Diplomatic World_nummer 56.

INSPIRED BY PLANTIN–MORETUS,
STOCKMANS ART BOOKS MARKS
ITS OWN STORY ONTO PAPER
Stockmans as a company, with its first roots
dating back to Antwerp in 1875, is still nurtured
and stimulated to grow by the great tradition and
heritage of the printer and publisher family
Plantin-Moretus (Antwerp, 1548-1876), one of
the leading printing companies in the world
during the golden age of Antwerp.
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THE PUBLISHING BUSINESS
Anno 2018, communication and information are ruled
and biased by the digital world we live in and big data
will continue to affect us more and more. Screens are a
constant attack on our eyes, brains and nervous system.
We need to compensate for this imagery overflow and
give our creative brain a rest once in a while with a real,
tangible item … a slow old-school book, which takes time
to activate and stimulate all our senses. From the origin of
a book until its final existence, the creation process is still
a ‘slow process’ compared to the communication hysteria
via other media.
The publishing business in general is under a lot of
pressure from digital platforms, and large publishing
houses that concentrate on magazines and newspapers
are feeling the pressure of media agencies and advertising
partners to transform its business model. Paradoxically,
at the same time a tangible and beautifully designed
and printed book, turned into an object of art, seems
to have more impact today than eleven years ago when
printing became a commodity and the overload of printed
communication played its role.
Today Stockmans as a printer and publisher is embedded
in the printing group of the De Bie family, a 4th generation
company, originally from Lier (BE). The company is now
situated in Duffel, and as a commercial printing company it
has grown to 110 FTE and an estimated turnover for 2018
of 23 M euro. Antilope De Bie Printing is a construction of
7 companies that have been added to the original printing
house. The fact that several independent companies have
joined forces has to do with the technological evolutions
within the graphic industry, where capital investments are
extremely high and the competition of digital media and
innovation have put pressure on the total paper volume in
the market. There is a contradiction and imbalance in the
business model, where digital media evolve at the speed of
light while high-end printing technology has an accounting
depreciation rate of 5 to 7 years to earn back important
investments into new technology.
From a strategic point of view, Stockmans has made the
choice to specialise in 2 niches as a total service company:
the creation, the making and distribution of art books and
calendars. For Stockmans, this choice means to produce
sustainable products with a longer life cycle, apart from the
production process which is driven by ecological factors in
the production facilities of Antilope De Bie. Most of the
time a calendar rarely surpasses its 12 months calendar
period, but when turned into an art object, it can easily
survive for years. Naturally, the art books produced by
Stockmans are meant to easily surpass the buyer’s lifetime.
THE PERSONAL STOCKMANS APPROACH
As a publishing company and a production consultant for
artists, galleries, institutions and companies, Stockmans
engages in an intense and profound process with its
partners. For many a book has a special and unique touch,
often related to the history or future of the individual