FEATURE | CROSSING MEDIA FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Convergence is one of those mushy buzzwords that's hard to pin down. Its meaning is as elusive as perfect resolution in a six-color annual report. The term keeps popping up in discussions of how technology is reshaping and integrating the way people communicate through such vehicles as video streaming over web sites and PDAs, animation for television, and digital photography for print and the web.

What is clear is that convergence isn't a dirty word, at least for designers who embrace the challenges of discovery and the rewards of helping clients, both old and new, communicate in the brave new world of cross-media. This is a world that includes design for web sites, video and television, as well as trade show, product and yes, most definitely, print design. Sometimes the projects are media-specific, but, increasingly, design firms are creating integrated campaigns that crisscross the boundaries between traditional and new media. In this regard, it is telling that recent TrendWatch Cahners research shows that creative firms identify print collateral and web design as the top two "sales opportunities" going forward, and that Graphic Design:usa reader research shows that more than 90% of professional designers are working on print projects while more than 70% are working on web design projects. The present and future, in other words, belong to designers who master several media and how to move talent and assets across media.

For Bill Grant, president and creative director of Grant Design Collaborative in Canton, Georgia; Laurie Mizrahi, principal and creative director of Mizrahi Design in Pittsburgh; and the two co-owners of New York's Number 17, Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler, this is an exciting time to be in the design and communication business because they have unparalleled opportunities to experiment and learn.

Of course, these opportunities haven't come without a price. The demands of convergence have had an impact on design strategy and creative skills, as well as the organization, workflow and educational and operational investments of design firms.

One example. The learning curve was so steep for Laurie Mizrahi's firm that they burned up hours and spent thousands of dollars educating staff in order to complete a web site project for one client, a new economy software company that's now defunct. "In some ways we were being paid to learn on the job," she says. "The software developers actually came into our office and looked at our designs for them and talked about which graphics could and couldn't be done and about the limitations of the web." Yet at the same time, a web developer they were working with, on another project, told them that some of these things could be done. "It was a hard time, a very mushy time," she admits. "I can now say that there is no finite 'yes' and 'no' on the web. There were countless hours I couldn't bill, countless hours of thinking we were really screwing up, countless hours of trying to figure out who was talking about what," she admits. To facilitate the process, Mizrahi invested about $5,000 to send her design staff to a local internet boot camp for web training in HTML programming.

TODAY'S DESIGNERS ARE THINKING DIFFERENTLY
Learning to think interactively has been one of the other critical challenges for Mizrahi, whose design training ground was doing annual reports for corporate giants like Chase and exhibit design for Audi of America. Her firm is currently building a site for the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, which utilizes Flash to promote the Center's exhibitions online, and creating another site for the Manchester Craftsman's Guild for whom they've also done print projects. "Designers who are working in Flash [design software for the web] need to think in a whole different way that's not like print," she notes.

With the introduction of new media into her business, Mizrahi now has two designers who specialize, although not exclusively, in web design. And for a while she had a web programmer on staff who was really adept at incorporating designs for the web. She learned to like the efficiency and closeness of an internal programming resource and has been trying to replace him, but hasn't been able to find someone who wants to collaborate with her staff of 11 graphic designers and support staff on a full-time basis. Collaboration is important when working in new media, she points out, because designers have strengths in different areas.

"There's a lot of internal collaboration," Mizrahi says of her firm. "Those who have to do a web site — even though it's not their favorite project but might be needed for an existing client of theirs — spend a lot of time collaborating with designers who are more knowledgeable and with an outside developer.

Bonnie Siegler and Emily Oberman of Number 17 also stress the importance of collaboration in today's cross-media environment. Their small firm of four designers and two support staff rely on external experts, including programmers, animators, photo and online editors and film directors, for many of their projects, from magazines to printed marketing materials to television broadcast openings. "The team that we put together is incredibly important and everyone lends a specific strength which elevates the whole project," explains Oberman.

CROSSING BOUNDARIES REQUIRES COLLABORATION
Bill Grant works with consultants on a regular basis, but he has also tried to put together a diverse inhouse team in response to the challenges of working in many mediums. While Grant Design Collaborative is a non-traditional design firm in the sense that it also offers public relations, sales training and other related services, he has assembled a staff of 14 designers and marketers who always work in collaborative teams. Depending on the project, a team may include the brand resource manager, web programmer, production manager who also specializes in 3-D work, and one or more designers. This internal structure functions especially well for Grant's firm because of the integrated nature of their work.

"We do everything that is involved in creating and maintaining a client's brand," says Grant, whose firm deliberately keeps its active client base to fewer than ten so that they can get "deep" into meeting their needs — in whatever form that takes. About half of that work ends up being traditional print, about 20% new media, including web design, and the rest is a combination of interior, product and packaging design, advertising and public relations.

Grant's philosophy is that his staff has to continually reinvent themselves in order to meet their clients' needs. "It doesn't matter whether it's new media or what area it is. If we haven't done it before there are just basic challenges that go along with that, which are part of our obligation to help our clients. We challenge ourselves every day and not just in new media."

Siegler and Oberman couldn't agree more. In fact, they say that some of their best work has been done on client assignments they've never tackled before. Their aim in whatever media they design for is to land projects that are, according to Oberman, "interesting, smart, entertaining and ultimately convey a good message." They cite a recent magazine project as a good demonstration of the creativity that can be generated when inexperience knows no bounds. This was the prototype design and first issue of Lucky, a new magazine for young women who make shopping their full-time hobby. Published by Condé Nast, Lucky is targeted at readers who are post-college, post-emancipation and pre-family.

NUMBER 17 GETS LUCKY WITH UNFAMILIAR MAGAZINE MEDIUM
Among their favorite design ideas for Lucky was the incorporation of peel-away stickers in the magazine so readers can mark the products they like. "Having 'maybe' and 'yes' on these stickers lets the audience know that these people understand that there are some things you want more than others. And the capper on the whole idea is that one of the stickers is a color from another palette that says "yes!" and you're supposed to use it to mark the be-all, end-all item of that month," explains Oberman.

Oblivious to the cost of the idea they pursued it anyway, and fortunately it has been incorporated thanks to advertising sponsors. "I think that if we had more experience we would have known, 'Oh that's such a cost prohibitive thing.' We would have brought these idea killers with us. But not having had the experience, we just kept throwing things out there and I think it shows," Siegler says. Oberman agrees: "We got to bring a lifetime of things we've loved in all different magazines and say, 'Why don't we do that?'"

