Tasks We Hate

Here are the duties wide-format print pros dislike doing most.

Published

1 year ago

December 20, 2024

Big Picture Staff BIG PICTURE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025

Telling a potential client we can’t help them. — David Kaiser, Digitype Design, Tualatin, OR
Embroidery. A big part of the business and I am glad not to have to be doing the stitching. Noisy and a pain to deal with. — Tommy Melendez, Master Graphics NYC, Bronx, NY
Letting people go. ometimes they aren’t the right fit and dismissing someone shouldn’t be taken lightly as it turn their world upside down. — Tim Bezner, Westmount Signs And Printing Co., Waterloo, ON, Canada
My least favorite thing to do is getting the order wrong and having to share the bad news with the customer. — Mark Potter, Kingdom Vinyls, Muscle Shoals, AL
Dealing with taxes, insurance and most forms of government paperwork and expenses!!! — Derek Atchley, Atchley Graphics, Columbus, OH
Keeping track of expenses. — Tami Napolitano, Awesome Graphics, Rutland, VT
Filing anything! I move when the piles get too tall. And I print everything, because at least then you can find it sometimes. — Barbara Allen, Fresh Artists, Philadelphia, PA
I do love almost all aspects of my job, but the part I love the least is being on call for our installers in order to deal with site issues. The worst is when you know there is an installation and your phone rings, and the caller ID shows it’s your installer. In an instant, you think to yourself, “Oh, no — what is it? Can he not find the on-site contact? Is the mural wall not prepped properly? Or is it the worst news of all — the graphics are wrong!” One thing we do know — he’s not calling to tell us everything is going great! — Darren Loprinzi, Color Reflections, Philadelphia, PA
Performance management takes everything out of me. It is an opportunity to get someone on the right track. However, it’s time consuming and individuals can be resistant to feedback. — Kristi Duvall, The Boxmaker, Kent, WA
While I love my job, one of the biggest pain points is when something out of my control happens to delay a project. It’s hard to be the bearer of bad news when there’s a last-minute material issue, or freight gets delayed or, as we all experienced with the last pandemic, not being able to operate at full capacity. — Morgen Masciana, Dcg One, Seattle, WA
I really dislike having to decide which projects go to which project managers on our team, especially when everyone is busy and slammed with work. — Wade Neff, Strategic Factory, Owings Mills, MD

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Big Picture Staff

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