At least once a week I come across a fantastic article in the news about something related to print.

While I share these links in my social feeds, many of you probably don’t follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn (though you’re welcome to!), so I’m sharing them here. All of these are worth a read.

1. First Prize for Creative Use of Print has to go to this young man. He invented colorful Superhero IV bags to ease the fears of hospitalized children. Brilliant and heartwarming. He’s a college junior, for Pete’s sake. Take a look at his invention – a masterful application for print.
2. Best Article that Explains the Effectiveness of a Direct Mail Campaign goes to this piece written by Kevin Tynan, who’s the SVP of Marketing for Liberty Bank in the Chicago area. Not only is it a brilliant case study of how a personalized mail campaign can be extremely effective, but it is also one of the best-written ones I’ve ever read. Mr. Tynan touches on many details about the piece that made it a home run – including typography, format, copy (yay!), imagery, and “digital wizardry” that is personalization.
3. Most Fun Piece about Faux Books appeared in the New York Times. It tells of these fascinating objects called “Blooks,” a term that describes things that look like books but are not (“book-look”). The term was coined by Mindell Dubansky, a preservation librarian at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She’s collected 600 of these fake books, made from “stone, wax, straw, wood, soap, plastic, glass and other materials.” Several hundred of Ms. Dubansky’s blooks are now on display at the Grolier Club in Manhattan through mid March. There’s one that’s a flask, another that dispenses cigarettes, and another that’s a cookie jar. Too cool. I must go.
4. Winner of the “Who Knew” Category goes to this piece in the Boston Sunday Globe. Evidently, there were how-to books and pamphlets produced in medieval times, specifically in Western Europe during the 14^th and 15^th centuries. Important topics such as how to perform alchemy, treatises on bloodletting, and lists of “factors deemed dangerous for one’s eyesight,” were explained. Kevin Hartnett points out that “instructional texts are nearly as old as books themselves.” As I said, who knew?

Do these inspire you? I’m always on the lookout for more award-winning news articles. Please share any you happen to come across.

© 2016 Margie Dana