Printing stuff

I was recently talking to a friend about where to get stuff printed. Here is a list of places I go to and what I use.

If you're looking for the best deals, go online. Printing is extremely competitive, and they're always trying to outbid each other. If you want to use a local printer, go online and get a quote and see if the local folks will beat it. Only use a copy shop (Staples, Kinkos, etc) if you are doing low volume printing (a small run less than what a regular printer will do. Like less than 250 business cards say). It doesn't matter which one you go to, they all use the same machines so the quality will be more or less the same. Always get a proof before they print your job, especially if color is important. And footnote, nothing you will have produced at a copy shop is archival; meaning the colors will fade and/or eventually it will look like crap. The paper itself may even disintegrate if it's not acid free. Keep that in mind if you're looking to have artwork printed or reproduced.

Ok! So one of the art forms I like to have produced for me is Giclée prints. I will create digital files (I'll do a blog post about how I produce them later, but essentially I draw something out and modify it in various ways. It's faster than painting, and I like the control and graphic quality when it's all done). I currently use http://www.giclee-factory.com, their prices are really good, there's no minimum quantity, and I've liked working with them so far. The only down side for me is that they're in Canada, I'd rather use someone closer but I haven't yet found a company that works for me yet.

For other types of printing, like business cards, stickers, banners, etc. shop around! Some companies may provide all those services, but they may specialize in one more than the other. So their business card prices may be great but their vinyl stickers may be more expensive than elsewhere. Here's a small list of places that I've found that have good prices, and I've liked the samples they sent me (ask them and most places will send you samples to review).

http://www.uprinting.com General printing
http://jimmybuttons.com/ Buttons
http://stickerobot.com/ Vinyl stickers

This list isn't conclusive, and not necessarily the best of what's out there. This is just what I have saved since the last time I've done a search. If you find something better, leave a comment or send me an email with what you've found. I'm always looking for better places to have stuff made.

Wha? Blog what?

Back in the mid to late 90's I used to 'blog' a lot. I never called it that, I don't believe that word was in the general public lexicon back then. But I did, and I was very prolific. A part of it exists still on http://iam.bmezine.com (don't bother, unless you're a member you can't get in). Around 02-03 about the time I moved to Colorado I gradually stopped posting so much. You know, life happens... I have gone back into it occasionally. Every damn social media site offers a blog, & I just don't feel like cutting and pasting all over the place, so the purpose of this is to consolidate, and I need to get into the practice of regular journaling.

I tend to take a conversational tone. Imagine you and I are sitting in some cozy coffee shop, and I'm telling you a story, or ranting about something I heard, or saw. Generally that's how I tend to write. Like my art, I get personal. Oh, I'm not going to tell you about the date I had last night or anything I'd consider to be terribly private, and I don't want to give you some emotional drivel that will make you claw your eyes out afterwards asking 'whyyyyyyOHGODWHYYYYY!!!!'. But it's going to get personal. I wish I was one of those objective people that can make art in a scientific detached kind of way so I would not have to second guess; 'is this really a good idea?!'... but I find doing it that way to be boring honestly.

And who wants that?

By the way, that's why I call this a diary, it's more in the vein that I approach these things. Oh, and about the name (someone asked me what it meant, so I feel obliged to explain). Whetstone, is one of the old names for the Olentangy River which flows through Worthington Ohio, my home town (pronounced Ole-n-tan-gy, not Old-and-tangy). I've traveled a bit and lived elsewhere, but (a bit to my own annoyance) this is where I seem to always return to. The river is not impressive by most people's standards. In fact most people don't seem to be impressed by the geography of this area of the world at all. No mountains, no grand rivers, very few caves and very small hills (if there are any hills at all). But I've spent some significant moments around that body of water, and I think it's indicitive of the area. It's not obvious, you have to look carefully, get in it, and pay attention, to see it's beauty and find it's secrets.

Also, a whetstone is a flat stone used to sharpen tools, especially knives.

Sometimes I find obscure or rarely used words to name my work, because I don't want to just -hand it to you-. Maybe I should, people expect things to be so easy (just give me what I want, right now), but if everything was easy, we wouldn't learn anything. If there is a deep meaning behind the name I don't suppose I'd tell you, but really it's just a name that works for me.

If you want to know more about me, a proper introduction would be to go visit my website, the rest you'll find out as I go.

1st entry.

I know, very exciting to have yet another blog. I'm excited for you.

So what's the point? I want to chronicle the things I find interesting. Much of this will be regarding art and/or art-related, but some of it won't.

We shall see what happens next as I get this set up.

So yay, let's kick this pig!