Give Your Print Production a Fresh Look with Décor

When the pandemic created the urgent need for social distancing measures, the printing community responded quickly. Critical messaging applications were produced — they were bespoke, high quality, easy to install, eye-catching, and hardwearing.

Scottish print and signage solutions specialist Appeal Media is just one of a number of our clients who smoothly transitioned their production to deliver cost effective customized applications with design creativity: it used its Ricoh Pro TF6250 to manufacture thousands of hand sanitizer stations for schools and councils. The system was originally chosen because of its ability to print vibrant graphics directly onto rigid substrates, including foam board and aluminum. In just a few months after Great Britain went into lockdown it engaged more than 300 schools and Glasgow City Council in its sanitizer project.

Growth in industrial graphics and signage applications has been a well documented phenomenon.

Not so well well documented is the significant growth opportunities in printed décor and laminates including wall coverings and flooring. Smithers’ research highlighted the possibilities for the segment as part of findings in The Future of Functional & Industrial Printing to 2024. It estimated the global market will reach $137 billion by 2024, up from $90 billion in 2018.

Similarly buoyant predictions were made by FESPA’s 2018 Print Census that found 74% of respondents from the global print community identified wallpaper and décor as an area offering consistent growth.

Italian graphic design and print specialist Beepag is capitalizing on this. After enjoying dynamic growth with a Ricoh Pro L4100 large-format latex printer to produce wallpaper, it invested in a Ricoh Pro T7210 UV flatbed printer to expand into industrial decoration. It now prints vibrant customized graphics onto customized doors and interior furnishings.

All these opportunities are being transformed into a business reality by the advances in inkjet technology. Easy to use, cost effective and versatile systems support the production of multiple interior decoration applications. Technology advancements allow operations of all sizes to adopt industrial decor printing, expand capabilities, grow new markets, and enhance their services.