Trends in Design for 2018
Design Trends for 2018
Okay, I h0ught I’d give our readers a little insight into the design trends for 2018. Now if you are not a designer, and I certainly am not, this is a really good collection of videos to help you see what real designers see as the 2018-202 trends in design. Use these suggestions when you create your signage or graphics and You’ll be right up there with the top tier of design professionals!
15 Trends in Graphic Design for 2018
Capitalizing on trends in design and business is a great way to assure your success. In this video, I’ll describe and illustrate 15 Trends in Graphic Design for 2018. Join me in exploring the best trends you can use to build your brand! ——————————————————————————————
This video is targeted to my channel’s audience of entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, design, trend, marketing and communications.
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Philip VanDusen is the founder of Verhaal Brand Design, a strategic design and branding consultancy in the New York City metro area. He is an accomplished creative executive and expert in strategic branding, graphic design and creative management. Philip gives design, branding, marketing and business advice to creative professionals and entrepreneurs on building successful creative practices and brands. ——————————————————————————————
Interior Design Trends 2018
Discover the Top 10 interior design trends of 2018 in this must-watch guide to decor your home. D.Signers reveals what’s trending in interior design, colors, furniture, metals, nature, wall art, wood, tropical vibes and ideas to beautify your spaces. Become an expert in a few minutes watching this video. This Top 10 was created by Professionals Experts from D.Signers Group. Website: http://www.dsigners.net
5 HUGE Graphic Design Trends in 2018❓
I Wish I Knew This When I Started: Logo Design
Lessons learned from starting a design company. How to charge more for a logo design. Why do some designers feel guilty about charging for creative services? Why charge $50 for a logo? Why did you continue to charge so little? On this episode, Ben Burns joins us on the show as he recounts stories about getting started in design and charging clients $50 for a logo. He was happy and felt a sense of validation. Later on, he heard about other designers like Aaron Draplin charging $20k and thought “Wow! That’s amazing. But there’s no way I could charge that.” Is this a problem you’re facing? Then watch this episode. Find MrBenBurns here: https://www.instagram.com/mrbenburns/ https://www.youtube.com/c/mrbenburns Annotations: — 2:40 First logos and competing to work at spec via O Desk 5:18 Q: Why didn’t it occur to you to ask for more money? 8:47 Q: Have you ever run into a situation where clients ask you for more? 9:59 Value your time as more than a commodity, and don’t give it away for free. 12:00 Lack of symmetry in logic 14:18 The Difference is confidence in the value that you provide 15:20 You can do the same work, but you have to position it differently to charge more.
More from ThinkMutoh.com Soon!
Read MoreSometimes There is a Beauty in Making Things by Hand
The “ART” of Wallpaper Prints
While we are indeed trying to make it easier and more productive to place prints in textiles using a MUTOH ValueJet wide format printer, it’s good to remember where it all begins. The artist. I thought it might be fun to give the artist some press just to remind everyone that we have not forgotten you. So, in the next few paragraphs, read and watch the beauty form from one such artist in London.
Made in London: Daniel Heath
Posted by Katie Treggiden
Now based in the heart of East London, Daniel moved to the capital to study at the Royal College of Art. “The main influence this time had on my work was the idea that someone with training in textile design can apply their knowledge to other outcomes,” he says. “I worked with a lot of different people on a range of projects, often simultaneously. I remember running up and down the stairs because the lifts would be out of action and the departments are split across seven floors. I’d be running up to architecture, down to ceramics or product design, and up again to fashion. It was frenetic, exciting and a lot of fun.”
The experience has clearly had a profound influence on his work to this day, but the craftsmanship of his discipline has always been important too: “When I was studying textiles, I wanted to know all about the traditional process of screen printing and I wanted to be good at it.” He learnt his craft at the RCA, but honed it while hand-printing runs of 500 t-shirts and sweatshirts for a friend’s clothing label on a print table he bought while studying and stored in the roof of a dishcloth factory.
