I thought this was an old story when I quit my production artist job at a small commercial printer almost ten years ago. I left after realizing the shop's owner had no idea why fewer people were hiring him for work he could no longer do competitively. I'd gotten my first Mac several years earlier and realized I'd been hiding out alongside this man for too long, especially after his condescending response to my proposals for upgrading composition equipment. The first few months at my next job, I occasionally did freelance typesetting for him, because he could no longer find people to run his Linotype CRTronics, and eventually, could no longer afford to pay them. Sad and arrogant.
I've witnessed the same kind of thing happening to some of the small mom and pop shops in our area.
However, if I were the person in the story, with more than 50% my business going away in 2 years, I'd be doing something different, QUICKLY!
But the story doesn't give any demographics about the owner, so it's hard to gauge what their motivations are. A person who is 40 years old will have an entirely different outlook than someone who is 60 years old. And I can't say that I blame them.
Otherwise, I agree 100% with the article. The company I work for is aggressively pursuing new technologies and re-shaping our efforts to try and retain clientele. So far, we haven't lost any business and gained a few new smaller accounts.
In this area, we are losing large manufacturers, which were the bread and butter of many printers. Now it's a whole different climate, with the surviving companies, both clients and printers.
The clients want sharp pricing, and the printers are trying to reduce costs and improve efficiency just to survive.
No joke, it's a jungle out there.
Submitted by geozinger on Wed, 03/10/2004 - 04:10.
How many printers are stillout there saying Indesign is no good, it doesn't let you do this or that? Nonesense, I have found a few forward thinking printers who have joined the swing and once they find out how, they are good to go.
I have all the help I need from Adobe but Quark, they don't even respond. I have been teaching Quark to designers in London for 5 years ( I am now Iiving in America), not once has Quark been able to get back in time to give an answer by the end of the day.
That attitude has, of course, made we tutors very resourseful! But, more importantly, very pleased to have an alternative and even more pleased that the new product is BETTER. So come on printers catch up and learn - it's all there!
Olwen Bruce - Creative Backup
I am one of the fortunate ones. Not only is my service provider up-to-date with all applications and techniques, he has magically handled any type of print job I've needed done. With excellent service and the highest standards of quality.
Although, we too have the "walking dead" in our area. Some deservedly so and others not.
For those printers whose craft and service are sub-standard, their loss of business is the process of natural selection weeding out those who resist adaptation and who are not customer oriented in their ethics.
For those printers who do quality work and who simply have been passed by in the rush to embrace the digital revolution, too bad, too sad. Some of them are true artists.
We have many walking dead in the printing market in SLC. It has been shocking and sad. Even some of the better-off health wise printers (so I thought) have gone out of business. For printing the worm is turning that's for sure.
Can this still be happening?
I thought this was an old story when I quit my production artist job at a small commercial printer almost ten years ago. I left after realizing the shop's owner had no idea why fewer people were hiring him for work he could no longer do competitively. I'd gotten my first Mac several years earlier and realized I'd been hiding out alongside this man for too long, especially after his condescending response to my proposals for upgrading composition equipment. The first few months at my next job, I occasionally did freelance typesetting for him, because he could no longer find people to run his Linotype CRTronics, and eventually, could no longer afford to pay them. Sad and arrogant.
It's a jungle out there
I've witnessed the same kind of thing happening to some of the small mom and pop shops in our area.
However, if I were the person in the story, with more than 50% my business going away in 2 years, I'd be doing something different, QUICKLY!
But the story doesn't give any demographics about the owner, so it's hard to gauge what their motivations are. A person who is 40 years old will have an entirely different outlook than someone who is 60 years old. And I can't say that I blame them.
Otherwise, I agree 100% with the article. The company I work for is aggressively pursuing new technologies and re-shaping our efforts to try and retain clientele. So far, we haven't lost any business and gained a few new smaller accounts.
In this area, we are losing large manufacturers, which were the bread and butter of many printers. Now it's a whole different climate, with the surviving companies, both clients and printers.
The clients want sharp pricing, and the printers are trying to reduce costs and improve efficiency just to survive.
No joke, it's a jungle out there.
A very witty summary of our industry, it also applies to designe
How many printers are stillout there saying Indesign is no good, it doesn't let you do this or that? Nonesense, I have found a few forward thinking printers who have joined the swing and once they find out how, they are good to go.
I have all the help I need from Adobe but Quark, they don't even respond. I have been teaching Quark to designers in London for 5 years ( I am now Iiving in America), not once has Quark been able to get back in time to give an answer by the end of the day.
That attitude has, of course, made we tutors very resourseful! But, more importantly, very pleased to have an alternative and even more pleased that the new product is BETTER. So come on printers catch up and learn - it's all there!
Olwen Bruce - Creative Backup
Reaping the benefits
I am one of the fortunate ones. Not only is my service provider up-to-date with all applications and techniques, he has magically handled any type of print job I've needed done. With excellent service and the highest standards of quality.
Although, we too have the "walking dead" in our area. Some deservedly so and others not.
For those printers whose craft and service are sub-standard, their loss of business is the process of natural selection weeding out those who resist adaptation and who are not customer oriented in their ethics.
For those printers who do quality work and who simply have been passed by in the rush to embrace the digital revolution, too bad, too sad. Some of them are true artists.
We have many walking dead in SLC
We have many walking dead in the printing market in SLC. It has been shocking and sad. Even some of the better-off health wise printers (so I thought) have gone out of business. For printing the worm is turning that's for sure.