Foundation students get a close-up look at mass design production with The Standard Group

How does design get mass produced? The first-year Foundation Digital Media class recently visited The Standard Group press in Lititz to get a physical and tactile sense of the process in an active facility. 

This trip was part of the final quarter of the course focused on output methods in digital media. Prior to this, the class learned layout design in Adobe InDesign, output for interactive and press PDF, and print output in the Epson printer lab. The intent of the Standard Group tour was to give a sense of scale and perspective for what the end process of digital media creation looks like after the designer releases files to mass production. 

“We had so much fun welcoming the creative students from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design,” Thanh Nguyen, CMO of Standard, commented on LinkedIn. “Great to meet the creative leaders of tomorrow.”

Nguyen and Jim Marion put together a PWA (Printers With Attitude)-themed presentation, showing off variable data input that resulted in each student getting an individualized tarot card and a branded tarot set along with an art-themed headscarf. 

The tour started with samples of embossing, packaging, and specialty print work, then followed through estimating, production management, prepress, digital printing, plating, the sheet-fed print production floor, cutting, binding, and hand work. 

Students line up listening to a presentation by The Standard Group.