The many faces of signage

The time has come and gone, once again, for sign-makers, printers, graphic designers, and more to be wowed by new technology, creative materials, and useful solutions at Sign and Digital UK 2016. The UK's key market players joined together at the NEC in Birmingham from April 19th to 21st to show visitors what they have to offer, in what resulted as a busy and interesting three days.

O Factoid: Sign and Digital UK 2015 drew in 6,807 visitors, which was a growth of 11.3 percent from 2014. O

Grafityp were most excited to show off its Colibri brand, a range of ecological non-PVC vinyl self-adhesives, that the company has launched as a green alternative to PVC laminates for use on all types of digital large-format printers. Ranging from Roland DG machines, including the new Texart RT-640, to GCC laser cutters and engravers, to heat presses from Siser, Grafityp showcased a broad overview of all of the different sectors of the market sign-makers can get into.



Graham Jones, design and marketing for Grafityp, says: “Two years ago it was more about textiles and last year it was more about print media, vinyl, and automotives. We always have really good enquiries for our Roland machines and hopefully we'll see more for the heat presses now.”

Perfect Colours, as they do every year at Sign and Digital UK, had an array of special show offers that ran throughout the duration. For example, for £109,995, Perfect Colours offered full installation, training, and two years’ warranty on its Jetrix KX7 UV flatbed printer, which prints at 30sq m/h. Jon Telling, sales director at Perfect Colours, highlighted the new GoTx 2600FX as a stand out piece of kit, which is exclusive to the company, designed for uninterrupted production. Bringing a touch of style to the stand was a range of beautifully printed textiles, including an armchair, curtains, and lamps, all printed using HP Latex technology.

HP's stand was brimming with excitement as major pieces of technology dominated including the HP Designjet 26800, HP Latex 330, and HP Scitex FB750 industrial printer, designed for printing on rigid and flexible media. A brightly coloured display showcased the many different materials that the HP Scitex 9000 can print onto, including compressed cardboard and foam board.

Dotted around the hall, causing crowds of interested visitors, were areas such as the Sign-makers Workshop and the Wrap Expert Workshop. Sign + Digital headed up the Wrap Expert Workshop, where Justin Pate and Ole Solskin put their skills to the test wrapping a Fiat 500 using Oracal 970RA premium wrapping cast, a film designed for long-term vehicle wraps in solid colours. Pate says: “I've been wrapping cars for 20 years and it never gets old. A lot of the time I work by myself because these techniques don't always require someone else.”



Roger Cartwright, sales manager binding and converting at Friedheim International explains why they decided to bring the 2.5 x 1.7m Lasercomb ProDigi NEO cutting table to this UK exhibition for the first time: “Without this type of machine we probably wouldn't be here, but we are here to show our presence in the market and to get as many sales and leads as possible.” The company offered five years’ parts and labour warranty as a special show deal.

Colourbyte showcased the Epson SureColor S60600 on its stand and Tim Stockley, director, explains how it is the ideal entry to market machine for those looking to get into wide-format. As the first sign show Colourbyte has exhibited at, the company, which is already known in the gift and photo, and commercial print market, hoped to gain more signage contacts from the show. Stockley was also keen to note the easy to apply nature and affordability of its window films, particularly the TM330 Crystal Clear Window Film, and the durable nature of its Glass Fibre Textile Wallcovering.



CMYUK got off to a great start selling two machines within just a few hours of the show, and revealed the brand new Mimaki UJV55-320 on its stand as well as a host of other exciting technology such as the Mimaki CJV150-130, EFI H1625-SD, Mtex Blue, and EFI Vutek H2000 Pro. What was ideal for sign-makers was the material application wall which showed the different materials on offer, and visitors to the stand could take home a packed portfolio full of samples.

It was clear from just the first day of the event that the sign industry is growing as more companies from connected industries, such as print, used their products to appeal to sign-makers looking to diversify.

Demand for digital

Day two at Sign and Digital UK and there was still plenty to see from new kit to live demonstrations. i-Sub, suppliers of large-format digital textile printing equipment, displayed a range of solutions ideal for those looking to enter the textile market, a key trend at Sign and Digital UK this year.

For example, the Dgen Arachne HEXA G5 direct-to-cotton printer is a relative newcomer to the industry having launched in November, and runs on pigment inks. Printing at 52sq m/h, Mike Bowman from i-Sub says the machine is a good stable product and that interest has been high.



Proving even further the popularity of Epson's portfolio, i-Sub showcased the Epson SureColor F6200. Also featured was the Mimaki TS300P-1800, which Bowman says was a hit straight after its launch, selling four or five in quick succession. With new head technology and a heater as standard, the machine is ideal for high speed textile printing.

Another key trend in the industry is energy-efficiency and Perspex Distribution's marketing manager, Luke Martyn, explains how the 2.7m textile light box on its stand had been illuminated from only the top and the bottom with LED modules. This means less modules and less energy used, but with the same balanced quality. Martyn comments: “A lot of sign-makers are moving into POS, and LED products in particular have become a big growth area.”



