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Life was simple back in the old days. Then some troublemaker came up with the idea of adding illustrations to the words printers printed. It's not clear whether that particular troublemaker was a person who wanted to see the illustration or a person who wanted to create the illustration, but either way the era of the graphic designer had begun. And shortly afterward the first examples of designer overkill began to appear in print shops.
Make It Look Good!
Let's consider the role of graphic designers in the business process. They are hired to do something the purchaser of the printing can't do for himself/herself. At the most basic level, they are hired to take the purchaser's marketing ideas and prepare them for the printing process. (Please consider that the purpose of most printing is to sell something or, at the very least, to support the sale of some product, service, or concept.) The designer's basic marching orders are to "make it look good."
As designers became skilled at creating attractive layouts, many of them began to think of themselves as true artists. And it began to offend them that the stupid printers of the world seemed incapable of rendering justice to their art…at least not without very close supervision! And so dawned the age of the press check. Anyone want to take a guess as to how much coffee and how many donuts and bagels have been consumed—all at the cost of the printer—while some designer or another has labored with the idiot press operators to get that red just right?
Now granted, there are cases where a press check is really called for. From a printer's perspective, I'd rather spend the time to get the red right than risk having the customer bounce the job. But it's been my experience that press checks usually benefit the designer more than anyone else. They reinforce the "importance" of the designer and often provide something else the designer can charge for.
Make It Look Different!
Okay, the truth of the matter is that we can't really fault either the purchaser or the designer for wanting to make sure that the printed material looks good. But somewhere along the line, those basic "make it look good" marching orders have mutated into "make it look different." So now we have designers specifying all manner of special order paper and designing to four-color process plus one, two, three, or four PMS colors, and a variety of coatings and varnishes. We have odd sizes being designed, and tricky folds, and all kinds of other special effects.
Again, we can't fault either the purchaser or the designer in a situation where making it look different is a real factor in the success of the printed piece—or more correctly, in the sale of the product, service, or concept that the printing was purchased to support. We can, however, decide if that's the segment of the printing business we want to be in. Dealing with designer overkill is simply not for everyone.
Here's a tale of two printers. Both installed state-of-the-art digital "presses" a couple of years ago, but they're experiencing two very different levels of success. Printer A thinks of himself as a boutique printer serving a very well defined niche—designers and ad agencies. Printer B thinks of herself as a general small commercial printer, seeking out clients whose needs fit her capabilities. Printer A expanded into printing after 10+ years in operation as a service bureau. Printer B moved up into full-color digital printing after 10+ years as a more or less typical quick printer. Both have been successful at building to a full day of work pretty much every day on their digital presses.
For Printer A, that full day typically means three or four jobs—most of which "require" a press check—and a production cycle that often stretches to five to six days while complex proofs go back and forth for revisions and color correction. And even if that's not the case, waiting for special order paper often adds a day or two to the production cycle.
For Printer B, that full day typically means seven or eight jobs—none of which will involve a press check—and a production cycle that seldom goes beyond three days. Her proofing system is her digital printer and her proofing instructions are as follows: "Just make sure that all the words are spelled right and that all the images are in the right place. As far as quality goes, your printed piece will look pretty much the same as the proof, and maybe even a little better."
As for paper choices, this printer operates with a variation of Henry Ford's original "you can have any color you want as long as it's black" strategy. The choices she offers are coated and uncoated text and cover in a variety of common basis weights, and she chooses the brand.
Customer Friendly?
You might think that Printer B is not very customer friendly. In truth, she's very friendly to her customers, she's just very selective about who she'll pursue as a customer. She told me recently that she's in business purely to make money. "I try to stay focused on customers I can make money on," she said. "The way we're equipped, that means people who need basic 8.5x11" or 11x17" four-color printing in the 500 to 1,500 sheet range that my digital printer is best suited to handle. I don't try to make the machine into something it's not. I look for people who have needs that fit what the machine is. And since what my equipment is really good at is fast turnaround, I try to stay away from the kind of people who gum up the works."
Printer A is keeping busy, but he's not making money. Printer B is doing both. And I think that's because she knows something that Printer A doesn't seem to know—that quick printer profitability and designer overkill don't really mix. There are plenty of machines out there that will put CMYK on paper, and plenty of printing companies that seem to want all of the business, no matter where it might come from. The question, of course, is can you make money on it?
In printing, you have the best chance of getting the job when you have the right tool for the job. A digital press is the right tool for certain jobs, defined by quantity, complexity, and customer expectations. A small-format, two-color press is also the right tool for certain jobs, again, defined by quantity, complexity, and customer expectations. If those expectations include designer overkill, I'd stay away from them.
My advice for your marketing plan is to keep looking for people whose needs match your strengths as a profit producer!
Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Cary, NC, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact Dave by phone at 800/325-9634, by fax at 919/363-4069, or by email at dmf@davefellman.com. Visit his website at www.davefellman.com. See the ad for Dave's products and services in this issue.
author: by Dave Fellman