Tradition, Fads, Trends &
Disruptive Innovations: There´s room for us all!
As the (self-proclaimed) Futurist and Trend Spotter for Sappi North America, I am constantly seeking out new innovations, inventions, discoveries, materials, or processes that will make an impact on the graphic arts industry.
The Magazine 12
SUMMER 2017
DANIEL DEJAN, NORTH AMERICAN ETC PRINT & CREATIVE MANAGER, SAPPI NORTH AMERICA
Recently, Frank Romano
forecasted that, within a handful of years, half of all commercial printing will
be digital. Given the exponential strides in digital printing equipment, including increased speed and sheet sizes, more options for color, specialty inks, special effects, finishing techniques, and bindery solutions— plus the increasingly smaller run sizes emphasizing personalization and/or mass customization—his prediction is not surprising. And, if we take into account the disruptive impact Landa’s NANOGRAPHY® technology will surely have in the market as well as its expected impact on equipment, technology, and creative
who cannot read and write, rather it will be those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those
—Alvin Toffler
choices, it’s a safe bet that we are on the precipice of a new digital revolution in printing.
So, if half of printing purchased will be digital, can we assume the remainder will represent web offset and high-quality sheet-fed printing for books, magazines, catalogs, advertising, direct mail, and long run collateral? If so, I believe there will remain a myriad of opportunities for traditional printers to keep busy and profitable. And, those with presses not fully engaged can consider modifications that will allow them take advantage of new technological innovations and explore completely new revenue opportunities.
Some of these innovations are still in their preliminary/ beta stages while others are already being implemented throughout the world.
Here are just a few examples of the new technologies that I believe will either have a long trend life or may well be disruptive innovations that will create opportunities for printers and open up a range of new product categories for the market.
Image Recognition and Page Mobilization
Certainly, these have been two of the most significant innovations in the industry. With these technologies, we can direct a print reader to continued online engage- ment for merchandising, marketing, or education using a printed trigger and a smart device. Admittedly, print has physical limitations regarding page count and the amount of content that can fit legibly onto a page—most often dictated by budgetary constraints. With image recognition and page mobilization, we are now able to transport the reader from printed page seamlessly to unlimited online content. The length, depth, and com- prehensiveness of the content is, essentially, unlimited.
SPOTLIGHT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
