The world of wide-format continues to throw up a whole host of interesting and innovative projects. From eye-catching billboards and colourful interior designs, to innovative vehicle livery and branded banners, the market is well stocked with a variety of work to keep companies busy.
This constant evolution of work, as well as the technology that is used to produce it, is what makes the sector so exciting. Barely a week goes by where we do not hear about a company using wide-format technology in a different way to create a new project. And with Sign and Digital UK and FESPA 2013 sure to have created more food for thought in the wide-format arena, this development of projects and the way kit is used is only set to continue.
With this in mind, what are some of the most innovative companies up to in the wide-format sector? What technology are they investing in, and how are they using it in new, creative ways to produce yet more exciting work? And, most importantly, how can our industry learn from them in order to diversify?
Ltd Limited unlimited
Ltd Limited was the first UK company to purchase an Epson SureColor SC-S70600
Bethnal Green-based LTD Limited is one firm to have recently bolstered its wide-format equipment portfolio, with the help of Epson. LTD, shorthand for ‘Learn to Dream’, specialises in creative bespoke interior graphics, and has seen demand in this sector grow significantly.
As a result of this demand, LTD Limited opted to invest in an Epson Surecolor SC-S70600, sealing its place in history as the first UK company to do so. Director, Craig Beecher, explains how the purchase allows the firm to tackle a range of projects, utilising a selection of materials in the process.
“We use the Surecolor SC-S70600 to produce luxury décor manifestations for exclusive business and retail interiors,” explains Beecher, adding: “We print on a range of materials. It is particularly effective on white and clear vinyls, 3M Clearview and wall-papers.
Until relatively recently architects were not really that interested in interiors. Now, however, they have realised the impact and effect interior graphics can produce and we work with them to achieve a wide variety of effects on walls, glass, wood and metal”
“Until relatively recently architects were not really that interested in interiors. Now, however, they have realised the impact and effect interior graphics can produce and we work with them to achieve a wide variety of effects on walls, glass, wood and metal.”
The Surecolor SC-S70600 is Epson’s first 64" printer to support white and metallic inks simultaneously, a feature LTD Limited will use during various applications. The 10-colour model delivers resolutions of up to 1440 x 1440dpi, in a method that is delivered using Epson’s Ultrachrome GSX ink and Micro Piezo TFP printheads.
One of the first projects off the new device was an installation for the City of York Council Buildings. It involved filling the interior of the council buildings with designs incorporating graphics and fine line drawings, using silver and other metallic effects printed on to dusted materials, clear and white vinyls and wallpaper.
Before the Surecolor we just wouldn’t have been able to produce and deliver this project so efficiently and with the level of metallic impact we wanted to achieve”
“Before the Surecolor we just wouldn’t have been able to produce and deliver this project so efficiently and with the level of metallic impact we wanted to achieve,” added Ltd Limited digital manager, James Everett.
Signcraft is another firm to have invested in new kit in order to support its expanding business. The West Drayton company has served the industry for over 40 years, and has steadily grown to offer a professional marketing board service to clients in the property sector. More recently, it expanded its capabilities to deliver architectural signage, fascias and displays, diversification that led to a new investment.
Following a purchase of a Seiko Colorpainter 64S printer in 2004, the firm opted for a new Seiko II Colorpainter W-64S large-format printer, from Colourgen reseller, City and West End Solutions. The 64" device uses new piezo printhead technology that has been developed by Seiko, in order to deliver what it describes as ‘outstanding’ image quality without loss of colour density.
“We got to a point where we needed more than the old 64S machines could offer, so carried out a very detailed review of what was available in the market,” explains co-founder, Bob Colwell.
We still deliver the standard property boards just as our clients want them, but the Colorpainters have allowed us to grow and develop our business in line with the needs of our customers”
He goes on to explain that the Colorpainters have allowed Signcraft to add a number of new applications to its solutions portfolio, such as wall-paper and large-format signage, further enhancing the business as a whole.
“Our business has had to move forward to remain successful,” explains Colwell, adding: “We still deliver the standard property boards just as our clients want them, but the Colorpainters have allowed us to grow and develop our business in line with the needs of our customers.
“As well as boards, we can provide complete signage solutions for large public areas like shopping centres, shop-fronts and more. This has led to a lot more referral business and is certainly keeping us busy and profitable.”
DIY wide-format
Hope Technology's Alan Weatherill says the new Mimaki CJV30 printer/cutter will
allow the firm to provide customers with printed marketing materials
Companies have begun to realise the value of taking more wide-format work in house and using it to create more profit for themselves. High-end bicycle component manufacturer, Hope Technology, is one such firm. Although not a print business, the firm was keen ensure its brand was being shown to its fullest, supplying dealers with various marketing materials to accompany the bicycle products it supplies.
As part of this strategy, it invested in a Mimaki CJV30 printer/cutter from Granthams Graphic Technology. The new purchase will sit alongside an enviable arsenal of CNC milling equipment, laser cutting, anodising and engraving machinery, boosting its overall service offering.
