Big Picture - January/February 2015 - (Page 16)

INSIDE JOB 16 Printing for interior décor is a double bind: Do it poorly, and you've proven to your detractors that print is never going to measure up. Do it well, and it vanishes into the environment. In other words, a great print, whether it yields a branded drum light, a funky wallcovering, or a one-of-a-kind wall graphic, works best when it blends into a branded environment. The, "Wow, that's digitally printed?!" moment is largely a myth, unless you're talking shop with designers or PSPs. There is so much visual noise in stores, commercial spaces, and hospitality venues, that designers are increasingly talking about curating (read: paring down) merchandise, rather than the "stack 'em high, let 'em ﬂy" mentality. Signage is still a must, of course, but now subtlety is key. How can you work in a red, swooping logo without stamping it on T-shirted employees? How can you convey that a brand represents playful vibrancy, reﬁned athleticism, or youthful sophistication? To create restful, magnetic interiors, designers are increasingly turning to digital printing for everything from glass facades to drum lights to mural walls. This means printers are doing jobs they couldn't have imagined just a few years ago. It also means they're tasked with working with a new client base: architects and designers. The initial investments can be steep, but few players in this market and a growing demand for specialized techniques and materials also offer rich rewards to those who have the skills to win them. The competition is also ﬁerce: Several ﬁrms we contacted for this piece opted not to discuss their work, citing concerns over the competitive nature of this ﬁeld and proprietary techniques. Clearly, for those who master the skills, there is money to be made. AN EXPLOSION OF GROWTH According to Josette O'Neil, an account manager at Chicago's Cushing print shop, demand for interior installations is booming: "Three years ago, we did maybe 20 installations in a year doing display graphics," she says. "The following year, it was 200." And the growth is coming not just from traditional customers, but also a range of applications from healthcare, educational, and retail spaces to corporations weaving company culture into lobbies, hallways, and workspaces. And though the techniques may be high-tech for printers, they can be low-tech replacements for digital signage for design ﬁrm clients who simply don't have the resources to update content. "One wall with a great scene, and you immediately pull people in," says Joan Insel, a design strategist for Callison. "With vinyl, once it's up there, you have it, and you can change it relatively inexpensively." To wit, the Seattle-based design ﬁrm recently used photographs commissioned by Sterling Bank to install a double-height, oversized graphic of trees in a rebranded space in Portland, Oregon. So, what's the key to success? According to Felipe Araujo of Egue y Seta, a Barcelonan design ﬁrm, it's an understanding of new, shorter cycles of renovation and the demand for low-cost, durable materials that can replace more traditional stone or wood. "We think the key factor is creativity," he says. "Today, printing goes farther than imitation, interpreting, and exploiting the expressive forms of different materials in different ways." The steps behind success, however, are not only exploiting these differences, but also selling them to designers and architects. Printers, with low-cost, durable materials that meet client needs, have an advantage over suppliers of wood, metal, etc., if only they can get themselves in front of design ﬁrms and pitch it well. EDMON LEONG BIG PICTURE January/February 2015 Architects from UNStudio and glass processor Glas & Tongue used Dip-Tech printers and more than 2000 panels of white and bent glass to create this soaring graphic at the luxury Hanjie Wanda Square mall in Wuhan, China.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - January/February 2015

Big Picture - January/February 2015
Contents
Insight
Wide Angle
Upfront
Dynamic Signage
Inside Job
Focus
R+D
Explorer

Big Picture - January/February 2015