Some of the other design concepts they brought to Lucky originated not from other magazines, but from the web. Despite the fact that their staff of six does very little web design at this point, preferring to focus on broadcast design, long-form [marketing] films and branding projects for clients such as Mercer and Chateau Marmont hotels, Oberman and Siegler were influenced by the concept of web architecture in the introduction of certain ideas for the magazine.

Among these was the inclusion, in the first issue, of little arrows on the top of each page that let readers know where they are in the article, and a phone number or URL for every item in the magazine, making products seem almost clickable. "We weren't trying to copy nor were we asked to copy the web, but that kind of language has become part of our daily lives. So it just felt appropriate," explains Oberman.

Designers are always looking for a new hook to engage the audience, regardless of the medium. Attempting to touch people on an emotional level is one of the keys to successful design and a goal every designer strives for regardless of the platform.

The medium doesn't appear to be a factor in the strategic approach that designers are taking these days either. "My philosophy is that design is about problem-solving," explains Laurie Mizrahi. "You need to look at complex information, problems in messaging, and make that visual. And so if you look at it that way, you're open to crossing mediums." Mizrahi's staff of 11 designers and support staff handle a combination of corporate work [mainly annual reports], brand identity for corporations and startups, and non-profit collateral and web design. In all, about 60 to 70% of their business is print design and 30 to 40% is new media.

Like many of today's designers, Mizrahi and Grant are finding that much of their work in different media formats is produced for long-term clients who need integrated campaigns. So whether designing for web, trade show or print, good strategic planning is still the essential first step that ties the entire campaign together.

"Regardless of the media we're working on, we start with a strategic plan," says Grant. "We study the client's workplace to determine who they are and what their personality is and then we translate that and try to communicate it in whatever medium works best."

A campaign for Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet led his firm across the boundaries from print to web design to showroom design. For example, while redesigning a 2,500-square-foot showroom in the Chicago Merchandise Mart for NeoCon 2000, they showcased the room's transformation, step-by-step, on Blue Ridge's new web site. But whether specifying furniture or designing web architecture, Grant says that he takes a similar approach.

"The showroom is about new products and a web site is about having access to product and company information. I don't see a big difference between walking into a showroom or logging onto a web site. He approaches them asking the same questions: "What are the branding opportunities, what are the key messages — regardless of the medium — and what information needs to be delivered."

CROSS-MEDIA CAMPAIGN RELAUNCHES CARPET COMPANY
Blue Ridge's new ceo asked Grant to help them rebrand this small company located in the North Georgia mountains. One of the challenges of this job, Grant says, was a pervasive fear of change at this family-owned business. "We knew we had to engage the workforce with the aggressive growth plans for the company because it was going to take everyone's help to turn it around," Grant explains.

So following a tour of the plant, Grant embarked on two projects with that goal in mind. First, he redesigned a bleak, seldom used cinderblock breakroom into a combination lunchroom with Philippe Starck chairs and training/meeting space.

Grant explains his design scheme: "We took raw wood and created modern-looking barn doors so they could have a board meeting in one room — which they've done — while people were having lunch in the other side. And the whole time you can look out the windows and see forklifts going by and carpeting being made. We put a roll of white butcher paper up on a stainless steel wall, with magnets, that you can pull down and take notes and also use as an AV screen."

Now, says Grant, people from the office and employees from the plant go into the room and sit side-by-side. The breakroom project also received external recognition when it was published in the November 1999 issue of Interior Design magazine.

While that project was underway, Grant was redesigning Blue Ridge's identity, which included a variety of materials such as new stationery, brochures and other collateral, web site, screen savers, t-shirts for employees and an ad campaign. His firm also helped train the sales staff about the new brand. Naturally, new business cards were part of the redesign process. That's where an idea arose that would strike another chord with Blue Ridge employees. Grant, whose firm now functions as an outsource marketing department for the company, told the ceo that he wanted to print business cards for every single employee in the plant, from maintenance to material handlers.

When those business cards were distributed at a holiday luncheon, along with the bonus checks and t-shirts: "You would have thought that the employees would rip open their checks first, but they were so much more interested in their business cards," explains Grant. He says there was a particularly poignant moment when an employee with two young children pulled out her cards and gave one to each child, saying to them, 'This is your mother's business card.'

Accomplishing good results for clients is most challenging when the medium is new. Until several years ago, Grant's firm had never done exhibit design, nor were they doing web work and they now have a full-time programmer on board. "We're learning really new things all the time," he says.

TOURISM WEB SITE BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR MIZRAHI DESIGN
Laurie Mizrahi's firm had never even touched web site design until about four years ago. That's when the Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau asked her "perhaps a little blindly on faith" to solve a design problem on their web site because they had seen Mizrahi's approach to solving information design challenges for print.

Completely lacking in technological knowledge, particularly of the back-end database functions so critical to a site like this, Mizrahi tackled the project by interviewing web experts. While she learned a lot, she laments that "communication was so difficult between programmers and designers I felt like we were on different planets."

She also discovered that web site design can pull designers deep into an organization's entire marketing and communication process, perhaps more so than any other medium. Part of the reason is the fact that, according to research by Jupiter Communications, customer inquiries double and even triple when companies take their business to the web. As the planning for the Convention and Visitors Bureau web site got underway, Mizrahi found herself working with the Bureau's staff to facilitate improved organization of their internal marketing activities. "What actually happened in this process is that the creation of the site made the organization think differently about itself and about how it's presented," she explains.

Meanwhile, Mizrahi's firm has found a solution that helps them communicate better with the programmers with whom they frequently collaborate. In addition to a site map or tree, they develop a unique blueprint: black and white schematics of the content for every page of the site, along with graphics for sample pages. This is also presented to the client. Explains Mizrahi: "It's so simple but it works great for everybody. It gives the programmers an idea of where all the content goes, it gives the clients a place to put their content, and it lets us know what we're missing."

While Number 17 still spends most of its time designing for broadcast and print, Siegler and Oberman believe that their backgrounds in broadcast and film are directly applicable to the new media and put them in a strong position for the future.

