Prognostications from a Print Pro

Greetings citizens of the Printerverse! I decided now was as good a time as any to make some predictions for 2013, since there is a chance that we wont be here after Dec. 21. If that is indeed the case—to quote the “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”—“So long, and thanks for all the fish.” If not, well, I guess we will see if I have a future in prognostication.

Unlike my friend Puxatawney Phil, I see the future in trends, not shadows. Here are a few I think will be relevant in the coming year.

Print Media: I am a lover of marketing technology, but that isn’t the solution to all the print problems out there. If we’ve learned one thing from QR codes it’s: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Trendwise: Bells and whistles are nice to have when relevant, but it all starts with great design. There will be a new emphasis on the designer as the bridge between print and digital. There will be a consolidation of touchpoints handled by outside resources when it comes to tablets and mobile. Brand messaging and consistency will be more important than ever as the population moves further into making those options their devices of choice.

Digital Media: As mentioned above, tablets and mobile media cannot be left out of any equation in 2013.

Trendwise: There is an App for that. And if you haven’t created one for yourself, or started looking into it, why not get a head start? You can create a Web-to-print mobile portal, maybe an event/webinar/membership registration system—only the programmer you hire limits the possibilities.

Social Media: The ship has sailed here. It’s not going away, but it’s not going to be reinvented next year either. Pinterest and Instagram are both photo-sharing platforms and most likely the final frontier when it comes to creating yet another login. There is only so much bandwidth humans can handle, and we’re at, if not past, the tipping point.