30 Words

Yesterday, approximately 9 months after the idea of 30 Words was born, we finally printed our first set of language guides.  Over the course of the last few weeks Erin and I have been working long hours in preparation for the print.  After numerous pots of coffee, encouragement from the world’s greatest roommates, and too many days of red eyes, we were excited to hand off our project to our expert printer.  Our printer is legendary for the tenure of its employees, and I must say I was impressed.  I asked three employees how long they had worked in the print industry and all had the same answer - “Way too long.”  Their work might not offer the same level of excitement it once did, but I found the employees’ responses very reassuring. 

As our print date approached, Erin and I became increasingly particular about every detail of our guides.  Last Thursday, after our files were submitted to the printer, we drove to the printer’s office to examine a ‘proof’ of our guides.  We arrived at ten in the morning and expected to walk out fifteen minutes later.  Instead, we spent the rest of the afternoon at an extra desk at the printer’s office editing our guides.  By the end of the day, Erin and I were convinced we had made our final adjustments.  When we returned Friday to examine another proof, however, we immediately identified a more changes.  We apologized to the printer and asked for another “fifteen minutes” to edit.  When we walked away from the editing table five hours later, the printer had a smile on his face  that seemed to say “damn amateurs!”  However, we left the printer that day with a final product, a signed ‘proof’’, and set our press time for 11 a.m. on Monday, April 6th.  

Over the weekend, the words of my prescient aunt ran through my head.  She warned me weeks ago that ‘No matter how perfect you think your guides will be, as soon as they come off the press you will find mistakes.’   Erin and I could not have missed anything… right?  

When we walked into the press room Monday morning, we were surprised to see more alignment and spacing issues we could not accept.  With a look of exasperation, our press manager plopped us back down on the computer and we went back to work.  Working against the clock, Erin and I breezed through the final editing session.  With a press sheet now in hand, I can honestly say that after an hour of looking at our guides I think we have produced a pretty darn accurate, effective, and beautiful guide

To the amateur (me) printing is an amazing process.  We printed our guides on a press over 60 feet long and almost 10 feet tall.  The machine is so long that the print managers who stand at each end of the sonorous machine speak into microphones, relaying information about color levels, paper volumes, and other details we were happy to have out of our hands.  At the tail end of the press sit deep carts, stuffed to the brim with discarded press sheets used to test coloring.  Discarded press sheets pile up until the color manager is able to match the sheets coming off the press to the ‘proof’ we signed earlier.  Over the course of an hour or so, the color manager manipulates the density of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink to arrive at a perfect sheet.  Throughout this process I was reminded again how pleased I was that everyone working had been employed in the print industry ‘way too long’.  I was content to be the only amateur in sight.    

Our press run finally wrapped up around Midnight.   Erin and I left the printers to their work and enjoyed a nice train ride home.  We cannot tell you how excited we are to finally see our idea in printed form.  Tomorrow, after the guides are cut, scored, and ready to go, we are going to begin the real journey - building a company around your feedback, our dreams, and many more late nights.

Take care!  

Andrew and Erin