They've produced four different opens for Saturday Night Live, including the segment currently in use, and five of the show's parody commercials. SNL fans will recognize them as the parodies of MCI and the Smurfs, as well as commercials for Cookie Dough sports drink, Crystal Gravy, and the Paradox car. They also created the open for the hit NBC comedy "Will and Grace," a Bill Moyers special called "Close to Home" which aired recently, and a host of projects for HBO, Cinemax, Nickelodeon, MTV and VH1.

"We've been watching the development of interactive media and it seems like having this background and working in TV relates a lot to where it's going, as opposed to where it is," explains Oberman. Siegler adds, "There was definitely a little biding our time to see what would happen." Interactive television, they believe, would be a logical next step for them and a challenge they would relish.

They have no doubts that the opportunity will arise. Oberman sums up today's cross-media environment with a statement that says it well: "The definition of this business is a constantly fluctuating and expanding definition."

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Lucky, a new magazine for shopping enthusiasts published by Condé Nast, was designed by Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler of New York's Number 17. With ideas borrowed from the web, the design strives to give readers an interactive experience.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Editor: Kim France
Fashion Editor: Andrea Linett

Number 17 created the entire line of collateral and customer products, from the hotel's information package and in-room menu to the shampoo bottles, for the Mercer Hotel in New York City.

Oprah Winfrey kept a journal while making the movie "Beloved" [based on the book by Toni Morrison] and wanted to turn it into a coffee table book that captured the spirit of her experience as well as the spirit of the movie. Number 17 designed the book, Journey to Beloved, using photos from Ken Regan, the still photographer on the set, and Winfrey's text. Styled after books from the period in which the story takes place, the book also has a modern sensibility as shown by the juxtapositions of typography and images.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Author: Oprah Winfrey
Photographer: Ken Regan

Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet's rebranding campaign consisted of a comprehensive cross-media approach created by Grant Design Collaborative. The program included a new corporate brochure, sample books, a 2,500-square-foot showroom at NeoCon 2000, web site, print ads, marbles and lunchboxes for promotional use, and a breakroom for mill employees.

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS:
Jerry Burns (Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet Advertising, Collateral);
Doug Fogelson (Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet Showroom);
Steve Hall (Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet Breakroom)

Redesigned by Mizrahi Design Associates in collaboration with Indianer Computer Company and set to launch in May, the web site for the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts includes a new graphic user interface, online e-commerce applications for the retail shop and for membership and class registrations, and a database architecture that allows internal departments to exchange information.

PROJECT CREDITS: www.pittsburgharts.org
Client: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Art/Creative Director: Laurie Mizrahi Technical
Programmer: Indianer Computer Company
Designer: Jason Dancisin
Photography: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Writing: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

Mizrahi Design Associates created an integrated image campaign for the Pittsburgh-based Manchester Craftsman's Guild, a minority-directed, multidisciplinary arts organization. Projects included: a Youth Development Brochure, directed toward students and parents alike, and companion pocket folder/envelope; a visually stimulating and informative calendar; and a new web site.

PROJECT CREDITS:
WEBSITE: www.manchesterguild.org
Client: Manchester Craftsman's Guild
Art/Creative Director: Laurie Mizrahi
Designer: Brian Cryst

MANCHESTER CRAFTSMAN'S GUILD YOUTH DEVELOPMENT BROCHURE
Client: Manchester Craftsman's Guild
Art/Creative Director: Laurie Mizrahi
Designer: Katya Schultz
Photographer: Lynn Johnson, Students of MCG
Illustrator: Students of MCG
Writer: Manchester Craftsman's Guild
Printer: Broudy Printing, Inc.

MANCHESTER CRAFTSMAN'S GUILD SEASONAL ARTS CALENDAR
Client: Manchester Craftsman's Guild
Art/Creative Director: Laurie Mizrahi
Designer: Katya Schultz

With a repertoire that includes largely print and broadcast work, Number 17 has designed four opens for Saturday Night Live and five parody commercials for the show, including the Crystal Gravy and Cookie Dough Sports Drink spoofs.

PROJECT CREDITS: Crystal Gravy:
Director: Jim Signorelli
Script: Dave Mandel; Cookie Dough:
Director: Jim Signorelli Script: SNL Writers; SNL Open 1997:
Still Photographer: Edie Baskin; SNL Open 2000:
Director: Mary Lambert

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PRINTING PAPERS

Appleton Coated: Producers of Utopia, a high-quality coated paper brand that has a premium offering, Utopia Premium, and a range from number one to number three. The papers are blue-white in shade.
888.4UTOPIA or www.utopiapaper.com

Beckett: Part of the International Paper Fine Papers Division, Beckett has long offered premium writing, text and cover papers under brands such as Concept, Cambric, Enhance, R.S.V.P. and Expression.
800.423.2259 or www.beckettpapers.com

Boise Cascade: Cascade Opaque is a bright white midweight opaque line in an assortment of finishes including smooth and vellum.
877.628.3491 or www.bc.com

Crane: The prestigious Crane mill offers a complete line of 100% cotton papers featuring their correspondence papers but now including matching cotton text and cover papers as well.
800.613.4507 or www.crane.com

CTI Paper USA: CTI's Fine Paper Collection is a broad assortment of unique papers with embossed, colored, translucent, metallic-looking and mirror-like finishes. Represented are Glama Natural Translucents, Bindakote Cast Coateds, Splendorlux Cast Coated Colors, Favini SeaWeed, Constellation Mica Coated, and more.
800.284.7273 or www.thepapermill.com

Decorated: This company specializes in colorful covers, in stock or customized, for the graphic arts. Cadillac Cover, for example, comes in more than 25 colors from burgundy to gold to robin shell blue.
800.882.3400 or www.decoratedpaper.com

Donside: Superior coated papers are this company's forté, including Consort Royal, a triple coated premium, and Gleneagle, a number one double coated.
800.220.8577

Eastern: A privately held producer of fine and digital printing papers that include writing, text, cover, opaques, bristols and reply card stock grades. New launches and announcements of interest to designers are expected imminently.
www.easternpaper.com

Esleeck: A century-old organization with some unique top-of-the-line grades such as Cotton 100 made of 100% cotton fiber.
800.628.1904 or www.esleeck.com

Finch: Finch makes bright white, smooth, uncoated papers of exceptional value that represent an alternative to traditional text and covers, with grades including Finch Fine and Finch Vanilla Fine; a new 2001 swatchbook is divided into opaque and premiums and is available for designers.
800.833.9981 or www.finchpaper.com

