Think beyond printed page and prosper

Printers should attempt to do more than just put ink on paper and look into creative ways of printing along with using other mediums, according to both Theo Pettaras and Ken Williams.

The two addressed PrintWorks today, presenting on creativity and printing (Pettaras) and cross media marketing (Williams). Pettaras spoke of the projects his company, Digital Press, have created, including Abandoned, a miniature case-bound book that documents a miniature village created on the Central Coast.

Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the book is housed in an aluminium case. “I had the idea of producing a book that size because if you’re a midget then the proportions are exactly right,” Pettaras explained.

As a result, the book now features as a permanent display in the State Library of New South Wales. “It’s become a legacy – one day someone will read it,” he said. “That’s the great thing about print. Instead of waiting for a job to come around, printers can do projects like this themselves.”

He also admitted that: “The challenge now is to see the commercial reality of what we do and how the public embraces it.”

Pictured: Looking for new ways to grow, Ken Williams (left) with Theo Pettaras.

Don’t try telling Ken Williams of Excel Australasia that print is dead. He believes otherwise. “Print’s future is better now than it was for the last three decades,” he said.

The key to capitalising on a strong future is by accessing data and using it properly, he thinks. “Data will be the new gold of the future. The challenge is for printers and marketers to utilise it and make a difference to our customers and talk to them through personalisation.”

Williams even suggested that printers produce social media content for their clients on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.