The announcement that production of the Ford Mondeo is to end in 2022 brought a flash back to a previous era, long before digital images and PDF. In the run up to the launch of this hugely important car for Ford, secrecy about what it looked like and its specifications was required. However, so too was speed in producing the promotional literature and marketing materials. In those days you could have one but not the other, though nobody told the customer this.
A repro house had been selected by the car company and was told to expect a couple of hundred transparencies to scan over the weekend, Cromalins to be provided. Delivery Monday first thing. Of course that was no problem. And yes it would all be done under the cover of secrecy, and the scans would be waiting on Monday morning. But that many scans in the time was simply impossible for the drum scanners of the day.
Cue a lunch time trip to Clerkenwell’s favourite hostelry, frequented by the dozens of repro houses in the area. Who wants to do some urgent scans for Monday? Hands shot up and transparencies shared out. The finished films were delivered on time ready for the world launch with the car company none the wiser and secrecy maintained. No lesson, just a reminder of how far the industry has travelled in a very short space of time. There was a time before Photoshop, before PDFs and before social media. In the age before digital transparency, there was the age of the transparency.
When life was transparent in print
The announcement that production of the Ford Mondeo is to end in 2022 brought a flash back to a previous era, long before digital images and PDF. In the run up to the launch of this hugely important car for Ford, secrecy about what it looked like and its specifications was required. However, so too was speed in producing the promotional literature and marketing materials. In those days you could have one but not the other, though nobody told the customer this.
A repro house had been selected by the car company and was told to expect a couple of hundred transparencies to scan over the weekend, Cromalins to be provided. Delivery Monday first thing. Of course that was no problem. And yes it would all be done under the cover of secrecy, and the scans would be waiting on Monday morning. But that many scans in the time was simply impossible for the drum scanners of the day.
Cue a lunch time trip to Clerkenwell’s favourite hostelry, frequented by the dozens of repro houses in the area. Who wants to do some urgent scans for Monday? Hands shot up and transparencies shared out. The finished films were delivered on time ready for the world launch with the car company none the wiser and secrecy maintained. No lesson, just a reminder of how far the industry has travelled in a very short space of time. There was a time before Photoshop, before PDFs and before social media. In the age before digital transparency, there was the age of the transparency.
Gareth Ward
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