Back to the future

We can never predict the future precisely, but it is generally possible to gauge the most likely route we will be travelling in the coming twelve months. With this in mind, I invited a selection of players in the sign-making sector to gaze into their crystal balls and reveal what they see.

Materially speaking

First of all I turned to the materials market to find out what is likely to unfold. Décor, wrapping, and textured finishes came out strongly. Architectural finishes/textures, façade, and décor are the materials for which William Smith expects to see significant growth opportunities in 2018.

Architectural materials include Cover Styl’ and 3M Di-Noc, which offer refurbishment solutions that can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of complete replacement of original materials such as wood, marble, and leather.




For exterior renovation of buildings in both the commercial and residential sectors, Avery Denison’s Façade has been specifically designed to meet the demands of outdoor applications.

“A highly professional finish can be created literally overnight, with the minimum of disruption to building users and neighbours,” explains William Smith Group head of marketing, Chris Bradley.




Décor digital print films can be applied to create unique covering for interior and exterior walls in both commercial and home environments, while decorative window films such as 3M Fasara and Solar Screen provide natural daylight and visual comfort, making them ideal for both privacy and aesthetic applications.

“We anticipate more products coming on-stream throughout the next twelve months as customers begin to understand more fully what can be achieved with these materials,” says Bradley. The company also expects to see vehicle graphics continue to grow with more colour, different textures, and advances in products for digital printing.

“Adding value to our offering, in 2018 we will have an extensive training calendar for any of our customers wishing to grow their business by learning new skills and identifying new opportunities in emerging and mature markets,” Bradley says, adding: “As well as vehicle wrapping courses we will be providing taster days and two day courses on architectural films and Façade, with window films being added at some point in the new year.”

Another sign-making materials expert with a clear view on trends for 2018 is Metamark. Boasting extensive manufacturing capabilties, it has significantly increased its coating and conversion capacity with the installation of another manufacturing line, and has new products lined up for release once the New Year hits its stride.

2017 marked something of an occasion for Metamark on the digital media front. The company manufactured the thirty-millionth linear metre of its flagship MD5 product. The technology that is responsible for the print performance of Metamark MD5 is applied across the entire portfolio of MD-Class printable media.




Asserts Metamark’s sales director, Mark Simister: “That means it’s possible to achieve top levels of print performance using materials designed for short-term applications. We anticipate significant interest in the specifier fraternity in the improved quality our short-term promotional products deliver.”

Metamark is predicting a swell in interest in colour-change wrapping too. The company has introduced a material expressly designed for the application, which it says completely changes the pricing dynamics of colour change wraps. This makes the application economically viable for many more customers.

MM-CC is a 100 micron film that claims the same DNA as Metamark’s flagship wrapping product, MD-X. The new product is available in a range of colours and colour matching for large fleet contracts can also be accommodated.
 
“MM-CC is easy to apply, like MD-X, and very clean when removed leaving nothing more than a pristine vehicle underneath,” Simister observes.

Metamark has also seen significant growth in the décor sector in the past year and says that it shows no signs of slowing.

“Many of Metamark’s customers have discovered that the tools and skills they already have can be applied to décor and we are seeing growth in both domestic and retail applications,” states Simister, adding: “and a significant percentage of our new capacity will be focused on the delivery of more products for the décor sector.”

According to printable materials manufacturer and distributor Soyang Europe, the textile market is continuing to grow at a considerable rate.

“We see no indication that’s going to change in 2018,” comments sales manager, Tim Egerton, continuing: “We’re making considerable investments in new technology at our factory with new Karl Mayer knitting machines recently installed and an additional coating line due in the first quarter.




“This investment is entirely driven by customer demand. Soyang is delivering innovative new textiles to respond to print companies’ requirements, as well as offering up new solutions for them to take to their customers. The retail and exhibition markets are the most prolific users of textile so we’re engineering new products to satisfy their needs.

“As ink technology and print hardware matures, we’re in a strong position to provide specifically engineered fabrics, be they for latex, UV or dye sub inks. One example is Soyang’s Starlight 601 back-lit that is available in a number of versions, each perfectly suited to a specific print method and ink.”



Egerton observes that Soyang is seeing an ever more significant shift in focus towards the predominant use of textile, especially at the larger print companies.

“Soyang being able to provide a solution for this helps face up to challenges, such as assisting printers with greener options and reducing transport and labour costs. This is thanks to the unique benefits that grand-format textile offers as a printable substrate,” concludes Egerton.

Sign trends

Next I asked the sign-makers at the coalface to point up their direction of travel and illuminate the way forward.

Birmingham-based HNS Signs reports growth in two main areas: custom designed and printed wallpaper for offices, and traditional signwriting.

Managing director, Michelle Henry, explains: “Corporates are seeing the benefit in using wallpaper to attract the right employees and to motivate existing employees. We have been doing this for companies with as few as five employees, right up to large corporates where we have been asked to design, print, and install wallpaper for all of their offices across the UK.



“In the case of traditional signwriting, retail clients such as Ted Baker are asking us to create traditional looking wooden signs and to sign-paint shop interiors; bars and restaurants are asking for their external signs to be hand painted; and even breweries are getting in on the action, asking for beer tanks to be sign-painted. I think that in a world where everything is done by machine, hand-made skills are seen as luxurious and desired.”



