In a podcast called “Farbspiel” which is all about design and beauty, print should not be missing. Obviously. Bernd Zipper spoke with host Dominik Hoffmann about the role of print as a cultural asset, how print enables new products, and why automation, high speeds and a high level of professionalism are needed to ensure that print can survive in the media canon of the future.
The realization that print companies need to change in order to continue to play a role and be relevant in the future is not new – and yet it is still relevant. Indeed, in order to be able to promote print products in line with the times and implement them competitively – i.e., industrially – more is required than pure expertise in how ink is applied to a printing stock.
“It takes automation, high speeds and professionalism. That’s why we deliberately talk about the printing INDUSTRY and not simply about an industry,” explains Zipper in the “Farbspiel” podcast. It is logical that this requires the right strategy, in which the print culture goes hand in hand with the online culture. Taking the book as an example, it is possible to see the influence that ongoing development and process optimization can have, since in the days of book printing, costs were almost five times as high as they are today.
Today, print is a cultural asset, a way to hold and own knowledge. “Do you own a TV show if you’ve made one? Do you own a radio show if you’ve made one? Do you own a website if you’ve made one? Yes, temporarily maybe you do, while you’re consuming it,” Zipper explains. But knowledge can really only be owned, or rather preserved, in printed form, since neither electricity, another device, nor Internet access is necessary.
But printing is much more than just books, as Bernd Zipper and Dominik Hoffmann explain. In packaging printing, for example, there is enormous potential, especially because high-quality packaging can increase the value of the goods. This is no surprise, since “print is an enabler for new products,” new business models and new strategies. The head of zipcon consulting GmbH is certain that inkjet printing will play a special role here in the future. “Here we will have plenty of ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ in the future,” he is certain.
If you’re curious about what else the latest episode of the Farbspiel podcast was about – keyword strategies – you should just listen in yourself: the podcast can be found here, in German.