Now with his own studio at shared maker-space Blackhorse Workshop, Daniel is printing more than just t-shirts. He now specializes in up-cycling and re-appropriating what he calls “authentic heritage materials” to make bespoke, hand printed wallpapers and interior surfaces to order. Having to explore other materials because he couldn’t afford silk at university has served him well.
His designs, all hand-drawn, often recall the Victorian era to form playful narratives inspired by everything from taxidermy to the circus. “When I design a new wallpaper, I begin by doing a lot of research to establish an idea or theme,” he says. “I’ll go to exhibitions, visit locations, take photos and make sketches.”
He then applies the resulting designs using technologies such as laser engraving to create his unique products, which cross the boundaries between technology and craft. He makes everything to order. “I enjoy the making process,” he says. “Making to order means that my customers can request bespoke alterations and are not restricted to a set colour. And there are no stockpiles of stuff sitting around in warehouses that I need to worry about selling – if something is ordered, then I make it.”
Alongside his making career, Daniel is also an academic and has lectured at universities including Loughborough, Manchester, Bournemouth, Staffordshire, Bucks New University and Central St Martins. He also provides mentoring for young designers through the Crafts Council Hot House scheme.
He works for private clients as well as brands such as Swoon Editions, Panasonic Europe, Farrow & Ball, Heal’s and Anthropologie, and he is a brother of the Artworkers’ Guild, London.
The “ART” of the MUTOH ValueJet
So there you go! A great article and video of a true artist. Think of how much more widespread his art could be using a MUTOH ValueJet wide format printer. Think of how much more TIME he could spend creating rather than producing the product. We respect and applaud his talent. I wish we all had it. Just some things to think about.
Want to find out more about how a MUTOH ValueJet could help. Click Here: www.mtuoh.com
Read MoreDo You Need FlexiSIGN Training?
FlexiSIGN Training from the Expert
Like physical training, sometimes you need a coach and the better your coach the better your results! Mark Rugen, Dir. of Product Marketing & Education for MUTOH AMERICA is the world’s expert in FlexiSIGN training. When he came to MUTOH, he decided that users of FlexiSIGN needed more than just software training. He decided he needed to share his 30 years of real-world shop experience in the sign and graphics market.
Wide Format Printing Workflows
Wide format printing workflows are critical for greater profits. You’ve invested thousands in a wide format printer, you need to pay that investment off and you
may also need to make a steady income to support the growth of your company as well as sustain the income of your employees. Doesn’t it make sense to be the best you can be with your design and production software?
Think about it. The typical flow in your shop is, find a customer or have one walk into your shop. They want a message and maybe a graphic along with it. Now they want that enlarged, put on a banner or some other substrate and they would like to have it in the afternoon or the next day! How fast could you get this done is they bring you a low-resolution image about 2×2 inches and want it printed 2×2 feet? What is they want you to use the same font in a photo they are showing you? Could you find that font in few seconds or would it take you minutes or hours? What if they said you just have to match a certain Pantone color? Could you do this with ease?
MUTOH Training is Different
MUTOH training is different because we are not only going to teach you about FlexiSIGN & Print, or about your MUTOH or another printer (you should have bought a ValueJet, LOL) and color management, but we are going to show you how to save media, how to match colors, how to get the job done in record time with other tools I’ve used in my 30 years in the business. MUTOH training is a real world, real shop training not some powerpoint presentation.
What Other Are Saying About MUTOH Training
Don’t take my word for it! Here are just a few examples of what graduates of the MUTOH training series are saying:
“Mark truly understands the program from the inside out. He explains efficiently the strengths of the program along with its limitations.” Jeff Fredwich – SIGNARAMA Willow Grove
“Learned a lot that I thought I already knew.” Akhay Putri – Avery Dennison
“Best software training class I have EVER attended!” – Adrienne Latiolias, AWA Printing
“Mark explains things in an easy to understand way for beginners!” Josh Munn, Munn Enterprises, Inc.
Your Next Step….INVEST!
Look, it’s time to get even better at your job. It’s time to take the small step of investing in a MUTOH FlexiSIGN training seminar. Here’s a link to find out where we will be. I only have a few seats left in BOSTON on June 6,7. Just do it!