Perspex distributes SloanLED products and exclusively shown on their stand before its launch was the SloanLED Prism with a reimagined LED lens technology, standing at 608 lumens per meter. Martyn also notes that a lot of visitors were drawn to its Palfoam Anti-Static Digital, a PVC sheet for the flatbed print market (which was in full swing on Agfa's stand).

Why have one stand when you can have four? Take the grand Papergraphics tour to see everything from retail to décor to finishing, and finally an information hub to have all your enquiries answered. Papergraphics launched new products such as digitally printed window blinds and table covers, and its new vinyl range Sticky Prints. What really drew in the crowds was its Wallpaper Application Training, 30 minute demonstrations, four times a day, to find out the tips and tricks of perfect wallpaper application.



Also sporting the multiple stand approach was Ultima Displays, which showcased its many display stand solutions such as Formulate Snake, Formulate Serpertine Slope, and Formulate Straight Slope. The company demonstrated how these solutions can be used by using Formulate to make up their entire stand.

With digital signage becoming a major growth area, digital signage manufacturers One Digital Solutions, a division of Elonex, had a busy stand with around 30 interested visitors on day one and more prospective customers coming from sectors such as retail on day two.

Manos Gjikondi, software engineer for One Digital Solutions, highlighted the LED video wall for outdoor applications and wayfinding system as two of the products that drew in the most interest. All of the company's products, such as the Freestanding Razor Kiosks and 22” to 84” Ultra Thin Ad Displays, are manufactured here in the UK.



Another digital signage name visitors came across was Bauer Digital, which has a range of freestanding displays that are, for example, touchscreen or sunreadable. Jason Shave, sales director at Inurface Media, says: “People know they have got to go digital so there have been lots of people interested in digital displays this year. We are hoping this show will give us new leads, allow us to have interesting conversations, get to know sign companies that may want to partner with us, and generally find solutions to people's problems.”



Smart signage

As Sign and Digital UK 2016 drew to a close, 3D printing and ‘smart’ signage were two of the hot topics of the last day.

Along with the exciting UK debut of its Océ Arizona 1280 GT, Canon showcased a wide range of solutions on its stand at Sign and Digital UK this year. The 1280 GT's print quality can be enhanced even further with the option of adding magenta and light cyan.

Also featured on the Canon stand was the imagePROGRAF iPF8400SE for large-format printing and the Zund G3 XL 3200 digital cutter. Back for its second year at Sign and Digital UK was the popular and easy to use Océ ColorWave 700, a machine that is ideal for short-term POS work, and can be left unattended making it easier to use.



Derek Joys, market programme manager at Canon, says: "We really wanted to give people inspiration and ideas for what they can do and all our machines are representative of high value applications. We have been busy and have made two to three sales on the flatbeds, while 3D printing has also drawn in interest."


3D printing, a trend seen more than once across the hall, came in the form of the ProJet CJP 660Pro on the Canon stand. Peaking the interest of customers looking to offer something a bit different and add a new revenue stream to their business, the machine can print six million different colours, making it ideal for producing corporate colours.

Radecal Machine Sales were happy to report that 3D printing was also a good draw to its stand, showcasing the Maker Bot Replicator desktop 3D printer at this year's show.



Chris Economides, managing director of the company, aims to help sign-makers who are still trying to figure out how to incorporate such technology into their businesses, which is something he believes some sign-makers are still tackling.



He highlights the Monster 1425 Application Table and the 1325 Piranha ATC (automatic tool changer) as two pieces of kit that were the most popular on its stand this year.

Economides explains: "Sign and Digital UK is a great chance to meet new and old customers, and sign-makers are a big part of our market which is why we exhibit here. We have had a really good response to our show deals."

Smartphones have dominated the market in recent years and one company picking up on this trend was Innotech. The company, which is the official reseller of Spike in the UK, launched the Spike Laser Measurement Tool by IkeGPS at the show.



It is a laser device that you can attach to your smartphone to measure distances, calculating the area of a building, for example, which reduces the need for ladders when measuring areas for signage projects. This handy tool makes the survey and estimation process much easier and more convenient.

Kieran Dallow, marketing manager at Innotech, says: "We exhibited at Sign and Digital UK this year to launch our Spike device to show people how good it is; it really is best to see it in action. We also wanted to introduce our existing products to visitors such as banners and digital print media."

Drawing in a range of customers from sign-makers to large-format printers, Innotech's useful new product certainly caused a stir.

There was a plethora of inspiration at this year's exhibition and speaking to exhibitors, feedback has been positive about sales made and conversations had. A visit to an exhibitor's stand was commonly met with a wait, while visitors flocked around companies to find out more, proving that competition still remains fierce and there are plenty of opportunities out there for sign-makers to boost business.

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