By Terry Watson
We cut our teeth on the old keyline desks with pots of glue and cut-apart type creating the images for my designs. We’ve moved through the trends and industry shifts from cut-and-paste to digital design.
Now they tell us print is dead.
The truth is more complex. Yes, some areas of the print industry are shrinking; newspapers are disappearing. But with the surge in small businesses and startups, there are, in fact, more individuals seeking print design and printing services than ever before. While larger commercial print design opportunities, such as newspaper advertising, have dried up over the years, there are still many opportunities in the print design space for small agencies and individual freelancers.
Here are some key reasons why print design won’t be dying any time soon.
Outdoor Advertising
Outdoor advertising, such as billboards and traditional signage, are still very much in demand. This form of advertising is not going to disappear anytime soon. In many cases, outdoor advertisements now include a digital component, such as LED billboards, but designers in this field are still building their files and translating brands in the same way they did 5 or 10 years ago. In metro areas, bus wraps and subway posters are still viable forms of advertisement for major retailers and entertainment brands, and these industries are by no stretch of the imagination in decline.
Small Businesses, Startups, Entrepreneurs, & Moonlighting
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well today. More and more people are dissatisfied with the status quo and are seeking side-hustles to make additional money, or quitting jobs with which they are unhappy. As a result, designers are in high-demand to assist them in building and developing their new brands, and that usually begins with a logo design, business card, and other print marketing collateral.
Print is not dead. Print is very much an essential part of small business today. Great marketing is about creating unforgettable experiences for customers, and print is most definitely an experience. Print is tactile, it engages your sense of touch in a way that a website never could. In a subtle way, it even engages your sense of smell. Putting printed material in someone’s hands gives you an opportunity to have a more engaging conversation in real time; using all of the senses in their truest forms. Furthermore, consider that print is no longer just a static form of media. It can be a “gateway” media, driving traffic to your website, or engagement to your mobile applications, or bring awareness of your social media presence.
Print Costs Money—and Money is an Investment
This final point may seem contradictory, but consider the idea that money equals commitment. When you’re perceived to be committed, you have more legitimacy and leverage in a situation. Why should someone invest in you or your product, if you’re not willing to do the same?
We still look up and admire the scale and beauty of a well-placed billboard. We still stop in the lobby of the theater to imagine the upcoming movies shown on brightly lit signs. Flyers are still the go-to form of advertisement for a local event or a party. Some of this is rooted in the simple fact that printed pieces are physical, tangible commodities, and we value them more than the abstract intangible advertising in the digital space. Digital advertising is gone an instant! We might delete as many as 100 emails in a single day (or even a single hour) without ever looking back. But if you were to get 100 pieces of physical mail in your mailbox today, the odds are that you would take notice!
Yes, Print is Alive and Well
Print is thriving and will continue to do so as we expand into a more digital age. We take comfort in a growing surge of entrepreneurs and side-hustlers, and we see the print industry growing in a way that it never has before.
We suspect that large retail and entertainment brands will ultimately seek out small design studios and individual freelancers to offset some of their large agency bills, considering that more of these solo designers are getting experience delivering high-quality print assets while working with smaller brands and start-ups. As a result, large brands could even increase the amount of print work they do, paying less in overhead for truly unique marketing.
So, to all the naysayers preparing to dance on the grave of the print industry, you should be aware that the casket is empty.
Print is alive and well.