One task we find ourselves doing frequently is sending digital files to and from clients and vendors. I would venture to see, there almost isn’t a day that goes by where we haven’t needed to download or upload a file. It’s routine stuff for all of us here at Intrigue.
In the old days (pre-Internet), it was more difficult and time consuming to get software patches and updates. Usually, it meant phoning or writing a company and then siting back and waiting for them to mail you a small floppy disc or two. Amazingly, most applications were small enough that you could fit the installers on just a few floppies. It was quite a tedious chore to sit there listening to the drive chirping away during installation until the computer asked you to change the disk. Perish the thought if one of those floppies was missing or damaged! It sure wasn’t fun when that happened.
Today, Intrigue is giving a big business presentation. We have a meeting with a potential client that we would really like to work with on an ongoing basis. Actually, we’ve already done a few small projects for this client before, but we’re interested in diversifying and increasing the work we do for them.
The basic premise of the presentation is to show the client what we at Intrigue do, and more importantly, CAN DO. Sometimes, even when a person knows you, it can be very beneficial to prepare a small presentation to package your services and talents. Our client allowed us the opportunity to come in and “show our stuff”. It was a very welcome moment as it would be wonderful to be working with this account on a regular basis.
However, the problem was that we had less than a week to prepare the presentation and a budget of ZERO. Well, ok then! We’re a creative group – this should be straightforward. All we needed was a plan. So the idea was to create a slideshow with some of our best work.
Well, the odds said the risk was low. Very low. Not quite zero, but certainly close to it. We had the AppleCare signup in our hands with days to go in the original iMac Warranty. And we chose to gamble and not sign up.
And we lost!
The Intel iMacs have gotten excellent reviews overall. People love using them and they have been overly reliable. Sure, the occasional problem has been reported, but usually those are exceptions and not the rule. We bought three in late 2007. During the first year of heavy use, we had no unusual problems. Typical maintenance issues – all fixable.
This was bound to happen eventually. It always happens so it should not be a surprise this time around. Yes – it’s true, if you own an original, bleeding-edge, early adopted, Apple iPhone (1st gen.), then prepare to be even more jealous of those who have the 2nd gen (3G) iPhone.
No. Forget jealous. How about envy?
What is this about? Oh, well you see, Apple announced version 3.0 of their upcoming software (actually firmware) for the iPhone and iPod Touch gadgets. Let me tell you, the forums and message boards have been filled with “noise” about this eagerly anticipated day. Many of the iPhones shortcomings (well known by now) were to be nullified with this new version 3.0.
Piggybacking on the multi-color PDFs we were generating for our last Intrigue project, there was a new challenge awaiting. Our latest catalog has a specification for 2 extra “colors” as well – though they are not actually colors, rather they are extra “plates”.
There will be a spot varnish plate as well as a “glossy” plate. By printing with both varnish and glossy coatings, the product images will really pop out from the printed page. It creates a very high-end look and people see the extra quality immediately.
We were successful in generating proper (and standard compliant) PDFs for the previous book, this time around, we need to approach things a little differently. Because the varnish and gloss plates are not actual colors, it’s necessary to convince Quark and Photoshop that we will be using colors anyway.
We’re working on a very interesting project here at Intrigue. It’s a 160 plus page catalog for one of our high-end clients. The design of the layout is very clean and attractive. One of the most notable features of this project is the specification of six colors. That’s right, SIX!
It’s not unusual for us to do a project that specs an extra color or two. They tend to be a little more challenging to produce as we are very creative in how we add the extra color. In this case, our two extra “spot” colors are actually metallic inks. This will give the photos some extra “pop” in the printed book. Whenever we’ve done metallics in the past, people really love seeing the printed piece as metallic inks give a nice reflective sheen on the paper.
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