Passing by the used bookstore… Old, tattered and torn books line the shelves. Nostalgic titles and tales of heroism, evil, good, magic, love and sacrifice from Jane Austen to Ernest Hemingway. Every copy different. Every page has its own personality, quirks, and blemishes. The smell and sound of turning pages and worn paper.
It’s a new Edible magazine with pictures of fancy foods and pretty, eclectic settings. Every detail is thought of, from the matte paper to the highly stylized images, fonts and colors. Advertisers are clearly censored and/or they step up their game to appear in a print publication that is still thriving and relevant.
It’s a gently used, refined cardboard, outer record sleeve with a semi-gloss finish, protected in plastic from your favorite vintage artist. Even the typography and color of the sticker on the record are carefully chosen. Its beauty sustains itself sixty, seventy, eighty years after its manufacturing. The story of the artist printed on the back. The song titles. The crisp sound and crackle of the background when you play it.
It’s a stroll through the natural food section of your favorite grocer. Crowded shelves full of products, some you would like to try, others, not so much. Then your eyes are drawn to that new product. You have never seen it before. The packaging, magnificent, the tempered, clear glass allowing just a hint of product to show through and boom, the label with its soft tan background and perfectly off-centered, circular logo with contrasting teal verbiage, striking to say the least. It looks like there is a wood texture to it but upon picking up the product and examining it, you realize it is just an illusion. It tells the story of a food that is safe for you to put in your mouth with its certified organic badge of honor to prove it. Just to be sure, you peek at the ingredient label on the back, then you check the price, wow, that’s expensive but then you see the sale sign and, phew, you can afford to try it.
Nothing compares to print. It is alive, just like digital, and both have their place in our homes, businesses and hearts.