Reflecting on the past twelve months and taking the challenges of Brexit head-on, in her inimitable style, Henry comments: “When Brexit initially happened, we felt a slow-down in business. A few clients put big projects on hold. Things were not helped by material costs increasing. However, by focusing on our unique strengths, which are sign-writing, being more creative than your average sign company, and by promoting the awards we have won, we managed to increase our sales. We used a PR company to push out articles on projects and concentrated SEO on the website around services which competitors couldn’t do.

“We also had to think differently about the marketing and went back to posting personalised leaflets instead of mail shots. This generated more interest around our services and led to a few new clients.”

Trade supplier Applelec meanwhile sees the popularity of solid acrylic letters continuing in 2018. “It’s a style of letter originally imported from Western Europe in 2011, and year on year sales continue to trend upwards with the UK sign industry now seeing a flurry of new start up manufacturers of this letter style as a result of the 30mm thick block acrylic becoming more readily available in this country,” notes Applelec commercial director, Carl Eastwood, adding: “Being machine routed into a letter form, this process, in some contexts, has de-skilled what traditionally would have been a built-up hand crafted soldered metal letter.”


 
Applelec introduced its flat faced offering as part of its Premium range in 2011, with 2017 seeing the release of its bull nosed version Neon Lux, which was officially launched at Signlink Live in October.

Eastwood asserts: “A favourable combination of events, including the acrylic’s material advancement to 30mm thick, a machine process in part taking the place of a human, and a weakening of the pound after Brexit making the cost of the 30mm sheet even more attractive—not to mention the aesthetic and illuminated qualities this letter offers, means there is no reason to doubt this letter style won’t penetrate other sign styles in 2018.”

The interactive market is growing apace, and according to hardware manufacturer Bright Sign, the digital signage industry is being driven today by expectations around interactivity and experiential marketing.

“People are used to interacting in a very relevant and rewarding way with their phones, tablets, and computers. They’re coming to expect the same out of digital signage,” says Bright Sign chief executive officer, Jeff Hastings.
 
Extended I/O interactive devices are leading the trend with functionality including touchscreen interactivity, pinch/zoom/swipe, serial commands, GPIO, and USB button controls, IR remote control, HDMI In for Live TV playback, and advanced HTML5 rendering that can display live streaming social media feeds.

“There’s a lot of buzz in the industry about how voice integration in digital signage may be the next big step forward in how signage is used to interface with customers,” Hastings continues, adding: “However, while I don’t doubt that voice integration will become much more prominent in the years ahead, as an industry we have some interesting challenges to address.

“I don’t expect that conversing with digital signage will become the norm any time soon. But we’re taking small steps in that direction. If managed carefully, we’re going to see a much deeper level of voice-based interaction with digital signage in the years ahead.”

Machinery matters

Investing in the right machinery is clearly key to creating quality signage. So, finally, I asked machinery manufacturers and suppliers to give me the nuts and bolts of how they see the future rolling out.

“The one to watch for 2018 and beyond is most definitely UV printing technology and in particular the new Mimaki UCJV series LED UV, roll-to-roll printer/cutter,” claims Brett Newman, chief operations manager at Hybrid Services, continuing: “People have accepted and are now embracing UV technology as they gain understanding of the many benefits it affords—wide ranging media, print durability, and low running costs to name but a few.

“As businesses grow and begin to look at the next step, they traditionally look to investing in something wider or flatter.”

Mimaki’s LED UV offering includes the JFX200 LED UV flatbed printer for direct printing, and also the highly acclaimed UJV55-320, a grand-format LED UV roll-to-roll printer ideal for moving into soft signage and back-lit applications.

“We envisage the print companies will continue to diversify into these areas,” affirms Newman.

Another key player in the wide-format sector is HP, which sees two major growth areas over the coming year. According to Anne Sharp, large-format marketing manager for UK and Ireland: “Firstly, businesses will seek further gains in print efficiency and productivity—with speed and ease of access front of mind for decision makers.”

 
Recognising this, HP has ensured its latest offerings can meet these needs. Sharp continues: “The new Page Wide XL 5100 can do all your production on one printer for both monochrome and colour, with breakthrough speeds and lower production costs. This allows customers to more easily deliver jobs and grow their business, with fast GIS map and point-of-sale (POS) poster printing to generate new revenue streams.”

The MFP version of the new series allows users to print, scan, and copy in monochrome and colour with one single device—all with a consolidated workflow. Futhermore, the HP Page Wide XL 5100 prints at speeds up to 20 D/A1 pages per minute with a 28-second first page.

O Factoid: A couple of quotes on predictions:

“It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all”—Henri Poincare in The Foundations of Science.

“If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which
grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me”

—William Shakespeare.  O

Sharp observes: “In addition, the transformation from analogue to digital in the decoration market has only just started to ramp up—creating huge opportunities for growth, as well as in the soft signage sector. And the HP Latex range of printers are perfectly positioned to enable our customers to take advantage of this.”

The HP Latex range uses water-based inks that allow for indoor and outdoor applications on a wide range of media, making them ideally suited to decoration and soft signage businesses.

In spite of some uncertainties created by the negotiations around Brexit and other economic factors, it seems that the sign industry is fairly buoyant and positive about the future, seeing many new opportunities on the horizon. All are determined to continue making their mark. It is really down to that old cliché—keep on keeping on.


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