The Fine Print… A Word from the Trend Authorities at Vogue

I just read an article in the September issue of Vogue that made my day. 

My day job right now is to sell print—that’s how I am supporting myself financially. However, I am a print evangelist 24/7, meaning I brag about print all the time: its benefits, the creativity involved, how necessary it is especially in a digital world, and how it helps companies and individuals stand out from an overly-saturated digital market. So, needless to say, when my favorite fashion magazine is publishing the very same things I’ve been saying to people the past couple years, admittedly a little more stylishly, I get very happy.

Vogue’s article by Robert Sullivan states that “despite the long-trumpeted rise of digital media, a handful of New York women are championing conventional print--be it in the form of magazines, stationery, or good old-fashioned books.”

Below is the first paragraph of this article, entitled The Fine Print:

You thought print was dead, kaput--especially now, as more and more of us see the world through Google-colored glasses. But lo! Print is not only not dead--it's back, at least in certain circles. As I type, magazines are being birthed off-line, and more and more independent bookstores are opening. People are even printing stationery again, despite what texting has done to their penmanship. "Sometimes I feel like I am doubling down into the tactile world," says Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson, a little bookstore in Manhattan's Nolita with big plans for expansion, as we shall explain in a bit.

I obviously can’t put the entire article up here because that’s why you’re supposed to purchase the subscription. But in a nutshell, these are the main points:

1. Print is not necessarily back, it is just changed. Since you are no longer required to use paper for correspondence, when it is used, it affects with more gravity.
2. People want beautiful things and people are also tactile. You can look at print as an event in and of itself.
3. An example of print making waves is the print-only magazine Cherry Bombe, which focuses on women and food. A combination of amazing photography, good paper stock and excellent inks have readers flocking to the publication.
4. Sarah McNally, referenced in the first paragraph of the article as the owner of a small bookstore in Manhattan, has a new print shop in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan. She sells lithographs, Risographs and letterpress posters advertising a John Cage performance circa 1952.
5. The final point is, don’t give up on the digital world. Just recognize how the old world just keeps influencing the new one.

I 100% agree with this article and am excited to see that other people are getting the value of print. I’m going to make a point to visit Sarah McNally’s bookstore and print shop when I go visit NYC in a couple weeks. Thank goodness for people like her.

Thanks for reading!