“I’m responsible for producing prints that will be seen in thousands of cycle shops around the country, so it’s important they’re an accurate reflection of the brand,” explains marketing manager, Alan Weatherill, adding: “Our old printer/cutter couldn't accurately produce long runs of decals, but the demo we had with Granthams ensured we were confident about making them ourselves.
Our dealers, who are primarily independent bike shops, can request any form of marketing resource from us. We tailor our support for particular events, but the collateral is usually in the form of banners and signage, which is created in-house on the Mimaki”
“Our dealers, who are primarily independent bike shops, can request any form of marketing resource from us. We tailor our support for particular events, but the collateral is usually in the form of banners and signage, which is created in-house on the Mimaki.”
It is this flexibility of the Mimaki that Wetherill praises, explaining that it has allowed the firm to supply individual dealers with select marketing materials: “Whether it’s window stickers for one of our dealers, personalised bike wash banners for Mountain Mayhem, perfectly cut out slat-wall branding for a tech shop or a shot of the Hope Factory Racing riders out in the hills—we will run it all on the Mimaki.”
The firm now plans to reprint the photographs that adorn the corridors of the museum, which houses memorabilia and on-loan race bikes from pro-rides that the company has sponsored.
Driving forward
Don-Bur Group, and its graphic production company Sapphire Graphics, has
worked with GPT to identify appropriate kit to produce vehicle livery
Elsewhere, the Don-Bur Group, a designer and manufacturer of commercial vehicle trailers, has also identified the profits available from in-house wide-format production. The firm also owns a graphic production company, Sapphire Graphics, which produces various vehicle livery projects onto a range of substrates for indoor and outdoor uses.
To support this side of the business, Sapphire Graphics has worked with Graphic Printing Technologies (GPT) to identify the kit needed to produce all material required. Recently purchased products include a Mimaki JV33 160 and JV34 solvent inkjet printer with bulk systems.
It is essential that we deliver quality graphics for our customers that are durable, accurate and on time”
“We run a very busy, responsive and reliable service, not only for our holding company, but also for many other customers,” stresses Sapphire Graphics general manager, Lee Leighton.
He adds: “It is essential that we deliver quality graphics for our customers that are durable, accurate and on time.”
In order to bolster production further, the firm also invested in an Aquaseal SW3300 from GPT, to support the finishing of projects. The device produces a smooth liquid laminate for outdoor materials as wide as 3.3m, including billboards, vehicles, build signage, and fleet graphics—a feature that Leighton says fits in well with the work Sapphire Graphics produces: “All our prints require finishing and in the past we had to lacquer everything by rolling it on by hand. GPT recommended the Aquaseal liquid laminator and this has revolutionised our production work-flow, saving a huge amount of time and manpower, as well as achieving generous cost savings in terms of materials.”
Wider use of wide-format
Fujifilm's Acuity LED 1600 is one wide-format device being used to produce work
not usually associated with the wide-format sector
Although traditionally used for signage projects, wide-format technology is being used by companies in their production methods for varying types of work, highlighting the diversification opportunities open to sign-makers. Glossop Cartons is one such firm to have done exactly that, opting for wide-format kit to boost its service offering in the printed packaging market.
The firm had previously provided litho printing services, but opted to take advantage of the benefits digital technologies offer through its purchase of a Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600 UV LED inkjet printer—the first UK company to do so.
“There is an increasing demand for short run and bespoke packaging, and digital technology perfectly suits this requirement,” explains the firm’s director, Jacky Sidebottom.
There is an increasing demand for short run and bespoke packaging, and digital technology perfectly suits this requirement”
She adds: “Thanks to the Acuity LED 1600 we can now print, and subsequently cut out, a diverse range of substrates quickly and efficiently, and also create packaging solutions distinguished by special varnishing effects. The use of this technology improves our turnaround time and removes the traditional costs of litho print and die-cutting, both of which are costly for short proof print runs.”
The Acuity LED 1600 offers printing speeds of up to 20sq m/hr, can support substrates up to 1,610mm in width and is designed to print on wide-format roll media and rigid sheet substrates up to 13mm thick. It also features six colours, plus white and clear ink as standard.
Fujifilm Europe’s marketing and communications manager for graphic systems, Graham Leeson, claims the flexibility of the Acuity LED 1600 helps in the production of different types of work: “We are happy that print service providers such as Glossop Cartons acknowledge its value in the packaging environment; we are confident that this installation is just the beginning of a successful path in this area for Fujifilm.”
From speaking to many different companies, it remains clear that the wide-format market is as vibrant as ever. Whether it is sign-making firms bolstering their own production line, or businesses from other industries harnessing the technology to widen their service offering, investment seems to be an ongoing trend. And in the wake of Sign and Digital UK, in addition to the interest Fespa 2013 will inevitably drum up, activity is only set to continue.