BOSTON June 6,7 https://www.thinkmutoh.com/event/flexisign-workshop-boston-ma-june-6-7-2018/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Los Angeles August 15,16 https://www.thinkmutoh.com/event/flexisign-workshop-los-angeles-ca-august-15-16-2018/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Phoenix Sept 5,6 https://www.thinkmutoh.com/event/flexisign-workshop-los-angeles-ca-august-15-16-2018/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Got questions? Just email me: mrugen@mutoh.com
BONUS!
Look I know its a lot to ask for you to take a few days away from your shop. I owned a shop I really do know its tough! So to sweeten the offer, I am giving away a FlexiSIGN Training DVD to everyone that attends. That’s a $299 value and its loaded with over 20 hours of FLexiSIGn training to augment your live class!
I’ve also got some really cool secret stuff that only graduates of the MUTOH FlexiSIGN and Color Management training class receive, plus you gain access to our exclusive FlexiSIGN Training Graduates Facebook page where you’ll be able to interact with hundreds of other FlexiSIGN graduates and get the expert help you need in the future!
Read MoreIn Case You Don’t Cotton to Dye Sublimation
By Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager-MUTOH AMERICA INC
Printing on Cotton Fabric…Something to Think About
In case you don’t cotton to dye sublimation, there is always…………well………cotton.
Or wool, or even silk and other fabrics. Printing on cotton fabric with a textile printer of course just one choice.
The textile market is in a growth mode for digital printing. There is probably less than 20 percent of all textile now being printed digitally. Last stats I saw were around 3%, but talking to a supplier of single pass printers at the show, that number is growing at an incredible rate, and may currently be hovering around the 20% mark. And speaking of Mark
This is Mark Sawchak.
Expand Systems Fabric
Mark is standing behind a chair supplied to us for the ISA 2018 show (https://www.signs.org/) by Mark’s wife Ann. Mark and Ann are the driving forces behind their company Expand Systems LLC
(http://www.expandsystems.com/). And the chair they provided was a HUGE hit at the show.
The chair was covered in cotton printed directly with the pigment process and shows a wide range of color and style that direct to textile pigment printing brings to the home décor and upholstery industry. The fabric used is Expands’ PREMex brand
of media, (http://premexsolutions.com/fabrics.html) which is a top quality line of fabrics suitable for a wide range of applications and industry. All of our show images were printed on Expands’ PREMex linen and twill.
The following images were printed on Expands’ PREMex linen and twill with an 8 color Mutoh inkset on the ValueJet 1938TX
Yes, I know I ranted and raved about how much attention the backlit dye sub got, but in all fairness, the combination of the chair and the backlit was THE nice attention getter and conversation starter for textiles in the Mutoh booth.
Expand Systems provides Digital Textile Printing Solutions that cover pretty much the entire gamut of digital direct printing. From MS LaRio (http://www.msitaly.com/) printing at some 75 linear meters per minute to the entry-level and sample capable ValueJet 1938TX (https://www.mutoh.com/products/valuejet-1938tx/) printing at 7 to 28 linear meters per hour.
It still takes a minimum of fabric to make a run with a single pass printer so the ValueJet 1938TX for perfect for small runs, samples, prototyping and high resolution/ high-quality prints.
Imagine as a designer sending your latest designs overseas for sample printing, with no real control over your designs, your intellectual property. Now imagine keeping your designs in-house and having absolute control over your ideas and designs, until production starts or product is released. All that is doable and inexpensive, with the Mutoh ValueJet 1938TX.
Perfect for Short Runs and Sampling
Want a sample, a single image or a production facility? Mutoh has an answer. The ValueJet 1938TX is the culmination of over a decade of work around the Mutoh platform by companies like Yuhan Kimberly, Expand and Mutoh to produce an easy to use, effective, and inexpensive printer for the textile market.
You can sit on your designs (or just wear them) until YOU are ready to show the world.
If you are not ready for a printer of your own, there are many options to get your designs printed and fabric produced to make your own home décor items, craft items or just to stretch your creativity.
