IN CONVERSATION WITH: Big Impact

As every good designer knows, a hotel project is a team effort that involves collaborating with many different disciplines and skill sets. We recently met Big Impact at a trade event and immediately liked what we discovered about the company and it's values. We interviewed company director Marc Schoenmakers about Big Impact's sustainability ethos, and learned how this is integral to every project...

The print industry is notoriously polluting, so it’s refreshing to find such a company with a strong ethos of environmental sustainability. What is the Big Impact story?

Big Impact is a company based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Our speciality is Inkjet printing on a variety of surfaces and materials and we focus on innovative and sustainable solutions in printing. Our stockroom is filled with white materials which are waiting for designs from our customers; they’re the ones that add colour our world and together we create impact.

Our motto is: BIG impact, small footprint. Our aim is to share responsibility for the world we live in, through setting up circular processes and developing sustainable raw materials. Our sustainability is as unlimited as the size and quality of our prints. We have the utmost respect for our employees, our customers, and the world at large.

When we met at HD Europe in Berlin, you guys were wearing eye-catching trainers with a unique print. How did the collaboration with the sneaker company come about?  Was its purpose purely for marketing?

The shoes from Linkkens.com are a great example of where clients surprise us by adopting our sustainable innovations. The product they use is a circular textile produced from recycled PET-bottles. This textile is our most popular product, but mostly used for framed art. However, the guys at Linkkens had whole other ideas for the textile! They produced a circular shoe collection with custom prints, a totally different approach and use of our technical capabilities and innovative solutions. Big Impact really loves to empower its clients to create unique possibilities. We are the white canvas upon which the client adds colour!

The concept of a ‘circular economy’ as endorsed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a great aspiration and we’re impressed that Big Impact has made a commitment to it. What have been some of the key challenges for the company? 

To innovate is challenging in so many ways. As a company we have set ourselves a goal to improve the sustainability of 80% of our raw materials. In order to achieve this, we have to overcome a lot of challenges. It begins with a search for like-minded partners, stakeholders who share our beliefs and are able to contribute to the process. For example, technical partners who want to develop new materials, and have the resources to do so. At the same time, we need to demonstrate to clients the benefits of the new improved product.

Any change can be difficult, so it’s important to find the right partners that are willing to innovate with you. With these first innovators and early adopters, you can have an advantage over competitors that will convince the rest of the market.

We imagine that for a company to innovate with new technologies and materials requires a lot of investment in R&D, of which the costs get added to the end product. How does Big Impact remain competitive in this respect?

We tend to develop with a maximum price increase of 10% on the current product. If a new product costs more than 10% of the original it’s hard to succeed. Secondly, we focus on the materials that make a difference. Our big volume products have the most impact and our innovation partners are willing to invest together with us. But at the end of the day it’s our clients who recognise and appreciate our revolutionary products. Thanks to their belief in our vision, we make a difference together.

Can you tell us about hospitality projects the company has been involved in, with an especially interesting/ challenging application or surface?

We collaborate on numerous projects. Our clients do all the hard work, which is the design and installation of our material.

We’re very proud of all the productions that we are a part of. One of the first that adopted our wallcovering was the Mainport hotel in Rotterdam. Designed by Feran Thomassen, who embraced the endless possibilities of printing, every floor has its own unique style. Another big achievement for us was the collaboration with Radisson hotels. They became our launch partner for our Walltex Biovate PVC free wallcovering, a commitment that came after years of hard work and overcoming challenges.