The Importance of Print
Hi Friends!
This morning, I was sitting in my office and I wasn’t really sure what to write about this week. Continuing on the theme of last week’s newsletter, there just isn’t a whole lot going on out in this marketplace right now. Directly to the right of my desk is a large bookshelf that (aside from a little bit of boxing memorabilia and a couple of model cars) is completely filled with car magazines that over the years, we have contributed to in one form or another.
I’ve reached over and grabbed a recent copy of Sports Car Market (which in my opinion, remains the best all-around resource for collector car related information in the world and should be considered a must-get for every single person on this list. If you’re not already subscribed, definitely do it. It’s worth every penny and more…) and began to thumb through it. As always, the analysis is deep, the writing extremely well thought out and it always comes presented in materials that give it that certain feel, which provides an experience that is so above and beyond any of the digital resources available today (including this one). Additionally, I still look forward to walking up the street to the mailbox, swinging open the door and receiving something real, that’s worth appreciating and that I’m genuinely excited about.
It seems like we’re continuously hearing out of the world that print is dead. Not only do I personally disagree with this, but I consider it to be a non-negotiable luxury item that I can’t live without above and beyond. There’s also a certain nostalgic component involved. Part of the reason I got into this in the first place, is because my uncle and grandfather were always providing me with car magazines. That was really the gateway and gave me all the fuel to ignite that passion, which led to where I am now. Why I do what I do now and why I enjoy it so much remains largely because I love contributing advertising, etc and seeing the end result, in my hand and in front of me, in full color and on the pages of a tangible, real item (and no, your Kindle does not count either).
There’s also prominence and importance to print from an advertising perspective. When you see a beautiful, inspiring, clever and generally well put together ad for a company, good or service, it immediately elevates that brand to a more premium level of status and it says far more about who that organization is overall than a quick banner or blast of a digital ad of some type on a screen. Putting these things together is also an artform that people like me take a lot of pride in and it’s definitely not something that anybody can just do.
So, where does this all lead? The fact remains, that there’s a substance to the print experience and a way that information is relayed that must be protected and preserved for the future. As stated above, I do think to a degree that this experience has become a luxury item, but it’s still something that most of us not only can afford, but can benefit from and should be actively supporting as well.
Take a moment and look around your world today. Consider the books, magazines, etc that you see in front of you. For some of us, we’re meeting our quotas and we’re doing it right with robust collections and makeshift libraries filled with resources that we can easily reference and share. For others who may not be seeing too many of these things, that’s something that you can always change. Reach out, find your niche, look for a publication that speaks to you and support it with an actual subscription (not just a digital one).
We spend so much time and energy in this hobby and in this industry trying to protect things from the past. High quality, print content in this space should never be allowed to get to that point. It’s real and it’s relevant now and that should never change.
Long live the experience of print…….
That’s it for this week……
Darin Roberge
