Wired NEXTFEST at Millennium Park: First Impressions

Well, this week has been a busy one for me filled with project proposals and new business meetings. However, I did find the time today to step across the street from our offices to visit the Wired NEXTFEST at Millennium Park that is taking place from now until October 12th. I only had a few moments to visit the event but I wanted to share an exhibit that really caught my eye today.

Xerox is a corporate sponsor for the event, and they are promoting a number of their new technologies, but it was their environmentally friendly solid inks that really won me over. I had heard about solid inks in the past, but never experienced anything like Xerox’s, and definitely not hands on.

Apparently they are able to reduce waste by 90% as compared to laser inks because the solid inks require much less packaging. In fact, the inks appear to look like a big blocky crayon and have no cartridge. Once the inks are placed into the printer they are then melted into a liquid and printed onto a drum which is then offset onto the paper. From what I saw of the print quality it appears that the new technology could easily replace the office laser printer in no time. As a designer it may not go a long way toward reducing our impact through commercial printing, but it could be a great way to reduce the waste that our offices generate on a daily basis. Like most consumers I have been trying to be more eco-conscious, and I think that the next printer I buy could easily be one of these. Plus I wouldn’t have to store all those huge bulky toner boxes.

That’s all I have for now, but I will be returning to the event tomorrow when I have a little more time to get a better look. If you are in the Chicago area, I would suggest that you get out and see the great technological innovations being showcased. The event is extremely interesting and free to the public, so what do you have to lose?