Twyla Cummings, Paul and Lousise Miller distinguished Professor and Graduate Program Chair in the School of Print Media, recently completed a book focused on the subject of print media distribution. The book is published by the Cary Graphic Arts Press and is the third in a series of books authored by researchers in RIT’s Printing Industry Center.

Print production is multi-faceted in that it starts with a concept or idea for a printed product and ends with that product being correctly delivered to the intended customer. The print distributor’s customer is the person, or business, which will ultimately use the printed product or sell the product to another entity.

From an academic standpoint much attention is devoted, in college level graphic communication curriculum, to the actual process of print which largely focuses on prepress and press operations. Conversely, there is less focus on what happens to the product after it comes off of a press, printer, or mail folder.

Four years ago Professor Cummings began in-depth research in the area of print media distribution. The primary focus of the research was to gain an understanding of the infrastructure required to effectively transport printed media. What resulted was a wealth of information on the structure and trends of this very complex process. More importantly, an on-going dialogue on this issue has been started.

The book looks at processes and challenges involved with the movement of printed material into the right hands in the right place and at the right time. With an emphasis on print media distribution in the United States, the intent is twofold: first to add to the literature a printed recored of the importance of the physical distribution of media as part of the print production process, and secondly to provide a text which can be utilized to enhance graphic communication curriculums in universities worldwide. It is also hoped that this text will serve the industry as a reference and be a useful business tool for print service providers and print suppliers.

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