Fox River: 'Freedom' is the theme of Fox River marketing and is a metaphor for the mill's broad choice of uncoated text, cover and writing products that encompass 15 core grades and more than 150 colors.
800.994.5993 or www.foxriverpaper.com

Fraser: One of the largest producers of specialized paper products, the company's emphasis on designer grades includes Passport, Genesis, Synergy, Mosaic, Pegasus and is embodied in an award-winning Swatchbook System.
800.543.3297 or www.fraserpapers.com

Georgia-Pacific: A major producer of printing, premium text, cover and writing papers with four focused designer brands — including Proterra recycleds and Nekoosa Solutions text and covers. The unit also markets Opaques, Offsets and a new emphasis on digital imaging/technology papers running the gamut from Microprint to premium Nekoosa bond papers.
800.635.6672 or www.gp.com/papers

Gilbert: Gilbert's motto is "Our goal is to make you look great!" They back it up with textured and surface enhanced uncoated papers for complete corporate communications programs.
800.445.7329 or www.gilbertpaper.com

IHP: International Holographic Paper stocks holographic and metalized papers and boards, and works closely with creatives on projects that combine custom holography with registered lithography.
215.997.8006 or www.IHPhologram.com

Mead: A leading North American producer of coated papers, the offerings are high quality sheetfed and web grades from cast coated to number four with a variety of finishes such as gloss, dull, suede, matte and velvet.
800.638.3313 or www.meadcoatedpapers.com

Mohawk: Mohawk Paper Mills produces premium printing grades from its flagship, Superfine, through its proprietary Inxwell products, Navajo and Options. A pioneer in papers for digital presses, the emphasis is on papers that print on all kinds of equipment.
800.THE.MILL or www.mohawkpaper.com

Monadnock: This small family-owned business makes high quality technical and uncoated printing papers; brands are led by Astrolite bright white writing, text and cover.
800.231.8323 or www.mpm.com

Neenah: Neenah manufactures premium uncoated writing, text and cover papers marketed under the Classic, Environment, Neenah and other very well-respected brand names.
800.558.5061 or www.neenahpaper.com

Proma Technologies: Metallized and specialty papers, combined with superior support and service, are this vendor's raison d'être. Its HoloPRISM holographic and PROMAVAC metallized papers are used in printing, advertising, packaging and p-o-p.
508.541.7700 or www.promatechnologies.com

Sappi: Sappi produces premium papers for the graphic arts along with a deep commitment to ideas and education for designers. Offerings include some of the most-specified premium coated papers as well as the SPectraTech line of colored, cut-sized papers.
800.882.IDEA or www.ideaexchange.sappi.com

Smart Papers: This independent producer markets several brands formerly of Champion and IP. These include Kromekote cast-coated, Carnival uncoateds, Knightkote matte-coated, and colorful Benefit recycled. The first three grades are also penetrating the digital printing market as they have been scripted, sapphire treated, packaged or tested for the latest digital methods.
800.443.9773 or www.smartpapers.com

Stora Enso: This company acquired the former Consolidated Papers and markets many of the popular coated grades including Reflections and Centura.
800.322.7377 or www.storaenso.com/na

Strathmore: Premium correspondence papers and rich, tactile, colorful text and covers have made the reputation of this IP Fine Papers brand. Among the offerings are the Strathmore Texture Group, Strathmore Writing, Strathmore Renewal, and Strathmore Elements with lines, dots, squares, zigzags and other impressions.
800.248.0245 or www.strathmore.com

Wausau: An uncoated paper producer for over 100 years, Wausau's writing grades include 25 colors and finishes, and its text and covers include new weights and colors. Grades include Royal Silk, Royal Fiber, Royal Laid, Royal Linen, Royal Marble, Astrobrights, Wausau Bright White, and Celebration.
800.950.9764 or www.wausaupapers.com

Weyerhaeuser: This family of dependable printing papers consists of three grades: Cougar Opaque, a premium number one with 94 brightness and a blue white shade, as well as Lynx Opaque, a value-priced number one, and Husky Offset, with a bright snow white shade.
www.wy.com/printingpapers

Williamhouse: The official envelope converter for over 30 of the top specifier paper mills and a leader in proprietary envelope conversion. Matching envelopes for many of the companies noted in this compilation are converted by Williamhouse and are available from paper merchants throughout North America.
800.655.4366 or www.williamhouse.com

Yupo: YUPO synthetic papers, waterproof and tear-resistant, are produced for a range of graphic design applications including catalogs, maps, menus, p-o-p displays, cards, posters and more.
888.USE.YUPO or www.yupo.com

Zanders: A broad range of premium products for varied ends are featured, with offerings that include Ikono, Chromolux, Zanders Mega, Zanders On-Demand and a new text and cover collection of mix and match papers entitled the Zanders DeZign Collection.
800.827.8053

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DIGITAL DESIGN & PRODUCTION TOOLS

Adobe: Adobe is the cross-media designer's dream, with products for print, web and media-independent design and production. Almost needless to say, the offerings include InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, GoLive, LiveMotion, and After Effects.
408.536.6000 or www.adobe.com

Agfa: With a "think to ink" philosophy, Agfa is focusing on complete digital workflow solutions from front-end to output. A notable example: bringing creatives into the workflow with PDF creation using Apogee Create as a gateway to the entire Apogee design to press system.
8000.227.2780 or www.agfa1to1.com

Banta: These software products help designers effectively synchronize the delivery of content across multiple channels, in print and on the internet. Products include Bomedia digital content management software and DesignMerge Web for customizing variable data documents via the internet.
www.banta-im.com

Canon: Canon has a legacy of leadership in color output. Its corporate and graphic design products include an array of CLC color laser copiers/printers, desktop and wide format color printers, and lots of tools for networking, connectivity and color accuracy.
800.OK.CANON or www.usa.canon.com

Corel: Graphic and cross-media design are increasingly the focus of Corel's robust product line for the Macintosh and Windows, which includes CorelDRAW, Corel Painter, Bryce, the KPT family and Corel KnockOut. The highly-anticipated CorelDRAW 10 for Macintosh rolls out soon.
800.772.6735 or www.corel.com

CreoScitex: The unification of Creo and Scitex prepress and on-demand initiatives yields a major graphic arts supplier. Products include image capture, inkjet proofers, thermal imaging devices, professional color scanning, and workflow management software. A notable example: the very accurate Iris iPROOF desktop proofing system.
800.685.9462 or www.creoscitex.com

