01.11.07
The label industry is ultimately about printing ink on a substrate - the same basic premise that has ruled printing for more than 500 years. So we deal with many of the same issues as our commercial printing counterparts, which is why I find it useful to keep up to date with what is happening there. The good news is there are several excellent commercial printing blogs that provide coverage of the printing industry.
Joseph Webb is a well known consultant, commentator and forecaster of trends in the graphic arts industry. He is the founder of PrintForecast.com and many people know him from his column "Mondays with Dr. Joe" at WhatTheyThink.com. Dr. Joe, who has a Ph.D. from the NYU Center for Graphic Communications Management & Technology, specializes in analyzing trends in the graphic arts industry, the economy and technology and interprets where he believes the industry is heading.
He started Dr. Joe's Blog back in February 2005 and posts new articles on average three to four times a week. His posts are detailed and often cover a range of topics. One recent post was 1,300 words and covered details of several mergers and acquisitions in the printing industry, commentary on some recent economic data, as well as a recent announcement from VistaPrint.
He certainly has a sense of humor and often his posts contain some personal anecdote. He is also quick to provide his personal opinion on a variety of business topics, unrelated to the printing industry. Having said that, the majority of his posts are relevant and timely. And pretty much every post has plenty of links to expand on what he is discussing, so if you are not careful you can find yourself traveling all over the web from his blog. For anyone who wants an overall picture of the printing industry and where it is headed, Dr. Joe's Blog is a must read.
You wouldn't know it at first glance but the In the Balance Blog is a corporate blog. It is owned and run by Xerox, but there are no corporate logos and the look and feel of the blog is completely different from the Xerox web site. There is a prominent link to Xerox, but other than that the casual observer would never know it is a corporate blog.
The intent of the blog is "to provide a vendor-agnostic space for industry-focused exchange" for printing professionals around the world. I think Xerox does a decent job of being "vendor agnostic" - there is very little blatant promotion and many of the posts are done by people outside of Xerox. The editors of Graphic Arts Monthly and On Demand Journal both recently authored posts to the blog. Of course, some of the posts are indirectly about Xerox or its products, but I can forgive them that because the content tries to inform rather than sell.
What I like about this blog is the focus on digital printing. A recent post titled "Debunking Digital Printing's Urban Legends" dealt with many misconceptions the public has of digital printing, such as poor image quality, limited substrates and the expense. These are the same objections that many label converters come up against when trying to sell digital label printing. Even though Xerox doesn't have much of a presence in the label industry, this blog is useful reading for anyone interested in digital printing.
You won't find me reviewing many blogs by college students here, but Printmode is one. It is a blog by Adam Dewitz, a graduate student in the School of Print Media at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The focus of Printmode is the convergence of print and the electronic media, and the issues facing printers today. Topics covered include color management, web-to-print, digital printing, and commentary of printing industry news.
Adam also provides excellent real time coverage of industry events. In 2006 he covered On Demand, the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts Annual Technical Conference, and extensive coverage of GraphExpo. He was also a guest blogger of the In the Balance Blog during GraphExpo. One useful feature Adam provides is a "Linked List" - basically these are very short blog posts with links to print industry news. If you are interested in a fresh perspective on the printing industry, Printmode is worth reading.
Dr. Joe's Printing Industry Blog (www.drjoesblog.com)
Joseph Webb is a well known consultant, commentator and forecaster of trends in the graphic arts industry. He is the founder of PrintForecast.com and many people know him from his column "Mondays with Dr. Joe" at WhatTheyThink.com. Dr. Joe, who has a Ph.D. from the NYU Center for Graphic Communications Management & Technology, specializes in analyzing trends in the graphic arts industry, the economy and technology and interprets where he believes the industry is heading.
He started Dr. Joe's Blog back in February 2005 and posts new articles on average three to four times a week. His posts are detailed and often cover a range of topics. One recent post was 1,300 words and covered details of several mergers and acquisitions in the printing industry, commentary on some recent economic data, as well as a recent announcement from VistaPrint.
He certainly has a sense of humor and often his posts contain some personal anecdote. He is also quick to provide his personal opinion on a variety of business topics, unrelated to the printing industry. Having said that, the majority of his posts are relevant and timely. And pretty much every post has plenty of links to expand on what he is discussing, so if you are not careful you can find yourself traveling all over the web from his blog. For anyone who wants an overall picture of the printing industry and where it is headed, Dr. Joe's Blog is a must read.
In the Balance Blog (www.inthebalanceblog.com/blog/)
You wouldn't know it at first glance but the In the Balance Blog is a corporate blog. It is owned and run by Xerox, but there are no corporate logos and the look and feel of the blog is completely different from the Xerox web site. There is a prominent link to Xerox, but other than that the casual observer would never know it is a corporate blog.
The intent of the blog is "to provide a vendor-agnostic space for industry-focused exchange" for printing professionals around the world. I think Xerox does a decent job of being "vendor agnostic" - there is very little blatant promotion and many of the posts are done by people outside of Xerox. The editors of Graphic Arts Monthly and On Demand Journal both recently authored posts to the blog. Of course, some of the posts are indirectly about Xerox or its products, but I can forgive them that because the content tries to inform rather than sell.
What I like about this blog is the focus on digital printing. A recent post titled "Debunking Digital Printing's Urban Legends" dealt with many misconceptions the public has of digital printing, such as poor image quality, limited substrates and the expense. These are the same objections that many label converters come up against when trying to sell digital label printing. Even though Xerox doesn't have much of a presence in the label industry, this blog is useful reading for anyone interested in digital printing.
Printmode (www.printmode.net)
You won't find me reviewing many blogs by college students here, but Printmode is one. It is a blog by Adam Dewitz, a graduate student in the School of Print Media at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The focus of Printmode is the convergence of print and the electronic media, and the issues facing printers today. Topics covered include color management, web-to-print, digital printing, and commentary of printing industry news.
Adam also provides excellent real time coverage of industry events. In 2006 he covered On Demand, the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts Annual Technical Conference, and extensive coverage of GraphExpo. He was also a guest blogger of the In the Balance Blog during GraphExpo. One useful feature Adam provides is a "Linked List" - basically these are very short blog posts with links to print industry news. If you are interested in a fresh perspective on the printing industry, Printmode is worth reading.