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WHY THIS SUPPLEMENT?
- To demonstrate the possibilities of digitally printed interiors on a variety of substrates including textiles, wallpaper, ceramic tile, window shades, and fine art media, either individually or as a suite of products
- To educate the interior design/architectural community about the design possibilities available with digital printing
- To bring together the designers and architects with the digital print-for-pay community
Around 1994, a new class of digital printers was introduced to the market: wide-format graphics printers that had the capability to digitally print full-color graphics in very short runs (as small as one). Today the retail value of output from these wide-format graphics printers (primarily inkjet) in North America is more than $12 billion. While the majority of these revenues are for signage-related products, digitally printed decorative products, such as wallcoverings, textiles, and ceramic tiles, have revenues of more than $200 million in North America. Many print-for-pay (PFP) shops that began printing signage are now looking for new customers, markets and applications, and are finding that decorative products fit the bill.
As competition in the wide-format graphics market increases, entrepreneurial PFP shops are looking at new markets, such as digitally printing decorative products, for growth. New PFP shops coming from the interior design market are also offering digitally printed products, such as textiles, to the interiors market as well.
Digitally printed decorative products such as wallcoverings, textiles, and ceramic tiles, can create a "Win, Win, Win!" situation for digital print shops, designers/architects, and their clients. For print shops these products offer the possibility of new customers, new products and higher margins; for designers/architects they offer the possibilities of new types of designs/solutions not possible with analog printed products; and for their customers they offer unique ways to differentiate themselves.
DIGITALLY PRINTED DECORATIVE PRODUCTS MAKE SENSE
There are two reasons why digitally printed products for furnishings applications make sense both for digital PFP shops as well as the interior design community.
PFP SHOPS LOOK FOR NEW CUSTOMERS
For PFP shops the move from signage-related products to decorative products provides these shops with new, higher-value offerings such as wallcoverings, window treatments, ceramic tiles, etc. The wide-format graphics market at 10+ years old is no longer a new market and competition for signage related products is fierce. PFP shops are looking for new applications, new markets, and new customers. For many of these shops the first product is wallpaper: there is little difference between a BIG sign and wallpaper.
DESIGNERS & ARCHITECTS NEED TO BE LEADING EDGE
Leading designers and architects want to be considered leading edge and digital is leading edge. An article in the IIDA Forum newsletter a few years ago about designers stated,
"We are entering a period during which the nature of our practice and the legitimacy of our future are being determined in a number of arenas both inside and outside the profession.
"There is a new awareness of and emphasis on the importance of design in daily life. Everywhere we look, from television and radio to magazines and billboards, we cannot help but be impacted by the extraordinary emphasis that design has on our existence.
"We as designers are the leaders in the development of innovation. To a great extent, we determine how corporate entities see themselves, present themselves and define themselves, and we provide the environments for their customers, staff, and collaborators."
The author, Eric Engstrom, could have been writing about the impact of digital printing on the design industry. Digital printing enables new types of designs, images, colors in almost any size. Digital printing provides designers and architects with new types of products to offer to clients, such as customized environments including wallcoverings, textiles, and ceramic tiles. Digital printing enables designers and architects to be perceived as leading edge, the leaders in the development of innovation that can bring new types of design solutions to their customers.
THE WHO: DIGITAL PRINT SHOPS
- Digital printers are very versatile and can print variety of substrates, including textiles.
- Digital print shops learn to print on many substrates, primarily for advertising related application
- Signage is the bridge to other products
- Now seeing new types of print shops enter the market: designers who see a need to do things differently and offering products to home furnishings market
In 2004, I.T. Strategies coined the term "Decoadvertising" to show the merging of advertising and decoration. Is it a sign or is it wallpaper? More importantly, whose business; is it? The PFP shop? The Designer? The architect? What budget will this type of product come from? The decorating/design budget? The advertising budget? Both are still open questions. The move toward decoadvertising continues. Digitally printed decorative products, especially wallcoverings, are most successful in the commercial market (rather than the residential market) because it's about brand. Businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and casinos that have a strong brand are using digitally printed products to support that brand further.
PFP SHOPS ALREADY DOING DECORATIVE PRINTING
In a 2005 I.T. Strategies survey of wide-format PFP shops, five percent of 650 shops indicated that decorative printing is one of their top two applications. Sixty-four percent of those saying that decorative printing is one of their top two applications expect it to increase in the next year.
A wide variety of PFP shops indicate the decorative printing is one of their top two applications, suggesting that the decorative printing application will be done by many types of PFP shops. And, typical of the wide-format PFP market, almost half of these shops have revenues of less than $1 million, unlike traditional "manufacturing" companies that typically would be much larger.
WHY DIGITAL PRINT SHOPS?
"The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton Christensen, states the hypothesis that established companies lose market leadership when confronted with disruptive changes in technology and market structure. Traditional manufacturers of wallpaper, textiles and other decorative products, are based on a mass production manufacturing model where economies of scale are realized when large quantities of products are manufactured. These manufacturers print using analog print technology such as screen and gravure and are therefore limited to the size of the screen/cylinder in terms of design repeats.
According to I.T. Strategies, digital printing is a disruptive technology. New types of printing/manufacturing companies will take market share from established manufacturers in many industries such as textiles and wallcoverings. Digital print shops may be the new manufactures of these types of digitally printed products. Digital printing offers the ability to create a new type of product not limited to the size of the screen/cylinder, not limited in terms of colors and designs possible, and the ability to print very short, custom runs. Therefore, the design/architectural communities need to get to know digital print shops that can produce these types of products.
FOR CUSTOMERS, IT'S ABOUT BRAND
Herman Miller designs, manufactures, and distributes office furnishings and interior products throughout the world.
In 2001, Herman Miller introduced the Resolve System. The system is a structure based on poles with screens attached at 120 degree angles. This approach allows greater flexibility in designing panels and workspaces. Customers can have their own custom graphics digitally printed on the screens or can choose designs from a library of Herman Miller designs. At the 2004 Neocon show, a Herman Miller spokesperson called the Resolve System, the most successful Herman Miller new product launch ever.
The Resolve system is primarily used to reinforce branding and to make the workplace more enjoyable. Customers have included an aircraft manufacturer that printed custom images on the screens to present a workplace that suggested an up to date corporation; a company that printed seasons (summer, fall, winter, spring) on panels and changed them out at appropriate times; and an undergarment manufacturer that took photos of body parts, enlarged them until they were almost unrecognizable, and had them printed on Resolve screens.
The cost for Resolve screens is $28 more than a standard dot screen. The company is looking at putting digital images on other surfaces such as glass, Plexiglas, and acrylic. The challenge will be to educate and convert customers and designers to the new media.
BOTTOM LINE
Digitally printed decorative products such as wallcoverings, textiles and ceramic tiles and glass, can create a "Win, Win, Win!" situation for digital print shops, designers/architects and their clients. For print shops these products offer the possibility of new customers, new products and higher margins; for designers/architects they offer the possibilities of new types of designs/solutions not possible with analog printed products; and for their customers they offer unique ways to differentiate themselves. Wide-format digital printing is not going away. Increasingly it will be adopted by more and more PFP shops as they look to grow their businesses and effectively compete in a more competitive market.
I.T. Strategies, established in 1993, is a research and consultancy firm dedicated to serving companies in emerging digital color printing markets. The company specializes in emerging digital color printing technology, markets and applications in areas such as wide-format graphics, textiles, wallcoverings, and packaging. For more information visit, www.it-strategies.com.
author: By Patti Williams