Keeping It Real

 

Little wall o 'paper saying, "Print me, now!"

So, I'm barely in to this blog and it's already here—the reality of my work has set in.

I am both a designer and a printer; some simply do one or the other, but I for various reasons, like to do both. I know—most accountants would accuse me of not being so efficient— but that's why I create and they don't. The phases of my work-life goes something like this:

I meet with people and we discuss what they are interested in having me create for them. We first talk about their inspirations for said-pieces (be it invitations, coasters or other printed delights) and I get a little history about their details, likes, dislikes, etc. Sometimes this happens over the phone or at my studio, but since most of my clients live all over the place, it mostly happens over email. Once I get a feel for what my client is trying to convey, I start to get some visuals and then I go to work. I really enjoy this process and it's fun to take someone else's words and make them into pictures. Once I have all of the variables together and I've created a mock-up (sometimes a few), we finalize all of the final details. And then I really go to work.

This is the point where many designers send everything off to the printer and move on to the next project. In my case, I do the same thing, but the printer is me. I do send the files off to my friend Richard to have the film made, and once I get this, I can make the necessary plates, cut the paper and do the actual printing. Each piece is hand-cranked through one of my old presses. Again, nothing is fed automatically (insert said-accountant's sighs and eye-rolls here) so this is a very hands-on process. I really do love this  and for me it's really, really satisfying to see the fruits of our (me and my client's minds) labor show up in my hands. 

But the point of this post is to say that I am in absolute crunch time with a BIGFANCYPROJECT and I am about to go to press with it, so I don't have time to keep up the blog today. 

Pictures to come soon!