Ilford president provides 2020 outlook

Keiichi Shindo, president ILFORD Japan and general manager, Tecco, announced growth plans for the upcoming year.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that Ilford continues to live up to its reputation of being and remaining the leading brand in photography in the years to come,“ says Shindo. “Ilford will continue on its growth path, as in previous years. We have accelerated this plus with the additional new products of the last years. To achieve this, we have entered into close cooperation with an exclusive paper mill in Japan. We rely on new paper qualities, tailor-made for artists, and new roll widths to enable print service providers to use large printers with maximum print width.

“For the fine art sector, we will introduce two new Ilford barite papers to complement the two barite media already offered in the upper-quality segment,” he said. “They are distinguished by surface and by white point.

“Our solution package, the Fine Art Printing Solutions, consists of products that do not belong to the paper group: Here, after Creative Emulsion Canvas FineArt Protect, we will offer our photographers and artists additional complementary products, such as do-it-yourself frames called ILFORD Gallery Frames, and portfolio boxes for presentation, storage and protection of artwork. Also for protection is FineArt Glassine, a parchment paper that is placed between the prints to protect surfaces.

“A new focus is on the dry lab market,” he said. “In the first quarter we will present a complete Ilford range for the dry lab market. We are grateful to have Tecco as an ideal complement to Ilford in the photographic market. The connection at the company gives us high flexibility and offers us advantages over others.”