Breaking Into The Decor Space

As wide-format technology evolves, so also have the markets it can tap into — and one of those spaces is interior decor.

Customization and Variety are Key

According to Jason Trudeau, general manger of Sleek Signs, in Regina, Saskatchewan, this push for wide-format capabilities in the interior decor segment comes as a result of clients wanting their spaces to truly stand out and be their own.

“Right now, I think customization has become the expectation for clients,” Trudeau says. “They want to be able to really have a hyperfocus on their space. They don’t necessarily want to look at a brochure and just pick a color or a texture. They really want to customize and make the space their own.”

Recently, Sleek Signs utilized its HP Latex 365, along with Drytac ReTac Clear PET — a printable, clear, PVC-free film — to transform a historic church in Ottawa, Ontario, into a one-of-a-kind sales center for its client, adorned with wall murals, interior signage, and window graphics. This is just one of many examples of wide-format print providers utilizing their technologies and skills to enhance an interior space.
Trudeau explains that, increasingly, clients want their space to emphasize their brand and help exemplify their company culture — especially office spaces. He says that while Calgary, Alberta — where one of Sleek’s locations is — has traditionally been an oil and gas town, lately it’s seen more tech start-ups that want an office space that will inspire employees.

“A lot of times people tell me ‘I want this like a U.S. college football team locker room,’ where everything is branded like the locker room and the gym,” he says. “That gets me really excited and inspires me to give them that awesome space where as soon as you walk in, you know exactly what’s going on. You get off the elevator, you’re in a lobby, you walk up to the glass doors, and you open it up and you see a nice dimensional logo, and then you have textures and colors and everything ties together with the corporate brand in that space.”

The use of eye-catching wallpaper can help transform any space. | Credit: PoppyPrint

Jennifer Hunt, owner and founder of Poppy Print, echoes the sentiment that customers are yearning for a little more variety. Located in the Lawrence, Kansas, area, Poppy designs and creates residential and commercial wallcoverings in-house, and ships them worldwide.

“With more businesses utilizing companies like us, I think it just opens the doors for them because maybe in the past you had to go to a showroom, or you had to use only certain companies that were out there, and it all kind of starts to look the same,” Hunt says. “Now, you just have so many options. It’s pretty incredible how many options we have.”

Talk to Your Suppliers

And while vinyl is the “meat and potatoes” substrate that will typically get the job done with a wall or floor graphic, Trudeau says that talking with a distributor may broaden a print service provider’s horizons.

“We lean on our suppliers quite a bit to come in and have ‘lunch and learns’ with us, and they can talk to us about a lot of the new materials that we might not know about,” Trudeau says. “And I’m really excited when suppliers like Drytac come in and bring us new vinyl that’s adhesive on one side but it has sand texture or looks like linen [on the other]. You don’t have to laminate it, it prints nice and clean on your UV, and you can put it up the next day. It just checks all the boxes for us.”

Trudeau says it also helps that adhesives are now easier to remove, becoming more friendly to spaces that may only need them for six months to a year.

“The advancements in adhesive technology have been tremendous, and now when a company comes up and says ‘Hey, we’re only going to be in the space for a year or two. What’s going to happen when we need to move, or is the material going to ruin the walls when we move out?’” Trudeau says. “And we can tell them no, that it’s meant to be a short-term product.”

Trudeau continues, “So, just having that wide variety of adhesive technology where I can do something that’s long term or I can do something that needs to be up for a week and it doesn’t wreck the interior walls, windows, floors, whatever. The material going on is just amazing. It’s a big change that I’ve seen over the span of my career.”

Team Up with Architects and Designers

While it may seem like a no-brainer to start offering wallpaper, curtains, or pillows if you have the technology, capability, and labor to do so, Hunt warns that it’s not as simple as that.

“You’re not going to be able to design a product that can really stand out among some of these really large established textile and wallcovering businesses. As a print service provider, if you’re not connected to artists and designers who are experts in that area, it won’t be easy,” Hunt says.

However, that again is where customization comes in, because there is such high demand for custom work, that’s where wide-format print providers can really shine.

So, what’s the best way to get connected more with designers and artists? Trudeau says to “put yourself out there.”

“Network, network, network,” he says. “Get out there, be part of business associations, join professional organizations where you can kind of get out there and advocate for the industry itself. I think just getting in front of as many people as you can and having some really good, branded marketing pieces that represent your company will take you further than you think.”

Kristen Dettoni, owner and founder of Design Pool, shares similar feelings.

“[PSPs] have to get out there,” she says. “You can’t just build a website anymore. You can’t just run an ad on Facebook. You have to put some effort into it, because even if you print 20 patterns on a wallcovering and put it on your website, websites are now a dime a dozen. You have to get involved. You must go to the trade shows like NeoCon, and you can’t just do it once. It’s an investment like any new business that you have to kind of get out there. Join the organizations, get involved in your local community.”

One method Trudeau uses, in addition to Sleek Signs’ website, is coffee table books. Once a project is done, Sleek Signs will send in a team of photographers with the client’s permission, take photos, then print the photos and arrange them into a nice physical portfolio.

Trudeau says, “I’ll bring those to an architect’s office and say, ‘Hey, I’m Jason with Sleek Signs, we have XYZ equipment. Here’s how we can help your industry. Here’s some projects that I’ve done in the past, just so you can visually see what we’re all about.’ And I think tying that all together and giving them something that’s visual really helps you.”