Myths, Magic Bullets and Easy Buttons

[Fred Weiss]

We get a lot of questions and posts here looking for answers and solutions that are neat, tried and true, cure-alls for whatever ails ya.

This post is to address the myth that such things exist.

The software, hardware, materials, machines, techniques, tools and what-not asked about and discussed here are resources ... Tools of the trade. There is no "best" anything.

There is no

• best printer
• best plotter
• best sign program
• best vinyl
• best way to apply vinyl
• best way to autotrace

There are lots of better and worse solutions to the various needs we face in designing and producing commercial projects in an efficient and professional manner. Learning the differences and the possibilities is what is important and takes the most effort and the most time.

Each project we are presented with is unique in some way. The solutions to completing the project are as varied as our talent and understanding of our available resources and which is a more appropriate choice to use at any given time.

There is no "easy button" or simple solution, neither is there a best anything except as to how well any solution satisfies a need FOR YOU as an individual. Signmaking, design and professional graphic arts is first and foremost a craft and an art. It is learned over time.

We are presented with continuously changing and evolving technology on a daily basis. The tendency exists to think the technology is the solution. But technology is just another resource. The individual who utilizes the various resources is the solution. That will never change.

 

[Jackpine]

Bullseye, Amen!

 

[Replicator]

Right On Brother ! ! !


:U Rock:

 

[GatorGraphics]

Well put! Thank you for posting it.

 

[OldPaint]

fred you just ruined it for a lot of WANABES....hehehehehehehehehehehehhe
shame on you))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

[iSign]

We get a lot of ..posts here looking for ...cure-alls for whatever ails ya..

There is no "best" anything.

Each project we are presented with is unique in some way. The solutions to completing the project are as varied as our talent and understanding of our available resources.

So... in light of Fred's statement above (or my excerpt)

...people should really try to specifically identify the unique & varied situation they are in when asking for advice. There are so maony posts where the first half of attempts (by several members) to help are wasted on guessing what help is really needed because the short & sweet inquiry left waaayyy too much to the imagination.

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

Actually Fred there are two easy buttons.

Button 1 - Don't do anything

Button 2 - Hang on and enjoy the wild ride

You are correct, there is no "one shoe fits all"

 

[SignManiac]

I beg to differ. Staples has an easy button because I saw it on their tv ads! I just used it earlier today and it works fantastic.

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

Wow! TV in Z-Hills! Boy things are a-changin' (hehe) !

 

[Gino]

Great information and business thinking.

Does that mean I should order one from each tap or keep using the Ol' Mud ???

 

[PMG]

So Staples sent me this easy button for nothing : I cant get mine to work.

 

[dlndesign]

I must say, that was a very good post. I've been in the sign industry for 4 years, and I have seen it first hand. Through an array of shops, its all in what you have to offer, not what the program,material,hardware... can do for you.

 

[Cadmn]

great post Fred should be must read for all New registrants the suppliers all sell this business as a push button for "easy Money" & I know most of us here wish it was that easy, I had a customer the other day that actually appreciated the sign expertise & wasn't all it costs too much to do that. I gave good price & product & it was appreciated .

 

[Todd Jelle]

Fred
for a minute thier I thought you were going to let my customers know they were right about my easy button, on my wonderfull computer that does all the work.
I push the easy button & out comes fancy decorative signs, in minutes.
Then I fly around the world & relax in resorts & enjoy all my free time.

 

[Ken]

Yep, If it was so easy..I'd be in Hawaii by now..
Ken

 

[signage]

Hold on isign must have found that easy button? used to live in Ill. now paradise! Come on let us know about the secrete easy button isign.

 

[EndlessOptions]

Don't knock the magic bullet until you've tried one, and you get 2 for the price of one

 

[bob]

It goes far beyond equipment. The sad fact is that lots of the folk in this business really aren't very good at it. What equipment they happen to use to advance their mediocrity has little bearing on anything.

As has been noted many times, this work is the sort of thing that either you can or you cannot do. Just like music and software. If you can't do it, most likely you'll never be able to and all the training, schooling, and first class gear on the planet won't make you any better than aggressively mediocre.

If you can do it, you can use most anything at hand and do a journeyman job.

Execution of a design is something that simply follows on. A superbly executed piece of poor typography is still poor typography. A poorly executed superb design is a damn shame. If you can't do a journeyman job of typography and design as well as execution, you might be in the wrong business.

It's not the equipment, it's the being running the equipment.

 

[imaSIGNr]

Thanx for clearing that up Fred...now maybe when someone mentions an inferior brand item they won't get trashed because they didn't purchase top of the line like they did....

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

well said
even in design ...just thinking of Mike Stevens book Mastering Layout ...my sign teacher (Mike Le Hanne) said these are only guidelines they are only ment as a guide, and not the only way

Merry Christmas