AIN'T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING

Sometimes, when you have a conversation with an associate, a friend, a spouse or a lover, the exchange is about one subject on the surface, but the give-and-take masks a second, more meaningful communication.

As I poured over the multitude of responses to our annual print design survey, I had that feeling. On the surface, our readers are dutifully talking shop with us about print buying, paper specing, project selection, digital printing, recycled papers.

But, beneath the surface, they're responding to our rather mundane queries by belting out the lyrics of the 1968 Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell classic, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing." To put it less melodically, our readers' essential message is that print exemplifies an authentic human connection that they fear is being lost in our increasingly digitized daily lives.

THIS SPECIAL REPORT IS SPONSORED BY MAN ROLAND

DOWNLOAD PDF OF PRINT DESIGN SURVEY