It’s my first time to blog on our Web site here and, incidentally, it will also be my last. That’s right, today I have some big news to share…I’m leaving Insty! Don’t worry, they’re not downsizing and giving me the boot because of the economy, we are parting on good terms. I’m becoming a truck driver. No, just kidding, I’m actually moving to Kansas to work on a farm. OK, I’m joking, I’m joking! The truth is, I have been working full time and going to school part time for several years—longer than I care to mention—so I am leaving Insty-Prints to pursue my education full time and finish that up, FINALLY!
When I walked into Insty-Prints—2 years ago this month—to start my new job, I knew absolutely nothing about printing. Like many of you probably do, I imagined that there was a little tiny printer made just for business cards that spit them out at their little tiny size, someone put them in a box, and voila! Business cards = done. In truth, some papers come in huge sheets, some wider than a twin bed, and then we cut them down to manageable sizes that can go through a printer/press, depending on what we need. Business cards get printed on regular old letter-size paper—10 business cards to a sheet—and then cut down to fit in your wallet. Don’t even get me started on paper. If paper types occupied the entire space of the U.S., my knowledge was limited to the state of Rhode Island. Maybe just the state capital. There are different weights, textures, colors…all kinds of things to take into account, some of which I still don’t understand.
Probably, though, the most challenging thing I’ve encountered here at Insty-Prints is not any of the specific knowledge I’ve had to conquer, but the art of explaining these things—things that are sometimes technical and filled with industry jargon—to other people, normal people like you, who don’t work in printing. Consider, for instance, one of my favorite memories… a gentleman was looking for pricing on business cards, where more ink colors means more cost. He was thinking he could get a card with his photo on it and that would be a three-color card. His rationale was that he himself was one color and then his outfit in the picture was maroon and silver, so that’s two more colors…right? Unfortunately, we humans are not just colored in with a flesh tone crayon, there’s shading and shadowing, not to mention our eyes, lips, hair and teeth, are all different colors. So if you ever want to get your photo printed, that’s going to be full color, friends.
Needless to say, I have had a lot of fun here. I’ve learned so many things and made a lot of new friends—fellow Insty family members and customers alike. Saying goodbye will be bittersweet, but I’m excited to start a new chapter in my life, and I’m sure I will be stopping by from time to time to visit the Halls of Insty!
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