Print and signage industry representatives were on hand this week for the launch of a new initiative aimed at educating TAFE graphic design students about the range of employment opportunities across the printing industry.

Signage and display textiles business Ricky Richards has teamed up with Goldberg Aberline Studios to help create an inflatable coral reef installation for this year’s popular Sculpture by the Sea event in Sydney.

Ray Ebel, managing director of Adelaide’s Get Displays, has won the second monthly prize worth $1,000 in Graphic Art Mart’s $45,000 Work Hard, Play Hard trade competition.

Three APN Outdoor executives have been made redundant following the $1.2 billion takeover by global outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux. APN CEO James Warburton announced last month he would also be leaving following the completion of the deal.

Mimaki will showcase its advanced colour additive manufacturing technology under the theme ‘Shape the Future in Colour’ at the formnext show in Frankfurt, Germany from the 13-16th November.

Mutoh Australia has named Auckland-based Sign Supplies as its national dealer for sales and service across the full range of Mutoh printers in New Zealand.

MetroWrapz of Hollywood, Florida has won the Avery Dennison Graphic Solutions “Wrap Like A King” Challenge at the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas for its warplane-themed vehicle wrap titled Mission Flyer 2.0.

Epson President Minoru Usui has been awarded the prestigious Japanese government Medal with Blue Ribbon that will be presented this month in Tokyo and be followed by an audience with His Majesty the Emperor Akihito.

Hexis Group has unveiled the THE190EVO – new Take Heat Easy (THE) technology applied to a printable premium cast PVC film – at the 2018 Specialty Equipment Makers Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.

“It was a breeze to print it,” says Keith Ferrel of grand format specialist Cactus Imaging, but new fire retardant regulations turned Australia’s biggest building wrap at Sydney International Airport into a challenging six month job.

Every now and then we see an example of wide format inkjet printing that stands out as brilliant promotion and innovative use of space. Chatswood, Sydney barber Kleames Dawod has used just about every available wall and glass space to express his passion for Liverpool FC – currently top of the UK Premier league at time of writing.

Digital print giant Ricoh has expanded its industrial printing business with the acquisition of LAC Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer of unique inkjet technology that allows printing on three-dimensional surfaces including the sides of cars, trucks, tyres, aircraft and glass bottles.

Imagination Graphics, based at  Marrickville in Sydney, has taken the top prize in this year's Konica Minolta Specialised Print Awards (NSPAs) for its pop-up book The Hamptons. Owner Emmanuel Buhagiar will enjoy a trip to Tokyo to visit Konica Minolta’s headquarters and R&D facilities.

Konica Minolta has been named a finalist in the Business Award category of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2018 Human Rights Awards.

“We don’t believe it means very much,” says Xerox CEO John Visentin about a court decision last week that Fujifilm claims will allow it to continue negotiations over its proposed $6.1 billion takeover of the US giant.