Looking around my work desk I would have to say a resounding “No!”
How can print be dead then I am looking at:
- a paper calendar?
- a branded coaster?
- a pile of business cards?
- an appointment card?
- a sticker for my passwords for my broadband router?
- typed proposals?
- a written ”To do” list on a printed pad?
- trade magazines?
- the latest catalogue for Christmas goodies?
- a pile of branded post-it reminders?
- membership certificates and awards waiting to be framed?
- instructions on how to use the latest digital gadgetry I have invested in?
- and finally, the pen I have picked up with a company name on it?!
Yes! I could do away with all of these things and have a completely digital office, but do I want to?
Do you?
The truth is, I still like to flick through the latest promotional catalogue, enjoy accepting business cards from future potential business associates or clients. The physical giving and acceptance of a business card is so much more satisfying than a LinkedIn request via my inbox. Am I alone when I say I love getting a pen and physically drawing a line through items on my specially printed pad with my “to do” list?
I even still like appointment cards – if they do nothing else but sit as a reminder, and a back up to my completely electronic dairy, they have done their bit!
After the usual slog of typing a proposal or a plan for a client, I know that if I don’t print it to proof read it I will become blind to the errors on the page – why – because I scan read on a computer, hastily absorbing only what I need to understand. In a world where we are fed bite size snippets on the screen with social posts, emails that we are one liners, or pop-ups as reminders (which usual catch me out when I realise I only have 10 minutes before I should be doing something else), retention is often lost.
With printed material I know that if my concentration is broken for any reason, I can skip back to it at my leisure. Print is comfortable, it is reassuring and it a gentle reminder, not a nagging alarm or pop-up that there is something else on the horizon I need to remember.
I am reminded as I look at the various membership certificates and awards that print is uniquely precious for celebratory purposes; gift cards are far more personal that digital greetings, a thank you note is so much more thnt a quickly fired off email, no matter how well intentioned.
So, next time you are considering if print is dead, take a quick sweep of the contents on your desk, the pictures, certificates and wall planners that still adorn your walls. Lift your cup and look at the coaster you are using, and take great pleasure in that thank you card, a grateful client sent and wonder no more… our friend print is far from dead!
At The Design Hive, we love creating printed products that will bring that same feeling of comfort and stability; permanent branding that sits gently in the background reminding people of your business, but in a nice, non-nagging way!