The Spoonflower Example
Spoonflower (https://www.spoonflower.com/) is one of Expands customers and have for years provided Spoonflower with Mutoh based textile printers for direct printing on a variety of textiles.
Spoonflower started with a single Mutoh based textile printer, and at one time had dozens of them running their production, and their orders typically fit inside a small envelope mailer – that’s how they built their business.
Some of their customers bought enough printed fabric that it made sense for them to purchase their own direct to textile and dye-sub printers and produce for themselves and other.
One of those customers is Dee Dee Davis of Décor Print, Custom Digital Textile Printing (www.decor-print.com), who started with one Mutoh based textile printer from Expand Systems, and now has a shop that has multiple direct printers and dye sublimation to cover the full range of textile digital printing.
So with some 80% or more of textile NOT being digitally, and the rise of personalization hitting the home décor market and business branding market there is plenty of opportunities to produce and sell digitally printed textiles.
Be sure to visit our product website where we have numerous choices in textile printers available. www.mutoh.com
Read MoreTextile Printing & More. An Interview with Rachel Nunziata with 4Walls.
Textile Printing & More
In this great short interview listen to Rachel Nunziata talk about her business and concentrate on how you can take advantage of this grow textile print business. Starting and growing a textile printing business is not difficult but can be if you don’t have the right training & education. After the interview, find out more about how MUTOH can fill this education gap.
Digital Printing Hits a Wall. And the Floor. And Your Sofa.
Published on May 14, 2018 by WhatTheyThink?
Rachel Nunziata, Product Development Manager for 4Walls, talks about the design process for digital décor. 4Walls designs and prints wallcoverings and a wide variety of other materials, handling the process all the way from design through production.
We highly recommend you subscribe and read http://whattheythink.com/ for some great interviews!
Here is the link to Rachels sites:
4walls.com and findyourlevel.com
I wanted to add some comment to this video. MUTOH is focusing on this market of walls and textiles. This a rapidly growing market. MUTOH has some of the best printers for the textile market. You should check out our collection, however, I really wanted to stress that it’s not just about a printer its also about learning, education, training. To be successful, just talk to a few folks who are in this business of textile printing and they will tell you it was a learning curve and it was the knowledge that resulted in their success. Well, that is what makes MUTOH so different from the other who sell into this market. We have the experts and we have the seminars and more to help educate you each step of the way. Let us explain how! Just call us.
An arresting personality.
by Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager, MUTOH AMERICA ( FlexiSIGN)
Ok, I am not really being arrested.
Swear to you…..
Not this time, at least.
And the guy not arresting me?
Mark Rugen
Mark was working the Mutoh booth at one of the tradeshows ‘directing’passers-by into our booth and educating them about the value of our ValueJets and what Mutoh has to offer the industry.
Mark has run GiveMeHelp (http://givemehelp.com/) for almost 3 decades providing training and education for graphic and sign making companies.
During that time he has provided Training and Education for industry leaders Seal (https://www.sealgraphics.com/us/us/home) covering their laminators and media, prior to that with Neschen Americas.
He has also provided Training and Education for the FlexiSIGN folks at SAI (https://www.thinksai.com/)
In my opinion, Mark knows more about how to operate Flexi than anyone else, even those at SAI.
Many years ago at a trade show, I had a question on vector editing in Flexi, Mark turned out to be the guy who could answer my questions when others had difficulty.
And all long before he was not arresting people at the trade shows.
If you don’t believe me check out Mark’s feed on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaYJOPWQ5mOSxvljrj-0MBqNWaXgm_Ufo&app=desktop
Mark joined Mutoh America this year to provide Training and Education to improve our already great customer support center and to provide an opportunity for new users to maximize their profitability from Mutoh Equipment.
Mark was the driving factor for the creation of these blogs, and you can expect to see much more from Mark and Mutoh in the future to give you more insight into Mutoh and the applications supported by Mutoh printing technologies.
If you are a Flexi user and want to know the ins and outs of Flexi, or want to be a Flexi user check out Marks Flexi Training from Mutoh (https://www.mutoh.com/company/events/)
On the same Events page check out the Trade Shows for an opportunity to see Mark in person.
