- Charlie Taublieb
This week, we asked Charlie Taublieb, of
Taublieb Consulting, to give his perspective on what differences he sees between the screen print industry in the U.S. and Europe. Charlie just came back from a trade show in France where he held screen print seminars at the show (
International Coatings supplied inks for Charlie’s seminar there this year as well):
“Shows in Europe are very different than those in the US. In France, they are even more so. The objectives of the shows are the same as in the US, to either sell you something or familiarize you with the products being shown. That being said, the differences start with the ability of exhibitors to bring in their own food and beverages. Alcohol is not uncommon at these shows and some companies take it a step further than others. For example, I worked with B&C Collection and they have a full-time bartender on staff just to work shows.
There are even several differences at French shows than other shows in Europe. For one thing, most people are very fashion oriented. The women coming to the shows are dressed to kill. They may not be dressed for comfort, but certainly for style. Looking good in France is very important and it shows.
The other thing I love about French shows is, when the show closes for the day, no one leaves. All you hear are Champagne corks popping and everyone staying for an extra hour or so eating and drinking.
As for what goes on in Europe fashion-wise versus the US, they are doing a lot of the same types of things. There are some very good printers and then there are those that are not. Special Effects inks are used by those printers that know how. Those that don't use Special Effects inks, want to learn. [
See our previous blog post on Special Effects inks]I think the biggest differences between the US and Europe are the screen frames. Many printers in the US use retensionable screens with high tension. In Europe they almost exclusively use rigid frames with lower tensions.
Europe does use a lot more water based ink and the push to be "Green" is much harder there. They have been moving in that direction longer that we have. I'm not sure I saw any ink there that we don't have, but the larger printers seem to use a better variety of ink types than in the US because they have to and can.
If you really want to see what printing in Europe is like, go to
FESPA '10 in Munich, Germany from June 22-26. It's the largest screen print show in the world and occurs every three years. Almost every screen print manufacturer will be displaying there - including
International Coatings (Booth #168). Check out FESPA’s
Innovation Blog for yourself.”
Charlie Taublieb
Charlie has been a printer for over 30 years and has consulted in the screen print industry for over 25 years. He teaches seminars at all the various ISS shows as well as at the SGIA show. For more on Charlie, go to his website,
Taublieb Consulting, at
www.TaubliebConsulting.com.
For more on
International Coatings’ ink products, check out our website at
www.iccink.com.
