Press Release Summary | |
Oostende, Belgium | October 29th, 2019 |
Japan based wide format printer manufacturer MUTOH Industries Ltd.- represented by Mutoh Europe nv for the EMEA business area – today announced that it has obtained GREENGUARD Gold Certification for its MS41 Eco Solvent inks. The certification was obtained for the category Wallpaper, which is the top category allowing the highest surface load of prints per classroom, office or healthcare environment. With this certification, Mutoh MS41 inks meet the UL 2818-2013 Gold Standard for chemical emissions for building materials, finishes and furnishings. The certification provides assurance that Mutoh MS41 inks meet some of the world’s most stringent and comprehensive standards for low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into indoor air. As such, prints made with MS41 inks are perfectly suited for indoor applications including office, classroom and healthcare environments. GREENGUARD Gold Certification is a voluntary certification issued by UL with worldwide recognition. As opposed to GREENGUARD it offers stricter certification criteria and considers safety factors to account for sensitive individuals such as children and elderly. It requires lower total VOC emissions for indoor environments and helps print buyers to identify and integrate certified, healthier and more sustainable products into their buildings. To learn more, visit https://services.ul.com/service/greenguard-certification/ “We are very pleased to receive a GREENGUARD Gold certification for our MS41 inks for the new XpertJet 64” wide sign & display printers. Print businesses and print shops investing in a new XpertJet printer are offered full peace of mind and a competitive advantage of being able to offer a certified solution for wall finish applications”, says Kenji Yasuhara, Mutoh Europe’s Managing Director. “The certification demonstrates Mutoh’s continuous commitment in offering digital printers and inks which are safe and environmentally responsible and which contribute to healthier indoor environments”, says Yasuhara. About Mutoh’s MS41 inks Available in 7 colours (C, M, Y, K, Lc, Lm, Lk), Mutoh MS41 Inks feature a wide colour gamut and deliver vibrant high density prints with excellent dot gain. The additional Lc, Lm and Lk colours will bring extra quality to businesses focusing on highest quality prints with smooth skin tones & gradients for short viewing distances. The liter ink packs in foil go into re-usable ink pack cases, reducing waste. Suited for long term outdoor and indoor applications, Mutoh’s MS41 inks have an excellent weather, abrasion and chemical resistance. UV durability without lamination is rated up to 3 years outdoor. |
Insights from an Interview with Teresa Young by Graphics-Pro
MUTOH America is leading the way in training & education for the wide-format printing market. In addition to their wide range of wide format printers, they are building educational tools for everyone in the market.
Check out the new MUTOH Learning Experience Here.
Looking to replace your wide format printer? Need a UV-LED printer for ADA signage, or a Dye Sublimation solution?
Check out the MUTOH family line of wide-format printers here.
Rob Biggs with American Vinyl Technologies Graduates Flexi 21 Online Training Course
Congratulations to Rob Biggs with American Vinyl Technologies of Ohio for being the first graduate of the MUTOH Flexi 21 Online training course.
Robb completed over 10 hours of online study using MUTOH’s new Flexi online training course and he makes history by also receiving the first MUTOH Flexi Training Certificate.
The Benefits of Flexi Training
” This is quite the accomplishment for Rob. He devoted over 10 hours of his time to learn more about using Flexi and I’m certain it’s going to pay off with faster production and more sales!” says Mark Rugen, Director of Education for MUTOH America.
According to the America Vinyl Technologies website, they are:
“The Graphic Design Masters of Beloit, OH”
“Add fun vinyl to your vehicles, walls, computers, and pretty much any other object with a smooth surface when you get your stickers, auto graphics, and other vinyl graphics from the graphic design specialists at American Vinyl Technologies in Beloit, OH. We’re dedicated to helping our customers stand out from the crowd with fantastic, custom-made designs that are all made to order.” Visit American Vinyl Technologies Website
Good luck to Rob and his staff!
If you use Flexi 12, 19, or 21 and you have a wide format printer, you should take this course. It will teach new and advanced users alike. You don’t have to be a MUTOH printer owner to take the course, Rob uses an Epson!
MUTOH believes in helping not just its own customers, but also the entire market when it comes to education and training.
Check out our growing collection of courses and see what you are missing.
Interested in Adding Your Knowledge to Ours?
Do you possess special knowledge and experience with a topic that the wide-format printing market needs to learn about? Are you a vehicle wrap expert, an Adobe expert, or a color management expert for instance? What about a product you sell that would benefit from online education and training such as those found in our MUTOH Learning Experience? No sales pitches, but real education for your customers!
