The ImagePerfect media range from Spandex has grown over an 18-year period of close dialogue with graphics producers, whose feedback and creative ideas are fundamental to the brand’s development. Print21 magazine talks to ImagePerfect category manager Steve Jacques about the evolution of these products in tandem with the fast-moving digital market.
How have you seen wide format print evolve over almost two decades?
SJ: When we launched ImagePerfect, digital technology was just starting to make waves in wide-format printing. Customers were looking for a wider variety of products than was available at the time, which promoted us to develop our own product range.
The early portfolio consisted mainly of digitally printable white and clear vinyls. As the print engines coming to market began to prove themselves capable of printing reliably onto a range of substrates, we added products such as printable meshes and textiles. By the mid-2000s, demand was growing for materials to enable more creativity in signage applications, so we introduced the ImagePerfect Signage products to the range.
How much do Spandex customers influence product development?
SJ: They play a fundamental role in driving product innovation. As their needs, and those of their clients, evolve – so does ImagePerfect. The signage and visual communications professionals we work with are creative and inventive, and they push us to find solutions to help realise their ideas, both in terms of image repro-duction and practicality of installation.
“Every day, customers surprise us with their inventiveness, using ImagePerfect products in ways we hadn’t envisaged.”
What market trends are influencing product innovation today?
SJ: Increases in the productivity of output devices have prompted wide format printers to ask for two key things: improved handling for high throughput, and optimum ink absorption to stop ink ‘swimming’ on the surface of the substrate or delaying drying; both of which cost the printer valuable time.
For signmakers, the quest is for greater durability; hence we’ve concentrated on improving dimensional stability to prevent shrinkage post-installation.
Growth of self-adhesive applications such as vehicle wraps and window graphics is driving us to innovate in areas such as bond strength, repositionability and opacity, for example with our PerfectApply products, which make for faster installations, and our pigmented adhesives which prevent show-through, giving the finished application a crisper look. Soft signage is another growth area, particularly in the events industry, but also in applications such as indoor wall graphics.
We’re also seeing demand for environ-mentally safe products, for example PVC-free and biodegradable products, plus decorative applications including wallpapers, metallics, printable window films and materials for floor graphics.
Are wide format customers changing their buying behaviour?
SJ: As the market matures, customers are choosing media more carefully for each job; they know quality counts. Banners are a good example; the biggest growth products are our higher performance cast-coated materials, compared with the laminated options which are better suited to short-term or indoor applications.
What factors should customers consider when purchasing materials?
SJ: The foremost reason for choosing any material should always be performance. Less seasoned buyers sometimes focus only on the cost of a product instead of the cost of the installation as a whole, of which the material is only a part. Such false economy makes installation and removal difficult; in the worst case, a bad job could cost you a customer.
When it comes to signage, it’s important to choose a material with good dimensional stability, reliable adhesion, good lay-flat properties and ease of cutting and weeding. The wrong choice might result in a job that shrinks or de-laminates, for example, which could turn into a very expensive mistake.
Our guiding principle with ImagePerfect, is to offer the optimum balance of price and quality for every job.
How do you foresee the market evolving over the coming years?
SJ: As commodity jobs become less profitable, having the confidence to diversify into new application areas is now critical to business growth for most printers and signmakers. Innovations in media enable customers to broaden their service portfolio and to offer their customers new solutions such as textiles, apparel, vehicle wraps and wall décor.
How do you support customers branching out into new applications?
SJ: By analysing the market and talking to customers, we’re able to bring entire product ranges to market that suit the skills of signmakers and printers and offer them an additional revenue stream. Every day, customers surprise us with their inventive-ness, using ImagePerfect products in ways we hadn’t envisaged.
For technical data and samples of Spandex’s ImagePerfect range, contact your local Spandex branch or visit: www.spandex.com.au