By Sabine Lenz
Every minute counts. If the client approves the design by 5:00 p.m. today, we can get the files to the printer first thing in the morning, and ultimately make the client’s crazy deadline after all.
But … your client doesn’t approve the final artwork until late afternoon the next day yet still expects you to make the deadline originally agreed upon. Sound familiar?
Some deadlines are crazier than others
… and some clients more challenging. Projects that were set to be completed in four weeks end up taking six months (Ask me about the health care forms for the Wodonga Hospital some time.)
But so far, by far, the award for the longest project in the making goes to a good friend of mine – Heather Hitchcock, salesperson at Ironwood Lithographers here in San Francisco.
The utterly amazing thing was not the complexity of the piece – even though it was, in and of itself a piece of art – but the time it was a “work in progress.”
The Jay Paul Company Brochure
Heather’s client, Hutner Descollonges, first approached her about the Jay Paul brochure three years ago – no, this is not a typo … three years.
Jay Paul Company, a privately held real estate company in San Francisco, focuses on the acquisition, development and management of prime commercial real estate throughout California. We’re not talking your average home or small commercial building here.
For instance, the award-winning Pacific Shores Center, a 1.7-million square foot, 106-acre waterfront campus, was a signature project for Jay Paul. This is a company that has a proven track record of identifying and creating unique opportunities. So the design of its capabilities brochure had to match this uniqueness.
Heather did the usual preliminary planning and estimating and then … nothing. A few months later, the project was resurrected. Specs changed, budgets changed and then … nothing.
Over the course of three years, the project was on again, then off again at least five times. Hutner Descollonges was on design round 12+ at this point.
Rising to the challenge
Then, one foggy San Francisco spring morning, Jay Paul Company’s president gave the go ahead, with a small, but significant catch: 25 of the very elaborate pieces had to be in New York for an all-important client meeting the next Wednesday.
And the race began. We’re talking nine days to print and finish. Bear with me while I share the complexities of the piece with you:
Slipcase
Double hits of PMS 446 plus aqueous coating printed on 120 lb. Mohawk Superfine Cover; diecutting, converting to slipcase, fold and glue with capacity.
Jay Paul Company Brochure
A 28-page extravaganza with a six-page cover, allowing for a double-thick back cover. The brochure sported 4-color printing, plus two PMS colors, plus spot aqueous coating.
On top of this, the cover featured a blind-embossed and diecut back pocket. The extra back panel had to be folded and glued down to create said pocket including half moon business card slits.
We are on the home stretch now 
The brochure was perfect bound and inserted into the slipcase and (why stop now) shrink wrapped.
All this in nine days – including any proofing, color approvals, press checks, embossing, hand assembly … the whole enchilada. Oh, and did I mention special dies needed to be made for a particular depth in the blind embossing?
Sounds impossible doesn’t it?
But Heather and her team did it.
“Bill Heitman, production coordinator, kept the project on track both inside the plant and at the outside vendor. Steve Cobb in our prepress department did amazing system work to perfect the color images and made the plates for press helping to keep us on the very tight schedule,” explains Hitchcock. “And both men were recognized for their efforts with Ironwood Litho Employee of the Month awards.”
The client gave the final approval on Friday. The design team worked over the weekend and sent the final files to Ironwood Litho on Monday morning. Leaving the printing team nine days to do their magic … and pure magic it was.
I will spare you the day-to-day, hour-to-hour race with time, and the technology it took to not only get this piece done, but create a great quality piece. Let’s just say: They did it.
Twenty-five pieces arrived in ample time for the crucial client meeting in New York on Wednesday morning, and the balance was delivered soon after to Jay Paul’s offices.
And the moral
Why am I telling you Heather’s amazing story?
- Never discount a client or a project even if it is three years in the making.
- Always have a great relationship with your printer. As this story shows, they come through for you when you need them most.
- Never underestimate the power of great planning and a true team effort. Ironwood, Hutner Descollonges and Jay Paul Company were very proactive and did everything to make this seemingly impossible deadline happen.
- And most importantly: Never, ever underestimate the power of a great printed piece.
P.S. I know you’re wondering … all the clients were ecstatic, and the rest, as they say, is history.
——
Seeing designers worldwide struggle to stay current with new papers and paper trends inspired Sabine Lenz to create PaperSpecs, an independent and comprehensive Web-based paper selection tool and weekly e-newsletter. Growing up in Germany, she started her design career in Frankfurt, before moving on to Australia and the United States. Lenz worked on design projects ranging from corporate identities to major road shows and product launches. From start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, her list of clients included Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Deutsche Bank, IBM and KPMG. Lenz is a noted speaker and author on paper issues and educational topics related to the paper industry.
Copyright 2010 PaperSpecs.com. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced by any means for any purpose without express written permission of the copyright holder.
Please post a Comment to this Tip – and let others benefit from your wisdom. Thanks
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later