Graphispag defines printing with more technology and innovation and a greater connection to the digital world

From 26 to 29 March Graphispag will incorporate new spaces and activities to showcase the latest innovations in printing, design and visual communication in an experiential and interactive way. Fira de Barcelona’s emblematic graphic fair, a benchmark in its sector in Spain, reinforces its training programme and demonstrations so that influencers and buyers of all kinds of printed products can discover the creative potential and added value on offer in today’s graphic industry, as well as its complementary nature and its connection with other forms of digital communication.

Organised by Fira de Barcelona in partnership with the Graphispack Association, Graphispag 2019 seeks to bring together more than 200 direct exhibitors and occupy 9,000 m2 of Hall 2 at the Gran Via fairground. The fair expects more than 380 brands to be represented.

With strong sectoral support and a 75% loyalty rate, Graphispag can boast that it is the Spanish fair that integrates all kinds of printing: traditional, modern and highly advanced forms that open up new business models for the graphic art sector. Leading brands such as HP, Roland DG, Epson, Heidelberg Spain, Konica Minolta, Digidelta, Agfa, Soficat-Xerox, Jusa, OPQ Systems-Horizon, Emiliano Martin, Koenig&Bauer Lauvic, Esko, Ipagsa and Unión Papelera, among others, support Graphispag, which this year will welcome exhibitors from Germany, Belgium, China, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Sweden as well as Spain.

In the commercial exhibition area, the participating firms will present their innovations related to equipment, technology, media, consumables and finishes and display samples of printed products that can be manufactured with them. There will also be companies engaged in graphic services, labelling and signage, software, design, 3D printing and functional printing.

New activities
This year Graphispag will launch different areas with activities designed to promote networking and knowledge exchange and to impress visitors with graphic applications and innovative technologies which influence visual communication.

One of the innovations will be the Graphispag Experience space, visitors will be obliged to see as it forms the welcome area and will enable them to see, touch and interact with different techniques that evoke a reminder of the past, situate the present and anticipate the future of visual communication.

For example, there will be a reproduction of the Güttenberg printing press in operation, hand-lettering demonstrations, traditional calligraphy sessions and the creation of neon signage, as well as examples of 3D and virtual reality in an experience designed for interior designers, lightweight and flexible papers and media that light up and allow integration into advertisements, packaging and publications, conductive inks and interactive video mapping to cover floors and walls. All in a space with a backdrop of all kinds of surfaces and printed objects.

An area will also be opened devoted to personalisation, where visitors will be able to learn how to create unique objects using digital printing. Similarly, a space will be launched on vinyl wrapping vehicles and interior decoration, with daily demonstrations by the Iberian Vinyl Wrappers Guild (GAWI in its Spanish initials).

Another of the attractions this year will be the Graphispag Process area, where visitors will be able to see equipment and machinery required to start up two production lines: one for packaging printing and the other for large-format printing. Several exhibiting brands have supplied the equipment for viewing the complete graphic chain process, from the design to the final product.

As for advanced printing, it will have its place in Graphispag PrintInnovation, an area coordinated by the 3Neo Platform set to include demonstrations of functional printing, printed electronics, bioprinting and 3D printing. There will also be talks and presentations and companies which are using these technologies in their activity will be introduced to professionals interested in implementing them in sectors such as packaging and visual communication.

Talks and workshops
The Graphispag Talks schedule will include around 50 talks and panel discussions with the participation of experts, companies that supply machinery, media for graphic services and users of printed products. They will discuss technology and new developments, packaging, colour and inks, sustainability and large formats, as well as business models and growth opportunities.

Meanwhile, Graphispag 2019 will host Grada & CongrésGràfic, a new event organised together with the Association of Graphic Designers of Catalonia, which will include talks, workshops and an exhibition area focusing on their disciplines with images as their form of expression.  It will be attended by around twenty experts in design, infographics, illustration, concept art, packaging, urban sketching and typography, among other specialities. Julius Wiedermann, editor of Taschen; Félix Beltrán, designer of the iconic Che Guevara image; or Fernando Baptista, graphic designer at National Geographic, are some of the speakers that have already been confirmed. There will be specific workshops linked to the communicative power of the image that will interest professionals who use graphic and visual communication in their activity.

Moreover, the Graphispag Village will be the networking space designed for the various professionals in the graphic chain, enabling them to find partners and colleagues or simply expand their networks of contacts in the field of graphic and visual communication. It will also host meetings between manufacturers, printers with specific investment projects, influencers and end customers from different sectors of demand, directly invited by the organisation via its buyer programme.

The graphic industry in Spain
According to data provided by the Spanish Statistical Office, the graphic sector in Spain is made up of 15,674 companies employing 93,000 people, with a turnover of over 14,000 million euros. It is a highly atomised sector with a prevalence of SMEs and micro-SMEs. In recent years there has been a restructuring and concentration process. With 22.3% of all companies, Catalonia leads the industry and graphic communication sector in Spain, followed closely by the Community of Madrid (21.9%), Andalusia (11.2%), the Valencian Community (10.95%), the Basque Country (5.3%) and Galicia (4.9%).

The economic crisis and technological changes had a significant impact on the production and size of the graphic sector. The sector’s turnover has recovered since 2016, driven upwards by activities related to the printing of packaging and labels and the increase in demand for catalogues and printed advertising material and from the publishing industry. However, the graphic sector is still undergoing a transformation and it is committed to increasing its value with its products, adding new applications to its business that reach beyond paper, printing any medium or material in a personalised way to promote graphic and visual communication.

Barcelona, 31 January 2019