September Shipments: Heading into the Fall
September 2023 printing shipments came in at $7.42 billion, down from August’s $7.47 billion.
Frank Remembers the Future
Frank fires up his Waiback Machine. He looks both back and forward in time to discuss how we predict the future of print. He looks at the evolution of technology and its effect on print volumes.
Around the Web: Perishing PopSci. New Nylon. Dictionary Dump. Newspaper Noel. Punctuation Pedantry. Dead Dye. Decapod Doom. Mascot Mastication.
The venerable Popular Science will no longer be available as a magazine, p- or e-. But Nylon magazine will. An artist who specializes in turning the detritus generated by “fast fashion” into art. A dictionary hoarder spawned a museum. The 100th anniversary of the publication of “A Visit from St. Nick” in a Troy, N.Y. newspaper. Meet the Apostrophe Protection Society, perhaps against your will. Trying to recreate the lost Tyrian purple. A space-saving alternative to a nightstand. A space-saving coat hanger. This year’s Pop-Tart Bowl will feature an edible mascot. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany.
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Industry News
- Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems Sets New Standard in Corrugated Production with Launch of New Kongsberg Ultimate
- International Molded Fiber Association Applauds Student Design Pioneers
- Neopac Receives Hungaropack Award for Intricate Digitally Printed Tube
- GPO Wins Awards for Design Services
- DIA Meeting to Explore Artificial Intelligence and How It’s Poised to Change the Worldwide Printing Industry
- Case Has Some Big News, and it’s Coming in Hot
- Meyers’ Adam Peek Attends the UN’s COP28 to Advocate for Climate-Conscious Manufacturing and Sustainable Packaging
- Drytac: How Can You Best Prepare for Cold-Weather Installations This Winter?
- Flint Group Puts EkoCure® Dual Cure Technology in the Spotlight at Labelexpo Asia 2023
- Monadnock Paper Mills Welcomes New CFO and Treasurer
- Mike Suter Joins Connecting for Results
- PressProfiler CIP3 Links to both Heidelberg and Komori Presses for Baesman Group
- FASTEN Introduces Next-Generation Refillable Jar Concept
- Highcon CEO End of Year Statement - December 2023
- Further Addition for Nature MultiPack: KHS Provides Universal Adhesive for Plastic Bottles
- Delta Global Study Reveals that Two Thirds of APAC Luxury Consumers Would Reduce their Support of Brands that Don’t Care About Environmental Sustainability
- It's Not Easy Being Green – But Can Data Be the Saviour?
Kongsberg Ultimate: Designed for Current and Future Needs
Kongsberg has released their latest precision digital cutting platform with a new drive and a newly designed custom carbon fiber beam. This new, innovative drive technology has an impressive acceleration rate of up to 2.74G and a remarkable and productive cutting speed of 168 meters per minute.
Paper for Dye-Sublimation Printing On Textiles: How to Print with Optimal Efficiency
As we have written about in this space, digital dye-sublimation printing is an interesting option for textile decoration. Not only is the printing process more straightforward, requiring less hands-on work, but sublimation for textiles is also a more sustainable printing solution when compared to conventional fabric printing options. Find out more in this article provided compliments of textiles expert and WhatTheyThink contributor Debbie McKeegan, and authored by Anne de Brouwer of SPGPrints.
New Neuroscience Research Confirms: Print Wins for Information Processing…Again
It’s been a while since we saw new research on how our brains respond to print versus digital communications. This recent study just published in the National Library of Medicine once again finds that processing information in print results in greater comprehension, but unlike other studies, it tells us why.
Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Printer with Jon Budington
This week, Warren talks with Jon Budington, President of More Vang, a small, local printing company that morphed into a creative-minded, software-building, data-focused, automated print and direct response business.
Hire Smarter
In the latest installment of his Smart Leader Insights series, Wayne Lynn looks at how behavioral trait testing can lead to better hiring decisions.
Special Report
The Taktiful/WhatTheyThink 2023 Specialty Digital Ink and Toner Embellishment Study
The new 2023 Specialty Digital Ink and Toner Embellishment Study provides detailed analysis of how current users of digital ink and toner embellishment technologies are utilizing them, what the response from customers has been, how satisfied print providers have been with the sales and profitability of these jobs, where the challenges lie, and their general feelings about the future of digital ink and toner embellishment technologies.
Industry Data
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Printing Outlook 2023 - The WhatTheyThink Overview of the Current State of the Printing Industry
The new Printing Outlook 2023 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 2023 and beyond.
