I never thought I'd wind up with a career in the printing industry. But looking back, the signs were there. I had a reputation in high school for borrowing stationery and then returning it with 'Danii Brand' labels attached. My teachers were unimpressed: they said that designing logos and stickers was not something that would help me gain a career in later life.

After a short-lived stint in retail, I found myself doing admin for a small offset firm in Adelaide in 2001. I was fascinated by the hand line that operated just outside my window, and loved nothing more than joining them when they had a large diecut run they had to 'shell'. I'd never actually thought about the way that printed material arrived in my mail box in unique shapes. As simple as it sounds, I was hooked.

I used my limited bindery experience to land a key bindery role at another small printer in 2002. Digital print machines were the order of the day, and all of a sudden I had to learn about the hugely underestimated art of 'knocking up'. It was like trying to learn how to use my hands again – hands which stung every time I washed them. Thankfully, the stinging was short-lived, but the knocking up is something I will always be able to do with the best of them.

I was constantly impressed by the intricacies of the bindery craft. Image is everything in print, and I found it a wonderful challenge using manual processes to repeatedly turn out quality products that looked great and were identical to the ones that came before it.

I have always been very driven – my supervisors reckon I'm 'like a bull at the gate' – so I was very pleased to be invited along a year later when our small print hub was acquired by Salmat.

Salmat was another eye-opening experience. Mailhouse operations were like nothing I had ever seen. It takes a fine-tuned operation to convert data into mail-outs complete with automated barcode readers that activate individual hoppers to personalise each piece of mail at breakneck speed.

I stayed with Salmat for three years, before moving to Melbourne in 2006. After a variety of bindery jobs, I was hired in 2009 by Blue Star's digital division to operate two Nuveras and an Océ VarioPrint. I quickly realised I had found my calling. As exciting and interesting as I had found bindery work, digital printing was a mighty beast. Once I had figured out how exactly the machines worked (and picked my jaw up from the floor) I threw everything I could into learning about the individual applications that go along with convincing the machines to cooperate.

Blue Star is a wonderful learning environment. The company actively encourages cross-training. It also has an array of easily approachable and talented people who are happy to share their wealth of production experience. It never took long to get my questions answered. It is very easy to be enthusiastic in that sort of environment, and I set about making my enthusiasm as contagious for my new colleagues as theirs was for me.

I was very fortunate to be sent to Sydney for training on the Xerox iGen4. Yet again, I had something new and exciting to get my head around. Having had limited exposure to the magical world of colour, the moment when the penny dropped about the difference between RGB colour and CMYK was amazing! The more I learned about the science of colour, the more interested I became. This is one area I've spent lots of personal time investigating.

The production side of print is both fascinating and rewarding. Not only do I get to spend my working hours engaging with exciting machinery and dealing with interesting challenges, but there is always something new to sink my teeth into. The industry is constantly changing, and with the right amount of passion, it isn’t hard to stay on top of new innovations and processes. I am very excited about the future of print, and plan to be right there with it.

[Related: More Industry Insider columns]

Blue Star digital operator Danielle Spicer won the Media Super Future Leader Award at this year's Victorian PICAs.

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