Gretchen A. Peck

By Gretchen A. Peck

Without question, digital inkjet has transformed virtually every segment of the print industry—commercial print, sign and graphics, books, and publications. Many predicted that digital inkjet would also transform packaging—not in the sense that long-run inkjet production would entirely replace more traditional print methods like flexography, screenprinting, and offset. Rather, it was seen as an enabler to the creative process, allowing for better comping, prototyping, and in some cases, short-run production.

However, since the advent of quality roll-fed and flatbed print engines, digital inkjet printing has yet to live up to its packaging potential.

Published by DPS Magazine, July 2014

Printing and Imaging

Packaging Promises

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 gretchenapeck

By Gretchen A. Peck

There’s been a lot of punditry and speculation about how digital print will impact packaging printing, whether it would go the way of commercial print, with shorter print runs and variable data-driven versioning. However, after more than a decade of predictions that digital print—narrow and wide format—would forever alter the packaging landscape, they’ve yet to manifest.

When having a conversation about “packaging,” it’s important to be specific about its sub-segments, suggests Simon Lewis, director, strategic marketing for Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) Indigo Division, who categorizes package printing as labels and label-like products such as shrink sleeves, folding carton, flexible packaging, and “others,” which include specialty packages produced using more exotic media such as metal and glass.

Publishes by DPS Magazine, May 2014

News & Publishing

How to reach the next generation of readers

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 gretchenapeck

By Gretchen A. Peck

Like seemingly every other magazine category, teen and young-adult titles have taken a beating in the past decade, with consolidation and the print advertising downward spiral forcing the closure of renowned brands — 16, YM, Teen, Teen Beat, Teen People, just to name a few. As retailers cowered or went dark across the nation, print magazines lost some of their best distribution allies-especially teen titles, many of which rely on those single-copy sales.

Publishing Executive asked publishers and editors about the challenges of publishing for this audience-to print, the web, and mobile devices-and how they’ve been able to compel young readers to love to read magazines. While the content in this category runs the gamut from celebrity insights to science and technology, there are some important commonalities among this target demographic: This generation of young readers is smart, articulate — opinionated even — and tethered to their smartphones.

Published by Publishing Executive magazine

News & Publishing

Des Moines is fertile ground for publishing

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 gretchenapeck

By Gretchen A. Peck

David Byrne of Talking Heads fame recently passed through Des Moines, Iowa for the 80/35 Music Festival. He wrote about his time there-the bucolic setting, the public spaces, restaurants, the library, and a visit to the local bike shop. “Life here seems to be more or less middle class (the middle class doesn’t seem to have been gutted here as it has been in many other towns), and there are amenities like the riverfront, bike trail networks, ball fields, and water sports that show that the city cares about its citizens,” Byrne opines in his blog.

Published July 2013, Publishing Executive magazine