September Printing Shipments—The High Before the Holidays
September 2022 shipments came in at $7.20 billion, up a little from August’s $7.17 billion—reflecting a return to the industry’s regular seasonality. Could we be back to normal?
Frank Gets Branded
European consultant Eddy Hagen has researched and produced an excellent report on brand colors: “Project BBCG: a Better Brand Color Guide.” It should be required reading for anyone working with Pantone and specialized color systems. Frank the discusses brand colors in the context of the Pantone system.
Around the Web: Winning Word. Paper Perfume. Terminal Typewriter. Crazy Cards. Tarot Tech. Horse Hobby. Moon Material. Canine Console. Cosmic Collision. Bambi Butchery. Pasta Pajamas.
Meriam-Webster’s Word of the Year is “gaslighting.” The latest perfume that smells like old books. What Siri might have been like in the 1970s. The creepy world of Victorian Christmas Cards. E Ink-based playing cards in search of a game. A father photoshops the real world to resemble his child’s drawings. Graphene is going to be tested on the moon. “Apple Health, but for dogs.” In the 16th century, you could sue animals. The James Webb Space Telescope watches galaxies collide. Coming soon to a theater near you: “Bambi: the Reckoning.” Olive Garden’s matching family pajamas. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany.
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Industry News
- Hybrid Software Group Acquires Quadraxis' Technology
- Ennis Acquires School Photo Marketing
- Nicole Spencer Appointed to FESPA Board to Represent The UK
- Premier Graphics’ Print Innovation Hits New Heights with Drytac Polar Premium Air
- PPC Welcomes Laura Brodie of Burt Rigid Box as Board Chair, Introduces 2023 Strategic Initiatives
- Modix Announces the Next Generation of its Line of Large 3D Printers
- PRC Issues Advisory Opinion on USPS Proposal to Change Critical Entry Times for Certain Periodical Categories
- Combining Need and Know-How: A Long-Standing Partnership at the Heart of an Innovative Solution
- Closing the Loop: Gunnar Groebler, Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG, and KHS Managing Director Kai Acker in Dialog
- Cyber Graphics Takes First Catena-WDLS in North America
- Oliver Inc. Expands Oklahoma Facility
- Empire Screen’s Decal Sheets Advance Lean Manufacturing Practices
- Bosisio Pushes the Boundaries of Efficient Flexo with PureFlexo™ Printing Investment from Miraclon
- Sandy Bau Joins Mitchell as Senior Solutions Specialist
- Strengthened Strategic Partnership with Nissha and Material Innovation Startup Sulapac
- Contex to Host Popular Q&A Webinar on December 8, 2022 at 11AM Eastern
- Vini Munzberg to Lead Latin American Sales for GEW
- Mediaclip Presents its Rebrand with a New Logo and Website
- Messagepoint Expands Digital Channel Options for Personalized Customer Communications
Making a Lasting Impression with the Ultimate Unboxing Experience
The unboxing experience is one of the most important factors in any modern business transaction. In addition to providing customers with the first glimpse of the product they’ve been waiting for, it sets the tone for their entire experience with the brand. This article explores the importance of the unboxing experience and considers how businesses can create lasting memories with their customers.
Kent UK’s PressOn Has Been a Disruptive Force for More than 20 Years
Andy Wilson, the owner of Kent UK based PressOn, a wide-format printing company, entered the print industry some 28 years ago and has been a disruptive force ever since. He has consistently questioned the norm to develop and deliver new products, applications, and commercial opportunities—often in challenging times. We share his story here, compliments of textiles expert and WhatTheyThink contributor Debbie McKeegan.
Asking Your Employees About Their Challenges
Diving into your business to mine ROI out of your processes is best done with your ears and your eyes. Observe and listen to how the processes are being managed today, then step back and choose the challenges that return the most ROI for your business.
Content Marketing Using AI: Putting Jasper to the Test
Contributor Heidi Tolliver-Walker takes a deep dive into using an AI writing engine like Jasper to develop content for use by members of the commercial printing industry.
Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Printer with David Sasson
This week, Warren talks with David Sasson of Hubschercorp—formerly Hubscher Ribbon—a 75-year-old, third-generation family-owned business. The company started out producing labels for the garment industry, evolved into ribbon, and further evolved into packaging. They are now a one-stop shop for retailers.
A moment of levity. View Today's Dilbert
Industry Data
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Printing Outlook 2022 - The WhatTheyThink Overview of the Current State of the Printing Industry
The new Printing Outlook 2022 report provides detailed analysis of the latest WhatTheyThink Business Outlook Survey, the latest industry economic data and macroeconomic trends, as well as industry and cultural technological trends to look out for in 2022.
September Printing Shipments—The High Before the Holidays
September 2022 shipments came in at $7.20 billion, up a little from August’s $7.17 billion—reflecting a return to the industry’s regular seasonality. Could we be back to normal? Full Analysis
Book Publishing Establishments—2010–2020
According to the latest edition of County Business Patterns, in 2020 there were 2,357 establishments in NAICS 51113 (Book Publishing). This represents a decrease of 21% since 2010. In macro news, October retail sales were up. Full Analysis
Printing Outlook 2023 Sneak Peek: Business Conditions Slipped in 2022
Our preliminary Fall Print Business Survey results are in and our Business Conditions Index dropped slightly from 2021. Last year marked a rebound from the plummeting conditions in 2020, and 2022 likely represents a move toward stability. Full Analysis
Recent Discussion
Eric Vessels on Content Marketing Using AI: Putting Jasper to the Test
@Ralf, I definitely think there are use cases and certainly niche industry related information articles are not one of them! I find with marcomm at least these tools give me a good start and usually that's all a decent writer needs. Reply
Ralf Schlözer on Content Marketing Using AI: Putting Jasper to the Test
For me I can clearly feel the artifical, but not the intelligence in Jasper. Interesting to moderate the tone and it probably does a better in English than I do, but still Jaspar is a tool for the "scroll-over" portions of a text. The most time cons… Full comment Reply
Eddy Hagen on Frank Gets Branded
Thx Frank! Quite an interesting collection of color guides... :-) What's unique about Project BBCG - A Better Brand Color Guide is that the basic definition of a brand color is based on the measurement of the chosen color. It is not based on any k… Full comment Reply
Cory Sawatzki on Pleasant Air “Made it Happen” in Recent AlphaGraphics Contest
We were so happy to "Make it Happen!". Thank you Pat for the article. Reply
Magazine
WhatTheyThink Magazine is the resource for the Commercial Printing, Visual and Graphic Arts Industries. Industry experts share their ideas and technical knowledge on ways to improve operations.
WhatTheyThink publishes 2 editions of the magazine: Printing News and Wide-Format & Signage. Subscription are free to qualified industry professionals or via paid subscription.
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- Begin With Customers’ Job to be Done
- You’re Invited to a Colorful Friendsgiving
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- Printing Newspapers with Inkjet
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Heidi Tolliver-Walker on Content Marketing Using AI: Putting Jasper to the Test
There is the key right there, Eric — "a decent writer." Jasper will not turn someone who is not a writer into one. Jasper works with what you give him, so GIGO. But for someone who is already a writer, it can speed up the process. There is a pretty s… Full comment Reply