Richard’s most recent brainchild, Print Island, is a concept that was first coined in response to numerous attendances across the print industry over the years, whereby he found exhibition ‘regulars’ were almost shipwrecked “on a island in which they never leave, almost like an episode of Lost!” and he wanted to promote the fact that many new opportunities for success can ONLY be discovered if you leave this fictional island, in search of population elsewhere.

Richard said on the idea “I found very early on that many print industry professionals were fantastic at telling each other how great they are, but when it came to telling customers, brands or agencies, there was a gap in their communication, to which they didn’t really know how to bridge.

“I therefore dreamed up the ‘print island’ metaphor, where castaways can ‘build a raft’ to seek out opportunities elsewhere.”

Exploring personalisation within the gifting industry

Catching up with Chris in the PrintPod studio, Chris Minn, who chaired the session, also touched on a range of other important topics relating to personalisation within the print industry, as well as some of Richards other endeavours, including an upcoming project promoting renewable energy, through offshore wind farming at a new purpose-built education centre (made from reused shipping containers) in Grimsby, UK.

Richard also touches on his passion for exploring personalisation across the gifting industry, clarifying his position on the difference between ‘customisation’ (EG: printing a label that is then applied to a product) and ‘true personalisation’, whereby product packaging, such as a box of Jaffa Cakes, Toblerone/Kit-kat bar, or jar of Marmite, is completely personalised for the consumer.

See you in Düsseldorf, Drupa!

Also discussed is our next headline project between Infigo and Richard, which is set to be the long-awaited Drupa exhibition 2024, held from the Messe Düsseldorf, between May 28 – June 7^th. As one of the print industries leading trade fairs for print technologies, the event has been previously twice postponed, in 2020 and 2021, due to the global pandemic.

Like and subscribe

To hear more from The PrintPod podcast, make sure you subscribe through our YouTube Podcasts or Spotify for Podcasters channels, for regular updates on the latest trends in print and business in general – from industry leaders to those taking up their first role in the print industry and everyone in between.