Tired of it.....

[oxburger]

I'm tired of designers in their weathered jeans, moussed up hair and little square tortoise shell glasses and their cute little Prius' or Mini Coopers sending in files that are built wrong.

"I want to use PMS 136 in my file, so instead of adding it to the color palette, I think I'll build it using a different spot or out of CMYK. Then I'll spend a half hour adding all these cute little notes to the margin that explain that the green you see actually prints orange and that the purple prints black. Then to really cap it off, I'll send images of t-shirts that print in blue, but I'll make one RGB, one Grayscale and one CMYK. After that, I'll send you the job and explain that it's hot but then leave for vacation so I can sit around and drink Appletini's or smoke $50 cigars with all my little geeky friends while you pull your hair out trying to get ahold of me"

Have a nice day!

 

[kaiserwilhelm]

Uhmm, you left out that you will fix all of this for free, because that is just what the "market bears".

 

[TIG]

Nothing to add...

Nothing to add...

I think you both summed it up well, you are both responsible for my laughter today

Thanks!!

TIG

 

[rbailleu]

I saw a proposal from a design firm that had a quote for all the design work and the printing. and then an extra $1500 to make sure it got printed correctly. properly called a project management fee. and I have to compete with the design cost and printing cost, but because we have a press we should just eat the project management fee. all things being equal.

 

[rbailleu]

oooohhh yeah just remembered another one. we were selling ads for a book we printed and someone requested a 10% ad agency discount. when we got the file it was a publisher pdf.

 

[TIG]

Here's a good one .........

"Hey that doesn't match my screen" or "That's to yellow".........to which under my breath I say..Compared to what?????

Good Day!

 

[MikeG]

what, no duo-tone that's supposed to bleed but doesn't? Consider yourself lucky

 

[Craig]

But yet somehow it's our fault the designer was to caught up in their tree hugging, animal loving everything is sunshine and lollipops world to get the file right the first time. So therefor we get to eat the entire re-print cost. Even though the customer signed off on the proof!!!!!!!

God life is grand!

 

[LoweringTheBar]

You guys need to lighten up. I'm sure this client will pay his bill in at least 120 days... if he's still in business.

When it comes to clients and salesmen, I've pretty much been reduced to one of the people in the old Twilight Zone episode where everyone has to be nice to the little spoiled brat kid because if they weren't he'd wish them into the corn field.

Here's how a typical conversation will go with a sales rep in our crappy economy, where every print shop in town is underbidding their competition by slashing the salaries of their employees...

"You say you want that 300pg book proofed by tomorrow morning, huh? Well, of course it's not a problem. I'd be happy to do it, by golly, and thanks for giving me something to do tonight instead of having dinner with my family! Have I mentioned how great you look today, and how much I appreciate the fact that you're the reason I have a job and can put food on the table? What's that, you say you've been having an affair with my wife? Well, who am I to judge. I just hope she didn't disappoint you, because your happiness is all that matters to me! Jeepers, look at me, jabbering about my problems instead of working like a dog on your job. Sorry... really, sorry for everything! "

AAAAAAARRRRHHHHH! I hate this industry!

 

[Jecclr2003]

Here's a good one .........

"Hey that doesn't match my screen" or "That's to yellow".........to which under my breath I say..Compared to what?????

Good Day!

The bane of prepress people everywhere "but that's not how it looks on my screen!!!!"

What do you mean that neon orange will look different in "4 color"?

I could go on and on.... and frankly... I miss hearing it. I want to get bak into a printing company doing what I do best :\

 

[allegrich]

if you let them walk all over you, they will. But if explained to them in an honest, non-emotional manner, while looking them straight in the eye, they will be forced to handle the truth. No need for emotions, you aren't married to your customer, and they don't ask for you to do their dishes.

Often someone on our end will say "and if i don't get it done...", "and they expect me to...,"; without any input from the customer or sales staff, just taking stress upon ourselves, when it is not necessary. They (sales, CSR, customers) may want the silk purse but they have a problem if they do not understand that they have provided the ingredients for a sow's ear. Can you do it, honestly? If not, say so. A cow-towing accomplice is not one anybody needs. Does an actor's yes man help him grow up? No. We can be a true benefit to ourselves, our co-workers, and everyone else only when we are completely honest. How is telling the customer we can do that when we will have to beat ourselves up in order to do so any different than telling someone you love them when you don't? It is still lying.

We can take the concept of our work beyond the stage of emotional reactions to the stage of understanding.

Is also self-negating and unrealistic to assume that the other guy, with his pretty clothes or car, has an easy time of it. The pretty people with their priming and preening look that way because they are too insecure to look average. So when you call them gilded and use a voice of disdain you are putting even more bad emotional content in your head. The insecure fussy few have their problem - so let them have it without making one of your own. Everyone, no matter his job or position in life, can call himself a turd and the other guy a flower, or vice versa - or you can accept that you are just the same as the other guy. We all have to try hard, many times, in order to succeed.

They give us a crappy task and we have choices:
A - wimper and complain and have a bad attitude to make the job take too long because we aren't doing our job while we're busy whining
B - acknowledge and move on; do our best and not waste time thinking about what we'd rather be doing - we are not at that other place doing that other thing, we are at work, so we should do work - then when we haven't burned up our energy complaining we can leave work earlier and have more time to spend with our families

 

[oxburger]

we are at work, so we should do work - then when we haven't burned up our energy complaining we can leave work earlier and have more time to spend with our families

My motto:

I work to live, not live to work......

meaning I think about my job when I'm there and do it to the best of my ability, but come 4:00, it's out of my mind until the next day at 7:00. I'd rather enjoy life than be consumed by worrying about work.

 

[GazKL440]

Has any one copped the sort of clown who is incredibly hard to please, then knock a job back on the basis of a colour being out by a poofteenth or something stupid..... but when it comes time to re print, there are a "few minor alterations" to the job...like their address or phone number being wrong or another name on a card.... yeah colour wrong my ass grrrrrr...

 

[Emma]

Some times it doesn't matter how calmly you explain it to them, even with pantone swatches, CMYK jobs and spy glass to show them the differences, not to mention an explanation of why RGB colours do not look like CMYK... they still do not get it.