurement method in the brochure are not published as current performance because they have not been verified; the brands in the photographs are the campaigns of the period.
Source: XLight Visual Media brochure (period promotion); archive photographs (EXIF 2005–2006); Haber7, 8 March 2006; measurement/reporting: Kolacı company information, period archive.

Different brands' stories in the same place

The Vakkorama / V2K and Beymen Club campaigns displayed in different periods in the XLight application area in Ankara: Vakkorama / V2K with night lighting, Beymen Club in panel detail.

Vakkorama V2K campaign on the illuminated XLight panel strip at night, Ankara (archive, 2005) — Vakkorama / V2K — night view · The Vakko group's Vakkorama / V2K brand, XLight application area — Ankara, archive, 2005

Close-up of the Beymen Club campaign on the XLight panel system: panel frame, lighting arms and the XLight signature — Beymen Club — panel detail, daytime · Beymen Club campaign in the XLight application area — Ankara, archive

Other campaigns

Different campaigns, a shared implementation experience: the same panel system carried different brands in different periods. The frames show the scale and modular structure of the application area.

Tüzün and Derimod campaigns in the XLight panel application area, daytime — Ankara — Tüzün and Derimod — daytime view · Different brand campaigns in the same application area — Ankara, archive

ANATU campaign on the XLight panel system: a panel reading "Biz Sigortacıyız" ("We are insurers") — Ankara, April 2006 — ANATU campaign — panel detail · An insurance brand's campaign in the same application area — Ankara, April 2006, archive

Close-up of a campaign panel on the XLight panel system: a dragon-figure visual design, the panel frame and lighting arms — Ankara, April 2006 — Campaign panel, close-up — April 2006 · The panel frame and lighting arms, and how the visual design sits on the panel — Ankara, archive

Perspective view of modular XLight panels; W Men's World campaign (archive, 2005) — Modular panel structure — archive, 2005

XLight panel wall seen from the street at night with parked cars in front, Ankara (archive, 2006) — Scale of the installation within the street, night — archive, 2006

Public communication and social sensitivity

The same surface was also used for public messages alongside commercial campaigns. The overview below shows the three panels on the left and the English-language message on the right in a single composition; beneath it are three panel details from the March 2006 archive.

Edited overview of the XLight panel area; three panels on the left and, on the right, an English-language message about making no distinction between the prophets.

White panel on the XLight panel system: "HOLY KORAN" at the top, an image of a red-bound book in the centre and the phrase "THE BOOK VER. 4.0 FINAL BY ALLAH" below — Ankara, March 2006 — Panel detail 1 — the book motif · English text presenting the holy book through the metaphor of a software "final version" — Ankara, March 2006

White panel on the XLight panel system: a crescent symbol with the words "islam the Original Religion" and "Since 610" — Ankara, March 2006 — Panel detail 2 — the crescent and "Since 610" · A crescent symbol and a short English phrase; the year refers to the beginning of Islam — Ankara, March 2006

Panel on the XLight panel system with a sky-and-meadow background: a "Holy Koran Properties" design in the form of a computer "properties" window — Ankara, March 2006 — Panel detail 3 — the "properties window" · A computer-interface metaphor: the "properties" of the holy book in the form of a file window — Ankara, March 2006

Cut from the edited overview: the English-language message on the right-hand panel — "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." — Holy Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah [2:285].

In the March 2006 work, the XLight panel area carried a public message alongside commercial campaigns. English-language phrases and a visual language inspired by computer interfaces were used together so that the message could reach different audiences. The work of the period was the subject of a Haber7 article dated 8 March 2006.

Wide view of the XLight panel wall on a street in Ankara: three white panels, taxis and cars parked in front, a bank branch on the right — March 2006 — Archive frame — street view · The three panels on the same wall, within city traffic — Ankara, March 2006

Press · Haber7 · 8 March 2006

"Peygamber sevgisi panolara yansıdı" (Love of the Prophet reflected on the panels)

The article identifies İbrahim Kolacı as the owner of XLight Media and reports on the panel work prepared with English-language messages in Ankara.

Source: company photo archive, March 2006 · Haber7, 8 March 2006

Read the Haber7 article

The same surface carried public messages in other periods too: the frame below shows a panel with a Republic and Atatürk theme.

XLight panels in Kavaklıdere, Ankara: public-message panel with Atatürk's portrait and signature (archive) — Public-communication example: panel on the Republic and Atatürk — archive

Features stated in the period brochure

The following features appear in the XLight Visual Media brochure in the company's own words; the photographs do not technically verify each of them.

A modular area of 11 pieces, from a single 3×2 m panel up to 33×2 m
Independent lighting of each panel via a photocell system
Measurement of vehicle traffic over monthly and three-monthly periods at the tenant's request
Pedestrian and vehicle traffic viewable over the internet, via cameras in three directions and a dedicated IP number given to the tenant
Panels rentable in parts or as a whole

From this project to Adana

The counting and monitoring approach developed in Ankara became the basis of the Adana installation of 2006–2007, which combined panels, cameras and a control centre in one infrastructure.

Adana project History

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