DuPont Color Proofing: A world leader in color proofing products from design to press. Digital options include Digital WaterProof, Digital Cromalin, and proofing media for the Epson 5500, 7500 and 9500 printers.
800.345.9999 or www.dupont.com/proofing

eMotion: A leading provider of digital media management solutions from creation and collaboration to search, storage and distribution for cross-media. A good example: MediaPartner 4.0, a scalable out-of-the-box solution to manage and reuse digital assets over the internet and internal networks.
800.764.7427 or www.emotion.com

Epson: Epson printer/proofers are top-of-the-line for graphic artists. Popular are the wide format and extra-wide format Epson Stylus Pro 9500, 7500 and 5500, and the desktop Epson Stylus Photo 2000P.
800.241.5373 or www.prographics.epson.com

Extensis: From design through output, Extensis applications make creating, editing, assembling and managing digital content for print and electronic publishing more efficient.Offerings include: imaging tools, like Intellihance Pro; layout tools such as QX-Tools; production tools such as Preflight Pro; and management tools, like Suitcase and Portfolio. 800.803.4320 or www.extensis.com

GraphicArtsSupplies.com: An e-commerce site where design and production people can find thousands of products related to printing, prepress, art and design, along with training and customer service-oriented features.
800.315.2321 or www.graphicartssupplies.com

GretagMacbeth: The unveiling of this company's Eye-One system includes both software and a measurement device that simplifies the creation, communication, and management of color, with the goal of ensuring consistent color within and across media.
845.565.7660 or www.i1color.com

Imation: For the graphic arts market, this technology company offers color management, proofing, software and services for critical color applications such as Imation Matchprint and Imation Rainbow proofing products, and the Verifi Accurate Web Color technology.
888.466.3456 or www.imation.com

Macromedia: Self-described as "passionate" about the web, Macromedia produces software and tools for web designers with standards such as Director, Dreamweaver, Flash, FreeHand and Shockwave. With the acquisition of Allaire, it also strengthens its cross-platform power.
415.252.2000 or www.macromedia.com

Microtek: This global pioneer in the desktop scanning business has introduced a comprehensive ArtixScan line of scanners for creative and production professionals with optical resolutions ranging from 1000 to 6000 dpi, and dynamic ranges up to 3.9D.
800.654.4160 or www.microtekusa.com

Quark: The developer of such software standards as QuarkXPress is moving aggressively into the cross-media/ media-independent world with the Quark Digital Media System that helps publishers reuse media assets created in any software application.
www.quark.com

Ricoh: This diversified office equipment and electronics provider is a market leader in digital imaging systems, printers and scanners, with an especially strong creative presence through its Aficio Color 6000 line of copiers/printers.
973.882.2000 or www.ricoh-usa.com

Sharp: With a mission to develop innovative technology, the graphic design community is benefitting from fast, accurate and networkable Color Imager Series copier/printers as well as inkjet printers and many other office products.
201.529.8200 or www.sharp-usa.com

UMAX: This company maintains its leadership in the digital imaging market with a broad line of desktop scanners and digital cameras for graphic designers, notably the PowerLook series of professional scanners, which includes FireWire models, and the Astra series with direct-to-internet scanning solutions.
800.201.8629 or www.umax.com

Vio: An international network and service provider, a joint venture of British Telecom and Scitex, that offers applications for graphic arts including asset management, advertising delivery and soft proofing.
www.vio.com

Wam!net: Wam!net provides business-to-business managed network, data storage, hosting and professional services to companies that produce, distribute and manage digital content — static and motion-based — for use across platforms and media.
800.611.9006 or www.wamnet.com

Xerox: With an ambitious next generation color strategy articulated by president Anne Mulcahy, the company's offerings for office and production environments include its color copiers, its Phaser color printers recently acquired from Tektronix, and its hot DocuColor line of digital color presses.
800.ASK.XEROX or www.xerox.com

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STOCK IMAGES

Alamy.com: A new marketplace for creatives to license images directly from the creator.
www.alamy.com or 011.44.1235.844.602

Alaska Stock: A nicely niched agency that focuses on images of the 50th state and related winter scenes.
www.alaskastock.com or 800.487.4285

Comstock: A pioneer in contemporary stock with a traditional licensing and a royalty-free presence, and a designer-friendly patent-pending search engine.
www.comstock.com or 800.225.2722

Corbis: Positioned as "the definitive destination" for photography and art in the digital age with 65 million images — 2.1 million online. Corbis Stock Market (formerly The Stock Market) is a recent and important acquisition. Newly released: the Corbis Spring Catalog 2001.
www.corbis.com or 800.260.0444 or www.corbisstockmarket.com

Digital Vision: Entirely royalty-free offerings of photography and footage that strive to be unique, edgy and high quality.
www.digitalvisiononline.com or 888.381.9445

DK Images: The licensing arm of the renowned Dorling Kindersley publishing company that specializes in highly-visual books and guides.
www.dkimages.com

Getty Images: A major provider of imagery to creatives and business through the Gettyone.com e-commerce site as well as ownership of several brand leaders such as Allsport, FPG, Image Bank, PhotoDisc and Stone.
www.gettyone.com or 877.GETTY.ONE
Also see www.allsport.com, www.fpg.com, www.imagebank.com, www.photodisc.com, www.tonystone.com

Images.com: This is the umbrella for Stock Illustration Source, a major supplier of illustration, as well as the Graphistock collection of high quality images, and Spots on the Spot for the digital purchase of spot illustrations.
www.images.com or 212.849.2900

ImageState: Part of the GlobalState digital media content provider, ImageState provides traditional and royalty-free images. It recently acquired three mainstays: Adventure Photo and Film, John Foxx Images and West Stock.
www.globalstate.com
Also see www.adventurephoto.com, www.johnfoxx.com or www.weststock.com

Laughing Stock: A lively, high-caliber stock illustration resource that features the work of contemporary and original illustrators.
www.laughing-stock.com or 508.460.6058

Masterfile: A quality operation with a tightly edited collection of traditional rights-protected images with broad appeal, a powerful new e-commerce functionality, and a sister company called Wonderfile that licenses a fast-expanding collection of royalty-free images over the internet.
www.masterfile.com or 800.387.9010
Also see www.wonderfile.com

