Large format printing - the areas that first come to mind are signage, advertising and poster printing. But there are other applications that are increasingly forcing their way into the order mix. Add textile printing to the mix and Duckdienst can offer a full range of services: Interior as well as exterior decoration. By Sabine Slaughter
It started years ago with poster printing and today extends to wallpaper printing, the production of individual floor coverings, curtains, table tops, kitchen fronts, bed linen as well as printing on leather, direct printing on walls - inside and outside - and many other materials.
The pandemic in particular has given a boost to interior and exterior design. Personalised, individualised is what not only companies, hotels but also private customers want to realise, adapt their environment and feel good in it. The home office, which is becoming more and more established, should fit one's own lifestyle and look accordingly. Digital large format printing offers the solution for most applications. There is almost nothing that cannot be realised.
People are individual and they want to express that - with their surroundings, with their appearance and also, if possible, with or on their valuables - be it a house or a car or even just the window frames or the garden design.
The pandemic has done the rest. Various lockdowns, home office work have led to a change in the world of work. According to surveys, 55 to 75 percent of employees who worked in a home office during the lockdowns want to continue working from home at least several times a week. Companies are mostly open to this demand, but depending on the survey, many would like to see their employees in the office at least once a week. This leads to the "temporary" construct of having a study or a workplace at home now being realised as a permanent workplace. And that is where employees want to feel comfortable. Renovations, conversions or even changes of residence that make the new working world possible are the consequences.
Companies are also changing. Is the large office building still fully needed? What can be done when the majority of employees are in a home office? Here, too, there are ideas and possible uses that were unthinkable before the pandemic. Particularly due to the current situation of the Ukraine war and the influx of refugees, some are considering whether to make their premises available to accommodate them. The cities and municipalities are desperately looking for premises that can be prepared with as little effort as possible. In the long term, the conversion of many office buildings into living space is already planned.
All of this, including the renovation, upcycling and replacement of furniture and equipment that is due on a regular basis anyway, ensures that there is an almost never-ending demand for individual solutions and design options. And here we haven't even counted the hospitality sector yet. No wonder, then, that the manufacturers of large-format printers have also discovered this area for themselves and now offer the right devices for everything with which this can be realised and with which the print service providers can stand out from their competitors.
Personalisation and individualisation are the trump cards. Whereas at the beginning of the pandemic there were still a few posters or stands with company names or logos in the background at the video conferences, this year it is becoming more personal and individualised with the company affiliation being presented in a presentable way.
We have compiled a number of application examples in several articles which highlight different possibilities to bring new momentum into the business, to feel comfortable and to realise individual solutions. Creativity, especially of the end customers, also plays an important role, because they are the ones who have to and should feel good.