Is there a better way?

I have been in the printing industry since 1964. And, every day including this morning I get this reply when people ask what line of work I do.

I tell them, I am a printer or graphic artist. And, many times I give them my business card stating the publishing house or printing company I work for. The same reply comes back.

The reply is, ” What is printing? Never heard of it!”

So, I will show them all the items around them from packages to newspapers that this is the type of work I do.

The reply once again is still never heard of printing.

How, can I express myself better?

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You specialise in the application, by mechanical pressure, of ultra thin film pigmentous material to give graphical and typographic representatons on thin flexible felted cellulose fibre substrates?

Tell them to look in a dictionary….
print
print/Submit
verb
gerund or present participle: printing
1.
produce (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), especially in large quantities, by a mechanical process involving the transfer of text, images, or designs to paper.
“a thousand copies of the book were printed”
synonyms: send to press, set in print, run off, reprint
“the newspaper is printed just after midnight”
produce (text or a picture) by printing.
“the words had been printed in blue type”
synonyms: send to press, set in print, run off, reprint
“the newspaper is printed just after midnight”
(of a newspaper or magazine) publish (a piece of writing) within its pages.
“the article was printed in the first edition”
synonyms: publish, issue, release, circulate
“they printed 30,000 copies”
(of a publisher or printer) arrange for (a book, manuscript, etc.) to be reproduced in large quantities.
“Harper printed her memoirs in 1930”
produce a paper copy of (information stored on a computer).
“the results of a search can be printed out”
send (a computer file) to a printer or to another, temporary file.
produce (a photographic print) from a negative.
“any make of film can be developed and printed”
2.
write (text) clearly without joining the letters.
“print your name and address on the back of the check”
3.
mark (a surface, typically a textile or a garment) with a colored design or pattern.
“a delicate fabric printed with roses”
synonyms: imprint, impress, stamp, mark
“patterns were printed on the cloth”
transfer (a colored design or pattern) to a surface.
“patterns of birds, flowers, and trees were printed on the cotton”
make (a mark or indentation) on a surface or in a soft substance by pressing something onto it.
“he printed a mark on her soft skin”
mark or indent (the surface of a soft substance).
“we printed the butter with carved wooden butter molds”
fix (something) firmly or indelibly in someone’s mind.
“his face, with its clearly drawn features, was printed on her memory”
synonyms: register, record, impress, imprint, engrave, etch, stamp, mark
“the incident is printed on her memory”

I dunno… maybe start hanging out with people who can actually read? They will at least be familiar with the end result.

sheeesh

You’re hanging out with the wrong people.

Easily the most common question my little print shop has gotten asked is “Do you print t-shirts?”, haha! Apparently this is the first thing people think of when they think of printing? It is bizarre to me.

Y’know, I was asked that question once. I thought about it for a moment before answering:

“Yeah, I guess I could get set up for silk screen.”

Blank Stare

“Minimum order ten thousand impressions at five dollars each. Half down, so twenty-five thousand dollars. Will it be cash or a check?”

I guess he wasn’t interested in financing my venture into silk screen printing.