Need a new string to your print shop’s bow? Print continues to evolve, and if you want to stay ahead of the game and offer what your customers will be wanting next, you’ll need to know what’s incoming. In this post we explore new trends in print media, and how best to bring these products to your business.
Nothing stands still. For every print shop, there’s the constant challenge of delivering what your customers need now, while looking ahead to make sure you’re ready for what they’ll need next. So if you’re worried that you’re relying on traditional print media a little too much, here are the new print media trends you need to know, as seen through four Soyang product innovations.
1. Advertising, retail, restaurants, sports, education: An eco-banner banner where PVC is banned
It’s not just that sustainability is something more businesses are exploring; it’s the fact that, increasingly, if you want to be a supplier to major customers, you’ll need to demonstrate your sustainability credentials.
That’s why PVC-free has become an emerging trend in print media. Still vibrant. Still wide format. Still suitable for indoor and outdoor use. It’s just that our Solar Grey Back Banners reduce the pollution, increase the recyclability and remove the chemicals associated with traditional banner production.
Order a sample of Solar Grey Back Banner Stand Fabric
2. Retail and exhibition: A new standard in backlighting
Backlit textiles are hardly new. They’ve been a staple of retail and event advertising in recent years because of the way they make details pop and colours explode. But not all backlit textiles are the same. With inferior materials, you risk warping and creasing, and without the right density you’ll get pinpricks of white light shining through the fabric weave, reducing the visual impact.
That’s why extra-dense textiles have become a new print media trend, because they ensure less light leakage, so the focus stays on the product, not the light.
In addition to density, the Hera Luxury backlit material offers reduced warping. It recovers from creases fast too, so if it’s being used in a pop-up display it’ll withstand constantly being assembled, disassembled, folded and transported.
It’s also Global Recycled Standard-compliant, which means its recyclability and its recycled content have both been independently verified.
Order a sample of Hera Luxury Backlit
3. Signage, vehicles, retail POS, manufacturing, exhibitions: Sticky flexibility
One of the challenges of running a print shop is what to stock. Keeping things as lean as possible is good for the bank balance, but delivering the speed your customers need requires a certain level of inventory. It’s here that flexibility can make a difference. You could stock different vinyls for signage, vehicles, retail POS and more. Or you could stock a single vinyl that can do them all.
That’s what you get with the SoStick range of self-adhesive vinyl solutions, and through it we seem to have started a whole new print media trend of our own.
Developed in-house and with our partners and designed with flexibility in mind, SoStick is a collection of permanent, removable, grey back, bubble-free and high-tack vinyl stickers. The monomeric version is ideal for retail graphics, exhibition graphics, POS and short-term indoor graphics. Polymeric SoStick options are perfect for signage, vehicle graphics, hoardings, long-term outdoor signage, window graphics and more.
Consistent, vibrant colours and a real premium feel are what set SoStick apart. Customers tell us there’s none of the frustrating droop that you get with other sticker materials, too.
And just to double down on the innovative nature of the product, we’re working on a PVC-free version that will see it become a trend setter in sustainability as well as flexibility.
4. Retail, exhibition and entertainment: Show off with Show Floor
Experiential is a new print media trend that’s gained a lot of traction recently. Materials you interact with, rather than purely look at, increase engagement and add lots of impact.
That can be especially true for floor graphics, which have the power to elevate any space, but only if they stay looking their best. That’s the key innovation of Show Floor from Soyang Europe, which combines vibrant printability, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendly properties with exceptional durability.
Designed to withstand high levels of footfall, Show Floor ensures that it’s not just the first visitors to an attraction, showroom or expo that get the best impression – it’s all visitors.
Talk to Soyang
Want to stay ahead of the curve in the print materials you stock. Talk to us about trends in print media.
