Large Format Printing

Consumers get used to such communication channels of promotion as TV, radio, and brochure advertisement. Among tonnes of all kinds of ads, they notice mostly very vivid or large posters that influence their buying behavior, even unconsciously. Businesses find their way to become different and creative to make a consumer life-long client. Working with a large format area gives boundless potential for businesses to receive outcomes.

Production, Inks, and Material

Wide-format refers to devices that can handle papers 24 inches and more. Printing technologies for wide-format printings are following offset lithography, flexography, and digital printing. Printing of a large format includes big paper or other materials such as plastic, wood, or fabric. The technological process of production can be described as inks that are directly applied to the printing surface. Printers use cyan, magenta, yellow and black colors combined to represent the best quality and visibility of the images. Places that offer printing services also offer designers who can assist with color choice and explain the trends and ways to improve your advertisement. Content managers can write the text or slogan for a campaign that will help to sell the product better and faster and will increase the awareness of a brand.

There are four inks used for large printings: aqueous, solvent, UV curved, and latex. Aqueous inks are based on water and come into dye and pigment (UV) varieties. Dye inks provide smooth tones in the detailed images but are not waterproof. Because of this reason, they often used indoor rollers and pop-up stands. Pigment inks are stable in UV lights so they can be used for posters outside with straight sunlight since they are suitable for short outside presentations. Solvent inks include volatile organic compounds and are waterproof, UV safe, and inexpensive. The printing with these inks are widely used for billboards, adhesive decals, and banner since need ventilation and have long-term durability. UV-curved inks are getting dry as soon as they have been printed and make a robust image. As a rule, they are printed directly on some surfaces such as wood, plastic, or aluminum, and give a 3D effect (Hudson, n.d.). Latex inks provide quality performance on polyester, fabrics, paper, and polyethylene. It is odorless and has a three-year guarantee for outdoor usage. In order to achieve their aim and meet the budget, companies think over the advantages and disadvantages of a different kind of printing.

Large Format Printing Forms

Wide-format printings have numerous forms, sizes, and purposes. First of all, they are worth using as indoor and outdoor advertisements. A large format is suitable for product presentations, events, and decorations. Most popular forms are barricaded graphics, billboards, wall murals, window graphics, branded interiors, exteriors, vehicles, events and promotions, installations, hanging/pull-up/spider banners, flags, stickers, mounted prints, posters, furniture appliances, and many others. Companies use them in order to increase brand awareness, sales, visibility, and pay attention to new products, opening hours or shops, and event announcements (RediPixel, n.d.). Non-commercial organizations achieve social familiarity with risks or diseases, need for animal protection, or ecological awareness.

Billboard advertisements reach the potential customer on the move and are visible to a crowd of different ages, occupations, and segments. For the same purpose, companies put posters in train stations, in airports, and other frequent gatherings of people. Signs appear both indoors and outdoors in order to show direction and deliver information and warnings. Banners are widely seen in tradeshows, different festivals, and sports events. They display a reason for celebration or occasion, sponsors, and opening hours. Companies locate flags near the outdoor event in order to mark the entrance and exit, boundaries, and a meeting point. A floor graphic is a good promotion tool for malls and museums to direct the audience to the exact location or offer. A tablecloth is also a part of large format printing products and plays the role of decoration. Coverings are popular in charity evenings, tradeshows, and fates. Storefront windows are wide areas that can deliver the information to those who move by car, public transport, and on foot since can easily notice the printing since it is on the visual level. They provide us with new collection releases or discounts. Window graphics work from the outside as protectors from spectators and those who sit inside can enjoy the street life. These perfectly work for cafes, restaurants, and stores as well as for beauty salons, pharmacies, and so on. Escalator advertising is, as a rule, an additional option to the full packaged advertisement campaign. Car branding helps to identify which company is this car belongs to and used as an ad on the go. Also, wide format printing is effective when located near point-of-purchase, for example in supermarkets, shops, restaurants and cafes, and others.

Business Usage

Home designs and real estate businesses can benefit from the wide-format printing since they can show their clients, possible future models of homes and structures, near them. Clarification and visualization of projects can help in selling and impressing clients. Moreover, detailed schematics printed on the surface display interconnection with other buildings or additional structures and facets. The other usage of wide format printing is their mimic of wood, stone, or brick that becomes a part of furniture or décor.

Marketing and advertising use large printing for capturing customers’ attention via vivid colors, symbols, logos, slogans, and graphics-rich posters. One of the most obvious examples of such ads is cinemas that put all kinds of attractive posters to present a new movie. They also pay for billboards and wall-high images in order to catch the audience’s attention. Entertainment is such an industry that requires additional promotion all the time, offering sales, happy hours, changes in programs, or new types of activities all the time. Concerts, shows, comedians,s or musical performances have to be announced as well and large printings are helpful. Education courses and schools promote their extra-curricular clubs and activities via informational posters.

Automobile dealers like to make flags with their logos on them for the outside decoration of their company. The real advertisement effect from the large printings can be achieved together with implementing some other ways of promotion. Well-known automobile company Toyota created a campaign to introduce their new car RAV4 Hybrid. For this, they printed climbable billboards in Times Square, New York, and let the professional climber scale during NY International Auto Show (IFAI, 2016). Mass media filmed this and discussed it during the next few weeks which guaranteed brand awareness of Toyota. It also took the audience’s attention away from their competitors that were also presented at that Auto Show. Generally, all businesses can benefit from large format printing since they are customer-oriented and need public attention all the time.

Tradeshows and Events

Tradeshows are the natural environment of the wide-format printing presented by companies that fight for customers. Each company tries to become visible, attractive, and memorable. Exhibiting the needs of a company can be achieved through signs, banners, booth backdrops, flags, posters, and cardboard cutouts. In such events, companies can promote their products and increase logo familiarity, deliver a key message of the campaign and attract new partners, sponsors, and customers . The effect of the tradeshows depends on the design of the posters and other large format printing, logo, and text printed in the products, and water resistance material, especially for outside usage. It is also important to choose inks that will make the image good-looking, clear, and of high quality. New trends are also taking care of the environment so marketing material has to be eco-friendly (Banner Stands, n.d.). Portable stands usually have easy to use mechanisms for transportation and tool-free assembly. There is a special kind of walled stand that contains two or three pieces for different possibilities of adding television, literature stands, and other preferred options. Event managers employ large printing not only for business-related meetings but for weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, and others. In this case, the role of printing is not to inform but to be a part of the decoration, separate areas, and become a zone for photoshoots.

Conclusion

Mass customization requires additional communication and distribution channels for profit. Companies found printing as a tool and way to strengthen competitive advantage and present it in a wide format. The advantages of large printing are in possibility to show the advertisement to a large number of people from market segments and increase brand awareness. Disadvantages are in costs that have to be an investment for quality and durability of using printing and design of the image have to be specific and easy to understand. Except for advertising, wide format printing is excellent for decorating, separating parts of a room or outside the area, sharing information, mark meeting points. The main trends in wide-format printing are using ecological materials, simplicity in design, and a variety of purposes that can be helpful in businesses.