Over the past few years, many independent sign shop owners have reassessed their position in an ever-changing and highly competitive marketplace. If they are no longer able to clearly define their target market, name their direct competitors or position themselves strategically within the industry, especially, it may be time to revisit their approach.
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Point-of-purchase (POP) signs and displays are essential to any business that welcomes customers into either a permanent bricks-and-mortar or a temporary ‘pop-up’ store.
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Digital signage should be thought of as one component of the overall sign industry. The issue the industry faces, however, is how digital signage may appear at first to be confusing, complex and even intimidating to traditional sign shops.
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One of the hottest trends in digital wide-format printing today, thanks in no small part to ongoing technological developments, is textile graphics. Vince Cahill, owner and president of technical market research and consulting firm VCE Solutions, has been keeping a sharp eye on this market as it evolves.
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There is an ‘industrial revolution’ going on today in the digital inkjet printing industry, with rapid growth in new market segments for the depositing of inks onto manufactured products for decorative purposes. Examples that represent opportunities for sign shops include interior décor, ceramics, laminates and textiles.
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In recent years, fabric printing has moved beyond clothing and apparel, dye sublimation and screenprinting with the advent of digital direct-to-textile printing. Thousands of solvent-based, eco-solvent, durable aqueous ‘latex’ and ultraviolet-curing (UV-curing) wide-
format digital inkjet printers can be used today to produce a broad variety of unique fabric applications.
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One way to witness the digital signage of tomorrow is to visit the trade shows of today. In February, for example, the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show in Amsterdam, Netherlands, attracted more than 65,600 attendees from all over the world to browse large, sold-out exhibition halls.
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With the availability of ‘soft signage’ substrates, rigid boards and polypropylene (PP) alternatives to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), today’s sign shops have more choices than ever when it comes to printing materials.
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In 2006, a new breed of sign industry publication was born. Sign Media Canada made its debut that year with a digital signage-themed cover, but when readers opened its pages, the first news item they saw was about the Letterheads, an organization committed to keeping traditional signmaking techniques alive.
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In recent years, the retail industry has focused significant efforts on achieving an ‘omni-channel’ presence, whereby it can offer a seamless, personalized shopping experience to all of its customers, whether they are connecting with them online, in a bricks-and-mortar store, through social media or over the phone.
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