Just don’t let him see you walking past the booth and not checking out what Mutoh has to offer….he still has that arresting personality.
Read MoreIndustry Leaders – Rick Hatton, Randy Anderson & Butch Anton at ISA 2018
Randy Anderson Meets with Industry Leaders at ISA 2018
I thought I’d share some things about the industry leaders I met at ISA 2018.
I wrote about Rick Hatton from Banner Ups on my blog – https://www.thinkmutoh.com/light-up-your-life-your-artwork-and-your-brand/?v=e748b7c8fd06
Rick introduced me to Keder Tape, an adhesive silicon strip for SEG frames.
So at ISA I went over to finally meet Rick and others from Banner Ups (https://bannerups.com/), and who do you think I saw working the Banner Ups ISA booth? (https://www.signs.org/isasignexpo) Butch “Superfrog” Anton (http://www.superfrog.com/).
Butch was the first sign artist that I had met and talked with, and I don’t remember which show it was, but I remembered Butch. It has been more than a decade, but his insight and advice changed the way I looked at signs. I had always been under the impression that signage was strictly informative.
My Transformation
Being a tech guy, for me signs told me what I needed to know, but being a wannabe artist, what Butch was talking about captured my interest. Butch was displaying at the show, but mostly he was talking about what he knew – signage. Patient and understanding, I bet we talked for half an hour, I was fascinated by what he was telling me. Butch was telling me about ‘Branding’ long before I remember hearing the term in the industry. Butch explained that signage’s effective role was about not only transferring information but by capturing and creating an ‘image’ that reflects the goals behind the sign and produces an emotion that reinforces that image.
I am sure that those weren’t his exact words and I hope I am accurate enough in conveying his message.
In any case, I recommend that you reach out to Butch and Rick and take advantage of their skill sets and sage advice to improve your business and signage.
MUTOH Can Help
Here at MUTOH, I bring with me those same ideas and I am happy to report that my professional colleagues also have the same thinking about being creative in messaging. Working with MUTOH printers is also great because they have features that fit that same philosophy about creativity. When you use a MTUOH printer, you don’t have to worry about the hardware and can focus on creativity and communication, the foundation of a good sign.
Want more info about MUTOH printers?
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Read More
Light Up Your Life, Your Artwork and Your Brand
I Was a Backlit Junkie
by Randy Anderson, Product Marketing Manager
MUTOH AMERICA
As an aspiring artist, ok, more of a wannabe artist, backlit graphics have always impressed me.
As a techie, backlits intrigued me.
Getting an image to ‘match’ the lighted state with the unlit state seemed to be more of an art form rather than ‘just’ a profile. There were all kinds of issues, you had neon, fluorescent tubes and a variety of other lights that could be virtually impossible to use as a white point.
Then came LEDs. Then came LEDs in virtually any color you wanted. At that point, I had moved on to dye sublimation and textile applications and was wowed by backlit fabrics.
I Got a Little Help
Joe Terramagra from REXframe (http://rexframe.com) introduced me to SEG, Silicone Edge Graphics frames for fabric display and back backlighting, and I bought a backlit frame from them.
I got a hold of my friend Mike Sanders from Pacific Coast Fabrics (now Top Value Fabrics – https://www.topvaluefabrics.com) and Mike sent me a sample of dye sublimation backlight fabric.
I did a few prints and taped them up to the frame to check out my work. Impressive as I thought it was, I still had an issue – I don’t sew.
Yes, of course, I tried just jamming the silicone strip in the slot, without sewing, but wasn’t really satisfied with that.
I thought about finding someone who sews and works with them, but my initial volumes were the one lightbox I owned and I mostly needed to play.
So I took the light box home and it sat in the garage for a time…… a long time.
I Found Great Stuff
At SGIA last year, I got introduced to Keder Tape by Rick Hatton and the people at BannerUps (https://bannerups.com/), this is an adhesive silicone strip that doesn’t require sewing.
So I got a hold of Mike again, and he sent over some Microlux Soft 8179FLBS, which is a two-sided backlit fabric for dye sublimation. One side is a DecoTex texture and the other – a nice smooth satin, perfect for the kind of artwork I want to display.
