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Print Action, May 2003 by Robinson, Jon

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I sat beside Joanna Liu at an OPIA dinner meeting when she was in her final year at Ryerson's Graphic Communications Management program. She struck me as bright and eager to be involved in the printing industry. After graduating she pursued a career in post-press instead of moving into the frontend of graphic communications, which draws in much of the youth.

My uncle sent me an email last month (I'm sure he just promised never to send me another) suggesting that the big story in the industry right now (beyond Quebecor) is a foundational shift in print-growth drivers. Here's an excerpt:

"Whatshisname at U of T was right in Boom, Bust and Echo, and the oldies (who have driven economic growth since the '60s) are ceasing to drive retail sales. That's no surprise, but I think they're being replaced by people who were in about grade four when the PC was invented and have had computers in classrooms at least since grade 10.

"They are also the daycare generation. The computer itself isn't the issue - but the fact that their behaviour and socialization is driven by fundamentally different factors results in a different use of (some) print. So the people who are replacing the boomers are not only less numerous and (perhaps) less wealthy, they behave differently."

OK, so he'll never send me another email, but his words speak of a huge and current shift in attitudes toward communication mediums by a powerful consumer group. And I was a little proud to have a boomer family member send what can be interpreted as a Blog. Blog is slang for what youth of the digital culture call Web-logs or diaries of free-flowing thoughts emailed or posted on websites. It's just one example of the different ways in which the digital generation is communicating with each other.

And this is why we thought it would be an interesting juxtaposition to have a member of the digital generation look at another of printing's greatest challenges, one that still seems far from the digital frontend. So we put Joanna to the test this month, asking her to write a feature story on whether printers should continue to outsource finishing work, or why and how much they should invest in post-press.

We think Joanna did a great job answering these questions. Jodi Avery, PrintAction's associate editor, rounded out the cover story by talking to one of the country's most versatile trade printers and one of the industry's premier sheetfed printers that recently invested in more finishing for quality control.

Multi Reliure also provides some answers as to why trade binderies continue to be an invaluable resource. The company recently won the 2003 Grand Gutenberg Prize for its binding work on a historic book about Quebec. Some might try to call it a master piece, but for us it's the 10th installment of Fine Print. Right there on the back page.

Jon Robinson - Editor