Introduction

Dyesublimation is a comparatively new technology and still in its infancy stages of development in Africa. People have only started to explore the possibilities of this technology in South Africa in the last five to six years. The fact that it is so new means that there are still numerous opportunities for business people to purchase the equipment and enter a largely untapped market. Already in Europe dyesublimation is a multi-million Euro per annum industry and their markets are rapidly evolving from a prevailing market of mass production to one of mass customization, made possible with dyesublimation. Until now, local investors in the technology have mostly been entrepreneurs in the sign and graphics industry who have used the equipment for signage purposes such as banners and flags and in so doing have barely scratched the surface of the applications the technology can be used for. The nature of the technology leaves it open to numerous other industries like clothing design, interior decorating and many others. Essentially, dyesublimation is a way to print digital photographic quality images onto an array of substrates ranging from polyester fabrics to ceramic tiles. When one stops a moment to consider the implications of such a technology, the possible opportunities arising from the possible applications are staggering. So much so that we can say with certainty that all the possibilities have not even been exposed yet and in a world where your imagination is the only limiting factor, are unlikely to be exhausted for quite some time. However it will become more difficult as the technology takes off. This means that the time to enter and establish oneself in a dyesublimation environment is now, before somebody else beats you to it! *NB: Not all the work in these pictures was done by Nashakele Graphics, however they do represent applications for which the technology is commonly used and are a fair reflection of the results that can be achieved.