Pressing On
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Kelley Holmes
kelley@quickprinting.com | 800-616-2252 x6104
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Denise M. Gustavson
Denise.Gustavson@cygnus.com | 800-616-2252 x6218
Editor
Mark Vruno | mark@quickprinting.com | 800-616-2252 x6225
Senior Consultant
Bob Hall | browndawg@aol.com
Senior Contributing Columnist
Tom Crouser | tom@crouser.com
David Fellman | dmf@davefellman.com
John Giles | john@johngiles.com
Contributing Columnist
David Claerbaut | drdc46@yahoo.com
Nancy DeDiemar | nancy91762@gmail.com
Mitch Evans | mitch@mitchevansconsulting.com
Steve Johnson | steve@copresco.com
Stuart Margolis | bPfaff@margolisbecker.com
Joe Rickard | jrickard@intellectives.com
Debra Thompson | debra@tgassociates.com
CORPORATE OFFICE
1233 Janesville Avenue, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538
Phone: 800-616-2252
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Kimberly Jorgensen x6103 | kimberly@quickprinting.com
Paul Zimmerman x6214 | paul@quickprinting.com
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Suzette Schear x6260 |suzette.schear@cygnus.com
Art Director
Yuly Osorio x1732 | Yuly.Osorio@cygnus.com
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Tammy Steller x1393 | tammy.steller@cygnus.com
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LIST RENTALS
Elizabeth Jackson
ejackson@meritdirect.com | 847-492-1350 x18
CEO John French
CFO Paul Bonaiuto
SVP, Strategy & Business Development Blair Johnson
VP, Marketing Gerry Whitty
VP, Audience Development Julie Nachtigal
VP, Technology Eric Kammerzelt
VP, Production Operations Curt Pordes
Excecutive Vice President Gloria Cosby
VP, Human Resources Ed Wood
www.MyPRINTResource.com
6 Quick Printing | January 2015
T
o ring in the New Year, I've donned my super-hero
printer's hat, which contains fecks of powerful
pixel dust. Here's what my magical cap revealed
about the graphic communications industry in 2015
and beyond:
Print is back. The economic recession is over, and our in-
dustry is growing, albeit slowly: Overall, annual revenues
in the US are projected to grow at approximately three
percent this year. (See QP's State of the Industry coverage
starting on page 12.)
Inkjet is for real. Steve Johnson, a QP columnist and print frm owner,
told me that he is a big believer in niche markets. His frm, Copresco, has
been all-digital since its inception 27 years ago. Toner-based devices still
play a major role in the primarily monochrome, short-run book work in
which Copresco specializes, but Johnson understands why people think
inkjet is the future. "Toner has peaked," he admitted.
More vmail. So-called "video blockers" are preventing most digital
video content from entering many email programs, but code crackers are
fguring out how to get past these software barriers. We are beginning to
see abbreviated, low-resolution videos embedded into email messages.
These 2x2-inch windows, approximately twice the size of postage stamps,
automatically play when email is opened.
Email is helping direct mail. Ironically, one impetus for print's growth
may be declining mail volumes at Post Offces. A decade ago, some 50
percent of everything that used to be printed ended up in the mail stream.
We all know how email has cut into the amount of traditional mail sent,
especially over the past three years or so. But the USPS infrastructure is
still in place which means, with substantially decreased volumes, mail
can zip through the system more quickly than ever before.
Internet censoring? The threat of Internet censorship, a reality in China
and other countries, will fall short in the USA, where freedom of speech
reigns supremely. In Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre
Dame, he described the revolutionary advance made by the printing press:
"The invention of printing is the greatest event in history. It is the mother
of revolutions. It is humanity's mode of expression totally renewed, human
thought discarding one form and putting on another... It blends with the
air." In the 19th century, Hugo called printing "the second Tower of Babel
of the human race." If he were still writing today, he might call the Inter-
net "the third Tower of Babel."
Who will lead our industry? Ten years ago, digital printing was starting
to be taken seriously. Big-iron press manufacturers, including Heidel-
berg, were being replaced as major advertisers in trade magazines by HP,
Kodak, and Xerox. Who will lead graphic communications heading into
2020? Are these frms even on our radar in early 2015? Stay tuned.
A Look into
My Crystal Ball
Inkjet technology advancements, faster mail,
video mail, and no Internet censoring:
a sampling of what may be ahead for us.
By Mark Vruno