Future Links November 23rd
Here are our daily links with the most important news from the printing industry. Today they feature increasing competition for 3D printing companies, the first inkjet metal printer, Canon’s Future Authors Project, a spray-paint app-based portable wall printer, artists using 3D printing for architectural design, major trends in food service packaging and this year’s most intriguing print ads.
3D companies face increasing competition
Both Stratasys and 3D Systems have reported declining revenue in the last quarter. While the industry is expected to grow to 17 billion USD by the end of the decade, there will be some consolidation and some shift in market share along the way. The companies who have paved the way for 3D printing not only face competition from start-ups but also from traditional industry stalwarts like HP who are entering the field of 3D printing.
More at Fortune
First inkjet metal printer to launch in 2016
The field of metal printing is rapidly evolving: Israel-based start-up Xjet plans to bring the world’s first direct-metal 3D printer based on jetting technology to market in 2016, according to the Times of Israel. The metal 3D printer could be a game changer, because it will reportedly be more affordable than the metal 3D printers now on the market.
More at Motley Fool
Canon supports future authors and print professionals
Canon supports young authors in their teens and introduces them to professional writing and print production. The Future Authors Project is in its tenth year and uses short-run, digital print-on-demand technology. Canon says that to date, the program has made published writers of more than 500 students. Some have gone on to become contributors to mainstream publications such as The Huffington Post and Cosmopolitan.
More at What They Think?
Spray painter works like a portable wall printer
The inventor’s goal was to create a portable printer to easily create murals and painting on walls and large canvases. Combined with an app, the spray-can printer marks the walls with dots and thus guides the designer’s hand in creating large-format artwork. The startup behind SprayPrinter hails from Estonia and has showed off a rough prototype on video. To build a consumer product, they will be launching on Indiegogo soon.
More at PSFK
Artists design interactive 3D printed walls
While manufacturing companies have been embracing 3D printing, artists have also been busy exploring the opportunities the technology offers. The architectural and interactive designers Seiya Kobayashi and David Tracy recently revealed a wall covered in 3D printed individually moving modules. Called Latex Pixels, the creative project is essentially an exercise in exploring the concept of alternative, moving structures that can be part of the regular environment.
More at 3ders
Sustainability and lower cost machinery trends in food service
The Food Service Packaging Institute has identified the main trends throughout the entire foodservice packaging value chain and published them in its 2015 Trend Report. After collecting opinions from companies in the raw materials, machinery, packaging, distribution, and operations sectors, the FSI listed green packaging, highly automated machinery at low costs and consolidation of distributors as main trends, among others.
More at Packaging World
The top print ads in 2015
FESPA has identified the best print ads of 2015. They include the first ad for the Apple Watch in Vogue magazine, Eastern Michigan University’s selfie-ad and the iPhone6 snap happy ad series. FESPA’s author Rob Fletcher looked at newspapers and magazines, leaflets and roadside billboards to find intriguing examples from the past 12 months as to how major brands have utilized print to get their messages out to the masses.
More at FESPA