I’d love to hear your story. Maybe we have a connection that can benefit you and your customers. email me at mrugen@mutoh.com with your idea.
Understanding Soft Proofing in Graphic Design Software 1 Hour Webinar Replay
Learn how to use soft proofing to preview how your wide format printer will print your jobs. FlexiSIGN, Adobe, Corel, and other graphic design software have the capability but you need to know how to set it up correctly for it to work properly. Let MUTOH teach you how in this 1-hour webinar replay for free!
Once you complete this course, check out our other course designed to help any wide format printer owner. Visit the new MUTOH Learning Experience Online
Take Control of Your Wide Format Printing! Awesome 5-Day Webinar!
Take Control of Printing the Best Color You’ve Ever Printed to your Wide Format Printer
You asked for it so here it is! Take control of your wide format printer and make it print the colors you want! This is a 5-Day color management webinar is going to allow you to better understand how to handle your software, your RIP, and even those terrible customer files! Read on!
5-Day MUTOH Color Management Webinar Feb 15-19 2021 Awesome!
Visit the mothership: www.mutoh.com
Watch the Awesome MUTOH FlexiSIGN Marathon 5-Day Webinar Series Replay
5-Day FlexiSIGN Webinar Marathon Session#2 – REPLAY
Read More
5-Days. 5-Hours. An Awesome FlexiSIGN & Print Webinar Series
This is a learning event like no other for all levels of FlexiSIGN users. Your instructor, Mark Rugen, is the world’s leading expert with FlexiSIGN and wants to share some of his greatest tips & tricks with you over a 5-day series of webinars.
DAY 1: Top 10 FlexiSIGN Features – Let’s get you going again!
DAY 2: All About Design – We’ll focus on the design layout and sign elements.
DAY 3: Vehicle Wraps and FlexiSIGN – Add images to a vehicle photo and production.
Day 4: Tools you need to add to FlexiSIGN – Third-party tools, Adobe plugins & more!
Day 5: Application Day – We will highlight applications such as braille, print & cut & more!
COVID-19 changed the world! But it did not stop our wide format printing business for long and in fact, most of those I talk to are actually doing more business now! However, maybe you had to let an employee go, or perhaps they just didn’t return. Maybe you’ve hired someone new. Maybe you have to design and use FlexiSIGN yourself and might need a little boost in your abilities.
Could be, you’ve used Flexi for some time, but just want to see a few more tips by attending a webinar led by the world’s expert. No matter your need, I can assure you you’ll learn more in these 5-days of webinars than you could on your own!
- Find out how to manage colors the right way so what you see on your monitor matches your prints.
- Learn how to enlarge images with little loss in quality.
- See how to do preview a vehicle wrap on an actual photo of a vehicle using FlexiSIGN.
- Take advantage of some of the special text features for creating CDC recommended signage for customers.
- Watch as we show you how to do some money-making applications!
If you own a wide format printer, and it doesn’t have to be a MUTOH, and you use FlexiSIGN, then this webinar series is perfect.Here is the best part.
5-Hours.
5-Days.
$50 period!
During the LIVE webinar, you can ask the expert, Mark Rugen all your questions. Then afterward, you’ll get a link to the recorded session that you can use to review again and again!
Can’t make it for all five days, got other jobs you just need to get done? Register anyway, you’ll still get the recordings you can watch anytime!
I’ll see you there!
Designing Award-Winning Signs: Avoiding Copyright Issues
I’ve seen so many shops use copyrighted materials. Here is a great article from Sign & Digital magazine that will cover the topic properly. Please subscribe to their electronic magazine for numerous articles such as this one.
by:
Matt Charboneau
Time to break the bad news on copyright and trademark
You start to explain to them why they can’t use an image off of the internet in that way, for reasons explainable by an attorney specializing in copyright law, like Alex Johnson of Hamilton IP Law, PC, in Davenport, Iowa. Hamilton IP Law is a “boutique intellectual property law firm” specializing in patents, trademarks, copyrights and other related intellectual properties. As Johnson explains, a common misconception that people have is that simply making some changes to an existing image will mitigate the issue of copyright infringement. However, that is not how the law looks at the use of images from the internet, and understanding the legal issue of copyright infringement is quite complex.