So I dug out my REXframe light box, brought it back into work and did some text prints.
Applied the Keder Tape, ok, it took me a couple of tries to get a technique down (unlike sewing, the adhesive silicone can be removed, repositioned or applied to another piece of fabric).
Talk to Me at ISA 2018 Booth 2017!
So I prototyped a few images and settled on these to take to ISA 2018 this year.
Hope you see me there so I can tell you more!
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Learn more about the printer I used to make these at www.mutoh.com
Read MoreUNDERSTANDING INTERIOR DÉCOR: SOURCES AND INSPIRATION
This is a great blog we thought you might find interetsing. By permission of the author, it is posted here. Be sure to visit the home page of the blog at www.printunlimited.nl
February 9, 2018
Guest blogger – Rachel Nunziata
Even if you haven’t kicked off 2018 by globetrotting to each and every A&D trade show, event and furniture fair, there is enough content circulating throughout social media to get the general consensus; homewares and décor categories are plentiful and growing. Last fall an article written by Ali Morris in CNN Style pointed out fashion labels were strategically teaming up with well-established homeware brands to leverage their labels and create new brands, becoming an instant success after launching. It also stated data from Allied Market Research projects the total expected growth for the luxury niche alone will reach $27 billion by 2020. These collaborations will no doubt continue to multiply as the market grows but truly understanding how design brands think and where new channels will emerge is crucial for the digital print community to convey the value proposition of digital print technology to the creative industry.
(Image courtesy of Print Unlimited,The Netherlands)
The interior décor market is a competitive, crowded space and companies are looking to generate customer loyalty in their product lines and ranges through developing brands aimed at certain aesthetics or demographics. (Not to be confused with interior design, the actual discipline of assembling spaces, interior décor by definition are the objects and materials used to finish spaces.) In the consumer market, this is especially important as transparency and accessibility to online shopping is a sure way to encounter similarities between products after searching pages and pages of popular e-commerce sites. The commercial contract market is also faced with the same quandary. This community remains protective, naturally so, designers and firms rely heavily on sourcing unique products and materials to set themselves apart and woo clients for future projects — but e-commerce is disrupting that.
(Image courtesy of Print Unlimited, The Netherlands)
A common misconception about [interior] designers is most of their revenue is generated through design fees. Normally, trade pricing, which is not privy to the public, is only accessible to licensed design professionals but their clients are now also shopping for products online. The trade cost savings to the designer are not passed onto clients rather the markup is kept by the designer, which in turn incentives them to shop and specify more décor products and materials for the clients’ space. Here is where the majority of the designer’s income is made. Traditional licensing deals(another revenue stream for designers), manufacturing and retailing will also change due to e-commerce.
(Images courtesy of Print Unlimited, The Netherlands)
It’s a paradigm shift that may result in an uptick of higher fees if revenue from trade pricing and markup is watered down for the designer. So where can print service providers and manufacturers with in-house digital printing help those sway clients from shopping online? By collaborating within our industry and offering solution tools forcustomization. Specifying custom furniture, for example, is usually not available to consumers and custom products(mostly furnishings and softgoods) help designers incur additional revenue on a project. Customization in the tradition channel is very costly with long lead times, however, digitally printed wallcovering and textile applications, for example, are opening new pathways for both consumer and contract markets. Some say finished goods within these two segments are actually interchangeable.
(Image courtesy of Print Unlimited, The Netherlands)
Be on the lookout for new opportunities as consumers and design professionals shop online to source homewares and décor products; or launch capsule collections and new brands. New e-design services and third party marketplaces are also reshaping the market with design services available through software by tech startups. (Check out Laurel & Wolf, Havenly or Hutch.com.) These business models give access for anyone, of any budget, to access décor and design services and is a roundabout way as a vendor to potentially list your décor products, too.
If you have questions or comments contact Rachel via email at rachelnunziata@gmail.com or follow her LinkedIn page for daily interior décor and digital print industry updates.
Join us for more discussion around Interior decor at PURE Digital 17-19th April 2019 – www.puredigitalshow.com