Page 20 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

Print21 + PKN live
“This is the first of its kind for our packaging printing community, which is undergoing a transformation brought about in large part by digital printing”
– Lindy Hughson
After morning tea, guests enjoyed a popular session on packaging design trends. Gwen Blake, creative director of Boxer & Co, kicked things off with an overview of the latest trends in printed packaging design, including the push towards inclusivity and away from gendered elements.
According to Blake consumer demand for inclusive designs is growing, and she says moves such
as Australia’s vote for gay marriage reveals an inclusivity mindset that more brands should be tapping into, with the conference delegates left in no doubt this meant opportunities in short run packaging.
Following this, Ian Douglas, director of software firm Spawnit, and Marty Stone, head of channel development and management for business and government at Australia Post, discussed how Spawnit and Australia Post are teaming up for BrandWrapped, a custom packaging initiative designed
to help small business capitalise on the unboxing trend.
It allows businesses the chance to create personalised boxes, satchels, and other branded items such as ribbon, tape, labels, and wrapping paper, with low minimum print runs, whether 10 or 100.
After a brief tech talk on a new augmented reality (AR) tool for packaging by Bill Atta, head of product development and marketing at DreemAR, he joined Mark Daws, director of labels and packaging at Currie Group; Iain Blair, director of Birdstone Collective; and moderator Lindy Hughson, PKN and Print21 publisher, for a panel on PKN’s recent #RhinoDownUnder cover and associated AR-activated social media campaign. The panel discussed how this first-of-its-kind cover – designed
to illustrate the realms of creative possibility for printed packaging –
saw 4000 versioned gatefold covers produced using HP Mosaic, each with
a pop-out rhino, embossed and foiled using Scodix technology, and sporting HP microtext for anti-copy and authentication, and the HP Link secure mark for track and trace. The panel shared the myriad opportunities that variable data printing combined with high end finishing presented to brands. In the afternoon, following a
lunch where guests were able to see DreemAR’s augmented reality for themselves, the session on game-changing technology began with a panel hosted by Jake Nelson, labels and industrial editor at Print21, featuring Ross Read of Read Labels and Packaging; Fred Soar of Soar Print; and Roger Kirwan of Kirwan Print Group speaking about their journeys into digital flexibles (see box story on previous page). Daniel Blau, solutions and partners manager at HP, then gave a five-minute tech talk on HP PackReady, before Joe Foster of Omniverse Foster Packaging Group showed off new technologies and applications in flexible packaging.
The day wrapped up with a look
into the future of packaging print. Brian Lowe, group general manager
of Orora Fibre, led the charge with
a talk on how Orora is thinking
outside the brown box, including the purchase of two EFI Nozomi C18000 digital inkjet corrugated packaging presses. Lowe said the Nozomi has 'the most sophisticated digital printing capability available in the world today for corrugated boxes' and that it
would form a central pillar of Orora's customer-led innovation going forward.
He then joined Geoff Selig, executive chairman of IVE Group;
20 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018