Every year, around this time, we start having the same conversations with businesses across the UK: “We’ll get everything sorted after Christmas,” or “We’ll think about print in the new year.” And every year, without fail, January arrives, deadlines pile up, and that “we’ll sort it later” plan suddenly becomes a stressful rush.
So we’ll say it plainly - now is the best time to start planning your print campaigns for 2026. Not in February. Not “once things calm down.” Now. And trust us, planning ahead makes a massive difference.
We’ve been helping businesses with their print for years, and we see the same patterns again and again. When you give yourself space to plan, the work is smoother, the ideas are stronger, and the results are miles better.
Here’s why thinking ahead for 2026 is one of the smartest moves you can make.
When you’re not in a rush, you can actually think - properly think - about what you want your print to achieve next year. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about flyers, brochures, packaging, event materials or a full campaign. Planning early gives you the freedom to play with ideas rather than settling for the first thing that fits the deadline.
You’ve got time to tweak your design, test colours, choose finishes that feel right for your brand, and make sure the overall look is spot on. When you’re not in a hurry, everything feels calmer, and the end result speaks for itself.
January is busy for most businesses. New promotions, new launches, new budgets, new deadlines. And because everyone waits until “after Christmas,” printers get flooded with work.
When you plan your 2026 print campaigns now, you’re skipping all that. You get guaranteed production time, smoother schedules, and no frantic last-minute emails asking whether something can be “squeezed in by Friday”.
Trust us - future you will be grateful.
Print trends don’t suddenly appear on 1st January - they creep in slowly over the year. And we’re already seeing a few things take shape for 2026.
For starters, personalised print is basically becoming the new standard. Customers expect it now. Sustainability has moved the same way - people aren’t treating it as a nice extra anymore, they assume you’re doing it. We’re also seeing a big comeback for premium finishes like foils, and soft-touch laminates, which makes sense.
Short-run and on-demand printing keep growing too. Businesses don’t want cupboards full of old stock they’ll never use. And the whole print-meets-digital thing - especially QR codes - is definitely sticking around. It’s simple, it works, and most people know how to use them now.
When you plan ahead, you can actually build these ideas into your campaigns instead of bolting them on at the last minute. We see this stuff every day, so if you want a bit of guidance on what’s looking promising for 2026, just give us a call. We’re always happy to talk through options.
One of the biggest advantages of preparing now is budget planning. Instead of dropping a chunk of your marketing spend all at once, you can spread the costs over several months.
It also means you can invest in better quality print without feeling like it’s a “last-minute extra” you should skip.
We see this a lot: When people plan early, they choose better paper, nicer finishes, and stronger designs - because the expense feels like part of a wider strategy, not a sudden hit.
Personalised print is huge right now and will only get bigger in 2026. With digital printing and variable data printing, you can tailor:
In fact, if you have it in a database format, we can tailor almost anything and all within one print run.
But here’s the thing: personalised print needs data. And data takes time to organise.
Starting early gives you space to clean up your customer lists, segment your audience properly, and make sure your personalisation actually feels personal - not rushed or generic.
This is exactly the type of work that benefits massively from being done before the new-year madness hits.
Sustainable print isn’t something you throw together at the last minute. If you want 2026 to be the year your business commits to greener marketing, you’ll want time to think about:
The sooner you start, the easier it is to align your choices with your sustainability goals.
Customers are expecting brands to take this seriously, and planning early helps you get it right.
When businesses leave print planning to the last minute, they usually end up ordering isolated bits of marketing - a flyer here, a poster there - that don’t really fit together.
Planning now lets you look at the bigger picture.
Your branding will feel consistent. Your tone will carry across every piece. Your 2026 promotions will connect, not compete with each other.
Consistency is one of the biggest things customers notice, even if they don’t realise it. And it’s something that’s nearly impossible to achieve in a rush.
When you’re not racing against a deadline, your brain has room to wander a bit - in a good way. That’s usually when the most interesting ideas show up. You might start playing around with things like:
Stuff like this doesn’t come together in five minutes. It needs a bit of testing, tweaking, and seeing how it looks in your hands. When you start early, you’ve actually got the time to explore those ideas properly instead of rushing whatever’s easiest.
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that rushing your print almost always leads to compromises. And when you’re investing in something that represents your brand out in the real world, “it’ll do” really isn’t good enough.
Planning your 2026 campaign now means:
At Colour Print, we love being part of that early planning stage. It’s calmer, more creative, and gives us the chance to help you build something that really works.
So if you’re thinking about what 2026 might look like for your business, come talk to us. Bring your notes, your ideas, or even just a rough starting point. We’ll help you turn it into something brilliant - well before the January rush even begins.
From the Colour Print printworks in Norwich, we print and fulfil orders throughout the UK.
Get in touch to chat about your latest print project.
Call us on 01603 488001, email sales@col-print.co.uk or fill out this contact form and someone from our team will be in touch.