PrintIT issue48

14 PRINT.IT BULLETIN Printed page still valued and trusted, even as consumers turn to digital Paper’s status as a trusted and valued means of communication in today’s digital world is highlighted in a recent survey of more than 1,000 UK consumers commissioned by print and paper advocacy organisation Two Sides UK. The survey also identifies a number of challenges, not least a reduced appetite for paper and print amongst younger generations and a clear preference for digital media for certain applications. While print was the preferred medium for the recreational reading of magazines (78%), books (73%) and news (62%) amongst all respondents, amongst 18-24 year olds just 35% like to read news in print, with 38% preferring to use a smartphone. Moreover, people’s preferences don’t necessarily reflect their consumption habits. So, while 62% say they prefer to read news in print, only 29% read a printed newspaper every day, compared to 42% who daily read news on electronic devices. More than six out of 10 respondents (62%) claim they read fewer printed magazines than they used to; 44% read fewer books; and 75% of 18- 24 year olds say they like to get their news online for free. Amongst all respondents, a computer (desktop or laptop) is the preferred method of reading transactional documents, such as bank statements, energy/utility/phone bills and statements. Printed statements are preferred by 29% of people and a combination of printed and online by 56%. More than two thirds (69%) believe keeping hard copies of important documents at home is the safest and most secure way of storing information. Roughly the same number (71%) are concerned that personal information held digitally could be hacked, stolen, lost or damaged. Even though most consumers are happy to receive digital communications, a big majority (88%) want to be able to choose how they receive bills and statements (printed or digital). Four out of 10 (41%) say they would consider switching supplier if forced to go digital-only; and almost three quarters (73%) believe they should not be charged more for choosing a paper bill. Publishers will welcome a clear preference for printed books across all age groups, with 72% of consumers saying they find the printed page more enjoyable than electronic alternatives including e-readers (12%) and tablets (7%). Print aids comprehension, with 63% of respondents believing they gain a deeper understanding of a news story when they read it on the page. UK consumers also find print more trustworthy – just 16% trust news stories found on social media, falling to 4% of over 55s. www.twosides.info IBM designs its first typeface IBM has designed its own corporate typeface, IBM Plex, which will replace Helvetica Neue in the company’s corporate communications and which IBM is giving away free to anyone who wants to use it. In a video on YouTube, Mike Abbink, IBM’s Executive Creative Director, Brand Experience and Design, said: “Helvetica is a child of a particular set of modernist thinking that’s gone today, so what’s next and how do you go about developing a new typeface that’s innately IBM?” He added: “We quickly came to a very common theme that’s been with IBM since the ‘20s – this notion of man and machine – the relationship between us, mankind, and the machines we create. We tried to balance very natural, very man- made typographical choices with things that felt machined or engineered and rational… “When you look at the typeface (IBM Plex) there are very highly engineered parts of it and then there are very humanist gestures too. It’s a very subtle thing, but the shapes and the design are a real combination of man and machine.” In this way, the new typeface provides a link with IBM’s instantly recognisable three-letter, eight-bar logotype, which, as Abbink explains, also balances natural and engineered elements. “Those three of the most recognisable letters in the world themselves capture a little bit that idea of man and machine. They’ve been very engineered. If you look at the letter B, you have these round exterior moments of the B and then inside the counter-shapes are square,” he said. IBM has a long relationship with typography and design – in the 1940s and 50s, it had a typeface department and then, with the ‘golf ball’ Selectric typewriter, introduced adjustable typefaces – but this is the first time it has designed its own font. By deciding to make Plex available as a free download at https://ibm.github.io/type/# IBM hopes to position the company at the centre of a debate around the future of man and technology. “It’s a great decision, because if shoe stores or copy shops or small businesses are using it for identity, they are kind of agreeing that they want to be part of a discussion around mankind and machines and how that is going to evolve and progress our world for the better,” explained Abbink. Watch the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcs9snQnkJ s&amp=&app=desktop IBM Plex IBM Plex Sans Serif Serif