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Print materials are perhaps one of the most critical assets to your company. You rely on signs, flyers, apparel, and more to help advertise products and services. You might even turn to a printing company for photos, reports, and other essentials needed to keep your business moving.
The point is, print materials aren’t going anywhere for awhile. At Davant, we provide a variety of printing and branding services to help local businesses across Greenfield and Indianapolis market products and services. And while we use print materials almost daily, very few think about some of the most interesting facts about printers and the stuff humans have created over the years.
The Unusual Facts
- The Global Value of Print
Currently, the global value of the printing industry is expected to top $821 billion by 2022. That’s less than 16 months away! But, according to experts, the reason for the incredible growth is primarily supported by the printing of packaging labels. That means more people will be shipping goods around the world. So, every time you shop on Amazon, that shipping label helps drive up the value of the printing industry.
- The Largest Print Market
When it comes to being leaders on the global stage, the United States is no rookie. This includes being the number one leader in the print industry, followed by Japan, China, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, France, Canada, and India. As digital print becomes more and more popular, we’ll likely see this list grow.
- World’s Smallest Printed Book
If you want to make your mark in the Guinness World Book of Records for the smallest book printed, you’ll have to compete against a 22-page Japanese book. Labeled as the world’s smallest book, this piece of art contains pictures of flowers from all four seasons. It measures just 0.74 x 0.75 mm. The book’s publisher, Toppan, has been printing microbooks since the 1960s.
- A Fiction Book with the Highest Print Run
J.K. Rowling did more than just become a pop-culture icon with her Harry Potter series. She also set world records for the highest print run of a book when she published Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The initial print order for the book was 12 million copies! No other book publication has come close to that size of an order.
- The Largest Catalog
We couldn’t discuss the smallest thing ever printed without touching on the largest thing to ever hit print. In 2005, when catalog shopping was still a thing, Aviall Services Inc., released the thickest catalog to date. They called it the ‘Aviall Product and Catalog Book,’ and it contained 2,565 pages and weighed 7.4 lbs. Now that’s something you could spend hours flipping through!
- Ink is Expensive
Printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet. According to a 2013 Consumer Report, inkjet ink costs anywhere between $13 to around $75 per ounce. If you put that into gallons, you’d be spending between $1,664 to $9,600 per gallon. Yikes!
- Edible Sushi
We didn’t think it was a thing, but then we looked it up. In 2005, Chef Humaro Cantu of Moto in Chicago, IL, started printing edible sushi from a Canon i560 inkjet printer. He used edible ink (of course) and created some of the most delicious sushi dishes for his guests. People were even willing to pay upwards of $240 for a taste of his experimental menu.
- The Oldest Printing Publishing House
The printing press and publishing houses have been around for centuries. But you might be surprised to learn that Random House and Penguin Group are not the oldest. In fact, this title goes to Cambridge University Press. It’s been around since 1537 and got its start with money granted to the company by Henry VIII in 1584. It’s been going non-stop since and has published more than 2,000 books and 150 journals across 200 countries.
Davant is Your Printing Partner
You won’t need to search far for a reliable printing company near you! For all your marketing materials and branding, turn to the team at Davant. We’ll help you produce high-quality materials that stand out from the competition. Contact us at (317) 849-6565.