PhotoAlto: A royalty-free digital provider with a creative and distinctively French flair; the Artists' CDs focus on one photographer and one theme. Pictor markets the images in the U.S.
www.pictor.com
See also www.photoalto.com or 011.33.144892222

PictureArts.com: This company manages two important stock collections: the new Brand X Pictures, for high quality royalty-free licensing; and the well-established FoodPix, a traditional rights-protected specialty library.
www.picturearts.com or 310.837.9900
Also see www.brandxpictures.com and www.foodpix.com

PictureQuest: A diverse and richly functional online service that represents more than 400,000 traditional rights-protected images and a fast-growing royalty-free component of 100,000 images.
www.picturequest.com or 800.764.7427

Stockfood.com: True to its name, this agency handles food and related imagery from ingredients to fully prepared meals to wines to markets.
www.stockfood.com or 800.967.0229

SuperStock: Another pioneer in the business, SuperStock's three collections — contemporary, vintage and fine arts — are offered via stock catalogs or a fully functional e-commerce site.
www.superstock.com or 800.828.4545

theStockRep: This business-to-business image source has an interesting option, the Custom Stock Shot, in which photographs can be reshot to change angle or background at an affordable fee.
www.stockrep.com or 800.518.8558

Workbookstock.com: A new online stock service from respected Workbook & Company. An interesting feature: Workbookstock, in partnership with the Advertising Photographers of America and the Editorial Photographers of America, has arranged a uniquely photographer-friendly royalty system.
www.workbookstock.com or 800.547.2688

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THE FUTURE OF PRINTING

Heidelberg is the world's leading printing press manufacturer, a pioneer in digital direct imaging presses for short-run printing with a commitment to educating graphic designers about printing trends. Heidelberg CEO Bernhard Schreier gave the keynote on the future of print in year 2010 at the On Demand Show at New York's Javits Center this spring. Though his remarks are heavily excerpted and are not illustrated with the many visuals and videos he used, we thought Mr. Schreier's remarks are tremendously useful to the graphic design/ print buying community.

"It is an honor and a privilege to speak before this esteemed audience... at such a critical juncture in our industry. Today important changes are taking place in the printing industry. We're helping to drive the transition to digital printing. We believe digital technology is the future of our industry, and of our company as an industry leader.These quotes [see Chart A] show that predicting the future can be risky. But that doesn't mean impossible... even for our industry which is in transition. This summarizes the main findings of a study commissioned by the Printing Industries of America called "Printing 2000"... Some of the fine points were a bit off. But as you can see, the general findings of 11 years ago were right on target....

The trends have been clear for some time. The only question is when, not whether, digital technology will become a dominant force in the printing industry. If I were to summarize the challenge of the last decade in a few words, they would be: making digital technology work for the printing industry. Vendors who are properly preparing for the future have to apply digital technologies in solutions that deliver new, higher value capabilities — from digital prepress to direct imaging to all printing...

If I were to summarize the challenge of the next decade just as succinctly, it would be: translating technology into profits. This is as much a marketing challenge as a technical one. The challenge will require careful management of the convergence of digital and offset printing. It will also require a higher level of cooperation — between suppliers and printing businesses, and between printing businesses and the customers they serve. The printing businesses who adapt to a new way of working will thrive. Those who don't are unlikely to survive.

A bold statement like this is easy to make. The devil, of course, is in the details. As I share a glimpse into the crystal ball, perhaps the easiest way to summarize it is to review the PIA study from 1990... [see Chart B] We believe absolutely that the demand for print will remain strong. The rate of growth may be slower than in the past, but the volume will grow. The internet, wireless technology and the rest will challenge some of the traditional uses of print media. But they also will create demand for new types of hard copy and for new services related to printing...

With that as an overview, let's talk about some of the specific trends we see in the decade ahead...

The printed page is facing new competition from an array of media. Digital media bombard today's consumer with a constant stream of information. The types of information are virtually unlimited — and easily accessible. As a result, consumers are becoming spoiled. They want their information to be attention-grabbing... they want it to be personal to their interests or tastes... and they want it now.

A recent report from the Electronic Document Systems Foundation states new media will fundamentally change the way we produce, distribute and consume paper documents. Few of us can argue. But I believe these technologies, for the most part, will supplement the printed page, not supplant it. To paraphrase American writer Mark Twain... 'the reports of the death of hard copy were greatly exaggerated.'...

Heidelberg is not alone in projecting strong demand for print. Frank Romano estimates nearly 40% growth in the number of printed pages in the U.S. in this decade over the last one. In the 1990s, 7,200 billion pages were printed. In the 2000s, Romano estimates that number will jump to 10,000 billion. In the U.S. alone, according to PIA, the number of pages printed resulted in more than $102 billion in sales for the commercial printing industry. The Gartner Group also predicts a strong increase — at about 10% to 20% each year. So much for the paperless office...

In this Information Economy, people can get information on demand. But the demand for print is growing, even as soft displays become ubiquitous — from the giant video screens in Times Square to the laptop computers and Palm Pilots in this room. Why? Because the printed page — with its convenience, quality, reliability and portability — continues to offer an enormous value proposition over soft display. And there's something to be said for its longevity. Many of Gutenberg's first bibles are still around today. We can store the text today on your handheld computer... But how confident are you that you'll be able to read it there in 500 years?...

Now let's talk about the specific impact these changes will have on printing businesses. For printing businesses, the trends point in one direction — the need to add digital technology. The challenge is how to do it right. In contemplating their digital options, most printers feel they are facing a dilemma...

Printers will solve the digital dilemma. As they do, successful printing businesses of 2010 will look different than the printers of the past decade.

Successful printers will make the transition from a manufacturing model to a service model: from simply producing documents to helping customers manage their information...

It would be hard to underestimate the magnitude of this transition. Nor can we pretend the changes will be easy. But behind the clouds of uncertainty that change brings, there is a rainbow of opportunity. Traditional high-volume printing is increasingly viewed as a commodity, with intense competition based on price. That makes it hard for printing businesses to maintain profit margins. As printers embrace new digital technologies, they can increase the value of each printed piece.

They also will offer a higher level of service, with opportunities to strengthen customer relationships. Both of these changes can translate to improved bottom-line performance...

Let me emphasize that the printed pieces we deliver won't look much different than today. There will continue to be many different types of printing — including traditional and digital presses. We expect all of these segments to remain relevant in 2010. Businesses will still want product brochures to hand out at trade shows, and consumers will still pick up a morning newspaper to read at the breakfast table...

