Lighting up Queensland’s signage market is Brisbane based Fireworks Digital, owned by industry veteran Stephen Boyd with his wife Kerry-Anne Boyd. Stephen purchased the business in 2008, taking over its predominantly trade-based clientele of architects, designers and signage companies. Specialising in illuminated and corflute signs, Boyd says Fireworks is the name other sign companies turn to for specialty digital printing equipment to complement their manufacture, therefore investing in the latest equipment is a necessity.
Earlier this year Fireworks installed an HP Scitex UV flatbed FB700 printer, which saw the business quadruple its production capacity and expand its product range. The Scitex allows the business to print on unusual substrates, such as direct-to-glass for kitchen splashbacks and elevators, custom printed wallpaper and printed carpet, which Fireworks recently provided for the Weetbix Kids Triathlon.
Boyd invests in HP, Seiko and Roland DG machines. In addition to the Scitex, the business also has a dye sublimation fabric printer, a Latex printer which is used to produce vinyl graphics for vehicle wraps and a fleet of eco-solvent printers. Boyd says the business invests in the latest machines to retain its position at the forefront of the industry.
“Being trade-based, we have to maintain a very high standard with our print production, and we have got to set the industry benchmark for quality. I have seen digital prints out there that are produced from sub-standard machines, you see bending and ink nozzles dropping out and I can pick that in prints,” he says.
“We are working for the trade so they can pick these things up better than the lay-person can, so we have always got to be on our toes, on our best game, invest in new technology and stay at the forefront not only to impress them, but to help them impress their clients.”
Boyd’s motto is ‘be creative and deliver’, so when he took over the business he expanded its capabilities in the digital print arena, which has opened the business up to endless possibilities whether its printing on concrete, asphalt or brick.
Push boundaries
Boyd says the business is constantly looking to push the boundaries in terms of what it can deliver in a sign or digital print by experimentation. This is why Boyd regularly communicates with his suppliers, to learn about new and exciting products for the business to acquire. By doing so, when a customer is looking for something new and different, Fireworks can deliver. Like when the business managed to wrap Brisbane’s Suncorp Tower in a vinyl promotional banner for State of Origin.
He says, “I always get a kick out of using signage, and I take a lot of pride in walking through a shopping centre or down a main street of Brisbane and seeing my work. When I see one of my signs light up I can say to my kids, ‘Hey look at that sign, we made it in our factory’.
“I can’t walk outside for five minutes without seeing something that we have produced, and that is kind of exciting. We are changing the landscape in a nice way, we think, and that’s pretty exciting when you can create these landmarks with your work.
“We are dealing with great people too, like the designers and the business owners, people who are passionate about their businesses, and so when we make them happy and they tell us so there is a huge satisfaction in that, which is what I enjoy.”
Transformed
Under Boyd’s ownership the business has grown its staff to 12, and has also expanded its service offering. Before Boyd took over, Fireworks was a basic ‘print, pack and pick up’ business, which he has transformed by adding installation, project management and customer liaison services.
Boyd says a typical client will provide the creative files for a job, he will then ensure the size of the work is appropriate for the substrate it is being applied to, recommend the appropriate materials to use and ensure the product meets Australian standards.
With his experience, Boyd can also recommend different types of signage manufacturing methods. For example, a client might ask Boyd for a sign with three dimensional illuminated letters. “There are a dozen different ways to skin that cat. You can have a halo effect, you can illuminate the sides of the letters or you can have exposed channels,” he says. “So it is really about talking to the client about the look and feel they want for the signage to match their business, culture, market and obviously their budget, which is important too.”
Fireworks is not only concerned with the production side of business, but also making sure the work is delivered on time. Staff at Fireworks have been trained in project management in order to liaise on site with the client and other trades during the installation of the work and also coordinate the delivery of the signage. For example, retail sign work which needs to be delivered to coincide with a store’s grand opening. Boyd says this service can involve flying across the country to ensure the work is completed on time.
Despite its diverse service offering and position within the industry, Fireworks is not immune to the challenges of the industry itself. Boyd says the nature of the signage industry often involves providing one-off work for clients, however he recently finished a job which involved wrapping a fleet of 50 cars in vinyl graphics, which was completed by wrapping at a speed of two or three cars per day. He says, “That was wonderful work to get and it gives you consistency, you can plan for it and it can take away some of the stresses with business peaks and troughs if you know what is coming through the door in the next three weeks.”
And although most printers would scoff at the notion, Boyd says it is possible to over-capitalise in equipment. With the industry constantly pushing out faster and better technology, he advises print and signage businesses to monitor their spend.
According to Boyd, another worry is the influx of Chinese sign imports, which he says are well below Australian quality standards. Although information on Chinese sign imports is not available, figures from Trading Economics point to China as the largest overall exporter to Australia, with 23 per cent of the market. However Boyd’s experience is that the quality issues send clients back to Australian print providers, he says, “We’ve had clients that have tried to go through China and then they have come back to us”, adding, “although manufacturing in Australia is dying in some areas I still think that signage and large format digital print has a sustainable future.”
This is on top of mounting competition from within Australia due to the rise of digital in the out-of-home industry. Digital now accounts for 35 per cent of the industry’s revenue, up 20 per cent from this time last year. Feeling the pressure from the digital invasion, Boyd has recently invested in 55 digital monitors. However he says the digital takeover has mostly impacted the grand format billboard market, which Fireworks has not entered.
As for future investment, Boyd says Fireworks will continue to purchase eco-friendly machines and plans to replace its entire fleet with eco-solvent. “Solvent printers in Europe from what I hear have been a banned machine, we have still got one machine that does that but we have invested heavily in the eco-friendly side of things to reduce not only our carbon footprint but to reduce our clients carbon footprint. So if someone wants a total recycled banner with eco-friendly water-based inks, then they can get that from us.”
Print business owners like Boyd clearly have their finger on the pulse and prove once again that success comes through getting close to customers, giving them what they want, and investing to stay ahead.
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