6 print trends for 2025: data, efficiency & sustainability

The print trends we’re seeing at Park|Graphius going into 2025 reflect brands’ and publishers’ increasing focus on ROI, as they balance controlled budgets, with a need to create high perceived value in their print, and minimise environmental impact.

Brands are focusing on the quality of their customer data, in many cases opting for more targeted runs, with increasing use of digital print. Magazine publishers are also responding to readers’ desires for high-quality, exclusive, and curated content which stands out from the digital world, and which showcases the publication’s sustainability.

The trends are:

a return of big name magazines to print
increased awareness of the value of print for luxury marketing
print choices which showcase brands’ sustainability
sophisticated use of marketing data for personalisation and waste reduction
digital printing increasingly used for efficiencies at shorter run-lengths
cost effective design for annual reports.

We’ve identified these trends based on our observations of a range of industries, including luxury brand marketing, magazines and corporate communications, as well as on studies on the publishing world and productions in the pipeline in Park|Graphius.

Big name magazines return to print: Vice, ***i-D, and The Onion***

2024 has brought announcements from many big-name magazines returning to print.

After a pause in both print and online publishing, and a change of ownership, i-D magazine has announced a return to print issues for 2025, which will now be bi-annual.

Similarly, after ceasing print production in 2019, VICE has published a new print special edition in September, as a precursor to the first main print issue which will launch in 2025.

For the launch, copies of the 2024 special edition were available for free at various, exclusive locations across London and New York. However, VICE have taken a different approach to their business model this time around – from the first main issue in January, the quarterly editions will only be available as part of a subscription.

The Onion is adopting a similar approach; it also plans to lean into subscriptions for their recently announced print issues.

The common theme with each of these productions is their quest for deeper audience engagement. Less-frequent editions, and subscription-based content gives print the sense of being something more curated, which can be kept for longer. As The Onion CMO Leila Brillson put it, ‘I think that a really well-curated object that people want is the future.’

Spreading awareness of the value of print for luxury marketing

Over the last few years, we’ve increasingly heard from brands that they feel as if digital advertising is losing its edge, and a study earlier this year by RRD found that 94% of US marketing managers interviewed were using print marketing ‘to overcome digital fatigue.’

This has seen one big name in fashion media turning to print for the first time. The Cut, a previously online-only part of New York Magazine focused on women’s lifestyle, published its first print issue this year, and plans are in the works for another in 2025. Advertisers have recognised the value of this print publication, with 50 different luxury brands, including Burberry and Old Navy, buying ads in the edition.

At Park|Graphius, we’ve often seen luxury fashion brands making use of ad space and harnessing the medium of print to create more interactive and memorable ads, such as fold-out covers and pull-out posters. We’ve explored examples of this in detail in our recent article on creative advertising options in print.

Alexander McQueen created a 6 page fold-out ad in this recent edition of Homme Girls magazine, which matched a wrap placed around their physical London store during refurbishment.

More recently, this awareness of the value of print for luxury marketing is spreading beyond the fashion world, and we’re seeing print advertising across a wider range of industries, including lifestyle, travel and food.

In October 2024, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), launched their new annual magazine called Swoon by SLH.

The magazine can be found inside the rooms of their boutique hotels, and it’s also integrated into the brand’s multichannel marketing campaigns. A competition launched on Instagram offered the magazine as a prize for 100 winners, and editions were sent to the brand’s top-tier members of their predominantly-online loyalty programme.

Veg & table is a magazine produced by luxury food company Riverford Organic Farmers, which reports on food, farming and politics. Riverford has recently moved to Park|Graphius after previously printing on a web press, as they wanted to elevate the quality of their productions.

Both Swoon by SLH and Veg & table were sustainably produced, an increasingly common trait of high-quality, luxury print.

Print choices which showcase brands’ sustainability

Every year, Park’s customers are becoming more interested in ensuring their print is as sustainable as it can be. Recently, this trend is evolving towards including more outward signs of sustainability in the productions.

In 2020, our investigation into sustainable magazines found this was surprisingly infrequent; these recent examples, however, demonstrate how publishers have moved on.

For Swoon by SLH, we printed half the text pages on a 100% recycled paper, Cyclus Offset 115gsm, and the magazine carried their message of sustainability within.

Riverford were also very focused on sustainability, another reason why they moved to print with Park|Graphius. For Veg & table, they chose Revive 100% recycled offset for the cover and text, and used fully compostable wrapping which looks and feels quite different to conventional plastic wrapping. The first page of the magazine contains their sustainability imprint and these details are also listed on the website’s order page.

It is also becoming less common for mags to use plastic-based laminated covers and instead many opt for a more environmentally friendly, water-based aqueous coating to protect their covers. One such example is indie magazine Mother Tongue – you can see in the image below that the cover is uncoated, with all-over embossing for a more interesting and tactile effect which doesn’t require any plastic.

Good quality data enables improved efficiency and personalisation

Managing customer data properly means that mailings can be sent to only those likely to respond in the desired manner. At Park|Graphius, we’ve noticed an increasing trend in customers managing their data in clever ways, ensuring that their print has the desired impact with the right recipients, and has the further benefit of reducing costs and waste.

We first wrote on this trend a few years ago, but it has accelerated in the past few years as brands’ targeting capabilities have matured.

Margo Yohner, SVP of Commercial Print at RRD, has noted that ‘companies are prioritising print efficiency, not extinction’, and that certainly reflects what we’re seeing here at Park|Graphius.

Digital printing for cost efficiency

Personalisation can involve creating different versions of content tailored to individual readers. It is only possible with digital printing since it allows variations in each copy to be programmed into the run.

Popular uses include personalising your print with a specific greeting or offer based on the customer’s data, or adding different QR codes to each copy in order to track individual readers’ activity when they scan.

Digital printing has also become more prevalent in recent years as many publishers turn to shorter run lengths – whether to provide more exclusive and curated content, or to only target the most engaged customers.

Digital printing is an increasingly popular choice for the cost efficiencies it offers. The cost and time involved in setting up the plates for lithographic printing mean it’s only more cost-effective at scale, whereas for shorter runs, digital printing is considered both more sustainable and more cost-effective.

This is certainly the case with some of Park’s annual report customers. As more people opt to consume their information digitally, only a select number of copies are printed for those stakeholders who request a physical copy, so it is often more efficient to print digitally. Workspace’s 2024 annual report was printed digitally – with a full digital book proof so the complex content could be thoroughly checked before going to press.

Our B2 digital press is a popular option for many of our clients. Going into 2025, we expect that the uses for digital printing will only increase as companies look to increase efficiencies and innovate new ways to engage customers across both print and digital channels.

Cost effective design for annual reports

One of the most significant trends which is continuing to gain popularity going into 2025 is landscape designs for annual reports, instead of the more traditional portrait format. Since many people now view annual reports online, it can be significantly more time and cost-effective to design print in a landscape format similar to the digital design, instead of creating a separate, portrait design for the print.

Our recent article explores this trend in more detail, outlining design considerations, binding options, and examples from Park|Graphius.

Going into 2025, consumer brands and magazine advertisers continue to look for ways to stand out and connect with their customers. They will do this by offering curated content to more selective groups of customers, being transparent about sustainability, and offering greater value through their print.

Contact Park|Graphius now to begin planning your 2025 print production.