10 minute read
VISUAL IMPACT 2024
Sales success at Visual Impact 2024
Visual Impact Brisbane 2024 proved to be a soaring success, with record attendance figures and strong sales reported by exhibitors.
Visual Impact Brisbane has been hailed an outstanding success by the event’s organisers, with the three-day event exceeding expectations and garnering plenty of praise from exhibitors.
According to the event’s organiser, Visual Connections, initial indications are that almost 2500 people visited the show over the three days, up 20 per cent compared with 2018.
“We are delighted with the way the industry – both exhibitors and visitors – embraced the opportunities provided at Visual Impact in Brisbane,” said Charly Blades, events manager for Visual Connections.
Held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Visual Impact is the industry’s leading show for sign, display, print and graphics showcased solutions for signage and displays, wide-format, textile and garment printing, LED and illumination, fabrication, routing, engraving and laser cutting, software and workflows.
Most who attended were, as expected, from around Brisbane and across Queensland, however, there were also solid numbers reported from New South Wales and the NT. Visitors also attended from Perth, Melbourne, and New Zealand.
The sold-out show addressed some of the most important market trends and key challenges being faced by industry businesses. With the shortage of skilled staff, a challenge for many attendees, interest was high in any systems which allowed for the removal of touchpoints in production, allowing businesses to ‘do more with less’ and grow despite industrywide staff shortages.
Sustainability was also focus for many exhibitors, with new media releases and features such as improved energy efficiency and reduced waste on show, and new opportunities were also featured, with businesses able to explore a diverse range of technologies to create valuable new revenue streams.
These themes also came through strongly in the seminar program which ran throughout the show in the new Connections Centre presentation lounge. With a variety of topics and speakers, the sessions were well attended, with the more intimate, conversation-focused approach welcomed by visitors.
Interest in the Sign & Print Career Connections stand, and adjacent Try-ATrade area was also steady, with a particular focus was given to promoting the resources which are available to businesses to support the employment, and retention, of apprentices – a vital component to ensure industry opportunities match the high level of interest from potential trainees.
Connect with success
In line with this year’s theme, ‘connect with success’ Visual Impact was an opportunity for many to reconnect with the Queensland market after more than six years, with the event providing attendees three days of live demonstrations, education sessions, and networking events.
“Visual Impact has been a great opportunity for us to demonstrate all our brands and reacquaint ourselves with the local market,” Tony Bertrand, head of marketing at Ball & Doggett told ProPrint
“The diversification that we have in our business is huge now, so it’s been great to expose our brands to our customers, particularly those in the Queensland market.”
With a focus on sustainability at this year’s event, Ball & Doggett announced its exclusive partnership with GALE Pacific to bring Ecobanner to the Australian market. Ecobanner by GALE Pacific is the only Australian-made, PVC-free flexible banner fabric capable of offering a 100 per cent closed-loop recycling solution. It is also understood to be the first of its kind to be manufactured in Australia with closed-loop recycling capability.
“We are thrilled to partner with Ball & Doggett to bring Ecobanner to the Australian market,” said Troy Mortleman, GALE Pacific general manager, ANZ.
“Sustainability across technical fabrics has never been more important and we are driven to provide meaningful innovation to our clients to assist them in reducing their environmental footprint. Ecobanner has been developed in partnership with the print industry and sets a new benchmark for sustainability.”
According to Peter Townsend, Graphic Art Mart’s business development manager – equipment for New South Wales and Queensland, Visual Impact was a chance for Graphic Art Mart to connect with the market since its consolidation with the Amari Visual Solutions business earlier this year.
“We now have a total solution for the market and for our customers,” Townsend said of the recent merger.
It was also the first time SMARTECH exhibited together in Australia with Agfa and Canon since their distribution partnerships were announced in February and March this year.
“We had a fantastic experience at Visual Impact in Brisbane,” SMARTECH’s head of marketing and communications for Asia Pacific, Ximena Guzman, told ProPrint
“The show provided an excellent platform for us to showcase SMARTECH’s latest innovations and new portfolio. We experienced good traffic, which allowed us to engage with a diverse range of attendees.
“The event was particularly significant for SMARTECH as it marked our first show showcasing Agfa/Canon. These partnerships are opening doors to several promising opportunities. The positive reception to our combined offerings has been encouraging, and we are excited about the potential for further collaborations and business growth.
