Printing Strikes Back!

Forget everything you heard about “print is dead.”

First off, we’re a print shop! Of course the phrase offends us. Predictions of printing doom have been whispered ever since ebooks and digital marketing came into power. And let’s be serious: digital marketing IS power. Companies have the ability to target consumers like never before. We can switch our strategies in a heartbeat, and with just a few clicks be moving in an entirely new direction.

But everybody’s doing it. And all of our customers are skimming it. Don’t look, you’ll be crushed at how quickly they swipe past that clever ad you meticulously crafted. Those “likes” that you paid a decent chunk of change for don’t convert like they should. That campaign blasted to all corners of the internet earned you… 2 new followers. This guessing game isn’t the only drawback of the digital playing field. There are quite a few advantages to print!

1. It’s Easier to Read and Navigate
   According to Feris Jabar of Scientific American, “Most screens, e-readers, smart phones, and tablets interfere with intuitive navigation of a text.” The biggest issue with this is that digital encourages us to cheat our reading. We skim over bullets and headlines and don’t take the content seriously. Because of that, we retain less information and likely won’t even remember the ads floating amongst the feeds. Paper, on the other hand, provides a clear start and end point. If you’d like audiences to understand exactly what you’re communicating, provide print materials they can read thoroughly and comprehend completely.
2. You Can Touch
   The sensory experience of print is powerful. Scientific American reminds us that text on a screen is “ephemeral”, not real. The physical presence of print & marketing materials adds another dimension and keeps us grounded in the “real” world. Take advantage of the sense of touch with unique folds on a brochure, or a raised ink finish on your business cards, or a soft touch lamination on a flyer! New techniques emerge constantly because of improvements in print technology. Stay on top of the trends to surprise and delight customers.
3. It’s Relatively Safe for your Health
   According to a Two Sides study, 73% of 18–24 year olds were concerned about how mobile tablets and smart phones were damaging their health. Eye strain, blurred vision, headaches, carpal tunnel, back problems, and insomnia can all be linked to digital screen usage, especially if sitting in one place for hours on end. The most damaging injury from print, on the other hand, is the dreaded paper cut.
4. It’s Safer for the Environment
   While we still have a long way to go for sustainability, there’s no denying digital is far more detrimental to the environment. The impact begins with materials farmed/mined to produce our computers and smart phones, gathers more steam – smog?- every time we turn on and use those devices, and finally ends with the most horrid step, disposal. The places computers go to die are dark, disgusting, and overflowing with contaminated toxic waste. Print, however, has a one-time carbon footprint. Almost all paper is recyclable, and in fact can be recycled 5-7 times throughout one lifetime. When the fibers become too short to recycle, they’re mixed with fresh long paper fibers to start the process all over again.