2018 State of the Visual Communications Industry Report

• “The combination of more media choices, better inks and various printing technologies (aqueous, latex, solvent) is allowing us to produce a greater number of applications.”
• “This is clearly a growing area. Consumers are realizing all that they can do with wide-format and adopting it as a great form of advertising.”
• “We continue to attract new customers once we show them the capabilities of both the roll-to-roll and flatbed printers.”
• “Visual media continues to be a valid part of marketing, and the wide variety of printable materials expands the client application opportunity.”
• “Everywhere you go you see
  wide-format graphics ... hospitals, airports, retail ... they surround us and there is still a lot of application growth possible for technology.”
• “It seems like the manufacturers are always coming up with devices that offer faster throughput and higher quality.”
• “Instead of printing books for meetings, companies are spending more money on making the event look better ... with posters, pop-ups, backdrops, wall wraps, etc. This opens up a wide array of opportunities and capabilities, intersecting with multiple industries.”
• “Advances in printing technology make it more affordable for customers to purchase and easier for us to produce.”
• “Technology keeps improving the market.”
• “It has been our fastest growing department over the past three years and it has been growing 30%+ year-over-year.”

Ample App Opportunities

Because wide-format devices can print on almost any surface, there is a breadth of application opportunities. Respondents reported the top growing sign and display applications (at least 60% of respondents indicated offering these services) including: