Out with 2024 in with 2025: The trends and challenges of wide-format print

As a new year begins, we take a look back over the key driving forces of the year for wide-format print and cast our gaze forward to the trends set to shape the year ahead.

We’ve all heard ‘cost of living’ mentioned enough times throughout 2024 to be well aware of the challenges facing businesses of all industries and the print industry has been no different. Printers have faced increases in paper, ink, and hardware costs, soaring energy prices, shortages of skilled workers, and more. In Autumn this year, Quocirca highlighted challenges such as reducing environmental impact, controlling costs, and security.

As a result, more printers have diversified into new areas of print to remain competitive, and outsourcing certain products is a cost-effective and accessible way to expand your offering and removes risks associated with investment in new kit and the need to expand your team and invest in training for new printing technologies.  

As a trade-only wide-format printer, Venture Banners is proud to be able to support the industry with their large-format needs and this year has been no different. Over the past 15 years, we have consistently invested in state-of-the-art print technologies so we are able to provide our customers with the highest quality print.

In May we invested in an EFI VUTEk FabriVu 340i+ dye-sublimation printer and a Zünd G3 3XL extended flatbed cutter which enabled us to expand our textile offering. Featuring an in-line calender, the FabriVu 340i+ has streamlined our production and allowed us to automate our textile printing even more. 

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. 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. 

In response to this trend, we have launched a brand new textile product - AirMesh Polyester. An incredibly versatile material, this new 100% polyester product can be used for all kinds of outdoor products and use cases from building wrap banners, heras fencing banners, cafe barriers and more. In addition to its versatility, AirMesh Polyester and has a number of environmental benefits including being lightweight and reusable, a PVC alternative, and compatible with recyclable plastic eyelets. 

Product and brand sustainability has been a key consideration amongst consumers for quite some time now, and there is plenty of research to corroborate this. According to PwC, 46% of consumers say they are buying more sustainable products as a way to reduce their impact on the environment. This was echoed by Whistl which found that 85% of consumers have become ‘greener’ in their purchasing in recent years.

At The Print Show in September, we launched a 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. 

Throughout 2025, 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. In addition to cardboard-based products, we expect to see growing sustainability concerns from consumers further accelerate the boom in textile signage materials. 

So, there you have it. Be it demand from customers, interest at trade shows, and more environmentally friendly alternatives being developed and launched, 2024 saw a significant rise in the talk of both sustainability and textile printing and we expect this to continue well into 2025.