The theme for next year’s event will be ‘Discover Your Universe of Print’ featuring astronauts and space imagery.

“The concept is about the printer standing on the mothership of Fespa, setting off to explore the planets of applications and technologies,” said Fespa divisional director Roz McGuinness.

The event is already set to occupy just shy of 66,000sqm including the co-located European Sign Expo, making it 2,500sqm larger than Fespa London on paper. However, in real terms McGuinness said it would be even larger.

“In London we also had Print Inspiration Runway, Hall of Fame, Jet Set Conference and various other things on the show floor, but in order to accommodate the demand for space in Cologne we will be moving some of those features into the covered boulevard next to the halls,” she said.

“So when you factor that in then in terms of exhibitor presence then it really is going to be a much bigger show.”

In terms of square metres sold, the event has already matched the space sold at London and McGuinness said she was confident that Cologne would be a sell-out.

“That’s why we’re talking about what we can do in the boulevard, because we’ve already started to plan for the need for extra space in the halls as we’re actually at capacity already with the space we have available.”

Cologne has already exceeded London’s 650-exhibitor tally, and McGuinness said she was confident of exceeding 700.

She also revealed that the show had set itself the ambitious target of 25,000 unique visitors at next year’s event, 3,000 more than the total achieved at London.

“We’re not going to be complacent though and we’re targeting new audiences as well as our heartlands. But because we have so many exhibitors on board already it means our focus now can be on engaging with visitors,” said McGuinness.

Like London, Cologne will feature three key zones: Fespa Screen, Fespa Digital and Fespa Fabric.

McGuinness said that the event’s educational content was still be finalised, but that it would have a new look and feel.

However, she added that the show would also have a new feature aimed at the industrial decoration sector, specifically combining print with interior design.

The feature will take the shape of a one-day conference for the printed interior market. McGuinness said that she would be unveiling more details in the near future, but confirmed that the conference would feature it’s own branding and website.

Fespa takes place 18-22 May 2015, for more information or to register, visit www.fespa2015.com.