The press is in a huge warehouse in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The first thing I noticed was the smell of ink. (It’s a unique smell, but I actually found it to be quite pleasant!) The other thing I noticed was how loud it was. There are multiple machines running, and the size and speed of them is staggering. Everything is huge—massive barrels of ink, rolls of paper the size of a car.

In printing, there are usually four ink colors that are used. As paper runs through the press, the ink is “stamped,” one color at a time, onto the page to make up the final image. With the redesign, we started using a slightly thicker paper and we also switched from “saddle-stitch” binding (with staples) to “perfect” binding, which has a flat spine and no staples. There’s also an extra process where the printer adds a special coating on the cover, which gives it a matte feel.

The printer actually has a machine to test the strength of the perfect binding; its one job is to just tug repeatedly on the pages inside the magazine to make sure they stay put. It reminded me of those crazy machines in Ikea that demonstrated how many times you could sit on their chairs without them breaking!