What's changing is the value of each piece. Documents will be more customized, and produced faster to make them more relevant to end-users in the information economy. Product brochures will be updated more frequently, and will target smaller groups of customers more specifically. Newspapers will feature more color, with more content variations to interest readers in specific geographies. Even product packaging may be more varied to reach different types of consumers...

Another change printing businesses are making is to offer more services... Successful printing businesses will offer a wider range of printing choices, to provide one-stop shopping for more customers. They also will extend their services to support communications beyond putting ink on paper...

R.R. Donnelley & Sons, for example, has expanded its prepress department with a variety of related pre-media and production services. These services represent new revenue opportunities that extend from Donnelley's core printing business. They also allow the company to strengthen its customer relationships by managing more information. Along with a traditional product catalog, they may produce signage, point-of-purchase materials and web site images...

Not all printing businesses have the resources of R.R. Donnelley. Few will offer every one of these additional services.

But most printers will offer some of these services because they are attuned to their customers. Printers are used to archiving files and proofs, so that customers can depend on them for reprinting litho jobs. Soon, printers will perform tasks that will make customers depend on them for printing variable-data jobs, such as maintaining databases. Printers are used to preparing digital files for the printed page; it is not such a leap to prepare them for the web page as well. Simply by listening to their customers' needs — as they always have — printing businesses will succeed in the years ahead...

Let's talk about how suppliers will adapt to help their customers be successful. In 2010: Rather than producing just presses, suppliers will need to deliver a variety of total solutions. There will be a continued shift away from proprietary technology to open systems, which can incorporate modular solutions from other manufacturers. Rather than focus solely on hardware, suppliers will need to deliver hardware and software — and the "brainware," or consulting expertise, to make it all work together. E-portals will have evolved from auction sites that threaten and damage customer relationships, to communication tools that strengthen them...

The changing needs of print businesses are creating new demands for suppliers. Suppliers will not have the luxury of long cycle times to get a product or solution to market. In 2010, suppliers must deliver 'products on demand.'...

The systems themselves also must be fast — and productive. As the market demands on-demand services, print customers will be looking for the best options. We know that digital printing is projected to be the fastest growing segment in the industry, with estimates of 18% annual growth for digital color and about 11% for digital black-and-white printing over the next four years. That's why Heidelberg created the direct-imaging market with the introduction of the GTO-DI. And today we offer a full range of complete, on-demand systems, including: Quickmaster DI-46-4 for high-speed production of short color printing runs. We've sold around 1,500 units to date. The Heidelberg Digimaster 9110 for high-volume monochrome printing. At On Demand, we're announcing the shipment of our 2,000th unit. And the NexPress 2100 for the digital color market. Available later this year, it will produce fully individualized pieces...

The Information Economy makes consumers less patient and more demanding. That means print buyers expect more from their documents — demanding higher value from the finished piece, not just quality on the printed page. Creativity in finishing will be essential. And, in on-demand applications, the quality needs to improve.

For hard copy to maintain its value, software must allow printers to produce it faster. Bits and bytes will make it happen. Much of the hardware needed to succeed in the future is in place. The technology works. What's needed now are innovative, integrated software solutions that will enable the technology to work profitably — and make the most out of the hardware...

These new demands are not easy for any of us. But they are natural extensions of what we've always done. Develop and manufacture high-quality products. Listen to print businesses — and give them what they want. Produce products with the highest reliability. Those standards formed the basis of our company for more than 150 years. They'll be as true in 2010 as they are today.

[Once again our predictions] for 2010: Continued strong demand for print. Consumers micro-segmented. Ever shorter runs, full variable-data jobs. Competition and opportunities from new media. Need to expand services.

2010 will be a great year for the printing industry. We'll have achieved great success by turning digital technology into profits. I hope that Heidelberg will be invited back in 2010 to see how accurate our predictions have been. We are betting our company on the proposition that the opportunities are endless...

Thank you.

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TYPOGRAPHY: STAYING OUT FRONT

Given how hypercompetitive it is today, I think it is time to reiterate some simple ways that designers can stand out, through the type they use. Here are some tips to keep your design work fresh and truly unique, simply by paying attention to two crucial phases of type use in jobs: specification, and actual use.

Specification
Avoid all System Fonts (included with the operating systems) and any fonts called "built-in" fonts, for that matter. It's important, because those fonts were not added for graphic designers. They are included for non-design office workers that need a base selection for their pie-charts, and don't have a clue about real typography. Plus, they are vanilla! OS fonts are so overused worldwide (for about a decade now!), that when a designer designs with them — in that instant — the work ceases to stand out. Instead, you merely blend right in. Good-bye, truly attention-getting design. Good-bye, added value to your client!

Next, avoid "the classics." Look closer at the real beauty designed into today's typographic palette. Especially, if you're designing in the United States, at fonts designed over this past decade by U.S. designers at foundries here. There's a rich texture in U.S. designs that are in many ways more evocative than designs created elsewhere. (Contact me for a list of U.S. designers if you are unclear on who they are.) Heads up: Gill, Bodoni, Helvetica, News Gothic and Times were all great achievements in their day! The world has moved on, typographically, and to be properly competitive, you really should be doing the same.

Also, on font technologies: We're again hearing a lot about new font technologies. Don't let yourself get bamboozled into forgetting about aesthetics when making your choices, while daydreaming about technology.

Look, the Type1 format isn't going away. Choose fonts that are right for the job, and easy on the reader, period!

Actual use
Next, care more deeply about some particular nuances. If you do, you will be rewarded with work that both looks more brilliant to the eye, looks more complete, and will actually make for easier reading.

Kerning: Be sure that the fonts you use have good spacing and kerning. Truth be told, if the fonts you use don't possess between 1,700 and 4,000 kerning pairs per weight, you are letting yourself in for more work later in the process of actually using the fonts within a job or campaign. You'll end up with unnatural-looking gaps in your headlines and text. The most obvious offenders will be sequences like "010" or any number phrases involving "one," but in reality there will be hundreds more character combinations that the type will be falling short on.

So what to do? Two simple steps:

1. When selecting, ask the foundry you're buying from how many kerning pairs are in the font. They can tell you readily.
2. After you install the fonts and fire up your layout software, check the Preferences dialog to be sure that "kerning recognition" is even turned on. If it's not, you can have a font installed that has terrific kerning, and you won't be getting it, because your program is ignoring it!

