FESPA Global Print Expo 2019, which took place 14 to 17 May 2019, delivered an insightful and interactive array of event features, providing visitors to the exhibition with the opportunity to discover new possibilities for their businesses through educational content and live technology and workflow demonstrations.

Around 7,000 unique visitors attended the six features, which included Printeriors (printed interior and exterior décor), Print Make Wear (garment printing and production), Colour L*A*B* (colour management), the Trend Theatre (conference programme), FESPA Awards display and the World Wrap Masters vehicle wrapping championship. Collectively, the features provided a combination of creative displays, engaging speakers, guided tours and practical demonstrations.

The popularity of the features was a reflection of the fact that one in three visitors said that updating their industry knowledge was a focus for their visit.

Making its debut at FESPA Global Print Expo 2019 was Colour L*A*B*, a technology showcase and supporting conference programme to help print service providers improve colour management practices in their print businesses. A total of 917 visitors took part in the dedicated expert tours, attended the conference sessions or interacted with the feature. One in three of these were Owners or Directors, and in keeping with FESPA’s international audience, visitors to Colour L*A*B* came from a total of 68 countries.

Stefan Barbieri, CEO of Colour L*A*B* exhibitor Barbieri Electronic commented on the success of the inaugural feature: “Colour L*A*B* was a good environment to emphasise the importance of colour management in the digital print process. The educational area of the feature was well cast with professionals and the exhibitor area, which was made up of expert guided tours, provided visitors with a good overview of the technologies involved. Our stand was positioned next to Colour L*A*B* and we had a number of visitors come to speak to us from the feature who were looking for deeper explanations and more information.”

Print Make Wear, which returned to FESPA Global Print Expo for its second year, covered more floor space compared with the first edition in 2018. The expanded feature and expert guided tours achieved a 32% increase in attendance in 2019, with a total of 3,878 visitors including representatives from many prominent garment brands. Interest in Print Make Wear reflects the fact that 26% of the wider FESPA audience were interested in garment decoration and manufacturing.

Robin Sprong of Robin Sprong Wallpaper Design visited Print Make Wear: “Print Make Wear was a really interesting part of the show this year. It was really good to see the whole process and production, you could see the material being loaded, printed and all the design aspects of it. I think these days, everyone wants everything instantly and I think Print Make Wear is a good example of showing just how instantly you can get digitally printed clothes. I thought was a really good part of the show.”

Other popular features at this year’s event included Printeriors, which showcased a collection of creative examples of printed décor for both interior and exterior applications, using designs representing the elements, designed by illustrator Jasper Goodall. Located next to Printeriors was the FESPA Awards showcase, a display of the shortlisted entries to the 2019 Awards, illustrating a variety of printed and non-printed effects and technologies. Over 2,000 visitors viewed the Awards and Printeriors displays.

The World Wrap Masters vehicle wrapping competition was once again a popular show feature, with 1,121 visitors watching competitors battle it out over the four days to be crowned World Wrap Master.

Consistent with FESPA’s mission to support print businesses with education and best practice guidance, the Trend Theatre conference programme hosted daily seminars throughout the duration of the exhibition with upwards of 300 attendees in total across the week, and several standing room only sessions.

Sean Holt, Executive Director, FESPA comments: “As part of our wide investment programme to support out community our visitor features play an important part in any FESPA event, delivering added value to visitors in those areas of the market where we see growing demand for information and market intelligence. We’re delighted to see the success of these events at the show and look forward to evolving them further as we develop our plans for the 2020 Global Print Expo.”

The next FESPA Global Print Expo will take place from 24 to 27 March 2020 at the IFEMA exhibition centre in Madrid, Spain. For more information visit: www.fespa2020.com