Becoming a Berger Textiles distributor is paying off for CMYUK according to consumables manager Michael Crook, who said the company has “seen steady growth over the first two years with an increased accelerated growth of just over 100% in the last 18 months.”
He said: “This is directly attributable to increased client demand for soft image graphics within retail, expo and decor applications. We anticipate continued growth as the market develops and Berger develops new media and fabrics for this sector and other vertical markets."
Crook added: “Because of the flexibility and advances in technology, we knew that textiles would be a growth area for our customers in the sign and display market, so we invested the time and effort in understanding digital textile printing from the very beginning. As a result, we are now in a great position to help customers choose the right fabric media for their printer technology – whether it’s UV or dye-sub.”
CMYUK has also updated its Fabric Specifier application on its website (www.cmyuk.com/berger/), which allows customers to identify the right textiles for their printers infour steps, by choosing from drop down menus. Users can select a media either by printer model or ink type and then select application and finally environment (e.g. fire rated, outdoor, indoor etc.).
“One fabric may have several usages, but these applications may not be very obvious to the user, so it was important to us to test each one and work out market usages for the different media. In essence, we did the market research on the fabrics so that our print customers would beable to inspire their customers and creative agencies to produce bespoke items, displays and much more using digitally printed textiles,” said Crook.
CMYUK has also revealed that it played a key supporting role for Ellie Goulding’s stunning Royal Variety Performance last year. More than 600 sq ft of 3m wide Berger taffeta was used to create a beautiful dress for Goulding that filled the entire stage. The elaborate garment later evolved into an animated shell, and with the help of puppeteers, came alive with the music. The fabric became the surface for Weiss to project his artistic vision using his projection technology that responds to any movement on stage in real time, amalgamating the dress and Goulding voice into a spectacular stage moment.