Melony Rocque-Hewitt takes a look at some of the more unusual niche markets opened-up by digital wide-format print.
Digital print technology is at the stage where anything can be realised. Here we look at how some companies have capitalised on the possibilities of wide-format to grow and evolve their businesses and in doing so, have created new market areas.
The Big Sleep
The bereavement industry and digital wide-format printing are turning out to be a match made in heaven. The pressing need of the former to find ecological solutions for last rites, coupled with a cultural shift that is increasingly tending towards a celebration of the departed’s life, rather than his/her demise, has created a quiet revolution, which when underpinned with wide-format digital printing has created a new market.
Creative Coffins is one of the foremost players in this area. An offshoot of Guernsey-based advertising and design agency Hamilton Brooke (HB) established 22-years ago, Creative Coffins began almost by chance, when the creative team at HB was asked to design a coffin featuring album covers for a 70th birthday gift. The creation of this led to more enquiries to the point when the powers at HB realised they had a new business on their hands and Creative Coffins was born.
That was three years ago, and now Creative Coffins offers pre-designed, personalised / bespoke digitally printed coffins direct to the public via the Internet as well as through the more traditional route of funeral directors. To date the company has produced in excess of 1,500 coffins and demand is growing says Creative Coffins’ sales director, June Ozanne.
The coffins themselves are made to a patented design, using cartonboard produced from unbleached pulp containing 60% recycled paper as well as wood pulp sourced from sustainable forests. Clever, robust folding techniques and natural starch glue make traditional fixings redundant while handles are made of woven cotton.
All coffins, as you would expect, are made to order, digitally printed on an Agfa Anapurna XL and dispatched from a production site in Leicester with turnaround and delivery times of three days or under. The company initially started using the Zund UVjet 250-combi but only changed due to shipping logistics. Both machines, says Ozanne, have produced great results.
Creative Coffins offers a number of imagery options from its catalogue, which can then be personalised with the departed’s name and a date. However, the company also works directly with bereaved friends and relatives to create highly personalised items.
Ozanne says that quite surprisingly, digitally printed eco coffins are very popular amongst the older age group, and that it is not uncommon for people to buy them (sometimes even as presents) long before any actual dying has taken place. She also points out that many people plan their own funerals and Creative Coffins work with them to create the right look and feel for their final resting place, which she says is very rewarding work, as the many letters to the company testify.
While floral imagery is very popular - in particular, uplifting sunflowers - some of the more wacky designs have included Vote Lib Dem and Rest In Peas, which features an image of a coffin full of John Major’s favourite vegetable (each to his own).
Three designers work in-house at Creative Coffins and as Ozanne points out, the quality of imagery, vibrancy and depth of colour are vital. “Unlike other processes,” she says, “You’ve got to get it right - there’s no second chances here.”
Homes and gardens
What is really set to get the neighbours talking are the new photo curtains from German-owned company style-your-garage.com which gives plain old garage doors a whole new look turning your home into a local community focal point.
Style-your-garage.com offers over 250 3D photographic images that display garage fantasies: a spectacular racing car, wild horses, a batch of golden bars, and a fully stocked wine cellar. In addition, the company has managed to get cult brands on board like Harley-Davidson and Mini. Customers also have the option of sending in their own images for reproduction.
Company spokesperson Verena Lenninghausen says that images are printed onto exclusive material similar to truck tarpaulins but which have a finer structure. These are rip proof, can be cut without fear of tearing, are completely weatherproof and come with a fire safety certificate.
Turning suburbia into a David Lynch-style TV series is the brainchild of Thomas Sassenbach, a designer and head of advertisement agency Sassenbach and 204 in Munich. The idea came to him whilst driving through the grey streets of Cologne.
The company started the garage curtains in April 2008 and since then has extended to the rest of Europe, US and Canada. The curtains are output using a NUR Expedio 5000 and solvent-based UV inks, and now almost every type and size of garage (whether single, multiple or high capacity with up-and-over doors, wing door or sectional door) can be handled.
The company has set its sights on selling to Africa and Australia and also offers the same treatment for interior doors at www.style-your-door.com. Presently, the company has plans to launch www.style-your-window.com later this year.
Sound and vision
Initially, you wouldn’t think that there was any synergy between digital printing and sound control solutions for buildings, but you’d be wrong. In open plan areas such as restaurants, museums, offices and conference rooms, the space can get very noisy indeed as hard surfaces (such as walls and ceilings) reflect sound, allowing it to bounce back into the room, creating echo and reverberation. The situation becomes worse as people begin to raise their voices in order to be heard. Adding porous materials to the room reduces the level of reflected sound, dampening the echo and reverberation.
The Bucks-based Soundsorba has been providing acoustic products for the last 15 years and four years ago it set up Fotosorba, recognising there was a real need in its product portfolio to create acoustic panels that not only managed sound issues but also looked good.
Fotosorba acoustic art panels are made from a highly absorptive semi rigid fibreglass core with a digitally printed fabric face made of polyester. The panel can either be printed with an image chosen from the company’s library or from a customer's own image. The panels are created using dye-sublimation digital printing that is outsourced. Once an image has been printed, it is then returned to Fotosorba where it is applied to the acoustic panel with adhesive, over-laminated and finished to resemble an art canvas.
At 25mm thick, these sound/vision panels can be manufactured to customer requirements to fit almost any space. The surface of the panel can be vacuumed to remove surface dust and the printed panel surface can be cleaned with a damp cloth. Soundsorba managing director Munir Hussein says that the adoption of digital printing has bought in extra work for the company and the demand for its Fotosorba products have been growing year on year. Also, with their introduction, the company has a new customer base (such as surgeries and canteens) and they have allowed the company to penetrate the domestic market, particularly for home cinemas and conservatories.
www.soundsorba.com