Print isn’t dead: How a Singapore printer is keeping paper relevant in a digital world

From books designed to look as though they’ve been bitten by dogs to publications made with hospital scrubs, Allegro Print has built a business around the creative possibilities of paper.

Merlyn Tay founded Allegro Print in 1999, with her husband Ho Yeow Liang joining in 2010. Together, they have steered the company towards niche, creative printing projects. (Photo: CNA/Aik Chen)

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A publisher once came to Allegro Print with an unusual request. “I want a book that looks like a dog bit into it,” recalled founder and executive director Merlyn Tay.

Most printers would have turned down the request. Instead, Tay’s team went to hardware stores, looking for tools that could cut into a finished book to resemble teeth marks. They eventually found a way to make the effect look artfully deliberate.

Unconventional as this was, it was hardly the strangest job the team has taken on. At the creative print house’s headquarters in Tai Seng, Singapore, staff have done just about everything imaginable to paper, from tearing pages and burning edges to ageing cards and boxes by hand, making new books look as if they have spent decades in a dusty attic.

This ingenuity, along with a willingness to push the boundaries of print, has been key to the company’s longevity. For 27 years, Tay, later joined by her husband Ho Yeow Liang, has run Allegro Print in an industry that has spent much of the past two decades being declared doomed.

Striking finishes and unconventional materials are among the ways Allegro Print helps designers bring ambitious ideas to life, exploring what is possible through print. (Photo: Allegro Print)

The business has survived by moving away from scale. Instead of chasing mass volume, Allegro has built its reputation on niche, creative work that many other printers would rather avoid. Today, designers, artists and independent publishers approach the company to produce some of Singapore’s most inventive and tactile indie art books, magazines and zines, including titles such as Meantime, Rubbish Famzine and Eastside.

The same sensibility extends beyond books. Allegro also produces distinctive printed collateral that stands out in a digital-first world: creative calendars, design-led annual reports, small-batch invitations and business cards that resemble old-school calling cards rather than afterthoughts. For the Lien Foundation’s annual report George’s Anatomy, the team developed an unconventional binding method to achieve a rounded spine. Some pages were printed with glow-in-the-dark ink, while each copy was housed in its own acrylic folder.

For Mount Elizabeth Hospital’s 45th anniversary commemorative publication, a project that took almost two years to complete, the covers and cases were made from actual medical scrubs, doctors’ gowns and old hospital curtains. Each copy also contained a tile from the old building.

For Merlyn Tay, unconventional requests are an opportunity to rethink what printing can achieve, even when they involve making a book look deliberately damaged or producing what would normally be considered printing errors. (Photo: CNA/Aik Chen)

In some ways, the company’s bet on the physical has come full circle. Even though screens dominate everyday life, printed books have found fresh cultural currency, helped along by BookTok, celebrity book clubs and a new generation of readers drawn to the social and sensory pleasures of books. At the Singapore Art Book Fair, Ho has observed young visitors queuing for more than an hour to buy publications they are unlikely to find in mainstream bookstores.

For Tay, this renewed appetite for print feels like an unexpected affirmation of a career that began almost by accident. She entered the trade through a colour reproduction company that worked on museum and gallery projects from Europe.

It was there that she discovered a love not specifically for books, but for paper itself. “I like paper, to be specific. I am endlessly fascinated by the different types of paper and print material,” she said.

She went on to launch Allegro Print in 1999. Ho joined as executive director in 2010, leaving a corporate career in telecommunications to help steer the company through a period when the print industry was already being forced to reinvent itself.

The couple had even discussed shuttering the business, which was struggling as clients increasingly favoured digital formats over print. But they also felt a responsibility towards the long-serving colleagues who had been with the company since the early days.

Producing small runs of elaborate publications can be technically demanding and costly, but Allegro Print sees such assignments as an opportunity to test its production capabilities. (Photo: Allegro Print)

Ho’s outsider perspective proved useful. Having seen how digitalisation had disrupted the telecommunications industry, he understood that Allegro could not survive by doing business as usual. “We had to evolve and reposition ourselves as a printer,” he said. “That’s how we became where we are today, with the different brands that we have developed over the years.”

That pivot has since led to the creation of several offshoots: the award-winning Offcut, which transforms leftover paper from the printing process into design-led stationery; LayerPlay, which specialises in murals, wallpapers, decals and art prints, including collaborations with artists; and Oolors, an e-commerce platform that sells stationery, books and other design-led products.

Through All-Book-S, which is available on Oolors, Allegro also gives independent publishers another route to market beyond launches and fairs, helping to make small print runs more viable.

In January 2027, the couple will showcase a selection of Singapore-made publications at the Tokyo Art Book Fair, their first overseas art book fair.

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This shift has been central to Allegro’s long-term survival. Tay and Ho recognised early on that while print was not disappearing, the kind of print people valued was changing. Commodity jobs such as flyers, brochures, coupons and mass-produced marketing collateral were declining sharply as clients moved those functions online. Tay recalls the moment this became clear: “I thought our competitors took our business away, until I visited the shopping centres and everything literally became LED.”

