Print is not dead!

Fredrick Van Johnson, a great photographer and host of the podcast This Week in Photography (TWIP), said something that has become a common perception I don't completely agree with, regarding print design.

During an interview on the January 18th (episode 125) with photographer and former graphic designer, Michael Corsentino, Frederick said something offhand that really bothered me.

Michael was describing his background and that he was a former graphic designer specializing in print-only design. Frederick responded "Print? What's that? Hehe!!". Michael's reaction to that was an uncomfortable "yeah, right".

I feel it's disparaging to print designers, and spreads the perception that print is dead.

Yes, it's true that printing on paper has diminished greatly. We've seen many legacy magazines become thinner, and smaller, and many have disappeared. The newspaper industry is hurting and it has impacted print designers, but it most certainly is not dead.

In fact, there's new trends of marketing that say that a print campaign with direct mail yields better results than just email marketing alone.

In fact, too much email marketing has become a negative! People are often sick of spam and constant bombardment of ads, and click the delete button before reading a single word.

I'm not saying email or electronic marketing is bad, just that in combination with a printing campaign is much more powerful.

And, with new print-green technologies, you can argue that printing IS actually more tree friendly. When you print web pages on your laser printer, the toners and paper you use are often more wasteful!

Never discount the power of holding a beautifully designed printed piece that you can touch, feel, and carry anywhere, compared to a web screen!

I hope Frederick will say something on a future podcast, to support graphic artists who specialize in print as well as web design.

Frederick, if you read this, I'm still a fan of your podcast, I just wish to set the record straight on an aspect of the profession that I've devoted my life to.

Here's the links for your reference:

This Week in Photography
TWIP episode #125

Frederick Van Johnson's website:
fredericvan.com

Michael Corsentino's website:
www.corsentinophotograpy.com

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Ivan Boden
Graphic Design
Photography