packagePRINTING's Top 5 Stories of 2016

By Cory Francer

As 2016 comes to a close, it has been challenging to reconcile all of this conversation surrounding just how terrible of a year it was. For those in the packaging and printing industry, it’s hard to not look back on 2016 with positive thoughts. We had an incredible drupa, at which packaging technology stole the show. There were major innovations in both digital and conventional printing technology. And packaging has firmly positioned itself as the hot growth area in the printing industry.

For a bit of a nostalgic look back at the year that was, here are five of the top packagePRINTING online stories from 2016, as determined by you, the reader.

#1 Top 10 Memorable Moments from drupa 2016

By nearly all accounts, drupa 2016 was a major success. The printing industry had been in a bit of a slump during the 2008 and 2012 editions of the quadrennial printing mega-show. But drupa 2016 proved that the industry is on the upswing, with digital package printing at the forefront. Many are even referring to the event as "The Digital Packaging drupa."

#2 HP and Coca-Cola Are at it Again: Millions of One-of-a-Kind Bottles on the Way

When digital printing first started to work its way into the packaging industry, many were skeptical as to how big of an impact the technology would have. But the smashing success of the Share-a-Coke campaign proved that with some creativity, digital package printing could create some innovative results. So when Diet Coke announced the IT’S MINE campaign in February, leveraging HP’s SmartStream Mosaic software to create millions of unique bottles, industry pros were eager to see the results.

#3 Six Packaging Trends for the New Year

Mintel, a global market research firm, is well known for its annual trend predictions for the year ahead. When the 2016 trends were announced, packagePRINTING spoke with David Luttenberger, Mintel’s global packaging director about the six trends he foresaw would have the biggest impact in 2016. With 2016 in the past, take a look to see if these trends rang true.

#4 Corrugated Packaging Highlights from drupa

There was so much to take away from Düsseldorf at the end of drupa 2016, but one of the most surprising aspects of the show was the emergence of single-pass, direct-to-board, digital printing for corrugated packaging. From a printing perspective, the corrugated segment was often looked at as the least technologically advanced. But the quantity of new digital solutions at drupa and the amazing quality they achieved will change the outlook on corrugated packaging.

#5 Bold Packaging Move for an Iconic Brand … But Is It the Right One?

Photo via The Coca-Cola Company

Arguably the most recognizable brand around the world, any story on Coca-Cola packaging will grab the industry’s attention. So when Coca-Cola announced in April that it would implement a “one brand” approach with a similar design across several of its products, the company received mixed reviews.

From groundbreaking new technology to innovative packaging designs, it’s easy to see the positives that 2016 brought to the industry. Here’s hoping for more of the same in 2017!