By getting into dye sublimation, sign shops can expand into printing apparel for seasonal promotions or sports teams.
Opportunities in all segments
The exhibit industry has seen soft signage grow as a trend because it is light, easily rolled and packaged and less prone to damage than many rigid graphic applications. Exhibitry opportunities ranging from short trade shows to longer art shows have been met with soft signage. A six-
month exhibit, for example, might use indoor soft signage for wayfinding purposes, complementing outdoor banners for promotional purposes.
Soft signage is also increasingly popular among retailers and brand managers. Flags, wind sails, ‘dancers’ and other dynamic applications not only catch people’s attention, but also are easy to handle and less expensive to ship than rigid retail graphics. Many sign shops’ existing solvent or eco-solvent printers can produce graphics on canvas or reinforced polyamide-based fabrics for awnings and other outdoor-durable applications.
Indoors, stretch-frame fabric lightboxes are becoming increasingly popular, as they can be integrated as design elements in a retail or office environment or as part of an exhibit. Direct-to-fabric printing can produce colours that remain vibrant when backlit.
Similarly, interior décor offers many strong opportunities for sign and print shops. The environmental graphic design (EGD) sector has turned to softer materials to impart a ‘homier’ feeling for office lobbies, medical treatment areas, hotel rooms and other spaces. Wallcoverings, wallpaper, flooring, mats, curtains, upholstery, wall art and bedcoverings can all be digitally printed, using dye sublimation, reactive, textile pigment, latex, UV and/or solvent UV technologies.
Growth potential for all business types
Across the board, new opportunities have emerged for wide-format digital printing with transfer-based and direct dye sublimation, eco-solvent, latex and solvent UV inks. These opportunities are fuelled not only by the inks themselves, but also by the growing availability of specialty fabrics designed for a broad range of markets, including high fashion, performance apparel and industrial textiles. With this increasing selection of fabrics, new and emerging markets have become open to sign industry technology.
As such, rather than having to be outsourced, many soft signage and other fabric media applications can now be produced in-house, using familiar raster image processor (RIP) software and printing equipment. Further, digital technology and direct printing have made one-off and short-run fabric graphics more easily achievable, helping sign shops to expand their business and increase their profits.
Ken VanHorn is director of marketing and business development and Tommy Martin is the textile and apparel business development group manager for Mimaki USA. For more information, visit www.mimakiusa.com.
