Future Links October 13th 2014

Opinion: Packaging creates strong emotional connections
Chris Williams, designer at AKA Design Studio, believes that packaging is delivering a new physical and more tangible experience of the brand through the ‘packaging design’ than traditional branding that relies on TV, magazine or online ads. In an interview with The Die Line, he says that customers form emotional connections to the packaging to the point where they can’t bear to throw it away.
More at The Die Line 

Going to the printer – an office workout with consequences
Small and midsize offices often have their printers located in the hallway or in a dedicated room. For most employees, that means getting up and walking to the machine to get their printouts. While health advocates recommend moving around frequently during the workday, productivity experts see a downside. They calculated that trips to the printer cost a 500-employee company on average 4,333 work hours annually.
More at Small Business Computing

Printer features that matter most to businesses
Color quality, multifunction abilities and speed are three of the main features business consider when purchasing a new printer. Experts at Techradar recommend considering total cost of ownership and paper size as well, emphasizing that an A3-format can be useful in many situations.
More at Techradar Pro

Solar powered 3D printer for truly distributed manufacturing
3D printing has the potential to bring distributed manufacturing to disadvantaged communities. Yet many challenges remain. Unreliable electricity is one that Michigan Tech professor Joshua Pearce is tackling. With his research team, he developed an open-source solar-powered 3D printer designed to work in remote locations off the grid.
More at Michigan Tech

The Toronto Star printed Tweets more than 100 years ago
A look at the newspapers archives can be revealing. Star reporters found a printed newspaper page resembling printed Tweets – from 1901, long before Twitter was invented. The page featured a mix of news and opinions delivered in a stream of what looks like 140-character bursts.
More at The Star

Printed books or screens? Not a black-and-white choice anymore!
Ebooks and printed books are commonly seen as alternative, if not rivaling, formats. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Ebook Friendly presents 10 projects that illustrate how merging print and technology can enhance the experience for readers on screen and on paper.
More at ebookfriendly

Agfa provides eco-friendly solution to German newspaper
One of the largest German newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung, is working with a new eco-friendly technology from Agfa Graphics. The challenge was to design a process that increases the printing quality and speed while enhancing the ecological profile.
More at YouTube

Consumers in Asia switch to smaller food packages
While many people used to buy staples such as rice, soy sauce and cooking oil in bulk, there is a clear trend toward smaller packages in Asia. Shoppers prefer smaller packages or even single-size servings. Behind this trend are the tendencies to cook at home less often and a higher demand for healthy, fresh food.
More at Asia One