“Not only is each image protected by copyright law, but the image could also be subject to trademark law, too,” Johnson says. If the original is someone’s business trademark, there may be visual elements including colors, fonts as well as wording that are part of that company’s brand. In that case, he says, the consequences of the illegal use of the image could run afoul of trademark law for likelihood of confusion (a topic beyond this article) on top of the potential copyright infringement like the kind you were wary of when this couple showed you the original image.
Substantially similar
“But look, the text is different, the shape is a lot different and the colors are totally different,” your couple pleads. They really feel it has been altered enough to be different, but as Johnson explains, it’s a contextual analysis that is very difficult to determine. As a general rule, merely changing a couple of aspects to that image is likely not enough; unfortunately, and as is often the case, the answer is that “It depends,” and it just is not a good idea. If the image, even after making changes, is found to be “substantially similar,” then it is likely to infringe the original image’s copyright.
So you explain to them that the question is difficult to answer, and rarely worth the risk of using an image that was not your original design, especially to be the face of their business.
Even though you only have a little familiarity with copyrights, you know that there is a simple rule that you can safely recommend to this couple: if you made it from scratch yourself, and did not merely re-draw preexisting ideas you saw elsewhere, you have done what you can to avoid copyright infringement (but as we all know, someone might still find a reason to sue).
Johnson recommends a rule of thumb to follow when it comes to creating a logo for your business: create a unique image from scratch. If hiring a designer, have a written agreement where the artist represents and warrants that it’s an original and that you own it. He also says that if you’re going to use an image you have found, you need to be sure you can verify the owner of the copyright and purchase a license or assignment from them before adopting it.
Johnson added that this goes for everything and anything found on the internet, and that most people don’t understand that ownership and copyright of an original image is automatically given to the person who created it, without the need for paperwork, filings or legalities. That being said, considering the thousands of images available online, it’s easy to see just how difficult it can be to create a truly original design, but the results are worth the efforts. As Johnson advises to his clients, from a foundational basic business perspective, having your branding be based off the image of someone else makes your brand subject to the impression that company has–and impressions change, so it’s best to control your own image and make your brand an original. Why would you want to be a knock off?
How does one use the images from the internet?
Inspiration only. That’s exactly what you use the internet images for, inspiration. It’s not about copying the way the fonts interlock or what the mountain graphic looks like, or even the layout of those visuals. In researching the Web for ideas, you are paying close attention to the visual emotional triggers that make some logos inspirational and others not at all. Professional designers know how to create the right feeling through the use of flow, shape and the arrangement of original images and designs.
Working with someone who understands how copyright law affects all aspects of logo design and the consequences of using a copied image for signage is probably the most important reason for your customers to use a professional in the sign business. It is also why it is important to consult with legal counsel. Knowing the trigger and what to look for is key in the sign industry.
So how do you help your customers who run into possible legal issues?
Contact a copyright and trademark attorney like Alex or the other intellectual property attorneys at Hamilton IP Law, PC at www.hamiltoniplaw.com or 563-441-0207.
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Learn about MUTOH wide format printers: www.mutoh.com
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Best Selling Christmas Crafts – Updated for 2019
Author: Lisa McGrimmon | Published: January 21, 2014 | Modified October 29, 2019
What will be the best selling Christmas crafts for the 2019 holiday season?
Of course, no one can flawlessly read the future, but we can look at holiday retail industry trends to make informed predictions about what Christmas shoppers will likely be buying this year and how they will shop.
Retail trend data can help you make smarter, strategic decisions about how to best market your brand, provide shoppers with what they’re looking for, and create crafts that sell for this holiday season.
Beyond the Christmas 2019 trends in the retail industry, you can also look at fashion and decor design trends to help determine what will be the best selling Christmas crafts for 2019. I took a deep dive into DIY Christmas trend predictions here. So we’ll stick with examining holiday retail shopping predictions in this article.
Were you looking for the older version of this page – Best Selling Christmas Crafts for 2018? Just click the link if you came to this page looking for holiday retail trends from the previous year.
We’ll look at several sources of holiday retail trend information to find out:
- when people will be shopping throughout the holiday season
- how much people will likely spend
- where people are shopping
- what, in general, shoppers are looking for
- what categories of products shoppers will buy
- ways to apply this information to boost holiday sales
When will customers be doing their holiday shopping?
Don’t wait until Black Friday to Start Holiday Promotions
Retailers will see a big surge in holiday spending during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which fall on Thanksgiving weekend. However, most people will have started their holiday shopping prior to that weekend.
