Opinion

"20 big ideas I learnt at the PrintWeek India Awards 2011" by Ramu Ramanathan

Opinion by
  1. Have co-creators rather than clients who give you orders. Parksons Graphics.
  2. Every print firm is the same, it’s how you power your brain that makes a difference. Jayna Packaging.
  3. Let your work speak for itself. Superior print work always has been, is, and always will be the core of the wheel in any successful print firm. Replika Press and Vishwakala.
  4. A printing press is simply a device. We talk of Sachin Tendulkar’s hundred hundreds. Fans don’t talk about the manufacturer of his bat. Parksons Packaging.
  5. Congrats to Eswara Screens from Chennai for producing "the smallest book in the world". A triumph of mind over machines.
  6. Everyone speaks of value-addition but the problem is value-added ideas are hard to recognise, and easy to kill. Hats off to Spectrum Scan and Utility PrintPack.
  7. There’s no such thing as a repeat job. If a printer says it’s just a repeat job then you know he shall be in trouble, very soon. Jak Printers.
  8. A printer’s job is not merely to put ink on paper. He has to make it interesting, and different, and wonderful. Something Avantika does with panache.
  9. Without print there can be no fine print. As proved by Marvel Graphic Studio from Ahmedabad.
  10. Print is global. You’ve to be brilliant everywhere, every time. Mail Order Solutions.
  11. Find out how many new ideas you or your press have acquired. If you haven’t, then you’re in big trouble. Resync Solutions.
  12. Use tech specs for enlightenment – case in point is Janus Packaging.
  13. Silverpoint Press proves it: That ultimately what matters is the Ting in Printing.
  14. Convince your buyer: that to say no to printing to save a few rupees is like stopping your watch to save time. Manipal Technologies.
  15. Plan for a worst case scenario. And you are ready for a win-win. Manohar Packaging.
  16. Make the layouts rough, the proofs beautiful, the colours splendid and the idea will sell. As showcased by Honeycomb.
  17. You can tell the aesthetics of a nation by the look of its posters and brochures. Who else but Pragati Offset?
  18. Printers try too hard to impress. Others like PrintExpressions say: strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing.
  19. Every newspaper house is about two ideas – the printing it does and the printing no one else does. Divya Bhaskar.
  20. Kudos to all the PWI Award winners. You make us proud. Very proud.

(Ramu Ramanathan is group editor. He edits Campaign India and PrintWeek India)