MORALES, ALISHA JANA R.

TMA 2 - DEVC 206

The chosen Key Informant Interviewee for this research is Alexandra Avila, a former

news editor of UST Faculty of Arts and Letters’ Official Student Publication, The Flame.

The interview was done through a call via Facebook Messenger last November 6, 2022

at 8:30 PM.

The Flame was first established in 1964 and has been producing news, opinions, and

feature content about the faculty, the school, and national events.

They have seven departments in the publication:

1. Scenes - delivers up-to-date reports on current events that concern the Faculty

and the University.

2. Issues - the special reports arm of the Flame. They provide comprehensive

stories faculty-wide, university-wide, and national issues.

3. Culture - deliver articles about the world of the arts, culture music, literature, and

socio-cultural events.

4. Faces - they feature content that highlights stories of different personalities from

and related to the Artlet community.

5. Letters - they produce literary pieces in poetry, prose, and/or critical reviews that

aim to capture what it means to know the finite bounds of self and place.
 6. Photography Department - Documents events or takes photos for creative

purposes of the magazine.

7. Art Department - produces illustrations and graphic elements (such as

infographics). They are also in-charge of the overall layout design of the

magazine.

THE PROCESS

1) Research and Planning - Every year they produce four issues of the magazine.

Each quarter they plan out the content they need to produce. All of the

department heads would have one meeting per quarter for planning. This usually

takes them one to three months of legwork to collect information they need.

2) Writing and editing - While the writers have their dedicated articles to do their

research, write, and edit on, the Photography Department would take or organize

photos needed for these articles. The Illustrators for the Department would then

work on dedicated art pieces fitting for some of the articles and literary pieces,

while the designers would work on the necessary infographic material for their

assigned articles.

3) Layout Design and Proofreading - Once the department heads and

Editor-in-Chief approves of all the articles and visual materials to be put in the

magazine, the Art department then lays it out on the magazine file. The Art

department uses Adobe InDesign as their software to design the magazine. They
 follow a certain style-guide for the Flame, but also have the creative freedom to

play around with the layout and design of the spreads. This process usually takes

two-three weeks. The Art department works closely with all the department

heads and the Editor-in-Chief throughout the layout process. Once the layout is

finalized, each of the department heads proofread the whole magazine before

sending it to printers.

4) Printing Process - The Art Department collates the whole magazine into one

Adobe InDesign packaged file. They ensure that the files to be sent for printing

are of Press Quality and have the similar Color Profiles to what the print service

provider uses. They send the first draft to the printer through email. After one

week, the Art Director, Editor-in-Chief, and Managing Editor goes to the print

service provider to see the first mock print of the magazine to ensure that the

colors and layout are accurate. This is also a chance to proofread the whole

mock magazine again. Once this has been approved for mass printing, they wait

two to three weeks for it to be printed. Either the Flame members pick them up or

the print service provider delivers them to our building. The members of the

publication put them on dedicated magazine holders throughout the whole faculty

building.

Modern technologies in the Printing Process

1. Adobe InDesign - the software used by the layout artist of the magazine and the

print service provider.

magazines as they not only provide high quality printing but they are also the

most cost-effective. The printing service provider that the Flame goes to uses this

type of printing process.

Modern ICT and the Print Industry today

The development of modern Information Communication Technologies has made

revolutionary changes in the Print Industry throughout the years. In the past, it required

more effort and time to produce printed material. For instance, it required different sets

of workers to do the pre-printing process, another set of skilled workers to create the

plating, and another set of people who did the printing. All of these processes took time

and there was little to no room for error in the pre-printing process since doing a new set

of plating would be costly. The text and visual elements must be finalized. With the

development of modern ICT’s, the printing process has become optimized and less cost

efficient. We now have computers that support digital publishing software (such as

Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Publisher) where you can easily edit the contents of your

print material with just a few clicks. Proofreading and text-correction is also supported

by these software lessening the chances for typographical errors which are one of the

main problems in printing, especially before the invention of today’s ICT for publishing.

The software also supports automated formatting so that the margins, fonts, and visual

elements are consistent and visually appealing. These digital publishing software are

also optimized for printing so that what is seen on the computer you’re working on is the

same as what will be printed. You don’t have to worry as much about calibrating the
colors of the material to fit the printer’s needs. The Internet has also made

communication easier between the editorial staff and the printing service provider. You

can send your material in a matter of minutes to the printer, and can interact with them

in real time for any concerns about the printing.

The Print Industry in the Digital Era

The print industry is not dying. In fact, the global printing market increased by 5.4% in

2022 compared to 2021 (“Printing Global Market Report 2022”, 2022). With the

development of online publications, virtual advertisements, and eBooks today, it can be

easy to say that the print industry is dying. However, this is not entirely true as

businesses still use print materials for their promotional materials (i.e. print

advertisements on billboards, magazines and newspapers), brochures, and so much

more (“The Future of the Printing Industry”, n.d.). When the pandemic hit globally in

2020, the eCommerce sector increased its retail sales from 16% in 2019 to 19% in 2020

(“Global e-commerce jumps to $26.7 trillion, fuelled by COVID-19”, 2021). The rate of

eCommerce packaging increased to 40% compared to pre-pandemic as purchases

from these businesses require packaging with branding and delivery labels (Mistry,

2021). Packaging like these have also been a requirement in eCommerce businesses.

All of this is to say that the print industry is just evolving or flourishing in other forms.

Web-to-print services (i.e. photo printing, customized cards, mugs, shirts, stickers,

product packaging, brochures etc.) have been made easier because of modern ICT’s.

Deliveries from business to consumer are made much easier and quicker with

ride-hailing apps (Mistry, 2021). The advent of eCommerce is just one area, and a large
area at that, where the print industry is currently flourishing all thanks to modern ICT’s.

Therefore, the print industry is not dying — it is just growing in other areas.

References:

Avey, C. (2022). Is the print industry really dying out?. Retrieved from

https://keap.com/business-success-blog/marketing/advertising/is-print-really-dying-out?f

bclid=IwAR3qqfHEWy1E-GUFf-_uI8NPtxL61UXuR5a-aUTdJD5UiZ0ripCE2uDwCj4

Feather, J. (2003). Communicating Knowledge. K.G. Saur Retrieved from

https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=2boWziAujRkC&pg=PA97&source=gbs_toc_r&c

ad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Mistry, P. (2021). The Future of Print Industry in 2022 and Beyond. Retrieved from

https://radixweb.com/blog/the-future-of-print-industry?fbclid=IwAR0zc6eELERD4e307C

EgpnarU-o9PcsMjBCL57TOMEen7uSmWMRn5r4ry7k

Global e-commerce jumps to $26.7 trillion, fuelled by COVID-19 (2021). UN News.

Retrieved from https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/05/1091182

Printing Global Market Report 2022 (2022). The Business Research Company.

Retrieved from

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/printing-global-market-report
The Future of the Printing Industry (n.d.). Swallow Tail Print. Retrieved from

https://www.swallowtailprint.co.uk/news/articles/post/119-the-future-of-the-printing-indust

ry