The group is seeking contributions for the book, which will tell the story of the Australian printing industry from 1925 onwards. These responses will be used to record personal anecdotes and profiles and the stories of printing firms of many kinds and sizes to enrich and enliven the text, giving the history a more personal touch.
Plans are for this book to record and illustrate the industry’s history informatively, yet with ‘a lightness of touch’, say the publishers. In design and production values, it will reflect the high standards and capabilities of the industry, and is hoped it will become a valued publication for the industry for years to come.
As the publication of this book will coincide with the 80th year of Heidelberg in Australia, it will play a large hand in supporting the development of the project. Peter Barnet, Heidelberg Australia marketing and consumables manager, says that plans are for an electronic version to be available in time for a launch at Pacprint in May 2005, with the printed product available possibly around July or August.
The book will be distributed extensively in industry circles and nationally throughout the book trade by booksellers and library suppliers.
If this project is of interest to you, please complete the following questionnaire and return it by August 1, 2004 to:
Printing History
ASP/NCAS
PO Box 299
Kew, Victoria, 3101
If you have any inquiries, contact Nick Walker on 03 9654 0250 or at aspic@ozemail.com.au
History of Printing in Australia: Book Project Questionnaire
Name of Firm:
Name of respondent:
Position:
Qualification/Trade:
Contact details:
Your answers to the following questions will be treated as confidential and any information based upon them will not be used without consultation and your permission.
Key Questions:
1. In what market segment do you predominantly work – book publishing, magazine production, corporate, marketing and advertising, jobbing, point of sale, merchandise etc.?
2. What printing services do you offer – offset, digital, web, flexo etc.?
3. What other services do you offer – design, marketing, distribution etc.?
4. Since your firm was established, has the type of work done changed to meet client demand? How has it changed?
5. In your firm, what major equipment improvements or technological innovations have been made over time? When did these occur?
6. How have advances in technology changed the way you conduct business or produce print? (We refer in particular to digitisation and computerisation.)
7. What for you have been the major shifts in business practices?
8. If your experience in the industry has spanned decades, would you be agreeable to participating in an interview, if requested?
9. Do you have a company history, history archive or historian?
10. Do you have any illustrations that might be suitable for reproduction in this book? (Please tell us what you have.)
11. If you were to sum the industry up in 50 words or less, what would you say?
General information required
1. When was your firm founded and by whom?
2. Who are its owners today?
3. Where was it originally located, and where is it located today?
4. What was its original name?
5. Is your firm small, medium or large?
How many trade-based staff did you have when you first commenced business? How many do you have today?
Additionally, you are invited to suggest a title for the book, and contribute any additional stories and photographs for publication.
Please send your title suggestions and/or contributions by August 1, 2004 to:
Alison Stieven-Taylor
Reality & Illusion Productions
media@realityillusion.com
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