Business | Q&A


Isabel Shanahan Imageco


Lauren Brown Stylographics


In my opinion the biggest gap was the lack of communication between young people in the industry. Young people are driven by those they can relate to or aspire to be like - as seen by the rise of social media infl uencers. This is why the ‘gap’ in understanding was so crucial to rectify. Without inspiration and guidance personal growth becomes extremely diffi cult to achieve. Prior to the Next Generation Networking Days there was little opportunity for us to


attend relevant networking events; meaning that the chance to create friendships and connections within print was limited. Building relationships with your peers is crucial to the development of professionalism, personal communication and relationship management. I fi nd that meeting new people of my age fi lls me with confi dence and inspiration; I imagine this is the case for many others. I am driven to ensure that all young people are given the opportunity to earn these skills.


I fi nd that connecting with peers on LinkedIn to show them support online is a great way to build communication between young people. I love being able to see the success of friends I have made through the Next Gen events - celebrating through social media is a great way to stay in touch!


In all honestly, I believe the impact will be something that takes time, but I hope to make more of an improvement with my fellow committee members by hosting events for young people to come together and form life-long connections to use throughout their careers in print.


I believe my biggest contribution was speaking at The Print show in Birmingham, as it highlighted issues such as the age gap within the print industry and how to get young people more interested in a career within print, I hope that a lot of the topics spoken about were taken away with an aspiration to make change.


I think the biggest gaps are understanding the print industry. A lot of the younger generation don’t invest in a career in print as they probably don’t really understand what it’s about. Unless you work in print your knowledge of the industry is pretty limited. Promoting how technically advanced and interesting print is would defi nitely drive more young people to the industry as their initial thought may cast print in a more basic/dull light.


Through the Next Generation programme my key takeaway has been the importance of teamwork, as shown by our most recent event at Zund HQ. The event ensured that everyone in the team’s skills had to be utilised in order to create an effective fi nal product that we were all proud of. We found that everyone in our group had different strengths and unique skills that we were able to benefi t from - in my opinion this shows the greater meaning of the Next Generation project; we are better when we work together!


My key takeaways have defi nitely been the networking - meeting people the same age from all different parts of the print industry and connecting with them on a professional level. I believe this is really important for the future of print - building connections and being given opportunities to connect with each other at events, especially since we are part of the generation of social media and our preferred option of communication would be online. It pushes us out of our comfort zone to build necessary working relationships.


I would suggest social media campaigns to entice more young people into the industry. For example ‘trendy’, visually appealing Instagram/Pinterest/Tiktok posts can help bring the print industry into the spotlight for young people. Another possibility could be ‘trendy’ posters in well thought out spots such as arts universities etc. - they would be certain to catch the right people’s attention.


My main advice would be to invest in marketing and social media, using platforms that the younger generation use to entice them into the print industry, show them the diversity of print and all of the weird and wonderful things it can achieve - and also promoting the stability of a career in print. It has been around for decades and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. From my own personal experience as someone who didn’t see themselves working in the industry that’s what captivated me.


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