Career Success in Nigeria’s Printing Industry

Digital technologies have transformed the printing industry. The industry is moving from a craft-based manufacturing industry to an electronically-based service industry. It is now a creative and innovative industry that promises immense career prospects for those who are ready for the challenges it has to offer.

Welcome to the World of Printing
Have you ever wondered how the books, magazines, newspapers and brochures you read are produced? Think of the beautiful t-shirts and colourful banners you see around? Or perhaps the beautiful and attractive packages housing the food and beverages you buy? Or the money you spend? All these and more are produced through a process called printing.

Printing is an essential aspect of visual communication. It entails all processes through which images are created and transferred on different forms of surfaces. This explains why printing is such an interesting process in the field of visual communication. Two key aspects of visual communication are design and printing. While design is concerned with creating visuals that communicate a message, printing, essentially, is the reproduction or mass production of the designed piece. Therefore, printing can be said to be the process for reproducing text and illustrations, traditionally by applying ink to paper under pressure. In other words, it is the process of transferring ink unto paper or another material through a printing surface.

Printing in a Digital Age
Truly, digital media has caused a decline in the demand for printed products. But it has also brought new opportunities. The Internet surely has it impact, but the print medium is still a force to reckon with in Nigeria. Unarguably, the level of Internet penetration in the country still leaves room for printing to thrive - though in a new way and in a new media environment.

Let us look at the statistics. According to Internet World Stats, as at June 2012, the Internet penetration in Nigeria was 28.4% (www.internetworldstats.com). By January 2014, the figure rose to 32% (US Census Bureau). What does this translate to in terms of business and career opportunities in Nigeria's printing industry? Simple: With appropriate repositioning, the printing industry in Nigeria is assured of a thriving market in a country with a population of over 160 million. Aside from the immediate national market, the West African sub region is also an attractive labour market for highly skilled digital print media specialists.

Print Business and a Challenging Digital Age
With the emergence of digital technologies, the printing industry has had no choice but to toe the path of repositioning. Print businesses have come to realize that they must be as creative and innovative as ever as they compete with and embrace digital media at the same time. A paradox you might say, but that is the catch for people seeking creative career opportunities.

By adopting digital technologies and becoming what has been referred to as a 'new printing industry', the industry has become a hub for print media specialists who can provide print solutions services in a multimedia environment. However, for the age-long traditional printers, the new industry is not exactly a promising arena. They will soon be out of the market. The reason: The multimedia environment has space only for print media specialists who can unleash the wonders of integrating print in cross-media communication strategies. So what we have is an uncertain future for traditional printers and a bright future for digital print media specialists.

Knowledge and Skills for Print Business Success
Making profits is one of the most important goals of businesses. The ingredients of business for the production based-industries, as taught by business experts, have been dubbed 'the Ms of production'. These include - money, material, machinery, and manpower. In the context of the printing industry this certainly holds true. However, there has recently been a lot of emphasis on machinery as the cutting edge. There is no doubt that the print company with the latest hi-tech equipment holds the ace, but a little introspection will reveal that forward-looking print companies must begin to see beyond the worldview that investing heavily on high-tech equipment is the ticket to the land of profitability.

So, what production factor should be the bride of printers? Manpower, of course. 'Why is this so', the reader may ask. Derek Porter, the author of Print Management, is a strong advocate of placing a high premium on manpower. Porter explains that 'technological resources are of little significance unless they are combined with the human factor (i.e manpower), as people are the lifeblood of any organization'. The author sums up, 'Increasingly, it is recognized that any printing organization's reputation is allied to production efficiency, and this depends to a large extent on the quality of its staff'.

Quality, in this context, refers to the level of knowledge and skills possessed by managers and workers of print companies. The reader may start to wonder, why has knowledge become such a big issue when it is a given that to be qualified for employment in the printing industry an average worker must have undertaken some form of training that qualifies him/her to ply the trade. No doubt, that is true; every worker who goes by the tag 'printer' must know his or her onions. But the technical knowledge being flaunted by most printers may no longer be a unique selling point; printers need to add a new kind of knowledge to complement their technical know-how and skills. Besides, much of these technical skills are now embedded in software that drive digital print equipment, so there is more emphasis now on the acquisition of design skills, information technology skills, management skills, numerical and financial skills, sales and marketing skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills etc.

Training to be a Digital Print Media Specialist
Formal Training: undertaking a course in printing technology, fine and applied arts, industrial design, industrial arts, mass communication, computer science, multimedia design, visual Arts and technology, etc, is a path to a successful practice as a digital print media specialist in Nigeria. Aside from learning the theories of graphic communication, trainees should be exposed to hands-on training through intensive industrial attachment. In addition, candidates should also avail themselves of professional training. A good example is the professional diploma of the Advertising Practitioners' Council of Nigeria (APCON). Another is The Charted Institute of Marketing's CAM Diploma in digital marketing or marketing communications. IT certifications (like Adobe Suites certification) are also good options.

Non-formal Training: internship, apprenticeship and on-the-job training also provide a good platform to learn the nitty-gritty of printing. The practical exposure this form of training presents goes a long way in equipping trainees for fulfilling careers. Graduates of other fields (other than those listed above) who wish to become print media specialists could serve as interns with printing firms to acquire the practical training that would set them on the path to a successful career in digital print media production.

Unleash your Creativity
Joining the new printing industry is a wise career choice for secondary school leavers, higher institution graduates and those seeking gainful employment. The creative industry is increasingly becoming a vital component of contemporary knowledge-based economies. A career in digital print media production positions you for a rewarding digital experience. The printing industry is not just about people working on printing machines, it is also about creative people expressing themselves, having a swell time and unleashing their creativity on the world.

Afolabi teaches digital printing and publishing at the department of Printing Technology, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. He blogs at http://graphiccomnigeria.wordpress.com