The printing press was invented in 1440 by German inventor Johannes Guttenberg, and his version of the press has been the principal method of standard printing since then until the very end of the twentieth century. The printing press worked by transferring letters and images by contact with inked surfaces onto a sheet of paper or paper-like material which was fed into it. This device was great for making multiple copies of the same printed text, which is how we get millions of newspapers every day.

Before the printing press came about, everything that was read in the UK and Europe was either written by hand and distributed or carved into wooden blocks and distributed—but even then; the only people who were fully literate were a small section of the nobility and the clergy. Also, these methods were laborious, time-consuming and expensive. With the printing press came a mass distribution of books, leading to an overall literate society as we know it—making the printing press one of the greatest and most effective inventions of all time.

In today’s society, the printing press has been revolutionised and modernised to fit with the technological age. In the 1970s, computers were integrated into the printing industry. A computer can now assemble and arrange two thousand letters to be printed in two seconds as opposed to the hour it took in the fifteenth century—which means that more words are printed every second than it took Guttenberg’s workers to print in a year.

Not only do we still have newspapers in our society, but we also have major reinventions of printing such as digital printing, colour printing and personal printing. Many households have a digital printer that they use with their personal computers—making the old jobs of author, editor and compositor into one simple role when printing a piece of work. Newspapers are now available online and on mobile phones for current affairs on-the-go, but the printing press and professional digital printing industries still remain strong.

There are so many ways to get the news these days by either scrolling down a phone, surfing the web on a laptop or even going to the shop to buy a broadsheet. However, none of these would have happened so successfully if it weren’t for Guttenberg’s revolutionary printing press invention. With its modernised application, his vision was a distribution idea that is unlikely to die out with time.

Flyering is the simple act of handing out small pieces of paper (usually A5 size) with a business, idea or event details on it to help promote an endeavour. Flyers  are most commonly distributed by hand, can be left in places where a target audience could be reached, or left in places such as pubs or restaurants.

Flyering is an age-old technique and has been proven to work. The main advantage of flyering is public exposure, if more and more people have your business’ flyer in their hand, the higher the chance that your business will receive attention and custom. Flyers are relatively cheap to make with help from a digital printing company and the price of flyers can be paid off in the custom gained from the act of flyering.

During the flyering activity itself, it is vital to engage and connect with the public on a more personal level. Flyering to promote something actively shows that this person cares about their endeavour enough to stand in the street and shout about it to the world. If the flyerer connects and has a conversation with their audience, there is a higher chance of success as they will be remembered in the audience’s minds.

A type of business that generates lots of custom from flyering is the theatre industry, for example at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Every year, thousands of actors, directors and producers clutter the Royal Mile persuading theatregoers to see their show and no-one else’s—a tactic that often pays off in terms of audience numbers.

Anything can be placed on a flyer through digital printing. It is important to make a flyer look attractive and attention-grabbing; bright colours and images, bold text and humour work well in maintaining a reader’s interest and putting your business to the forefront of their mind. Less can be more on a flyer, if you cram a small piece of paper full of text it can seem like an essay, but if there are too many pictures vital details could be missed—a delicate balance of text and image is a good way forward. For an extra, weather-proof effect, laminating flyers can also be a great idea, it also means that they do not crease so easily in a reader’s bag.

Flyering is a simple promotion technique that requires perseverance and effort, however the effort should pay off in the number of sales or amount or recognition in your endeavour.

The introduction of the printing press meant a whole new medium for current affairs to be broadcast through the world by the form of the broadsheet newspaper. This was the most modern way for people to read up on what has happened that very day and keep up to date with the news in the world and has been for years. However, with the internet came an even more modernised way to receive news—the online newspaper.

The introduction of online newspapers and news articles has thrust the newspaper companies into the modern age, with internet users being able to read the latest news article at the click of a mouse button. The online news eliminates the time spent thumbing through a broadsheet to find a reader’s personal niche area, making browsing for current news much easier. Online news articles also means that current affairs are being brought to a younger audience, with many newspapers having applications on social networking websites such as Facebook—with articles directly related to them and their interests. This gives the newspaper businesses a new and refreshing demographic to cater for.

