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Where in the world is Frank? Episode 1

The Circumspect Circumnavigator On January 13,

Friday, April 04, 2008

The Circumspect Circumnavigator

On January 13, 2008 I embarked on the trip of my lifetime -- an around the world cruise on the new Cunard Queen Victoria, en route to my 9th Drupa. While other passengers enjoy cucumber sandwiches and tea in the Queen’s Room, I have been teaching a distance-delivered course, writing reports, and meeting with printers in the 23 countries we visit.

I have made presentations in Auckland, New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, Australia, plus others in the Pacific Rim, from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to Vietnam and Dubai. In Vietnam, I spoke to 150 printers, representing about 10 percent of the entire Vietnamese printing industry -- all in one room. After we land in Southampton at the end of April, I have a speaking tour in Italy, Belgium, Poland, Prague, and Vienna, then on to Drupa, via Mainz, where I will pay homage at the Gutenberg Museum.


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About Frank Romano

Frank Romano has spent over 60 years in the printing and publishing industries. Many know him best as the editor of the International Paper Pocket Pal or from the hundreds of articles he has written for publications from North America and Europe to the Middle East to Asia and Australia. Romano lectures extensively, having addressed virtually every club, association, group, and professional organization at one time or another. He is one of the industry's foremost keynote speakers. He continues to teach courses at RIT and other universities and works with students on unique research projects.

Recent Articles from Frank Romano

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Evolution of the English Bible

Evolution of the English Bible

Frank traces the evolution of the printed Bible as reported in Neal Lightfoot’s book “How We Got the Bible.” The English Bible evolved from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin versions. Martin Luther’s German translation influenced other translations. Read More

Frank Sees the Forest for the Trees

Frank Sees the Forest for the Trees

Frank notes that there are now shortages of newsprint for those newspapers that produce a paper edition. Paper production is down because we now lose more trees to fires. And paper mills are replacing newsprint with packaging papers. “Save the trees” now has a different meaning from when it meant printed page reduction. Read More

A Typographic Explosion

A Typographic Explosion

Frank talks typefaces by showing the 1923 ATF and the 1940 Linotype specimen books. From less than 200 type families to over a million today, there are more type families available than at any time in history. Fortunately, Times Roman and Helvetica (Arial) dominate. Read More

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