Friday 23 July 2010

Graphic Design and the Printing Market in 2010

How has graphic design changed over the last 10 years in terms of product placement in the media? It sounds like an easy question, but it cannot be easily understood without examining in detail the market forces behind the media placement of graphic design products in 2010. There are 4 main factors involved in what we are discussing – Costs, Market Penetration, Technology and Wider Market Conditions. Let’s have a look at each one in detail:

  • Costs – In the world of graphic design, cost is pretty much the biggest element restricting creative expression. From looking at the prices of online printing materials, particularly offset printing from companies like PsPrint, it becomes quite clear that these prices have crashed over the last few years. Flyers, brochures and posters have seen huge economies of scale applied to them, meaning that they are now affordable in greater quantities. This relates back to product placement in that materials printed are more ubiquitous than they used to be, and this in turn has led to their proliferation in the arenas we are focusing on.
  • Market Penetration – Really, this is a story about how the internet has revolutionized printing. Delivery networks and effective cost pricing models have all come together to ensure that pretty much everybody in graphic design knows about the discounts and coupons which are offered by major printing companies. Indeed, these coupons form a major buyer incentive, and have proved extremely profitable for companies such a Printplace. By letting word spread about coupons, the companies providing the printed products are effectively opening up new markets which they can then go on to dominate.
  • Technology – Since 2004, online printing organisations have really bumped up their ability to provide a huge amount of high quality printed materials en-masse. How has this been made possible? The answer is that there have been several distinct advances in offset printing presses. Firstly, the ink rolling mechanism has become far cheaper to produce and install. The components used have been made cheaper, and this in turn has led to a rolling decrease in costs for components across the board. Second, there have been advances in the construction of the paper used on printed products which are meant to be glossy, like flyers and brochures. Before 2004, the process of making these products glossy was expensive and time consuming, but after the “Haber” method of print was brought in from Asia, it’s now very simple and cheap to create glossy high quality products in large numbers.
  • Wider Market Conditions – This is the capsule in which all companies must find their feet, and it’s a particularly poignant to note that in the online printing business sector, the role of the internet cannot be ignored. Surveys performed on the major suppliers in printed materials, Vistaprint and Printplace, found that the rate at which their online business has been increasing has doubled over the past 2 years. In fact, in 2009, inline business accounted for 68% of Printplace’s turnover and 71% of that of Vistaprint. An added bonus is that the online orders these companies are receiving (partly driven by coupons) has shielded it somewhat from the worst effects of the recession. Compared to other industries, the online printing sector suffered an average of 33% less than other comparable sectors (Griffin, “Effect of the recession on business and print”, 2010) which is good news for those wishing to invest.

A bigger picture of the market for printed materials online can only be formed and maintained if all these factors are understood. It is certain that some have been left off the list, and there will undoubtedly be some that nobody has anciticaped yet. However, in a systems viewpoint, it’s usually better to look forward rather than back with regard to this volatile and exciting printing market.