A LOCAL printing company has used digital technology to slow the steady flow of work being lost from WA to cities on the east coast.
Discus has commissioned the first super large digital printing machine in Perth, which will allow advertising and marketing clients to print billboards and large-scale signs in Perth for the first time.
Discus marketing director Carl Mendelle said he believed many businesses in Perth spent up to $500,000 every year with east coast businesses to print large-scale signs.
“I’ve spoken to two or three of the major advertising agencies and their spend is around $200,000 a year,” Mr Mendelle said.
Discus has invested $750,000 in the new digital printing machine in the hope it can capitalise on the growing trend for advertisers to utilise large-scale billboards and signage.
“Very large signage or banner signs, such as the recently publicised pair of women’s legs proposed for a block of luxury apartments in Perth, are a trend all over Australia and will become an important feature of our urban landscape over the next few years,” Discus managing director Peter Benjamin said
The printing machine has the capacity to print a billboard measuring three metres by six metres in full colour in 25 minutes.
Not only can clients save on freight costs, designers and art directors will be able to closely proof work, check colour and supervise the printing of the material.
Until now, Perth clients have had to supervise large-scale sign printing over thousands of kilometres.
“There is almost no limit as to what media you can use to print on anything from carpet and fabric to adhesive vinyls, building wraps, theatre and TV backdrops and vehicle signage,” Mr Benjamin said.
Discus hopes the new printing machine will help to bolster the printing industry in WA by keeping revenue and employment in the State.
The first job completed on the machine was for a Brisbane client, who commissioned the work out of a local design firm.
