Blogs

We should applaud ourselves in the wide-format digital inkjet print sector because the imagination businesses continue to show must shame many of those in other industries, indeed in other print sectors.

This issue for instance is testament to the breath of creative development taking place across all sizes of digital print providers. Take the likes of Displayways (p15), which is not just one of the many companies constantly looking to bring new applications to market, but thinking very creatively about who it collaborates with to maximise potential, and then thinking outside the box about how it gets those products in front of potential clients.

I was speaking to someone recently from an Israeli company that supplies display frames etc. for the exhibitions market and has started working with a PSP in its domestic market so that it can sell fully printed display solutions. And it’s looking to do the same in the UK. I’m sure this is not the only vendor to decide it can make more money by moving into its customers’ territory. Your thoughts?

…another is soon to open. Sign and Digital UK may be shutting up shop for 2015 but exhibitors and visitors alike are now looking to Cologne in May. So what did you find particularly interesting at the Birmingham show, and have developments there satiated your appetite for new kit, consumables and all things wide-format, or left you hungry for more?

The recent MBO at ImageCo started me thinking about the fact that despite all the changes to the print sector over the last few years, and all the newcomers and entrepreneurs into the wide-format sector, I still rarely hear about a woman chief making a good go of it. Am I missing something – I fear not sadly. But I’d be happy to be corrected!

OK, what did the Budget do for you? At the time of writing this enewsletter the ramifications were still being digested. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on how it will impact your business.

It’s great news that an employer-led consortium has the green light to design new apprenticeship print standards for the roles of pre-press operative, printer and print finisher. But the large-format digital print sector could do with apprenticeships geared to its specific needs too. So who’s working on that?

Did you attend Retail Design Expo at Olympia over the last couple of days? If so, what were your key takeaways – I’d be interested to hear.

Conversations with various PSPs over the last weeks have flagged up an interesting point: that profitability is a dirty word in this sector. Do well and shout about it – as businesses in other sectors tend to do – and you’re setting yourself up to be shot down in flames by customers complaining that you’re doing so at their expense. What would you say to them?

The second Think Bigger Report it out, and has been sent to creatives across the UK as part of this magazine’s pledge to help spread the word about the potential for digital print produced using large-format inkjet. (You can download a copy at: www.thinkbigger.co)

Fespa has announced a three-year strategy that it hopes will build demand for print. We all want that. But how do we - as part of Fespa’s ‘core community’ - want Fespa to do that? The Fespa 2015 show in Cologne in May sees the addition of Printeriors, 3D and industrial print conferences to the mix. What’s your take on that?

InkTec has just announced a bulk filling system to be launched at Sign and Digital UK, and a few days ago I did an interview for the next issue of Image Reports with an entrepreneur seeking crowd funding for a totally new cartridge system that could have deep economic and environmental impact. So, when do you think we’ll see the main suppliers bringing down ink prices in response to changing market demands?

… from the 2015 Widthwise Survey, so a massive thank you to all of those who took part. I’m now busily extrapolating the key findings to serve up to you in the April issue of Image Reports. The full Widthwise reports will be published and distributed alongside the May issue so that you’re up to speed on the UK’s investment and growth plans ahead of the Fespa show.

New research shows consumers absorb and understand more when reading in print as opposed to online. The research from London Economics, on behalf of the Keep Me Posted (KMP) campaign, is one of the biggest studies of behavioural economics testing the effectiveness of paper versus online statements in money management. Could there be an research-based argument that consumers ‘digest’ more information from all sorts of print campaigns better than they do via screen technology? Just wondering….

I'm out and about travelling today to see a print company that's introducing an "Ideas Room". Have you got anything similar?  If so drop me a line!