Celebrating the City That Made Us
Drive along the Coventry Road towards Birmingham city centre, and you’ll pass hundreds, if not thousands, of printed signs. Shop fascias, hoardings covering construction work, windows wrapped edge-to-edge in vinyl, and directional signs at busy junctions.
Most of us barely register them anymore. They’re simply part of the journey.
That’s what great print does. Eventually, it becomes part of the city itself.
It tells you what’s opened, what’s closed, who’s building, who’s hiring and where people are going. Birmingham is constantly changing, and much of that change is designed, printed and installed by people from the city itself, and thats what the International Day of Birmingham celebrates.
For more than thirty years, Hollywood Monster has helped shape that story.
International Day of Birmingham is a celebration of the people and businesses that make the city what it is. The people whose work becomes woven into Birmingham’s streets, often without us giving it a second thought.
Taking place on Thursday 24 September, with a second day of events on Friday 25 September. The IDOB is now in its third year; it celebrates Birmingham’s people, businesses and culture while connecting the city with the Birminghams around the world.
The idea started on Joe Lycett’s Sky series exploring the Birminghams of the world; it has since exploded and is now organised by the International Day of Birmingham CIC.
Speaking ahead of International Day of Birmingham 2026, Joe Lycett said:
“This day has got out of hand, and I want nothing to do with it.
The sad truth is that I will be unable to attend this year’s celebrations as I am contractually bound to be in Britain’s second city – London.
I wish everyone a very happy International Day of Birmingham 2026, bab.“
It’s exactly the sort of response you’d expect from one of Birmingham’s most recognisable champions.
International Day of Birmingham celebrates everything that makes the city what it is. Not just its famous exports or landmarks, but the people who build businesses, create opportunities, make things and shape Birmingham every day.
30 Years in Tyseley
Hollywood Monster was formed more than three decades ago when two Birmingham businesses and two families came together.
Today, Hollywood Monster operates from around 30,000 square feet in Tyseley and employs approximately eighty people.
Tyseley is an industrial part of Birmingham that has been making things for well over a century.
The reason Hollywood Monster remains there is simple. Large format printing needs space, power, loading yards and skilled people, and most of those skilled people already live nearby.
Our Work in the City
The work we produce in Tyseley ends up on sites across the UK. But there’s something satisfying about seeing it on your own streets.
The people who produce them drive past them on the way home. They point them out to their children. They become part of everyday life; some of our recent projects across Birmingham include:
- Hall Green Secondary School – A complete interior graphics scheme transforming corridors, classrooms and shared spaces with bespoke wall wraps built around the school’s values, curriculum and aspirations for its pupils.
- Curry King of Birmingham 2026 – Event branding and large format graphics for one of Birmingham’s best-known food competitions, celebrating the city’s internationally recognised curry scene.
- Peaky Blinders Mural, Hill Street – Printing and installing a 75-metre city centre mural, delivered alongside Central BID, Netflix and Castle Fine Art, celebrating one of Birmingham’s most recognisable cultural exports.
- Birmingham City Football Club – Producing signage and graphics that create printed environments supporters experience throughout every matchday.
Most people won’t notice who produced these projects.
That’s the point.
Once they’re installed, they stop being print and simply become part of Birmingham, and something that makes the people of Birmingham stop and take notice.
Making a #MonsterImpact, Across our City.
Birmingham has always been a city that looks after its own.
Alongside commercial projects, Hollywood Monster regularly supports local charities, schools and community organisations with signage, printed materials and practical support:
- Kids’ Village: Supporting the charity’s ambition to build the UK’s first holiday village dedicated to critically ill children and their families, helping create life-changing experiences for children who deserve the chance to simply be children.
- LoveBrum: Supporting a charity that invests directly into Birmingham communities by funding grassroots organisations tackling everything from homelessness and mental health to youth services and community projects.
- Reconnected: Working alongside the Birmingham charity that helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives through employment, mentoring and long-term support.
- Better Pathways: Partnering with Better Pathways, a Birmingham mental health charity supporting around 130 people every week. Through the partnership, participants gain valuable experience inside Hollywood Monster’s production facility while developing practical skills, confidence and pathways back into employment.
Not every project ends up on a city-centre building or outside a football stadium. Sometimes the work that makes the biggest impact happens much closer to home.
Made in Birmingham, Shipped Across the World
Birmingham has always been a city that makes things happen.
Inside Hollywood Monster’s Tyseley headquarters sits some of the most advanced print technology anywhere in Europe. A swissQprint Kudu flatbed printer. An EFI VUTEk M3h. A five-metre Hasler Magna conveyor cutter, one of only a handful in the country.
The equipment may be world-class, but it is operated by local people.
Tim Andrews MBE, CEO of Hollywood Monster, said:
“The investment stayed here, and so did the skill.
Every one of those machines is run by somebody from this city or the ones next to it, and the training to run them happened on our floor. We could have made different decisions about where this business sits. We didn’t want to.”
Every machine is operated by people who live in Birmingham or the towns around it, many of whom learned their trade on the production floor in Tyseley.
From there, work is produced for international organisations including McDonald’s and Adidas.
Birmingham may only see a small proportion of what leaves the building, but every job starts in exactly the same place.
On the Day Itself, the 24th
On 24 September, look up.
The shop fascia you’ve stopped noticing, the construction hoarding you’ve driven past for months, the bus shelter on your morning commute.
None of it got there by accident.
Much of it was designed, printed and installed by people from this city.
Then head to one of the events taking place across Birmingham during International Day of Birmingham.
Across the two days, around fifty events will celebrate the people, businesses and communities that continue to shape the city we call home.
Proud to Be Part of Birmingham’s Story
For more than 30 years, we’ve helped shape the city through print, signage and creative production.
We’re proud to support International Day of Birmingham and the people who continue to make this city extraordinary.
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