Creativity can’t be forced: how we came up with the name “VITAMIN P”

A quick association game: What springs to mind when you think of “print’? Quick! Gutenberg, perhaps? Direct mail, newspapers, favourite books, probably colour, and definitely printing presses. But hardly a burst of freshness and an energy boost, or vitality and freshness. We’ll be bridging that gap at the Print Digital Convention on 16 and 17 June 2026 in Düsseldorf, so that anyone who comes into contact with “print” in future simply can’t help but feel good!

As part of VITAMIN P, we demonstrate how connected workflows and seamlessly integrated printing and finishing systems are making the print and media industry smarter and more efficient. TEAM P comprises industry experts from dmsDIGITAL, Fiery, FKS, Impressed, ITA Systeme, Konica Minolta, Obility and WirbelWild. As creative minds, we support the conception and implementation of our trade fair brand in this constellation, which we realise both manually and using our layout automation and customisation software ManyPrint Solutions.

Before we could call ourselves TEAM P, we naturally first had to find the right name through a creative brainstorming session with our partners – a name that all eight participating companies could identify with and that would allow us to present ourselves effectively at the trade fair. The focus, of course, was on what the name should convey: what should be associated with our product, and by extension with the individual companies involved? What do we want to convey? Which prospective clients do we want to attract? Many terms were on the table: our workflows are “smart”; “innovation”, “future” and “booster” also apply quite well to what we do; but don’t we also function at the PDC as a future workshop, hub or centre?

“Average” has never been a compliment.

What was once considered standard practice in a creative process now has to be explicitly defined: it was of paramount importance to us to give our own thoughts free rein during the initial stage of the naming process. Through collaborative discussion, we gathered and weighed up countless (often bizarre) ideas; some were pursued, but most were discarded. This essential process enabled something that would have been lost had the work been delegated to AI: all those involved were given the opportunity to contribute to the team from the outset, free from hierarchy, to play a part in laying this identity-forming foundation, and to establish a personal connection at an early stage not only with the entire team but also with the brand.

For the sake of completeness and experimentation, we also tried out AI tools during the session – and ended up with a string of buzzwords that were predictable, commonplace and therefore interchangeable. A collection of the most likely – and therefore most run-of-the-mill – names for our project. In an effort to achieve greater conciseness, character or descriptiveness, the AI – impressive in terms of quantity, but still lacking any real narrative – produced word creations such as “OneFlow Print”, “Print in Sync”, “FullCycle Print Shop”, “From Click to Ramp” or “WorkStream Printproduction”.

As a machine-based text generator, AI is only familiar with what has already existed and has no understanding whatsoever of the shared values of our unique team dynamic or the significance of this unprecedented interconnectedness. It simply regenerates what is already predominantly available (digitally) – no more and no less. Clever ideas, however, arise from exchanges between people and the negotiation of priorities.

As experts in product design and its implementation, our role is to create worlds and craft an experience for visitors to our exhibition stand. As creatives, we think in terms of stories and images – and we like to think outside the box. We pursue this approach in every stage of our creative process, right down to the very last detail. Following our foray into AI for the naming process, we are more convinced than ever of this philosophy. We are not interchangeable – and our trade fair presence conveys this authentically.

The path to a brand name with impact

Driven by this conviction, we were happy to continue channelling the extra time and effort into our creativity. In practical terms, this had the following impact on the further development of our brand name: we emphasised that, at our core, what defines us is the strong network we have built as a team – after all, this is what fuels our best ideas and products. Strengthening one another is our guiding principle: we support one another by combining our strengths, thereby enhancing every individual, isolated solution.

However, future customers and potential partners also benefit from this network, with its expertise and solutions. We want to convey to our visitors that, as experts in their own fields, they too form part of this network. Because only together can we strengthen the industry. Conveying this message at the joint stand was our starting point. Viewed from a general perspective, a network brings advantages. It can provide a certain extra boost in one’s career or private life; it is not for nothing that people also speak of “connections”.

And so the groundwork was laid. The benefits of vitamins can be perfectly applied to our performance: we boost the focus, resilience and vitality of an industry that is struggling. We want to support your companies, with their products and ideas, through our services. “Print” needs networks – more than ever! That completed the connection: we’re turning “Vitamin B” into VITAMIN P and thereby establishing the link to print.

VITAMIN P leaves no room for misinterpretation or even negative associations. At the same time, the name is abstract enough that all the companies involved – whose products and services cover different functions within the workflow – can identify with it. As an interdisciplinary team, we embody networking and innovation through synergy. The “P”, symbolic of and representing Print, Performance, Potential, Personalisation and Practice, fits in all too well at the PDC trade fair.

The link to the industry is made clear not only by the “P”, without the need to mention the terms “print” or “printing” in the name. The logo also reinforces the message: a dot that brings to mind both a vitamin supplement and a printing dot. (More on our corporate design will follow in the next post.) Finally, the subtitle sums it up perfectly: “Powerful combinations of active ingredients” and “Business boosters for the printing and media industry” succinctly encapsulate what the eight partners stand for.

Boosting the immune system through innovation

Particularly at a time when global challenges are causing even established companies to falter, the industry as a whole needs a sound strategy. Our intelligent, automated workflows combine capabilities and serve to strengthen them. In this way, we are helping to fortify the industry for a new era characterised by dynamic processes and unstoppable technological change.

If, from now on, the letter “P” makes you think of “Print” in connection with potential, performance and power, then we’ve successfully taken the first step in our campaign. You can see how this works in practice through a demonstration of a complete workflow at our stand M1/M2/M4 at the PDC.