feb17_images_digital

KB TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Go to a trade show This is a large and diverse industry. To grasp the full depth of the scope and size, do yourself a favour and

overlooking quality control issues, or not doing your best. Just that you should stay in the acceptable range for profitability. If a client is paying you for an hour to design a new logo – that’s the budget. Don’t work on it for six. Technique solves problems How can little old ladies outplay younger, more athletic golfers on the course? Technique. It’s not how hard you hit the ball with the club, but ‘how’ you hit it. It’s exactly the same in this industry. More squeegee pressure doesn’t help your print. The right mesh, with the correct tension, coated with the proper emulsion over mesh ratio, with the right press off-contact, print- ed with the proper squeegee stroke, angle and pressure – all will produce a superior print than just mashing the image as hard as you can. Not getting good production results? Before you blame the ink or the shirt, look to the ‘how’. Take time for yourself Everyone needs to recharge. Plenty of studies have shown that people who make time for interesting hob- bies or activities outperform those who just work never-ending hours per day. Remember: work smarter, not harder. Attack your day with enthusiasm and energy. This only happens when you are fresh. 11 12 how to do the things that you can’t do well will help you become well-rounded in the industry. Maybe you will master those areas, maybe not. Getting that understanding, however, will help you be more professional, even if ultimately you outsource or delegate those chores to someone else. A ship in the harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for. Explore. Listen more, talk less Active listening is a skill that needs to be developed early. Take notes. Let the other person talk. Don’t inter- rupt. Repeat back what they just said. Ask questions. Follow up. Remember to say “Thank you.” 14 13 Train on the things you can’t do Sure it’s easy to just concentrate on the things we do best. It’s easy. Taking the time to investigate and learn

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go to a trade show. The bigger the show the better. Sure, there’s probably some expense and travel involved, but go anyway. Take the classes, attend the seminars, meet other folks in the industry, talk to the suppliers. You will quickly see that there are a dozen ways to do the same thing. Use humour often You don’t have to be a stand-up comedian, but using humour is the best way I know to juggle all the balls in the air at once. Currently you have demands from your boss, your customer, your co-workers, your friends and even your dog or goldfish. Well, maybe not your goldfish so much. The point is that there is always a lot of stress floating around in this indus- try. You can be the nut-job that freaks out and instantly gets on everyone’s last nerve, or you can defuse the bomb with a little self-deprecating humour or joke. Or at least that’s what my dog told me. Delegate Just because it needs to get finished doesn’t mean that you have to do it. Want more completed today? Del- egate it. Get someone else to handle the task so you can work on things that matter. This could also mean some automation. There are plenty of apps and tech around these days that you can employ to complete all types of mundane things. If you do delegate or use an app, however, make sure you are okay with how someone else finishes the job for you. It may not be exactly how you would do it. Which brings us to… Shipped is better than perfect At the end of the day, week or month, getting all of those jobs out is the primary goal. Sure, you can tweak that art endlessly, or print at a ridiculously slow speed to ensure perfection. Where you need to concentrate your efforts, howev- er, is the range of what your customer deems acceptable. Time equals money. Over-thinking and over-engineering what you are doing often won’t correlate to bigger profits. I’m not advocating 8 9 10

Humour is the best way I know to

juggle all the balls in the air at once

70 images FEBRUARY 2017

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