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I.D. box. It was important to move as swiftly and efficiently as possible, so I careened across the room the whole time scanning and listening to locate the phone. I have three precious rings to identify the caller, find the phone and make a determination to answer or not.
I´m not going to lie to you my friends: I didn´t always make it. And, just imagine the gaggle of important papers I caused with my reckless searches.
Now, I just sit back and am amazed at the calming effect Velcro has had on my business. These days, when the phone rings, I just glance quickly at the friendly caller I.D. and walk calmly to the pole as the second ring is just beginning. I then pause and look at the phone hanging there in perfect view, and grin at my own cleverness. With a calm and gleeful manner, I answer, "Eye Candy Graphics." Then begins a frenzy of pulling and pushing as I conduct business at a feverish pace.
You might be saying to yourselves, "Boy, this guy really likes Velcro," but it hasn´t been all fun and games. At one point (I know this is hard to believe) I got just a little delusional and had dark fantasies of installing a Velcro crow´s-nest on my pole where I could perch and oversee business as "Captain Velcro." I also nearly changed my tag line to read, "Everything is within our reach."
But, I returned to the sane world unfettered, and things are going nicely. So go then, make me proud of your new Velcro innovations, but don´t get silly on me.
With my shop organized, it was time to conquer color matching. I am not going to go into the traditional methods; there have been volumes written and you should experiment to find what works.
However, no matter what method you choose, you should also leave one wall of your shop free free of Velcro, free of swimsuit calendars and any other motivational posters. Here, my friends, go all of your color charts.
First, a Pantone Matching System® chart. I feel kind of silly pointing out the obvious, but I hope all you operators have, at a minimum, printed out every PMS® color.
I created my own chart; however, this could quite possibly be the single most boring activity on earth. But, I guess you pay for being lazy. There must be an easy way to tell Quark
(click to continue)
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I was a young,
overly excited
entry level designer
in a production
uniform when I
first noticed a wad
of Velcro® next to a
bunch of disabled
emergency inkjet
cartridges on one of
my junk shelves.
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 s I stared at my gnarled treasure, I thought about my childhood spent perusing junk drawers and messy work benches for essential items such as tape, glue, string, rubber bands and nails; in short, things for putting stuff together. Back then I never searched for or even dreamed of Velcro. I knew it existed because of my "camo" nylon wallet, but I didn´t know it was legal to buy the stuff.
Perhaps other kid´s fathers utilized it, but it was one modern marvel that eluded my father. So you must understand my excitement. I was now a graphics guy who gets access to all sorts of bulk raw materials, and I stood before Velcro the queen of products for putting stuff together.
Aggressive double-stick tape is seductive, but its permanence limits its utility. Velcro, on the other hand, is simply beautiful. It can be used over and over... rrrip... "I have a pen"... push... "I now have a pen in plain view ready for a quick grab"... rrrip. You get the idea.
I´ve even heard hushed rumors of people (insanely busy ones) wearing out Velcro, but I´ve never actually seen it.
Needless to say, I was oppressed at my first job by nonbelievers. You know, my boss and my coworkers. When I finally started my own shop, I didn´t waste any time.
I affixed calculators to the sides of every computer in the shop. Next, pens and Sharpies®. I decided these particular items needed to be everywhere.
Next were X-ACTO® knives and tape measures, then singular items like my priming gun and that little air shooter I used to chronically lose.
The center pole in my warehouse was then converted into a Velcro shrine which contained every essential provision for quick business: the elusive cordless phone, pens, markers, my stereo remote control, a calculator, measuring tape and a writing pad.
It used to be that the sharp shrill of my phone would trigger bedlam (mayhem, if you will). First, I would have to run over to my caller
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