Rather than compete on volume, Allegro Print has carved out a more specialised role as a print consultant and creative production house, partnering with designers, artists and independent publishers on smaller, more considered projects where paper stock, colour, finishing and form are scrutinised down to the smallest detail. “Print is now about creating niche projects with low volume and a high mix of options,” said Ho.

This is also why Allegro has become a valued collaborator for creatives whose ideas do not fit neatly into a standard print order. The company has taken on projects that require not just printing, but problem-solving, experimenting and a tolerance for trial and error – essentially tasks that most volume-driven printers would turn down.

Ho Yeow Liang left a corporate career in telecommunications to join Allegro Print in 2010, bringing an outsider's perspective that helped the company navigate the changing demands of the printing industry. (Photo: CNA/Aik Chen)

For one project, Tay was asked to produce an effect that went against every instinct of the trade: ink that smudged. “For a printer, when we print, the ink cannot smudge. That is a printing error,” she said. She initially rejected the idea but eventually accepted the job after learning that it was part of a research project. It took more than six months to achieve the desired result.

Other experiments have found unexpected second lives. Ho originally bought a UV printer to print on phone cases, golf balls and other small objects, but the idea never quite took off. Rather than write off the investment as a white elephant, the team found another use for the machine, printing on acrylic, wood, leather and other materials that designers could incorporate into their publications.

That willingness to experiment has also led Allegro to projects such as Rubbish Famzine, the cult independent publication by Singaporean family art collective Holycrap. Some issues require 14 or 15 colours, making them technically demanding and expensive to produce in small quantities. For Tay, however, such projects are an opportunity to showcase the company’s capabilities. “Their concepts are so unique that I am willing to do it to stretch our ability,” she said.

Ultimately, there is no denying this simple truth: print endures by offering what screens cannot – objects worth touching, keeping and sometimes even biting into.

A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.

从设计成看起来像是被狗咬过的书籍，到用医院手术服制作的出版物，Allegro Print 围绕着纸张的创意可能性建立了自己的业务。

Merlyn Tay于1999年创立了Allegro Print公司，她的丈夫Ho Yeow Liang于2010年加入。他们共同带领公司专注于小众创意印刷项目。（图片：CNA/Aik Chen）

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一位出版商曾向Allegro Print提出了一个不同寻常的要求。“我想要一本看起来像是被狗咬过的书，”创始人兼执行董事梅林·泰回忆道。

大多数印刷厂都会拒绝这个要求。但泰的团队却另辟蹊径，跑到五金店寻找能在成品书上刻出类似牙印的工具。最终，他们找到了一种方法，让这种效果看起来像是精心设计的。

尽管这项工作非同寻常，但这还远不是团队做过的最奇怪的工作。在这家位于新加坡大成区的创意印刷公司总部，员工们几乎对纸张做过所有你能想象到的事情，从撕书页、烧边到手工做旧卡片和盒子，让新书看起来像是在布满灰尘的阁楼里存放了几十年。

这种创新精神，以及不断突破印刷技术界限的意愿，是公司长盛不衰的关键。在过去二十年里，印刷行业一度被认为即将消亡，而Tay（后来她的丈夫Ho Yeow Liang也加入了公司）却在27年间一直经营着Allegro Print。

引人注目的饰面和非常规材料是Allegro Print帮助设计师将雄心勃勃的创意变为现实的方式之一，它探索了印刷的无限可能。（图片：Allegro Print）

这家公司之所以能够生存下来，靠的是摒弃规模化。Allegro 没有追求批量生产，而是专注于小众创意作品，而这正是许多其他印刷商避之不及的领域。如今，设计师、艺术家和独立出版商纷纷与该公司合作，制作新加坡最具创意和触感的独立艺术书籍、杂志和杂志，例如《Meantime》、《Rubbish Famzine》和《Eastside》。

这种理念也延伸到了书籍之外。Allegro 还制作独具特色的印刷品，在数字化时代脱颖而出：创意日历、设计感十足的年度报告、小批量定制的邀请函以及更像传统名片而非事后补救的商务名片。例如，在为 Lien 基金会制作年度报告《乔治的解剖学》时，团队开发了一种非传统的装订方法，实现了圆润的书脊。部分页面采用夜光油墨印刷，每份报告都装在一个独立的亚克力文件夹中。

为了庆祝伊丽莎白山医院成立45周年，医院制作了一本纪念刊物，这个项目耗时近两年。纪念刊物的封面和封套均采用真正的医用手术服、医生长袍和旧医院窗帘制成。每本纪念刊物中还包含一块来自旧医院建筑的瓷砖。

