How printers are evolving to meet modern business needs
How printers are evolving to meet modern business needs
Digital media has taken the world by storm. It’s available to us on our phones, computers, billboards and even inside public transport. But spare a thought for the printing industry, which was once deemed so powerful and now would seem to be falling by the wayside.
With so many digital products and content types out there, is there still a need for physical printing any longer? Yes there is, but the times are changing. Let’s take a closer look at how printers are evolving to meet modern business needs and stay relevant.
Digital print
One of the biggest adaptations of the printing industry is to move away from traditional methods using a printing plate to produce on-demand and short print runs. Rather than relying on a printing plate being made, digital print allows for cost effective and variable printing options on the fly.
If time and money are not on your side, printing digitally is the perfect option that still yields excellent results. The types of digital printing that allow printers to evolve and remain relevant include cartons, fabrics, cardstock and t-shirts.
Design and branding
We are living in an age where more start-up’s than ever are being formed so finding a printer that can deliver affordable but quality design and branding is essential. But, to evolve and become relevant to modern start-up needs, printers must offer more than simply putting a brand’s logo onto a printable material.
They must be able to effectively distil and roll out consistent branding across the breadth of a company’s materials. Thanks to the creation of web-to-print portals, companies can easily apply their branding to all their merchandise or stationery, by logging in and ordering as necessary.
Website building and branding
Printers can extend their designing abilities to help develop content for company websites such as images, animations and videos. Michael Cooper, of distribution and packaging company Lindenmeyr Munroe, explains, “A well-positioned printer is really becoming a communications company, offering solutions above and beyond a traditional print facility.”
A company’s website is the modern day shop window, so it’s important that they reflect the values and voice of those businesses they represent.
Printers have been working with companies for many years prior to the digital revolution to create imagery and messaging that is consistent with their branding. Now they can extend that service to website building, where the branding is rolled out across sites that function and remain consistent on multiple platforms and devices.
The market for traditional printing
Despite the evolution of printing to incorporate the digital media and expand services to help companies with their branding, traditional printing remains. Newspapers, magazines and books are still popular today with many readers, although they are of course, slowly being replaced by digital versions. Similar to the way that vinyl records have stuck around, it seems there will always be some market for physical print media
