中文Visual communication is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by demand for tailor-made solutions, turnkey projects that integrate design and production, and the increasingly central role of communication within physical spaces. Viscom 2026, scheduled for 28 and 29 October at the Allianz MiCo Convention Center in Milan, embraces that shift by inaugurating a new phase in its evolution as a hub connecting technologies, applications, content and professionals across the supply chain.
The event introduces a new Exhibition & Conference format that brings exhibition areas, conference sessions and networking into a more agile, two-day, business-oriented ecosystem. The stated aim is to meet the market’s new needs by simplifying participation, maximising the value of time for exhibitors and visitors, and fostering direct dialogue on the industry’s ongoing evolution.
A snapshot of confirmed exhibitors reveals where the energy is. In large-format digital printing, HP will showcase solutions including the HP Latex 530W and 830W printers, with a focus on HP PrintOS Production Hub, software that unifies order management and remote production control. Also on display is the new HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9 Plus PostScript Printer Series Plus Edition, built to combine image quality with simplified workflows.
Epson will participate with a complete range for signage, photography, sublimation and personalisation, spotlighting the new SureColor V4000 shown for the first time in Italy: a 10-colour A1-plus UV flatbed printer designed to widen application possibilities in the UV segment. AWSERVICE will present DTF printing and heat-pressing solutions, while online printer 4Graph will highlight opportunities in publishing and paper converting such as catalogues, books and magazines.
Quality control and colour management fall to Barbieri Electronic, presenting spectrophotometers for textile digital printing, signage and decor. On the industrial automation front, the Certech Group will introduce systems from Elema for cleaning and controlling digital print heads, aimed at improving precision and production continuity. Rocca Fun Factory will show Print-a-loon, a multifunction UV solution for printing on balloons and promotional items.
Alongside production technology, solutions for communication within physical spaces are gaining weight in branding and space-enhancement strategies. Adsystem will present offline marketing and exhibition design including LED lightboxes, textile walls, modular stands, digital signage and outdoor applications. KD Visual will showcase printing media, display stands and fixing systems with an emphasis on modularity and quick print replacement. In illuminated signage, Domino Sign will unveil Channel3D, a new range of machines for producing 3D channel letters for indoor signage.
Workflow digitalisation will be represented by DPS Soluzioni Informatiche, presenting a cloud-based management platform for graphic arts and printing companies that integrates quoting, production, management control and warehouse organisation in one environment.
Italy remains one of Europe’s most design-driven markets for visual communication, and Viscom’s repositioning reflects how that market has changed since the pandemic. Signage, retail display and event graphics rebounded as physical commerce reasserted itself, but buyers now expect integration: a project that combines print, structural display, digital signage and software rather than a single product. The new two-day format is a response to that expectation, compressing the supply chain into a manageable window and making it easier for time-pressed owners to attend. The exhibitor mix tells the story, HP and Epson anchoring production print, Barbieri covering colour science, Certech addressing head maintenance, and companies like Adsystem and KD Visual covering the physical space itself. That breadth is the point: a visitor can compare a UV flatbed, a colour-management spectrophotometer and a modular stand system in one aisle. For Italian visual-communication specialists, many of them small and mid-sized, events like Viscom are where they benchmark against peers and encounter technologies, such as Epson’s first-in-Italy SureColor V4000, before committing capital. The emphasis on networking and conference sessions alongside the exhibition signals that the value is increasingly in the connections and the know-how, not just the hardware on the stand.
The decision to compress Viscom into two days is also a response to how visitors allocate time. Owners of small and mid-sized visual-communication businesses rarely have the luxury of a multi-day absence, and a tighter, denser format respects that constraint while still delivering the breadth the market expects. The inclusion of workflow and business-management software among the exhibits, represented by DPS Soluzioni Informatiche, reflects a quiet but important shift: the differentiator for many sign and display shops is no longer just what they can print, but how efficiently they quote, schedule and account for it. A cloud management platform that unifies those functions speaks to shops professionalising operations as competition intensifies. Likewise, the prominence of object and gadget personalisation, through Rocca Fun Factory’s balloon printer and similar kit, shows how the market is fragmenting into high-margin niches where customisation commands a premium. Viscom’s value, then, is as much about surfacing these niches and the software to run them as about the headline printers. For attendees, the two days compress a year of product discovery into a single, efficient visit.
Source: based on reporting from Specialist Printing Worldwide (specialistprinting.com).
