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TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Being busy is great. Being busy and forgetting something you agreed to isn’t

20/20 HINDSIGHT Marshall Atkinson shares the 20 things he wishes he’d known when he started out on his career in garment decoration

J ust starting out in this crazy business? Good luck. It’s a wild ride and constantly changing, and you’ll learn plenty of lessons – and make plenty of mistakes – along the way. Looking back there will be some things that you’ll wish you’d known from the beginning. So to save you from having to learn some of these lessons the hard way, the kind folks at Im- ages recently asked me to list the top 20 things I wish I’d known when I started out. Ready? Here we go! In no particular order or preference: stupidity. Asking questions about things you don’t know can alle- viate a lot of problems later on. “What does that mean?” or “When is this due?” or “What don’t you want in the image?” or “Can you please help me with this?” Be brave enough to ask more ques- tions. It’s okay, they will appreciate you getting a clearer picture. It is okay to say no That’s right. I’m giving you permission right here to not take that job that won’t make you any money, or force you to work for that guy you hate, or do something unethical just to make some fast cash. Looking back on some of the biggest problems in my career, a good number have been with jobs that I knew in my gut I should have just politely declined. The word ‘no’ is your friend. Use it. 2 1 Ask more questions When I was younger I wanted to pretend I knew everything, so I didn’t ask questions. It is the facade of

yourself permission to fail. You will learn from those failures. Try more stuff. Fail even more. Eventually it will work out and you’ll be doing better work than the next guy. Experimenting is hard, but working things out is the best way to separate yourself from the competition. “It’s how we always do it” is concrete-addled thinking. Use a calendar I’ll admit it, I still struggle with this. In fact, Images sent me an email asking where was the copy for this arti- cle? Being busy is great. Being busy and forgetting something you agreed to deliver isn’t. In this business you have to hit your deadlines. It’s much easier if you are planning your work towards that goal. Want more customers? Get your work done on time or early. 4 know where the traps, speedbumps and charlatans hide. Get coaching early. This is how apprenticeships used to work. Go and see You can’t learn anything sitting in your chair chained to your desk. Why isn’t that print right? How are they mixing the ink? What type of squeegee are they using on that halftone screen? Don’t let the problems go to you, get up and go out and solve the challenge where it starts. That means snoop- ing around, talking to people and suggesting things on the spot. Think for yourself based on the input in front of you. 6 5 Find a mentor Out there somewhere is a person who’s already travelled the road you’ve just taken your first steps on. I’ll bet they

Experiment This is huge. Try stuff. Most of it won’t work, so give

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