September Shipments: Heading into the Fall
September 2023 printing shipments came in at $7.42 billion, down from August’s $7.47 billion. Full Analysis
Publishing Establishments—2010–2021
According to the latest, recently released edition of County Business Patterns, in 2020 there were 30,939 establishments in NAICS 511 (Publishing Industries [except Internet]). This represents an increase of 10% since 2010 and increase of 13% since 2016. In macro news, October inflation was unchanged from September. Full Analysis
October Graphic Arts Employment Up Slightly
Overall printing employment in October 2023 was up 0.8% from September. Production employment was up 0.7% while non-production employment was up 1.1%. Full Analysis
WhatTheyThink 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.
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Around the Web
WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany
Around the Web: Friendly Fonts. Logo Loathing. Symbol Source. Snail Style. Rat Radar. Cover Character. Aldi Advent.
Celebrating World Kindness Day through typography. Print magazine is not a fan of IP’s new logo. The origin of the ampersand. Here is a fashion design trend we never saw coming: snails. Furniture design based on shipping containers. NYC’s Transit app now features a rat detector. A classic album cover star is identified after 52 years. Wilco’s unique approach to merch: its own typeface. Aldi has an advent calendar for all tastes. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany. Read More
Around the Web: Book Bulk. Massive Manuscript. Spot Speak. Tree Talk. Restaurant Robots. Flatware Fashion. Pizza Peppers.
Heavy books are proliferating—but they may be health hazards. The world’s largest Medieval manuscript features a full-page picture of the Devil. Japan's mundane costume festival. Boston Dynamics’ robot dog now talks using ChatGPT. Understanding how trees communicate. The blackest known black paint. On-demand toaster printing. JR’s Appliance Museum features more than 10,000 rare electrical appliances. White Castle and Chipotle are adding food-prep robots. A jacket made of spoons. The James Webb Space Telescope cracks open the Crab Nebula. Tabasco and Banza have collaborated on a pizza that gets hotter the more you eat it. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany. Read More
Around the Web: Canva Curriculum. Refrigerator Rhyme. Dancing Dinner. Bottle Brace. Picaresque Planning. Coat Comfort. Jupiter Jet. Grocery Ghosts. Candy Canard. Cold Calendar.
Monotype and Canva collaborate on typography courses for schools. An online fridge magnet poetry simulator provides hours of entertainment. A “computational food project” turns meals into interactive performance art, terrifyingly. A frying pan manufacturer is sued for claiming its cookware was forged at a temperature exceeding that of the sun. A water bottle has a magnetic cap that turns it into an iPhone holder or tripod. An online adventure makes inventory management fun. A graphene-based heated jacket hits the market. The James Webb Space Telescope finds a high-speed jet stream on Jupiter. The persistent myth of poisoned Halloween candy. Stouffer’s releases an advent calendar filled with frozen food. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany. Read More
Recent Discussion
Stephan Donovan on CORE Gaming Evolves With Esports Growth
This is great, I'd never heard about it before. I think it's a good thing to do because gambling is very popular, and having such backpacks will for sure be good for gamers. I play games pretty often, and I travel often too, so such a backpack is a c… Full comment Reply
Stephan Donovan on Color-Logic and Ecofoil Digital Eliminate Gambling with Metallics
Thank you for sharing this case study. I can't call myself a gambler, but I play from time and can say that it's very important for each gaming site to have everything perfect. The concurrency is very high, and of course, gamblers prefer sites with b… Full comment Reply
It might be difficult to navigate the flood of projects at university, but Canon Solutions America deserves praise for their collaboration with Arizona State University! I frequently feel as though I'm drowning in deadlines as a student. Thanks to E… Full comment Reply
Joe Treacy on Frank Enters the Twilight Zone
I just watched “Printer’s Devil” with the amazing Burgess Meredith, free on Amazon’s FreeVee service free on Prime. Season 4, Episode 9. And it’s an excellent print. Quite a concept, really: whatever gets set on the Linotype comes true. T… Full comment Reply
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Rodger Cosgrove on CalPoly Crowdfunding Project Looks to Send Graphic Communication Students to drupa
Just seconding what Dr. Levenson says about young people going to drupa which, despite the annoying lowercase spelling, is a fascinating and very educational experience. I've been four times and I'd recommend it to anyone in, or interested in, the pr… Full comment Reply