Welcome to the July/August issue. We hope to find you poolside, enjoying this read. And even though summer and relaxation go together, we have spared no elbow grease preparing this issue.
We bring you two new authors this month, both with stellar backgrounds. Ian Baitz is a professor and associate chair of Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management. His teaching niche is in printing processes, especially offset and flexo, and material testing. His article discusses niches in the printing industry.
Our other author, Heidi Tolliver-Nigro has been a commercial and digital printing industry analyst, feature writer, columnist, editor and author for nearly 20 years. She is known for her meticulous research and no-nonsense perspective. This month she demystifies digital bindery.
Interestingly, the two articles come together on several fronts. Firstly, in some ways, digital bindery is (or certainly can be), a niche market for some printers. Secondly, both authors stress the importance of strong client/printer communication. As Ian explains, a niche is a unique profitable corner of the market. Unique uses of digital printing, such as variable data or 1:1 printing, have now trickled down to impact the binding process down stream. Both authors agree that in order to successfully identify and participate in such a market, the client, printer and even vendor must really understand each other’s needs.
Unfortunately, the client and printer do not always talk the same language. I have spent the last week looking at the world from a slightly different perspective, while attending the Design Management Institute’s Re-Thinking Design conference in San Francisco. The conference brought together leaders in business and design to discuss design thinking. Very broadly, I would qualify design thinking to be an application of the design process to other areas of business. Creating many solutions for one problem in order to flush out any missed details is a simple example of applying design thinking. The conference was co-hosted by Darrel Rhea, CEO of Cheskin Added Value and Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management (the Canadian presence was exceptionally exciting). It was clear that one represented the design world, while the other the business world, respectively. However, they both strongly came together on the importance of design management and design thinking.
The power of language and words was one of my big take-aways. When we don’t understand our clients or vice versa, opportunities are missed. Compounding the problem is the fact that clients may not even know their needs, thus making verbal descriptions of them nearly impossible. From the printer’s perspective, I had to chuckle a little at the designer’s frustration with not being understood, given that printers are often also on a different page than their creative counterparts. Most importantly, I was reminded how inspiring and exciting thinking in new ways can be. Thus, I leave you with a small challenge: at your next meeting don’t ask your colleagues to bring in one idea, ask them to each bring in seven! See what niche you can find.
Natalia Gilewicz
natalia@graphicartsmag.com