“Additionally, our continued partnership with HP was a highlight at the event. As the largest reseller of HP’s mid-range printers, we were pleased to showcase our comprehensive solutions and strengthen our position in the market. The strong interest and positive feedback we received underscore the value of our ongoing relationship with HP and our commitment to delivering top-tier products and services.”
Innovation on show
Industry leading manufacturers and distributors showcased new and innovative equipment and technologies, providing a firsthand look into the future of the industry.
Currie Group showcased a range of innovative applications on its stand, which was produced by Brisbane-based Spyder Displays on an EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340i+, with the group showcasing the latest equipment from partner brands including Canon and EFI, as well as its most recent partner, Elitron.
“Elitron is an important piece of the puzzle in terms of bringing our printing to a complete finished product,” Paul Whitehead, business unit manager sign and display, told ProPrint.
The hero product on display for Currie Group was the Canon Colorado M-series with FLXture. The printer was wrapped in a vibrant magnetic media that was also printed on the Colorado M-series.
Currie Group also announced a new partnership with Italian finishing manufacturer Neolt Factory for the supply of a range of loading, unloading and finishing systems for the Canon Colorado M-series printer range.
Currie Group will be the exclusive agent in the ANZ region for the Neolt Wallpaper Factory solutions. These include ‘jumbo roll in – jumbo roll out’ systems which increase the capacity for long run lengths of products like wallpaper without need for operator intervention, and jumbo roll-to-cut solutions which allow rolls to be converted automatically straight off the printer.
Whitehead said Neolt Wallpaper Factory will deliver huge advantages, particularly for businesses doing large runs of wallpapers or similar products, or multiple smaller runs of wallpapers or trimmings that require post-production finishing.
“The Neolt systems will allow Canon Colorado M-series users to lift their productivity with no additional labour requirement, by fully utilising the automated features of the printers and enabling longer, unattended production runs as well as in-line converting.
Taking creativity to a new level, Epson Australia’s paid homage to its local surroundings with its Great Barrier Reef-inspired stand, which was also awarded the Best Custom Stand.
“Our theme this year is ‘beauty in every dimension’,” Priscilla Dickason, Epson Australia marketing manager, told ProPrint
“It’s the perfect way to show the beautiful and vibrant colours of the Great Barrier Reef using our own printing solutions.”
In a world first, Epson Australia unveiled the company’s new SureColor F9560 dye sublimation printer. The new model replaces the previous SC-F9460 and SC-F9460H with a more compact package that offers significant speed improvements, extended colour support, and more convenient consumables management.
Other Australian firsts on display included the new SureColor F1060 compact desktop DTG and DTFilm printer purposebuilt for in store and in-house fabric customisation, the SureColor V1060 compact desktop UV printer purpose built for customising consumer goods, merchandise and making small signs, and the SureColor P20560 64” aqueous printer that combines an enhanced gamut with a new bulk ink system to enable cost-effective production of fine art and large format interior POS.
Spicers showcased its house of brands including the latest addition to its portfolio, Neschen. Other brands on show included Roland, Mimaki, General Formulations and 3M, which Spicers recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary with.
“The show has been a great opportunity for us to meet and collaborate with new and existing customers,” Spicers’ Wayne Hood said.
Pozitive Sign & Graphic Supplies focused its presence on Summa, debuting the latest Summa S3 for the first time at an Australian trade event.
“Visual Impact has been a great show for us, and visitors have been really interested in the Summa product range,” said Pozitive’s national sales manager, Alfred David.
HP Australia debuted the HP Latex 630W printer, however, it was HP’s Live Production Printer Remote Control software that also garnered significant interested from attendees, according to Craig Hardman, ANZ country manager large format printing at HP.
“It’s been a refreshing change from a very tough market to see people so interested and excited to look at new technologies,” said Hardman.
“It’s been busy across the HP stand but the HP Latex L630W has had a lot of interest from smaller sign shops that have visited the show.
“We’ve also been doing a lot of work on workflow, ecommerce, and design software. We’ve been taking our customers through our new workflow solution on the stand and that’s proved to be really popular. For many printers now, they have less time and more and more jobs come at the last minute so the ability to be able to view and control their business and have a wider understanding of where things are at from a workflow perspective is something they’re looking at.”
The Visual Connections’ Charly Blades said the team is now planning the next Visual Impact Expo, which will co-locate with PacPrint 2025 and the Label & Packaging Expo at the Sydney Showground in May next year.
“Visual Impact 2025 will feature even more information, ideas, and inspiration.”
