What Is Print Anymore?

This has been a strange week; one that has really made me not only have to think about what I do, but also have to explain to others what I do. In case you don’t know, I am the Print Production Group Manager / Designer at T3. (Yes, i know, it is an amazingly long title and should be called into Guinness for consideration.) This week I went to PePcon – the Print and ePublishing Conference*; and I’ve also been trying to find a Production Designer to replace a wonderful colleague. So there has been lots of talking about who I am, what I do, and what it means to be part of the Print Production Group. I’ve come to realize, that Print, as a term, while accurate; in no way means what it did, just 5 years ago. Print now means the ability for designers to: create apps on tablets and smartphones without code; to turn designs into 3D tangible objects; to synch paper with Augmented Reality; as well as, letterpress, silk-screen, digital, offset, and web. Sometimes its staggering; but mostly its amazing and I truly love being in the ever-evolving world of print *NOTE:  The sole reason I went to PePCon was to attend bootcamps on creating apps from InDesign – NO Developers required. Kudos to Bart Van de Wiele (@BartvdWiele); it was well worth the price of admission.  Also picked up some knowledge from the entertaining Russel Viers — still reeling from the idea of an RGB workflow, but picked up many INDD, AI, PSD and Bridge tips from this fella.