Houston, Tex. – The University of Houston’s College of Technology’s Digital Media Program is the latest school to adopt the new textbook, Introduction to Graphic Communication, 2nd Edition. Authored by Cal Poly Professor emeritus Harvey Levenson and former Seybold editor John Parsons, the book is the first to use Ricoh’s free Clickable Paper app to make the printed book (ink on paper) interactive—with related videos and sound—using any smartphone or tablet.

The book was written for graphic communication and related programs on all academic levels, as well as for industry training programs. Intended as an introductory survey of the industry, the book covers the history, art, science, and business of printing. A complete list of chapters can be found on the book’s website, at www.igcbook.com/table-of-contents. A free curriculum guide is also provided to instructors—to help implement the book into existing graphic communication and related programs.

TransMedia Marketing™

The University of Houston Digital Media program, one of the largest programs of its kind in the United States, provides education from social media to motion media, the web, and print media. It also provides instruction in key leadership responsibilities such as sales, information systems, supervisory roles, project and team leadership, and quality control. The Digital Media program coordinator, Professor Jerry Waite, said,

“It is very exciting to bring to my students an interactive way to learn using multiple media. The first course that will use this book used to be a “prepress” class. Now it is called “Individualized Communications Processes,” and it revolves around TransMedia Marketing™ using multiple channels to communicate an idea. With the generous support of XMPie, a Xerox Company, students learn personalized print and electronic marketing as well as augmented reality. Now, through the use of Introduction to Graphic Communication, we’ll be adding Clickable Paper, too.”

Growing Adoption

Other schools that adopted the book include four-year universities, two-year colleges and technical schools, high schools, and vocational schools. They include: Arizona State University (Mesa, AZ), Bowling Green University (Bowling Green, OH), Calvert County Public Schools (Prince Frederick, MD), Keefe Regional Technical School (Framingham, MA), Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston, ID), Metamora Township High School (Metamora, IL), Ryerson University (Toronto, ON), and South Central College (North Mankato, MN). The book was also adopted by a consortium of universities in China where the book is being translated and printed in Chinese.

Co-author Harvey Levenson said, “Introduction to Graphic Communication, is not an eBook. It is a printed book made interactive with video and voice demonstrating and describing the technology that the book teaches. It appeals to different learning styles—reading, viewing, and hearing. The Ricoh Clickable Paper app can also be used to communicate back to the authors, for communication among readers, for interfacing with social media, to set-up ‘chat rooms,’ and more. The book will be particularly relevant to the University of Houston Digital Media program where digital alternatives to learning is already being taught.”

For More Information

To learn more about the book, visit the website, www.igcbook.com, or email the publisher, IntuIdeas LLC, at [email protected]. To learn more about the Digital Media program at the University of Houston, go to www.uh.edu/tech/digitalmedia. Dr. Waite’s insightful overview, A Look Back at 50 Years in the Printing Industry, can be found at www.uh.edu/sugarland/news/2019/march/jerry-waite-50-years/.