Friday, July 9, 2010

Plunge into graphic design.

Well...to make a long story short...we had to have a toilet replaced at home.   I thought to myself, this reminds me of printing.   Why is it that everything relates to printing?   What I thought about is this...

I could rip the little thingy out of the tank and replace it with a new thingy from the hardware store.   Who knows, it might even work!   But instead, my wife called a plumber, who came over and installed a new thingy and adjusted the little doo-dad, and only charged us one months tuition for his daughter in college. (joke)

Now the point is...if I had "fixed" it, would that make me a plumber?   The answer is NO!   In order to be a plumber, you must learn the trade and then roll up your sleeves, (drop yer pants about two inches) and learn some more.   A real plumber knows how to install, fix, or remove plumbing stuff.   I suppose I should put in a plug here for my plumber Ed at All Suburban Plumbing.

The same applies to printing.   Most people have access to a computer and think that now they are graphic designers.   However, most don't know the problems and tricks of good design.   A computer is great for rough draft ideas, but get your printer involved early on in the design process, so they can give some tips that will help avoid problems in production, and produce a finished product that looks best. 

Everyday enough paper is recycled to fill the boxcars on a train fourteen miles long.   Having worked in printing for thirty one years now, I can assure you that some of those cars contain jobs that were not designed right.  

People who know such things, say that the human eye can detect ten million colors.   That is the average human being.   Print buyers, like the kind I know, can dectect roughly ten times that many!   Good design work helps the production department with colors that run the best on press, and avoid scuffing problems in the finishing process.   Digital presses are only as good as the operator who adjusts the colors on the computer.

We cannot all be good at everything!   Let your printer do what they are good at.  If you do the work all by yourself,  you'd best be prepared for leaks.   Don't plunge in over your head...just sit down and relax, and let your printer print.

5 comments:

Sanya said...

So you're a printer?

Anonymous said...

i dont mean to boast, but i actually am good at everything!! idk how, but i am!! its so amazing!

David C Brown said...

Greetings from Scotland! I think you're fairly convincing.

Anonymous said...

Sanya: DUH he's a printer!!! didn't you read the top of hte blog? or about him?!! :P lol lol

plumbing said...

I found your story very interesting. It is true that even though you had fixed some plumbing problem in your house doesn't make you a real plumber. There are still so many things that you should do before qualifying to be one. But you must be very proud of yourself for doing it yourself.