How Johannes Gutenberg Inadvertently Created Flyer Distribution

Flyer Distribution is an integral part of any small or medium sized business's marketing strategy. The flyer is a means of communication than can be used for almost any product or service and can be distributed or delivered in many different ways; it can be handed out on the street, inserted into magazines or newspaper or sent vial mail. As a result of this inherent immediacy, flyer distribution is a popular, cost effective way of getting a message across.

Examples of printed type can be found as far back as 11th century China but it wasn't until Johannes Gutenburg invented what is now regarded as the first printing press in the 15th century that the possibility of reaching a mass audience with a printed message started to be come clear. It could be said that Gutenburg produced the first example of flyer distribution.

Gutenburg's press used moveable type that could be re-used time and time again. The metal pieces of type were produced using a cast which also meant that more than one piece could be made and that each piece was exactly the same as the one before and the one after. For the first time in human history an object was mass produced. In fact the only real limitation was how much metal you had available to you.

Within a few years there were printing presses being built all across Europe. The ramifications of Gutenburg's invention were immediate and far-reaching. From the Renaissance in Italy to Henry Ford's production line cars in the USA Gutenberg had opened the door on a new age of mass communication.

The 20th century saw rapid progress in industry, commerce, art, and technology. It was during this time that the humble flyer was recognized as an effective way of getting across a message; although not always a desirable message. The flyer was used to recruit soldiers, advertise concerts, sell soap, market political ideology and proliferate propaganda.

It was only a matter of time before the printing press was superseded in the digital age by technology. With the advent of the home computer the printing process and, by implication, flyer distribution went through its biggest upheaval in decades.

In 1984 Desktop Publishing was introduced by the Apple Computer Company. Apple introduced the first 'What You See Is What You Get' layout program for its Mackintosh computer. This WYSIWYG approach meant that for the first time a person didn't have to have an in-depth knowledge of computers but with a small amount of training could manipulate text and images on a screen with a view to producing a printed product.

Almost overnight the printing industry went through a change comparable with what Gutenberg had achieved nearly 500 years earlier. There was a surge in the popularity of Desktop Publishing within the publishing industry as everyone changed their working practices. Combined with the advances in home computing it didn't take long for a whole new way of producing printed material to develop.

Although criticized at first as being full of amateurs who had no professional training in publishing, this new democratic way of working generated new interest in graphic design, layout and the power of the printed page. After overcoming initial problems associated with any new technology Desktop Publishing is now considered a skilled profession.

Layout distribution has benefitted greatly in the last decade from these changes. With computers now more accessible than ever and with software packages becoming more and more user friendly, the ability to produce and distribute flyers on any subject, at very little cost and within a relatively short space of time has never been easier.

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