People have been declaring print dead for years. But now, it seems that print media finally bit the dust. Today, Tribune Co. filed bankruptcy and Times Co. borrowed against it’s Manhattan headquarters.

Subscriptions have been in freefall for years, as they should be. Who in their right minds wants an actual newspaper? Aside from the fact that the paper is costly and environmentally irresponsible, it’s also completely out of date by the time you get it. I’ve heard the “just something about having a real paper in your hands” argument, but that no longer holds up. As a type nerd, I won’t disagree that a real paper is easier on the eyes, but is that enough of a reason to build an industry around? Clearly not.

But the flailing businesses of America’s two largest newspaper publishers isn’t the only evidence print media will soon be giving way to rigor mortis. An announcement today from Pulitzer that web-only content will now be eligible for the Pulitzer Prize couldn’t have been better timed. So well timed, in fact, that one can’t help but wonder if Pulitzer was holding back this announcement to soften the blow for the thousands of newspaper writers who are no doubt clenching their teeth.

The solution is obvious. Publishers need to kill the print editions of all their papers. Not next year. Not next month. Now. Then, they need to roll all of their resources into their web content, focusing on new and innovative ways for readers to display and manage the news. While they’re at it, improve the ad formats, too. Web banners suck and everyone knows it. Only a few sites do it right (GOOD comes to mind). Ads need room to breath. Take a look at The New York Times. They actually sandwiched their masthead between two ads. To the genius who came up with that idea, good game. Would they ever do that to their print edition? Not on your life. Why is the online edition subject to a lower design standard? Because these publishers still think that their print edition is their real product and their website is just that – their website.

But the websites of The New York Times and Chicago Tribune should be more than web versions of their print editions. They should be setting the standard for online publishing (and online advertising for that matter). Imagine the time and resources it takes to make press time every single day of the year. Imagine the enormous infrastructure required to print and distribute millions of papers all over the world. Now imagine taking all of that money and manpower and devoting it to modernizing their web publications. Users would end up with a richer experience, advertisers would end up with a medium that actually works, and publishers would end up with a viable 21st century business model.

This morning, Yahoo! posted a story on guerilla marketers using mobile billboards for “surprise attacks”. Essentially, the billboards are projected onto existing surfaces with digital projectors. This isn’t a new idea. Years ago, my cousin and I went to nightclub managed by a friend of his. The club was in an awkward, out-of-the-way location and the view of its sign was obstructed by a water tower. They asked the owner of the water tower if they could pay him to paint their logo on the tower. He declined. So they bought a projector and at night, projected their logo on the water tower. It worked.

Two things struck me at the time:

1. It’s unimposing. During the day, when the club’s not open, the sign’s not there (nor did it need to be). It made for less visual clutter and at the same time, a more effective promotional device.
2. It’s sustainable. Think of all the materials it takes to construct a billboard. Then think of the fabric and ink used to print an 8- by 24-foot ad.

Many people think of sustainability as the ability to reuse or recycle materials. That’s not it at all. Sustainability, as it pertains to design, is the reduction of necessary materials and the use of low-impact materials. Usually, it involves consolidating two things into one. An apt example, taken from The Designer’s Field Guide to Sustainability:

Instead of designing a special arm band to carry a runner’s keys during a workout, design a running sock with a key pocket. People are going to buy socks anyway.

This process is one which designers have used for decades, long before sustainability was fashionable. The best logos are often conceived this way. A relationship between two ideas is established through the assimilation of two distinct visual elements. Take, for example, this mark designed by Pentagram where the notches in the key are created by a skyline:

The reason this logo works has to do with the way people see it. They establish the connection the same way the designer did. An “Ah-ha!” sort of feeling takes over them once they see that the notches are illustrated by a skyline.

So, in a way, designers have always been dealing with sustainability. We’ve always sought to simplify, to reduce complexity and consolidate two things into one. Sustainability needs to be embraced by designers, not only because it’s environmentally responsible, but also because it will facilitate the creation of more effective, compelling work.

It may sound risky. And it is. But running a business is about taking advantage of opportunities while managing risk. The fact is, most businesses are now shaving expenses and reducing their workforce. This is an opportunity to catch them with their pants down. While your competitors are hibernating, you can be innovating.

Still think this is too risky? Apple doesn’t think so. In fact, after the tech bust in 2000, while its competitors were laying-off workers and moving tech support to India, Apple decided to assemble a new engineering team to create a little device we now call iPod. They didn’t stop there. Apple also decided to push forward with its retail stores, which cost the company billions, but soon became famous for their blow-out openings attracting thousands of ravenous fans lined-up around the block. When the market hits Pause, Apple hits Fast Forward.

What does this mean for small business? Here’s a list of simple, cost-effective ways you can create brand vitality as your competitors slash their marketing budgets:

• Improve your product. Or diversify your services. This doesn’t mean throwing a bunch of money at your widget or gadget or whatever you make or sell. It means thinking creatively.
• Blog. It’s that simple.
• Go green. Stop using so much paper, dammit. This is the 21st century. Appoint one of your staff to be the official Green Czar, preferably someone who’s already into this stuff. They’ll enjoy the process. It will improve company moral in these trying times. And your customers will dig it as well. If your business is anything like ours, going green might actually save you money.
• Re-brand. There’s no way to truly quantity bad design, but if I had to guess, I’d say at least 95% of corporate design is either ineffective or outdated or both. For small businesses, re-branding doesn’t mean losing your shirt. It might be as simple as developing a new website, putting a new sign up, printing new napkins or whatever.
• Register. With everything. There are countless online business directories and social networks out there. Most of them are free. All of them will improve your web traffic and increase public awareness of your brand.
• Start measuring. Give discounts to customers who fill out surveys. Learn who these people are. Start analyzing your web traffic. You don’t have to hire some slick e-marketing firm to do it. Analytics is free.

Of course, Wilkie Birdsall can help you with each of these things. And don’t think for a second we’re not drinking this Kool-Aid ourselves. After all, we founded this shop a month ago, right when this whole economic thing started to get really messy. Everyone told us it was a bad idea. And now, one month later, some of the same people have called to ask if we’re hiring.

Our new cards, printed by our friends at Studio on Fire.

We’ll begin with words of Emerson:

There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance: that imitation is suicide: that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion: that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernal of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.

It’s tempting to get all choked-up talking about the printing of new business cards and what they represent; possibility, hope and so on. We’ll spare you from all that. Suffice it to say that we’re ecstatic to be off on our own, working with great clients on projects we can really pour ourselves into.

We’d also like to thank the following people, whose support has been essential during our founding weeks:

• Ben Masters and Matt Gersting – whose technical proficiency is humbling.
• Alfonso Urdaneta – whose world-class cuisine we hope will inspire us through many more late nights.
• Marc Rapp, Chris Bahor, Mark Sunderland, Clay Shivers and Jason Gregory – whose council is always welcome.
• Dhaval Patel – to whom we wish the best, even though he’s a suit.
• Brent Koepke and John Fareed – who are great clients and great guys.