A further advantage of online newspapers is the seemingly unlimited amount of storage for past stories. Therefore, if someone wanted to refer to an online article published last week, they only have to type words into a search engine rather than hunt through back issues of newspapers.

However, the idea of online news does have its drawbacks. The internet now supplies the average person with everything they could ever need at the touch of the button. This is undoubtedly revolutionary, but could possibly lead to increased laziness. For many, the action of sitting down with a cup of tea and the Sunday paper is a habit that some are unwilling to replace with tea and a laptop.

The printed newspaper has been around for over five hundred years and has had little impact from the online newspaper revolution. Many who have always bought newspapers will continue to do so, and the printing press remains one of the UK’s most prestigious inventions to date, with both newspaper and digital printing businesses thriving. Magazines are still printed every day even though many of their articles appear online, with the digital printing business being largely unaffected by this.

Both forms of news reach their different audiences in different ways–and reading different newspapers means reading different viewpoints–so if both the broadsheets and online newspapers work together, they could help create a better informed and more democratic society for tomorrow.

When binding a document, there many different binding options that can give a document a different look or feel. Finding the right binding method for your work can add a whole new aesthetic level to the document and give it a more professional image.

A style of binding commonly used in businesses is wire binding, as it helps create a document that looks both stylish and professional. The paper is hole punched down the margin and the wiring has two small loops that go through each hole to bind them together. This style of binding is used to create business reports, manuals and many other documents that require one book. In the home, wire binding is found in household objects such as calendars or first aid manuals.

Saddle stitching is the term given to the process of securing loose pieces of paper with stitches (most usually made of wire) through the crease of the document’s spine. The book can be with or without a cover, the turnaround is generally quite fast and saddle stitching is the most inexpensive method of binding yet. Also, saddle stitching means there is less bulk to a document, an added bonus if any documents are being mailed.

Perfect binding is a type of binding most commonly seen in paperback books. In perfect binding, the different pages are put together, the edges are flattened or roughened, and an adhesive product glues the paper cover to the spine of the book. It has a generally low cost and is seen widely around the world in paperbacks, manuals, telephone directories and some magazines.  Perfect binding is usually the choice when a document is too thick to be saddle stitched or bound by wire.

As sad as it is to admit, many documents today are more often bound with stationery items such as staples or paperclips than with any professional binding techniques. These methods of securing documents are indeed a quick fix, but do not look as professional as presenting a conference room with a wire-bound, saddle stitched or perfect bound comprehensive document.

There are many options to consider when thinking about binding a document, and you must decide which one would be the best choice for your work depending on how you would like your work to come across. Each binding method has its benefits and a professional looking document can be the next step in a professional outlook.

It is not a secret in the music industry that technological advances in the last twenty years have made it easier than ever to get your music heard. The increase of digital sales and online sites which allow people to download your music means that people can access your music from anywhere in the world at any time. For the first time ever this year, digital download sales overtook the sale of physical CDs in the US.

However, there is a downside to this. Bands know they can get their music out easier than ever before and this means there are hundreds of thousands of bands competing for listener attention. If a band wants to make their music heard they should not only focus on a digital marketing campaign but also adopt more traditional methods as well to help build a strong local fan-base.

One of the first things a band should do is approach a digital printing company to discuss what marketing products they offer. Flyers are a fantastic way of advertising your band, whether it is a gig you are playing at or if your new record is available to buy. On the internet people can click away from your site and forget your name but if you put a flyer in their hand in person, they will remember your name and are likely to check your website out when they are near a computer.

Many digital printing companies will offer a short run print so bands that are just starting out can get a small number of flyers for a low price. Some bands that are just starting out choose to print a lot of flyers so they can promote to a huge potential market about a gig or their first album or EP.

There are many digital printing businesses out there that can offer young musicians a good deal. One of the things a band should consider when choosing which company to use is what kind of printer is used. An Indigo Digital Printer is perfect for flyers as it can create a personalised short run without having to make huge changes to the printing process. Indigo digital printers are very common in the promotion industry for this reason.

If you are an artist or musician and you want to get your music heard, you need to create a strong marketing strategy that draws on your strengths. You need to integrate both physical and digital promotional techniques. It’s still a difficult market to operate in but with a combination of methods it is possible to get your music heard.