In fact, Thanksgiving is late in 2019. Thanksgiving falls on November 28th, Black Friday is on November 29th, and Cyber Monday isn’t until December 2nd. Those later dates increase the likelihood that shoppers will begin their holiday shopping prior to that weekend.
Last year, 64% of people surveyed had started their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving weekend (source Deloitte*).
* I’ve included a lot of stats from a few different sources in this article. Every time I mention specific data, I’ve cited the source in brackets. At the bottom of the page, I’ve linked to all of the reports I used to research this article, so you can check out the reports yourself if you’re curious.
For 2019, 37.8% of shoppers who were surveyed indicated they would begin their holiday shopping in early November. That number is even higher for shoppers who plan to spend the most money. 45.6% of shoppers who say they will spend $500 or more plan to start shopping in early November. Shoppers who are more budget-conscious shoppers will start shopping later because they are waiting for sales. (source Tinuiti)
Best selling Christmas crafts should be promoted early in the year. Don’t wait for Thanksgiving, or you’ll miss out on customers who shop early.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday present huge opportunities
How many people shop on Thanksgiving weekend?
71 percent! (source Deloitte)
So while you shouldn’t wait until Thanksgiving weekend to promote your products to holiday shoppers, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can present huge sales opportunities.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping is expanding beyond the US
Black Friday began in the US, but it is expanding into European countries as well. In 2018, online shops saw increased sales in some European countries on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you serve European online shoppers, these dates will present sales opportunities. (source Criteo)
% sales increased on Black Friday compared to average daily sales:
- US 328%
- Spain 92%
- UK 181 %
- France 141%
- Switzerland 88%
- Netherlands 146%
- Sweden 165%
- Germany 82%
- Poland 235%
- Russia 71%
% sales increased on Cyber Monday compared to average daily sales:
- US 164%
- Spain 40%
- UK 81 %
- France 66%
- Switzerland 24%
- Netherlands 50%
- Sweden 33%
- Germany 22%
- Poland 90%
- Russia 24%
How much will customers spend on holiday shopping in 2019?
Spending is predicted to increase for the 2019 holiday season, particularly online.
Retail predictions estimate 2019 holiday spending between November and January will total 1.1 trillion dollars. (source Deloitte) That number represents a lot of opportunities for business owners.
Shoppers who were polled indicated they planned to spend more this year compared with 2018. Predictions show that total holiday spending will increase by between 3.8% and 4.2% (source National Retail Federation).
Both in-store and online spending will be up, but online spending is driving most of the increase in sales. The predicted increase in online sales ranges from about 11% to 14% (source National Retail Federation).
Were will people be shopping in 2019?
As we’ve already seen, the biggest growth in holiday spending is in online shopping for 2019, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t shopping in person as well. Most shoppers plan a mix of in-store and online shopping.
31.6% of people surveyed say they plan to do most of their shopping in-store, which is actually up by 10.9% compared with 2018 numbers. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that younger shoppers, those aged 18 to 24, are showing the biggest growth in in-store shopping. (source Tinuiti)
Black Friday is all about in-store shopping. 70% of people surveyed plan to shop in-store on Black Friday, while 50% say they will shop online.
Cyber Monday is when most people plan to shop online. 73% of shoppers will shop online on Cyber Monday, and 40% plan to shop in stores. (source Deloitte)
Where do people shop online?
28.3% of people who responded to a Tinuiti survey indicated they start their shopping research by searching on Amazon.
28.1% say they start shopping research by searching in-store.
Think about that for a moment. The number of people who start looking for gift ideas on Amazon is equal to the number who go to all other brick and mortar stores.
Amazon, by far, leads the pack in terms of where people shop online. 82.3% of people who plan to shop online will shop on Amazon.
There’s good news for those who have Etsy shops. Etsy is showing strong gains in online holiday shopping. 12.3% of people who shop online will shop at Etsy. That’s up 29% since 2017. (source Tinuiti)
Etsy’s predictions for 2019’s best selling Christmas crafts.
What, in general, are people shopping for?
Best Selling Christmas Crafts Reflect Customers’ Values
73% of American shoppers are willing to consider a new brand. But if you want to build loyalty and keep that customer, you do that with the values your company represents, not with sales.
You might attract a new customer with a sale, but a sale won’t build loyalty. The shopper who was initially attracted by a sale is interested in the lowest price, not your brand. But you can turn your new customers into loyal, returning customers with the values your company represents.
51% of US shoppers say that the values represented by a brand will influence their purchasing decisions. And 35% say they are more likely to return to a shop because the company’s values are in line with their values.