Trade secret to get your client to allow you to budget more high quality type, and the time to use it properly: Fully kerned type (such as Treacyfaces fonts) will actually save about 10% of overall depth in composition. Depending on your layout, say for a brochure, you can actually start to save significant money on printing, by requiring less paper as the fonts are conserving depth. While actually improving readability!

Joseph Treacy is president and director of typography at Treacyfaces, Inc. in West Haven, CT.
Contact: www.treacyfaces.com/tips.html

What better way to be contemporary than to use new fonts. I don't mean "new" as in different than the ones you have, I mean "new" as in created in the last several years. By simply using these, they will make what you are designing look like something no one has ever seen before.

There are thousands of type designers worldwide creating new fonts all the time and there are hundreds of sites on the internet that sell these fonts. Many of these typefaces have not gotten much exposure simply because they haven't been around that long. So, as a designer, you should take advantage of this amazing untapped resource.

You may have to do some research for yourself, making judgements about the quality of the fonts out there. Many of these companies have their full catalog online and sometimes you can get a printed catalog to inspect the various aspects of these fonts more closely. A good place to start may be www.myfonts.com. This site is a great resource for the history of type and designers old and new as well as showing samples and linking to individual type foundries.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that tried and true digital font library that your office has on their network. There are many classic typefaces there that have been crafted by the foremost type designers in the world. This stuff can look very contemporary when used the right way.

Watch graphic style trends in all the digital medias. Take inspiration from visuals from video, film and online motion graphics. You'll see how you can use many of the classic serif and sans serif faces in a very modern way, especially the light variants.

Even revivals of old graphic and type styles can look exciting when juxtaposed with contemporary subject matter. You can see this in the editorial layouts of Rolling Stone Magazine.

I personally find there is nothing more exciting than seeing something in a way you would never have expected.

James Grieshaber is type designer/art director of P22 Type Foundry in Buffalo, NY.
Contact: (t) 716.885.4490   (f) 716.885.4485   www.p22.com

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EMOTION: DIGITAL ASSET DISTRIBUTION

As graphic designers working in print, web and broadcast adapt to the collaborative and cross-media world, the ability to quickly and efficiently create, store, search and distribute digital assets becomes a critical matter. An interesting software product that squarely addresses this challenge is eMotion's MediaPartner 4.0.

MediaPartner 4.0 contains three main features that address the needs of creating, storing and distributing digital assets for print, web, broadcast or other graphic projects across a team or an enterprise: "Work," a flexible, collaborative project management environment; "Store," deep archiving with a powerful natural language search engine; and "Send," the ability to distribute bandwidth-intensive files easily over the web. The three features make the product the first of its kind to support the full life cycle of media, allowing companies to expedite the process of searching, collaborating and distributing digital assets, such as text documents, videos and pictures. The software's architecture is extensible, with each layer having its own interfaces, so it is virtually plug-and-play. New features can be added as plug-ins and, currently, MediaPartner provides Quark, Virage, MediaSite, and Avid extensions that let designers work directly from these applications.

A recent adapter is Fox Kids Europe, the pan-European integrated children's entertainment company, and one of the largest distributors of children's programming in Europe, who is using MediaPartner 4.0 to share digital media with various marketing, online and production departments throughout its European operations. MediaPartner will manage multiple types of media including promotional materials, production tools and stock photos. Previously, media assets were stored as traditional physical elements.

For example, MediaPartner 4.0 allows the promotions teams to quickly and easily access digital media of the popular children's TV show, Power Rangers. The promotions teams across Europe can efficiently create promotional material with images and video clips stored in the system, collaborate on them throughout the various departments, store them for future use and then send the final promotion internally to other departments. All this is achieved in real time rather than sending physical elements which often arrive too late to meet on-air or publication opportunities. The company is driven by a localized approach and it owns one of the largest libraries of children's programming in the world, which includes approximately 6,000 episodes.

In addition, Fox Kids Europe officials say they expect to save money. Remi Abayomi, director of broadcast operations, tells us "MediaPartner 4.0 has increased efficiency, speed and communications between our various departments and companies across Europe. This is an important step to our digital integration..."

eMotion is headquartered in Vienna, VA, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Silicon Valley, and Chicago.
Contact: www.emotion.com or 800.764.7427

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E-COMMERCE: GRAPHIC ARTS SUPPLIES.COM

Though the bloom is temporarily off the rose on consumer goods e-commerce, there is still plenty of enthusiasm for well-executed business-to-business sites because of their targeted nature and depth of industry knowledge. A happy example in the design and production arena is Graphic Arts Supplies.com.

The site, which features a very intuitive interface, originally opened its doors with a mission to use the internet to transform consumable purchasing for the graphic arts industry. It has since expanded into a place to find thousands of products relating to printing, prepress and, with increasing emphasis, art and design. For example, highlighted on the "Art & Design" home page the day this article was written were QuarkXPress 4.1, Adobe InDesign 1.5, and StuffIt DeLuxe 5.5, among other creative products. Other designer products offered on the site included Apple's PowerMac G4, Pantone Color Guides, and multiple offerings in categories running the gamut from adhesives, to desktop scanners, to digital cameras, to graphics tablets, to image libraries, to inkjet media and toner cartridges, to waxers. There were 27 categories of software in the offerings.

In addition to being a shopping site, Graphic Arts Supplies.com prides itself on including several customer service and training-oriented features such as forecasts, trend and reorder tracking, news about companies in the supply chain, and learning materials. Explains president Gary Fisher: "Our goal is to provide resources for developing forecasts, planning materials needs, and sourcing using the latest e-commerce acquisition techniques. Our [site] tracks trends in customers' purchasing behavior, basic commodity price movement and lead times for manufactured goods and services...

Information supplied on the site includes news... as well as education and training necessary to ensure meeting the highest standards of professionalism in their purchasing activities."

This commitment to service and education is manifest in alliances with Digital Media and PrintPlanet, through which Graphic Arts Supplies.com offers both online technical training as well as a forum for discussion. With the help of Digital Media's staffing tools, for example, site users can, through online simulations, become familiar with specific production processes by practicing within the simulation. In the same spirit, through PrintPlanet, Graphic Arts Supplies.com users and trainees gain access to widely used and recognized technical forums in the graphic arts community. A used equipment section is also provided.

Contact: graphicartssupplies.com or 800.315.2321

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