Soft Signage Materials

Soft signage is fast becoming a popular sector for signmakers to move into for good reason – the market demand is there. We’re seeing signmakers and graphics producers responding to demand from brands, retailers and exhibition companies looking to take advantage of printed textiles, so being able to offer a solution gives printers ready access to new revenue streams.

Written by
Ella Faulkner
Internal Sales

Soft signage is fast becoming a popular sector for signmakers to move into for good reason – the market demand is there. We’re seeing signmakers and graphics producers responding to demand from brands, retailers and exhibition companies looking to take advantage of printed textiles, so being able to offer a solution gives printers ready access to new revenue streams.

As a leading manufacturer and distributor of materials suitable for digital printing, we hold a huge range of stock for soft-signage applications including backlit, frontlit, textile banner, mesh and flag material, all available from our UK-based warehouse on a next-day delivery.

A prime development we’ve made with a number of our textile ranges is bringing new products to market that perform to our usual high standards yet are printable with non-textile specific technology. Giving companies with UV and latex printers access to exciting new textile products means no additional capital investment for them – and delivered in a single printing process too.

Through our research and manufacturing facility in the Far East and with our European textile manufacturing partners, we’re in a position to feed back from the market and influence future developments. The close relationship we have with our customers enables us to really understand the challenges they face; so for example, new and lighter weight fabrics for external use have been introduced to assist with the demands of reducing rigging requirements and wind loading.

Trade suppliers play an important role – especially in the grand format market as many signmakers don’t have the space or demand to warrant investing in a suitable printer. Working with a trade partner can help signmakers respond positively to a new enquiry whilst maintaining the customer relationship, but of course producing things in-house brings its own benefits.

It’s not always a cost or control based decision that prompts a printer to invest in additional kit. From a substrate perspective, it can bring greater creative freedom by enabling the printer to take ownership of the production process, making it easier to explore different effects and select the best material for the job.