Whatever values your company embraces, they need to be genuine and demonstrated throughout all aspects of your business. Don’t just follow the latest trendy cause. Support something that’s meaningful, and make it part of your company’s core values. (source Criteo)
Thanksgiving shoppers are looking for sales
As we’ve already seen, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are huge shopping days, but if you want to take advantage of these opportunities, you’ll need to offer some discounts. 82% of people surveyed say they are shopping on Black Friday to take advantage of great sales. (source Deloitte)
What categories of items are people buying?
Here’s what holiday shoppers say they will be buying:
- clothing 72%
- electronics 57%
- toys 57%
- food and beverage 36%
- home and kitchen 31%
- health and beauty 31%
(source Deloitte)
How can you use this information to sell more crafts over the Christmas 2019 season?
Don’t rely on Black Friday and Cyber Monday alone
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are big spending dates online and offline. But most shoppers will start holiday shopping before that. Also, those who are shopping on that weekend are looking for sales, which may or may not be right for your brand. Start your holiday promotions before the end of November, or you will miss out on opportunities.
Consider offering sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
That’s what shoppers are looking for on Thanksgiving weekend, so if you want to attract customers, consider offering a discount. For example, you might slightly mark down some items in your Etsy shop just for that weekend. If you have built enough profit into your regular prices, you’ll be able to offer a bit of a discount and still sell at a profit.
Offering sale prices isn’t right for every business. Some handmade business owners worry that offering sale prices will devalue the special nature of their handmade items. Others worry that by offering sales at certain times, they will train their customers to only shop during sales and not buy at full price throughout the year.
There are certainly reasons why you might not want to offer sale prices, but if you want to capitalize on Thanksgiving weekend shopping, it’s something to consider.
Support a cause – Be genuine, not trendy
If there are key values you’ve been wanting to embrace in your business, do it, but be genuine. Shoppers feel loyalty to businesses that embrace values they believe in. So supporting an important cause not only allows you to do some good, it can also help to build your business.
Best Selling Christmas Crafts are Promoted via Email
Whether you sell your crafts online or in person, or a bit of both, you can promote your company with email marketing.
Everyone who sells online seems to always be excited about social media marketing, but in fact, email marketing is more important than social media marketing when it comes to influencing purchases. 58.5% of people surveyed say they sometimes make holiday purchases based on email offers. On the other hand, only 1/3 of shoppers say social media influences in their purchasing decisions.
Shoppers aged 35 and over are more influenced by email than younger shoppers, so if your target market is aged 35+, this strategy can be particularly impactful. (source Tinuiti)
Retail Industry Trends Data Sources
Here are the sources of the data used in this article. Each report contains additional topics I haven’t covered here, so it’s worth having a look at the reports if you want to dive deeper into holiday retail trends for 2019.
You’ll need to provide your email address to receive two of these reports, which will put you on each company’s mailing list. You can easily unsubscribe if you don’t want to receive further mailings from them.
Deloitte 2018 pre-Thanksgiving Pulse Survey
The 2019 report should be out in mid to late November. I wanted to get this information into your hands as soon as possible, so I used data from the 2018 report. You can return to the Deloitte site closer to Thanksgiving to find the 2019 report if you’re interested in that data.
Tinuiti 2019 Holiday Shopping Predictions and Behaviors
You’ll need to provide your email address to access this report.
Criteo 2019 Holiday Marketing Report
You’ll need to provide your email address to access this report. They want people to use a company email address, so their system won’t accept a gmail address.
National Retail Federation
Holiday sales forecast article.
More Best Selling Christmas Crafts for 2019
DIY Christmas Trends – Trending Crafts to Sell for Holiday Season 2019
DIY Christmas trends for 2019. Popular trending crafts handmade business owners can sell at holiday bazaars, Christmas markets, and craft fairs.
Need a printer to make a craft? Check this out: www.mutoh.com
Need to learn to USE your wide format printer for great color? Check this out: www.thinkmutoh.com/Phoenix-Dec6
Mutoh’s New MS41 Inks Obtain GREENGUARD Gold Certification
Japan based wide format printer manufacturer MUTOH Industries Ltd.- represented by Mutoh Europe nv for the EMEA business area – today announced that it has obtained GREENGUARD Gold Certification for its MS41 Eco Solvent inks. The certification was obtained for the category Wallpaper, which is the top category allowing the highest surface load of prints per classroom, office or healthcare environment.