![email erik[at]printedbyerik[dot].com](http://www.printedbyerik.com/wp-content/themes/traction_pro/images/flw-email.png)
Sony Playstation Security Breach
For the 77 million users of the Playstation Network, Sony said their names, addresses, birthdates, and username and password data were likely stolen.
Company officials said they are still trying to determine whether users’ credit card numbers were taken. Sony said it learned of the breach on April 19 and immediately shut down the network.
Read more 
Clients from Hell
From the desk of: Clients from Hell – A collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers.
Client: ”When this gets printed, what sort of colors get mixed together?”
Me: “Well, anything that gets printed is basically a combination of black, yellow, cyan, and magenta ink or toner…” Read more
Crap in a box…
No, I don’t mean to literally crap in a box. – I’m talking about junk that you buy that comes in a box. We have all been “had” at some point in our lives when it comes to buying crap. Whether it was that cheap ass toy that your family bought you when you were a kid, or the spatula that you got from WalMart that broke in your first batch of cake batter. We all know the feeling when you realize, “this sucks… wtf.” Read more
Clients From Hell
Clients From Hell is a collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers. Excellent resource for a daily chuckle.
Personal favorites:
- Can you please remove the iStockPhoto watermark on the photos? I don’t think it adds anything visually.
- Can you bill your design time in 6 minute increments?
- How late can I get you the revisions and still have it ASAP?
Your business card is #$@!
Business Card; definition: A small card identifying a person in connection with his or her business, given to a client, potential customer, etc.
Don’t expect your business card to be able tell your company’s entire story. Your business card is not meant to sell a product or service. Read more
I would like that for Free
Pretend for just a moment you walk into your favorite local bakery. You go up to the counter and the bakery’s employee asks you, “What would you like today?” Now you look at her and say, “I have this important business meeting today and I would like two dozen bagels and a variety of cream cheese please.” “Of course,” she says. She gathers your order and you take your freshly baked bagels and cream cheese and head for the door. She says, “Umm, don’t forget sir, you need to pay for those.” “No, it is ok, I buy a lot from you all the time and I need these for free today,” you say.
What just happened? As an employee of a local print shop this dilemma has reared its ugly head before, the horror of the freebie request.
Your customer always has a basic want or request –
- – I have no budget for this upcoming project.
- – We are wanting to do samples as a sales pitch to a current customer.
- – Would you like to be a print sponsor for this event we have this weekend?
From time to time freebies are part of any small business. With this, there has to be an understanding between both parties. When running a small business you can not afford to give a free project away that will conflict with your current production workflow already on the table. Your customer also needs to not push deadlines onto a project he or she is not going to pay for.
The dreaded freebie request– [Customer] It would be great if we could just change that layout a little bit and add this logo into it. It won’t be too much trouble, will it?
Do you have a freebie story? Please share below.