Print is Everywhere
Have you noticed? Look around you and really pay attention. There is likely a logo or a sign with printing on it somewhere nearby, for example: an exit sign, a nameplate on electronics, a label on a bottle, a tattoo you might have. All of this is printing, and we take it for granted. Imagine life without printing, how would we function as a society? Directional signage on highways and freeways wouldn’t exist – causing chaos on the roads, or the absence of lines painted on a road (that’s printing too) would obviously create a ton of problems.
Printing is a very important part of our society to maintain order and function
-Markus Lacaria
That’s right, I just quoted myself, why not? You’re actually reading printing right now, instead of actually being ink on paper, it’s type on screen. Still, it’s printing, just in digital form.
I’ve spent the majority of my life in the printing industry, working with paper primarily, in the sheetfed and web printing world. In other words, I’ve been working with printers that use sheets of paper, and rolls of paper to make things like business cards, brochures, books and signs. All of these products are extremely important for the person or company commissioning me and my company to print these out for them and deliver them when they need them. Maybe the stuff is for an event on the weekend, maybe it’s for a new employee who’s starting tomorrow, maybe it’s a gift for an important someone. In all cases, the printing is what matters – because it has an impact and conveys an important message about something. Imagine a birthday without the words “Happy Birthday” spelled out in sugary-paste atop your cookies and cream ice cream cake. It wouldn’t be the same, it would just be a cake, not a birthday cake. We need words and images to give meaning to inanimate objects, printing bridges that gap and makes everyday things a little more special.
This year marks the first official printed upper in my footwear collection of Men’s Classic Low Cuts. I kept it simple, choosing to print a simple pattern on the upper of two models that is a classic Adobe Illustrator pattern that comes loaded with the software. Nothing fancy, but certainly unique and cool.
From time to time I’ll post some very interesting printing presses and printing methods that intrigue me, because who doesn’t love to see a printing press running at full speed? There’s something really cool about that, and I’m lucky to be around these marvelous hunks of steel and plastic that create the stuff we read and consume everyday.
Stay tuned for printing stuff on this blog, and check out this cool video.
