Scott Conway, director of Venture Banners sees textile graphics and environmentally conscious exhibition stands grow in the coming year
At The Print Show in 2024, we officially launched our Monolith, honeycomb-board-constructed and fully-recyclable alternative to a roller banner or stretch fabric stand. The face and base, along with the packaging box, are all completely disposable and recyclable. The response from visitors to the new product was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the growing demand from print buyers for environmentally friendly signage alternatives, something that we expect to increase further in 2025
This demand is being driven by recognition that product and brand sustainability are a key consideration amongst consumers, and have been for quite some time now. As a result, we expect products such as cardboard-based products to be used increasingly for events and campaigns where signage has a short lifespan such as industry trade shows and roadshow-style events, as well as for POS signage.
A continued rise in popularity of fabric printing
Whilst banners and roller banners have always been the mainstay of our product range, since 2017, sales on our range of flags, stretch products, and textile graphics have grown significantly and now equates to 40% of the business. It was in response to this continued growth that we expanded our textile capacity last year, adding a third EFI VUTEk FabriVU dye-sublimation printer capable of direct-to-substrate and paper sublimation printing.
We don’t anticipate this growth in demand for fabric printing tapering off in 2025, if anything it will probably accelerate. One area where we’re likely to see this increased demand is for event stands, where lightweight fabric graphics are easy to install, remove, and transport. The graphics can also be washed, reused and recycled with other textiles, offering environmental benefits to increasingly eco conscious consumers.
