Lets move ahead in newspaper design — Ken Ashigbey

The Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, has urged members of the Graphic Design Unit of the company to move from the era of just designing a newspaper to designing a digital newspaper.

He said there was currently a migration to digital platforms in design and as such there was the need for them to acquaint themselves with those changes as they occurred.

“In the next five to 10 years, the most money we will be making will not be coming from the newspaper, so you need to start preparing for that time while you master and solve the issues of the newspaper industry now,” he said.

Mr Ashigbey gave the advice when members of the unit, led by the acting Head of Design, Mrs Rosemond Larley Agyepong, paid a courtesy call on him after they had toured the Graphic Press House in Accra last Monday.

The tour was intended for the designers to familiarise themselves with the activities at the printing house.

Another place they visited was the Lithography Department, also known as the Computer-to-Plate (CTP) room, where an image technology is used in modern printing processes.

Live by the mission and vision

In addition to becoming consistent with the current digital trends in graphic design, Mr Ashigbey also urged the designers to live by the vision and mission of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL).

“Our mission is to empower our audience and customers everywhere with authentic information and excellent products through visionary leadership and strong brands,” he said.

He also urged the designers to ensure that everything they did would be in line with empowering the company’s audience.

Mr Ashigbey applauded the initiative taken by the design team to learn more about the roles of the other departments and expressed the hope that what they had learnt would help to improve upon their work output.

Adhere to advert guidelines

During the visit to the printing house, the Safety Health Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Manager, Mrs Peace Gadogbe, advised the designers to adhere to the technical guidelines for adverts and also have them at their finger tips to ensure quality printing.

Mrs Gadogbe also urged them to, as much as possible, look out for images in adverts which did not appear well and edit them to look better when printed but cautioned them against tampering with the corporate colours of organisations.

The Production Manager of GCGL, Mr Ernest Cobblah, also advised the designers to constantly learn from one another in order to grow as a unit.