Moo Review - Working with a New Print Vendor
Close Up: Front of binder; spine detailWell, bear with me on this people and think about it for a minute. A designer's job is to help you achieve a solution to your design dilemma. This solution is achieved through time spent researching you, your product, your brand, your competitors, your target audience, etc, working on comps and mustering all our creative energy and focusing it on providing you with the best possible solution - one that will solve your problem, make you look good and attract an audience.
It doesn't matter if we have been working on the job one day or one-hundred days, turning this, our hard work, over to a third party is down right scary! They might not envision the job the same as we do, they might not really understand just how many hours were put in or how proud we are of the final result. At least to a designer who has to relinquish control over a job that they have closely guarded, this is how it seems.
So, finding trusted and reliable third party vendors is something all designers strive towards. Trust me, when designers get together, we trade notes on vendors we have worked with and what the results have been. Nothing makes our job shine more than a great print job and nothing makes our job easier then when we get to work with professionals.
In the many years I have been a designer, I have had the privilege to work one on one with quite a few vendors. The great ones find a place within my rolodex and get recommended time and time again. But lately I have been involved with jobs that have required print techniques or supplies that I have never encountered before. This is both scary and exciting at the same time. Meeting new vendors and working with new techniques is great. Not knowing what to expect in the final stage of printing is, well, not so great.
A while back I received a request from one of my clients that was old hat, but came with a new twist. They were looking to get a simple binder done for a promo we were working on together.
Not having done a job like this in some years now, I had to reach out to all new contacts. One such contact, Larry Joseph at Salespak, went above and beyond the simple quote being inquired about. He followed up the initial contact with a phone call and suggestions on how to make the binder presentation way more powerful and for not much more cost-wise. His company offers a new way on how custom binders are being produced. After discussing the job's parameters with me, he felt that this new option would look better and be more durable. Samples in the mail followed shortly and the client and I both agreed - this was the way to go.
Timidly I released the files to be printed. Yes, their samples were good. Yes, reviews of them were positive. Yes they provided clear and detailed specs. And yes we would get a printed proof to review. All of that still does not assuage a designer's fears. I have seen print proofs that were gorgeous but the final run not as stellar as you would have thought for whatever reason.
Because of the quantity of the run, the job was delivered directly to the client. Nervously I awaited confirmation that the job had been received. Not only was the job turned around in a timely manner, but the client was thrilled. It is their feeling the design looks so good that samples of our work will be used by the vendor to help promote this new and exciting way of creating custom binders. They also would like to create a few more jobs utilizing this process as they feel it really makes their product stand out from the rest.
A happy client and a new trustworthy, reliable, helpful vendor...what more could I ask for?
