There is still something more impactful about getting a printed piece, whether that is a business card, a magazine, or just a piece of mail. Holding a piece in your hands as opposed to just seeing it on the screen makes it more memorable. Print still matters.
– DUSTIN BRENTON
PRESIDENT/CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BRENTON CREATIVE
I believe print is the best way to reach people. Direct mail done right can be very effective and, more than ever, consumers respond really well to print. Something to hold and feel creates trust.
No matter how far we go digital, the desire to hold a physical version of a book, a poster, a handwritten note will always be there. Digital, for all of its convenience, is designed to be a temporary and often times disposable medium.
Print is still important for my particular job but there is a growing importance being placed on digital assets. This was already the case prior to the pandemic but I think that it was accelerated by the fact that people were/are staying home and buying online even more because of COVID.
Print will never go away. It is a staple. We may divert into various media mainly for the eyes to the brain, but as long as we are able to touch and see, like eating, print will remain.
Print is more essential than ever before. When virtual became the dominant experience we quickly realized how important a sense of touch, texture, and the relationship to the page really is.
Absolutely! There is still a large percentage of individuals who prefer to hold a tangible item in their hands. Printed books, magazines and catalogs have lasting power.
There is a sophistication and memory that you get with printed materials that you can’t achieve in the digital world. For the digital world, attention is way shorter. With printed material, focus and retention are held way longer. If digital has some sort of reminder or reinforcement, it may be near the same level of retention, but I strongly believe that tangibility still wins out.
Working as a print designer in a tourist driven town — we have need for print everywhere. From restaurant menus, tickets and wristbands, all the way to large signage and way-finding, print is everywhere. I especially see direct mail holding its place.
The printed page is still very important. There’s a quality to it that is missing on a screen. The paperless office has never materialized, thank goodness.
People are moving away from social media. As advertisers we are going to have to find new (or old) ways of reaching our audiences. As such, I believe that quality print materials will make a comeback. Direct mail will make a comeback too … it just can’t look like junk mail.
I will always love print and prefer designing printed things. I love paper textures and all the possible treatments — foils – coatings available for print.
Printed pieces give designs a sense of permanence and value digital can’t match.
I am an instructor and am bringing (virtually) a print specialist into my graduating design student classroom this term, to speak and promote the value of print.
Print is definitely still important in our industry (manufacturing of building materials). Even with the digital revolution, there is still a desire to make color choices based on actual printed samples, and as a selling tool, there is still a benefit to having a leavebehind for homeowners/contractors. POP and environmental graphics also utilize the benefits of print, albeit in combination with other digital tools/displays.
The volume of paper that I have seen people purge from their house has made me realize how much of print’s “permanence” is unnecessary. It is important that your house or car title, your birth certificate and other documents have permanence. That article you want to save for later? Read it and deal with it now. I love the texture and feel of reading a physical book, but don’t have the space to store them all. Print products will likely become more of a luxury item. If I want a book to read, I will get it on my Kindle or Nook, unless I want a nicely illustrated, first edition, signed copy of an author or book that I know and love, that I want to keep and experience in a more tactile way again and again. Casual consumption of print materials will continue to diminish, though there is still a market for specialized items that cater to a specific niche crowd.
The traditional strength of paper are more relevant than ever. Because so much information is delivered digitally, a print piece takes on a feeling of importance, and we try to make sure the end result is worth spending time with and keeping.
Print still matters especially when you are doing donor and request for a high amount. The audience loves the feel of the paper, the weight, and, of course, the design. This is a touchy-feely audience and my job at the university caters to this.
Print will never lose it’s importance or permanence. Print is life!
We handle most of our jobs as print-on-demand because we don’t have storage space for all the literature and translated versions we produce. People still want something tangible.
I feel that online communications can’t compete with the immediate impact of print, but print loses relevance because people are too hurried to care. Roll over, Beethoven…
We have been trying to convert most communications to digital, but I do believe print is still an effective way of communicating your message.
Print design has ebbed considerably. Most clients don’t even print stationery as part of a major branding project, which is sad.
Print will always be a part of people’s lives. 25 years ago print was supposed to be dying. I think the digital world can be overwhelming and people will always come back to print.
There is no matching the feel of paper in your hand. And with the growing censorship by digital platforms … print may be the only way for some to get their message out.
Print is still important. It is multi-sensorily interactive, raises the value of design communication, and is “real”. It’s a myth that printing destroys forests. Paper comes from crops and is a commodity. In fact, where many people include a “do not print this email because trees will die if you do,” my email footer states: “Did you know that paper comes from trees that are grown in managed forests and harvested as crops? Consider how you support tree farmers, paper mill workers, print designers, and printers … you can print guilt-free!”
We do packaging design and production so from that standpoint it’s still relevant in our businesses and in my personal life — I heart a good unboxing experience.
Print is absolutely important and relevant. From a design perspective, look/touch/feel are all details that help bring a tangible design piece to life. Those attributes also tend to set design work apart from other work we see everyday. From a consumer perspective, especially in 2021, experience is everything. The traditional strengths of print seemed to get overshadowed when the growing presence of digital became such a big part of our everyday lives. Now more than ever, it seems like that same experience we looked for in the digital space is even more important in tangible print work today than it was … and has become a difference-maker in whether we choose to buy into a brand or product.
There is still a beautiful, functional, useful place for print. Getting away from a screen of any kind for a bit is a beautiful thing.
Print is still important in work life. Our audience is tired of digital, whether it’s virtual events or email marketing. Print makes people feel special. It’s an experience.
Print is still important. People don’t want to be staring at a screen. This past year has brought about a need for a separation in your time/day from electronics to reconnect to the physically tangible, human part of what makes up who we are.
We still do printed work, but rarely anything that really plays with the tactile strengths. Meaning, we do a lot of brochures and flyers and catalogs, but on whatever sheet the printer has as a house sheet.
It’s my experience that many audiences still enjoy some tangible form of media. Even if they look at something for only a few minutes, the physical interaction makes a different, and many times better, impact.
Yes, print has become more important with the rapid rate of change of technology. Software and hardware become obsolete very rapidly and are inaccessible to many, but a hardcopy overrides these concerns.
While 50% of my work is in print, the majority of it is reproduced in-house on a printer/copier (not a digital press). The few times we do go outside, the quality upgrade, the look and feel, is always noticed. But when push comes to shove clients select cheap — both in cost and look and feel. I think there will always be some print. There are markets where quality still matters.
Print is just one element of a complete package; there is a time and place for it, depending on the client.
Print will be more and more for high prestige projects and less and less for low end projects, which will shift to digital.
Print stands out in among the overabundance of digital advertising.
Print has always been, and I expect always will be, extremely important. Although I also do work online and with video, print offers the tactile personal connection that on-screen experiences can’t match.
Print is far less a regular part of our marketing and communications strategy, but that also means that when print is used it’s more special, and the design and specification choices reflect that significance.
In branding assignments and projects, a business card is an extremely personal piece of one’s identity.
I’m Editor-in-Chief for Kraft Paper Muse, a bi-monthly publication that celebrates the digitally analog creative life. We are free to read online but print 100 limited edition “stuffed” (with paper goods like art and stationery) copies. Both print and digital have their place. Both matter. Being accessible to both sides of the coin is its strength.
I work in the event industry. Our attendees want something to look at and feel in their hands. I’m currently designing an amazing mailer that will be similar to opening a present when you open this brochure. Our lack of exposure to outside and experiences will make this piece even more amazing to receive in the mail. I can’t wait!
