As we point out in “The State of Display Graphics” (see article below), “don’t call it ‘wide format’”—and for a couple of reasons. First, print customers not steeped in industry jargon don’t know what it means, but, second, the technology used to produce wide format display graphics has been increasingly adopted for other kinds of printed materials, including packaging, décor, and even various kinds of textiles. So, in this issue, we look at how the display graphics and textile market segments have been evolving.

No one perhaps exemplifies the various trajectories display graphics can play more than Enhance-a-Colour, which David Zwang will be profiling on Tuesday, April 2. Despite the spelling of “Colour,” they are a New York company that has evolved to be able to produce any number of a wide variety of high-value print applications—the most recent of which is custom-printed carpeting. Our issue sponsor is swissQprint, and the Executive Q&A with Erik Norman and Michael Voight (also appearing on Tuesday) looks at how the versatility of today’s display graphics printing equipment is helping customers expand further into specialty and industrial printing applications.

Joanne Gore and Kevin Abergel team up on Wednesday, April 3 to look at how companies can use embellishments to add new dimensions (physically and metaphorically) to display graphics, making them even higher-value print applications.

Décor printing is a growing part of the display graphics ecosystem and on Thursday, April 4, long-time industry consultant Debbie Nicholson offers commercial print businesses some tips on breaking into décor printing. (Debbie will also be presenting a complementary webinar on how to break into décor printing on April 17. For more information and to register, visit here.) Also on Thursday, David Zwang looks at how Agfa is expanding into display graphics-adjacent areas, such as single-pass packaging.

On Friday, April 5, our Tales from the Database series shares some recent display graphics and specialty printing-related data from our latest Print Outlook 2024 report, as well as some historical trends.

Perhaps no one exemplifies the creativity and problem-solving of display graphics and signage producers than the winners of the annual FASTSIGNS Project of the Year, which Richard Romano and Amy Noble profile on Monday, April 8. You could say they eclipsed all the others. Also on Monday the 8th, Cary Sherburne looks at how new sustainability regulations coming out of the European Union (EU) have the potential to impact textile and apparel manufacturers.

In other important topics, on Tuesday, April 9, Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee take a sobering look at how data privacy laws are impacting the printing industry, and why printers would be well-advised to keep on top of new legislation that is starting to be enacted. Also on Tuesday the 9th, Pat explains how to “sell print where you live.”

In offset printing news, on Wednesday, April 10, Patrick Henry looks at print businesses’ rationale for offset press replacement—not with digital presses, but with new offset presses, whose new features can be a game-changer for these businesses.

On Thursday, April 11, Cary Sherburne provides a reality check on the current state of sustainability in the fashion and apparel world.

And on Friday, April 12, Johnson’s World looks to the stars for inspiration for promoting the efficacy of print.

All that and more in the Display Graphics & Textiles issue.