Business News

A show with digital graphic technology, new materials and finishes to create unique products

Wednesday 20. March 2013 - Graphispag.digital marks a change of direction in the graphics business as personalisation takes off

Bespoke tiles, decorative vinyl, bath screens, garments and household textiles, vehicles bearing advertising, unique furniture, printed doors, micro-production in packing and packaging, smart labels, photo albums, books, leaflets and catalogues on demand, gift articles… The personalisation of any object or substrate is beginning to take off and is opening up new business opportunities in different sectors. The advances in digital printing, innovative materials and perfect finishes and textures that make it possible to create other forms of graphic communication will be exhibited in graphispag.digital, which will be held from April 17th to 20th in Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via Exhibition Centre. The new applications of imaging and printing, such as creativity, are now unlimited.
Organised in collaboration with the Graphispack Association, graphispag.digital 2013 will showcase the latest in processes, software, workflows and digital printing equipment, as well as materials, substrates, finishing systems, design, signage and other services. The list of exhibitors, the majority of which are Spanish, includes companies from Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Portugal and the U.S.
The show is coinciding with Sonimagfoto&Multimedia in order to show the synergies of imaging and printing, not only with the traditional graphic industry but also with an endless number of demand sectors (automotive, packaging, interior design and decoration, textiles, fashion and accessories, advertising, promotional gifts, jewellery, photography, art, funerary, etc.) that might use digital technology applications.
Change in model
The current economic climate, the growing competition of digital media and new consumer habits make it necessary to change the business model in the graphic arts industry, made up of some 10,242 companies that employ 103,773 workers in Spain, according to data from the INE (Spanish Institute of Statistics).
In the face of the evident decline in printing in sales and publishing, the graphic sector knows it has to go beyond paper and incorporate other materials, offer products and services with greater added value for the client and look for new forms of differentiation. These are the sector’s challenges.
For the President of graphispag.digital’s Organising Committee, Rafael Farrés, the graphics industry can “expand its supply and interact with electronic media thanks to technologies such as print on demand, interactive printing -QR codes and smart labels-,Web to print, functional printing of electronic components and high quality printing”.  For Farrés, “the future development of this sector will not come from the increase in volume of printed products, but from the increase in value of these products”.
The next graphispag.digital will take place in the midst of this sector crossroads, with the added determinant of a crisis that is limiting investments and access to financing.  The director of the show, Xavier Pascual, explained that the fair and its activities have been designed to “show technology, inspire ideas of emerging businesses, promote networking and exchange of information between graphics professionals in order to tackle the necessary reconversion and attract new groups that find innovative graphic communication applications in digital printing”.
Image&Print spaces
In order to help define the future of graphic communication, graphispag.digital, in collaboration with Sonimagfoto&Multimedia, has created different Image&Print spaces in which to reveal trends, present experiences and success stories and exhibit applications (innovative graphic products and services) that combine imaging and printing. In addition to commercial exhibits and advice from suppliers, trade visitors will find inspiration in the international congress, in the presentation corner, in the innovation area and in the exhibition of the best works entered in various contests in the sector.
In the Image&Print World Congress, around thirty experts from various countries will identify the areas where printing and imaging have great growth potential. Split into seven sessions, this international event will present: Experiences of companies that carry out printing on multiple substrates. Business opportunities through social media. Possibilities of innovation via interactive applications (augmented reality, QR codes and Print-On-Demand) associated with web-to-print.
This first-time congress will also tackle new business models in digital publishing and creation of contents for multiple channels and devices, such as tablets and smart phones; the importance of colour management in the end result of each project; new ways of capturing and creating images (three-dimensionality, retouching and CGI treatment) and trends of the global digital printing market and new market niches. Those interested can register for the whole Congress or for individual sessions. The Image&Print World Congress is sponsored by Agfa, Canon, Mactac, Roland, Hp, Esko and Nikon.
Image&Print Corner will host short conferences focused on exchanging information to connect with demand needs. Topics will include graphic design, Point of Sales Advertising (PoSA), augmented reality, 3D printing, new substrates and self-adhesive solutions, textile printing, printing of variable data, digital printing of packaging and labels, ecommerce and web-to-print, as well as photography.
A complementary activity taking place at the show is a work meeting of the technological platform 3Neo determine new applications of inkjet technology for the decoration of materials and for the development of OLED devices, solar cells, antennas, batteries, printed electronic circuits, RFID, smart packaging, etc.
Image&Print Innovation will be an area featuring finished graphic products to show the new applications of digital printing: from decorated fridges to inspired bathroom tiles, furniture with photos to home textiles, among many other proposals.
Lastly, the Image&Print Awards will feature the best entries in the contests hosted by graphispag.digital and the results of which will be announced during the show. They are the Anuaria Graphic Design Awards, the Letra Roland International Awards for Visual Communication, the Líderpack Packing, Packaging and PoSA Awards and the Marca Digital Awards for Screen Printing, Pad Printing, Digital Printing and Signage. The show will also host the traditional awards ceremony of Aserluz, the association that represents the illuminated signage.
Technical Professional Day
Another new feature this year is the Technical Professional Day on Saturday, April 20th to encourage graphic arts workshop personnel to visit the show. The day will be dedicated to specific activities to show these professionals the latest in technology and trends that are transforming the sector, in a relaxed atmosphere. “The fair offers an incomparable educational opportunity of which graphics companies should take advantage in order to involve their staff in this change of cycle”, said
Xavier Pascual.
Impressive Barcelona
In order to show the importance of the time and that it is not just another trade fair, graphispag.digital will be dressed with different applications done in digital printing with Barcelona as the core theme. The hexagonal paving designed by Gaudí, never-seen-before images of the city taken by the camera of the photojournalist Kike del Olmo, street signs and emblematic places nestled between the stands will form part of the setting with which the show will receive visitors. “With this initiative, we want the show to breathe and allow visitors to experience the potential of new graphic and visual communication”, said Xavier Pascual.
Barcelona will also be the star of an exhibition prepared by Marc Martí to show the history of graphic arts in the Catalan capital from the start of the 20th century to the 70s. Index Book will propose the exhibition Geo Graphic, homage to geography and to maps in all their creative uses and applications, with a wide range of projects inspired by cartographic elements, from product packaging to furniture.
Graphispag.digital is the only graphics trade fair being held in Spain in 2013 and has wide sector support through its leading companies, associations, professional organisations and educational centres. Professionals wishing to visit the show can get their accreditation through the website: