This is my 185th blog this year and also likely enough the last for 2010, as I'm now signing off for the Christmas/New Year break.
No doubt it's a sign of advancing years but 2010 really has flown by. An Ipex or Drupa year always does, but this year has seemed exceptionally swift. What with Ipex, and the general election, the first half was a whirl.
Quite why the latter six months also passed by in a blur is less easy to pinpoint, but it's definitely been another 12 months of considerable transformation for the printing industry, a pace of change that's proved too much for some. Other companies are successfully adapting their businesses to the new normal, or even shaping entirely new print-based opportunities. As such I'm fascinated by the different business models that are emerging among leading 21st century printcos. Something on the 'to do' list for 2011 will be to try and bracket them into a set of definable types.
Looking back at some of 2010's topics I see one recurring theme that's something of a personal obsession remains unresolved, that being the future shape for UK web offset. Suffice to say that Wyndeham Press Group, BGP, Polestar and St Ives remain on the 'pay close attention' list for 2011.
High points of the year included anyone and everyone who did something clever or impactful with print, of which there have been many examples, hoorah.
Such a shame that the year closes on a note of irritation due to the WWF's ill-conceived 'save a tree' messaging for its non-printing PDF. The latest developments on this story reveal just how damaging this initiative will be for the organisation overall, but unfortunately for print the damage is already done.
Still, must think positively. Best wishes to all for an irritant-free Christmas break, look forward to resuming communications in the New Year. Snow willing, I'm now heading out for an essential seasonal purchase: the Christmas issue of the Radio Times.
