PRINTERIOR IDEA
THE South African design and interior decorating industry now have easy, on-demand access to the latest trend in interior design: printeriors.
Printeriors – or printed interiors – refers to everything from custom wallpapers and murals, digitally printed textiles, wall art, printing on woods and metal to ceramic tiles, glass and perspex. All printed digitally with the latest technologies.
Craig Whyte, the chief executive of digital printing specialists ArtLab, says some hotels in Europe now digitally print entire hotel room interiors.
He says: “Globally, designers are taking the printerior trend to mainstream use by leveraging the advances in digital textile printing to create bespoke furniture coverings, cushions, wall coverings, flooring, drapes, table tops, even windows and mirrors, all on-demand and with no minimum meterage;
“With this technology now arriving on our shores, we expect to see the local design community experiment with the printeriors concept to create fresh, authentic, unique designs,” he says.
According to Whyte, the growth of printeriors globally is driven by three key trends:
Trend 1: From mass production to mass customisation: Consumers are seeking unique items that can add an air of authenticity to their living and work spaces. While most of South Africa’s textile printing is still conducted at large scale in China, the arrival of new digital textile printing technology lowers the barrier to entry for local textile manufacturers by enabling unique on-demand prints without the huge minimum volume characterising the mass-produced Chinese options.
Essentially, the new digital printing technology enables medium and short-run printing without the major start-up costs, which opens the market to smaller new players as well as enabling the more established players to experiment with