We talk a lot in Print Solutions about ‘positive print’, but what is that really?

‘Positivity’, like anything, means different things to different people! Although it is defined in many dictionaries as being ‘optimistic’ about something, true positivity is more than that.

I have noticed a lot of companies, suppliers and organisations state that they support positive print, I have seen it hashtagged on social media, and even in the descriptions of ‘what we do’ on people’s websites! We say it too in Print Solutions – but we really mean it! Of course, I am going to say that, but let me explain a little more.

Now, when I ask many companies what they mean by supporting ‘positive print’ they say ‘well, you know, we are in this industry. So we support it’! But, what do you ‘actually’ do?

What have you done to show that support rather than just talking about it or adding the phase to your website because you have seen it elsewhere and thought it looked good? Where is the real, tangible and physical activity that actively shows your support for ‘positive print’? How are you helping to develop our industry?

Walking the walk

On our website, we have a section called ‘WTW’. This stands for ‘walking the walk’, you know, rather than just talking the talk. For us, positivity is about giving back to move forward. It is about real support, help and co-operation. It is about taking a decades old networking experience such as the Printing Industry Golf Society, and when it was being closed down, accepted the challenge to breathe new life into it and bring it back to life. We don't make money from that, but we support the industry through it. It is about taking an initiative such as the brilliant Print iT, which goes into schools across the UK and is part of the GSCE course, to explain the career paths within our industry and encourage young people to get involved, and continue on with it when no one else wanted to. We don't get paid for that, but we are still running it because it is about supporting a positive future for our industry. We engaged with the Armed Forces Covenant and have recently initiated a networking group for ex services and forces personnel within the graphic arts – not to make money, but to support positive print. We run the UK arm of International Print Day, the 24 printathon that rolls around the world on social media spreading positive messages about out industry. And, yes you guessed it, we don't make money from that, we do it to support our industry. We could stop all that and get on with our day jobs, but at Print Solutions we don't just talk the talk. We are firmly into walking all the way into positive print and beyond, because we care.

It means so much

Part of what we do is also talking about other companies who are doing things to develop our industry. To do something different or unique. To support positivity when many other companies are not thriving.

Positivity in print is also about having a good business, yes, and doing it well. It is about achieving. It is about developing your business for the future, so that our industry has a positive one – having pride in what you do and engaging your customers and staff. It can be about investing or making the most of new opp-ortunities – it can be about finding your niche or doing some- thing differently. It can be big or small, but it is certainly about more than writing a few words on social media or a website that has nothing behind it.

Over the next few pages, we talk about some companies who are great examples of positive print. Why? Well, sometimes it is simply about supporting your customers properly and investing to fulfil their requirements, or finding a specific area where you can do things that others aren’t and really answer a need.

Being optimistic about the future is great but there has to be substance to that as well as a warm, fuzzy feeling, otherwise it really doesn’t mean anything.

Print Solutions is positive about print.