Returning in 2025, the revamped Print Census – which is being run in partnership with Fespa’s thought leadership partner, Keypoint Intelligence – is designed to better reflect the changing nature of the speciality print and signage landscapes.

Surveys will be conducted at an increased frequency of two every 12 months and each one will focus on three topics. Subsequently, after each survey, three reports – one for each of the focus areas – will be released.

Graeme Richardson-Locke, head of associations and technical lead at Fespa, said: “The print sector is always developing, and our community needs up-to-date insights to stay ahead. Changing the Fespa Print Census from a three-year cycle to shorter surveys every six months will help us to deliver more timely, actionable insights to our members.

“Increasing the frequency of the Print Census also supports regular benchmarking by focussing printers on market shifts and emerging trends. Our new approach ensures that we’re listening more often and more clearly, making it easier for businesses to share their experiences and highlight evolving opportunities.”

With a more user-friendly format, Fespa said the Print Census would now be easier to complete in 10 minutes. To support broader global participation, surveys and subsequent reports will also be available in multiple languages.

The first survey will focus on three key areas that are influencing the print industry landscape: sustainability, artificial intelligence (AI) in printing operations, and process automation.

This survey opened this week and will collect responses until November. Results reports will be published in late 2025.

First launched in 2015, Fespa said the return of the Print Census supported its commitment to providing its members and the wider speciality print community with actionable, data-driven insights that facilitate innovation, productivity, growth, and resilience.

Separately, Fespa has also revealed that the Fespa Global Print Expo and co-located European Sign Expo and Personalisation Experience events will take place at the Fira de Barcelona, Spain, from Tuesday 19 to Friday 22 May next year.

The 2026 show will also welcome back Sportswear Pro for its second edition. Other features already confirmed include World Wrap Masters and Club Fespa.

Michael Ryan, head of Fespa Global Print Expo, said: “It gives me great pleasure to share that we have chosen Barcelona as the host city for our 2026 flagship events.

“As a peripatetic event, it’s important to us that we are able to connect with our different associations and the regional markets as a whole. We’re excited to see what the city has in store for us and are confident that our visitors will have the opportunity to unveil a wealth of business potential across print, signage, personalisation and sportswear.”

At Fespa's press conference yesterday (6 May), Ryan added: "The last Fespa show in Barcelona was in 2012 so we're returning to Southern Europe once again and look forward to welcoming you there in sunny Spain."

Ryan said the location would "help to build on Fespa's relations with the Spanish and Portuguese speciality print markets even further". A 2020 event had been scheduled to be held in Madrid but was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.

Fespa said further details about the 2026 event would be available after this year’s show concludes.

At the opening ceremony of the 2025 show yesterday, Daniel Sunderland, vice president of Canagraf (La Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Artes Gráficas – Fespa’s local association in Mexico), was sworn into office as Fespa’s 19th president.

Sunderland has more than 30 years’ experience working in the speciality print industry and also holds a seat on behalf of Fespa on the board of Conlatingraf, a coalition of 14 associations in Latin America.

He succeeds Christophe Aussenac, founding director of ATC (Autorise Toute Creativité), who held the position since 2021.

Sunderland said: “It’s a great pleasure to take on the role as Fespa president. As a printer myself, I see the important role that Fespa plays and the support it provides to the speciality print industry.

“I’m looking forward to helping drive that forward. Looking ahead to my term in office, I will build on the work that Christophe and previous Fespa presidents have done, so as an organisation, we remain dedicated to our community and help our members and the wider speciality print community to navigate the evolving print landscape.”

The co-located Fespa Global Print Expo, European Sign Expo and Personalisation Experience events run until Friday (9 May) at Messe Berlin and are operating under the strapline ‘Where Visionaries Meet’.