What’s the state of print in our digital world? We spoke to Socio, Omnigroup and more to find out

How often does a request for a business card or a brochure find its way into your client’s brief these days? An Instagram ad, social media campaign or website seem to be far more likely. With the world of graphic design becoming ever more digital in its output, both internally and externally, we spoke to Socio, Omnigroup, Studio Ground Floor and Warriors Studio to investigate the role print plays in their process and client work. When in need of fresh, exciting insights during the early stages of a new project, we found that the four studios regularly look to the physical world for inspiration. From the studio environment they spend so much time in, to life outdoors away from the screen, many external factors play a key role in their creative processes. For London-based studio Socio and their type foundry Sociotype, who published a full-blown editorial magazine to showcase their Gestura typeface – a digital product – this was more of a recent, conscious decision. “We’ll often start by identifying a central theme or idea and then we head to a London library to broadly research the topic,” Creative Director Nigel Bates informs us, with “books on photography, archival magazines and even poetry” providing inspiration. For Swiss design studio Omnigroup, on the other hand, their surrounding studio environment is built out as a natural reference for them. “Our work desk is surrounded by bookshelves, colour and paper samples, plants and small random objects,” adding that “being able to quickly browse through the library and going through references is quite crucial” in their process. Consisting of duo Simon Mager and Leonardo Azzolini, the studio work across many disciplines, but with a strong focus on visual identities, editorial and book design.