对梅琳·泰而言，非常规的要求让她有机会重新思考印刷的潜力，即便这些要求包括故意制造书籍破损效果或制造通常会被认为是印刷错误的现象。（图片：CNA/陈爱）

从某种程度上说，该公司对实体书的押注已经圆满完成。尽管屏幕主宰着日常生活，但纸质书在BookTok、名人读书俱乐部以及新一代读者的推动下，重新焕发了文化活力，这些读者被书籍带来的社交和感官享受所吸引。在新加坡艺术书展上，何先生观察到，年轻的参观者排队一个多小时，只为购买那些在主流书店里不太可能找到的出版物。

对泰而言，这种对印刷品的重新燃起的热情，仿佛是对她几乎是偶然开启的职业生涯的一种意想不到的肯定。她最初是通过一家为欧洲博物馆和画廊项目提供色彩复制服务的公司进入这个行业的。

正是在那里，她发现了自己对纸张本身的热爱，而非对书籍的热爱。“确切地说，我喜欢纸。我对不同类型的纸张和印刷材料着迷不已，”她说。

1999 年，她创办了 Allegro Print 公司。2010 年，何女士加入该公司担任执行董事，放弃了电信行业的企业生涯，帮助公司度过印刷行业被迫进行自我革新的时期。

这对夫妇甚至讨论过关闭这家苦苦挣扎的公司，因为客户越来越倾向于数字格式而非印刷品。但他们也感到对那些从公司创立之初就一直效力于公司的资深同事负有责任。

小批量制作精美出版物在技术上要求很高，成本也很高，但Allegro Print公司将此类任务视为检验自身生产能力的良机。（图片：Allegro Print）

何先生的局外人视角发挥了重要作用。他目睹了数字化如何颠覆电信行业，明白Allegro不能再墨守成规。“我们必须转型，重新定位自己，成为一家印刷公司，”他说道，“这就是我们发展到今天，并拥有多年来打造的不同品牌的原因。”

这一转型之后，催生了几个分支：屡获殊荣的 Offcut，它将印刷过程中剩余的纸张转化为设计感十足的文具；LayerPlay，专门从事壁画、壁纸、贴纸和艺术印刷品，包括与艺术家的合作；以及 Oolors，一个销售文具、书籍和其他设计感十足产品的电子商务平台。

通过 Oolors 提供的 All-Book-S，Allegro 还为独立出版商提供了除新书发布会和书展之外的另一种市场渠道，帮助小批量印刷变得更加可行。

2027 年 1 月，这对夫妇将在东京艺术书展上展出一系列新加坡出版的书籍，这将是他们首次参加海外艺术书展。

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这一转变对Allegro的长期生存至关重要。Tay和Ho很早就意识到，虽然印刷业并未消失，但人们重视的印刷品类型正在发生变化。随着客户将业务转移到线上，传单、宣传册、优惠券和批量生产的营销材料等商品业务急剧下降。Tay回忆起意识到这一点的那一刻：“我当时以为是竞争对手抢走了我们的生意，直到我去购物中心，发现所有东西都变成了LED显示屏。”

Allegro Print并没有以产量取胜，而是专注于打造更专业的印刷咨询和创意制作服务，与设计师、艺术家和独立出版商合作，开展规模较小、更精雕细琢的项目，对纸张、色彩、表面处理和版式等细节都精益求精。“如今的印刷业，在于打造小批量、多样化的特色项目，”Ho说道。

这也正是Allegro成为创意人士宝贵合作伙伴的原因，因为他们的创意无法简单地套用标准的印刷流程。该公司承接的项目不仅需要印刷，还需要解决问题、进行实验，并能容忍反复试错——这些任务，大多数以批量生产为导向的印刷公司都会避而远之。

何耀良放弃了电信行业的高管职位，于2010年加入Allegro Print，他以局外人的视角帮助公司应对印刷行业不断变化的需求。（图片：CNA/陈奕）

在某个项目中，Tay被要求制作一种与印刷行业所有常识相悖的效果：墨水晕染。“对印刷工来说，印刷时墨水不能晕染。那会被视为印刷错误。”她说道。起初她拒绝了这个想法，但在得知这是研究项目的一部分后，最终接受了这份工作。最终，她花了六个多月的时间才达到预期的效果。

其他一些实验也发现了意想不到的“第二春”。何最初购买一台UV打印机是为了在手机壳、高尔夫球和其他小物件上进行打印，但这个想法并未真正实现。团队并没有将这笔投资当作摆设，而是找到了机器的另一种用途：在亚克力、木材、皮革和其他材料上进行打印，供设计师们运用到他们的出版物中。

这种勇于尝试的精神也促使Allegro参与了诸如Rubbish Famzine这样的项目。Rubbish Famzine是由新加坡家庭艺术团体Holycrap创办的独立小众刊物。有些期刊需要使用14到15种颜色，这使得它们在技术上要求很高，小批量生产成本也很高。然而，对于Tay来说，这些项目正是展示公司实力的绝佳机会。“他们的理念非常独特，我愿意尝试，以此来拓展我们的能力，”她说道。

归根结底，这个简单的道理是无法否认的：印刷品之所以经久不衰，是因为它提供了屏幕无法提供的东西——值得触摸、收藏，有时甚至可以啃咬的实物。

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