Deb's Blog
Deb Turpin is founder and CEO of River City Studio and a serial entrepreneur. She is a partner in River City Solutions, a network support and training company; as well as a partner in Gringos Investments LLC which owns 2 rental properties in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She also owns Anatomy Reviews, which provides study aids for college students taking Gros Anatomy.
subscribe 
recent posts
25 Years and Changearchive
Aug 2009August 29, 2009 - 9:29 AM
In the mid 80s, ideas and concepts were ususally delivered in person, via a layout using tracing paper, pencil sketches or (if you had a really big budget) a colored marker comp. The salesperson always ran out the door at a mad pace because those layouts just never got done until the last possible moment.
If we were in the middle of a project, we often used delivery companies to transport photo contact sheets, PMS colors and paper choices, keylines and additional layouts. I loved this period in time because we were able to blame everything on the delivery guy. "Yes, we know you need that layout yet today and we've called the delivery company and they should be here soon!" was our response to a harried client while we frantically finished that layout and prayed the delivery guy wasn't anywhere close to downtown KC.
The appearance of the fax machine in the late 80s was a disaster for we creative folk. "Just fax it over" took away our window of those few extra hours or minutes we had come to depend on to finish the copy or layout before the delivery guy darkened our door.
Then, of course, came the computer. Suddenly those ideas sketched on paper became ads and brochures that starting looking like the real thing. And what got lost in translation was the focus that should be paid to a great idea.
And that is what I miss more than anything these days. Instead of considering the concepts presented, everyone gets tangled up in the nuances. "I don't really care for that shade of green" or "That font seems a bit thin" and "Don't you think the logo should be bigger" are often the first responses we hear rather than a lively debate about the idea itself.
This happened to me just recently. I had what I thought was a really terrific idea. We spent less than an hour in Photoshop doing a quick mockup to show the client. And instead of getting a "Wow!" which I hoped for and somewhat expected, I heard the concerns around the details. I left that meeting rather deflated. And then, at the end of the day, my cell phone rang and what I heard on the other end was, "Deb, I just realized I forgot to say that was a really brilliant idea!"
Execution is always important. But always deliver a big idea.
Share this post 
Send to a Friend
Tweet This
Share on Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Myspace
Post to Reddit
Share on StumbleUpon
Save to del.icio.us
Digg This
August 01, 2009 - 7:35 AM
It was in July 1985, that Jamie Porthouse and I (aka Debbie Alt-Turpin) decided to tempt fate and start our own boutique graphic design firm in a historic (cheap) brick warehouse in the River Quay (now Market). Our entrepreneurial business plan was crafted at the kitchen table on a yellow lined tablet with several columns of numbers, a list of necessary supplies that included one set of magic markers and a great deal of hope.
Today, it seems nearly impossible that a) 24 years have actually passed; b) the doors are still open and c) I’m still having a heck of a lot of fun!
Change? OMG! (And that’s just one example.) In the weeks to come I plan on sharing the good and the bad, lessons learned, how I’ve come to love and appreciate change and how incredibly blessed I feel to have started with a partner who became a great friend, worked with so many talented advertising professionals over the years, enjoyed long-lasting relationships with so many loyal clients and learned that “giving back” can define a company and it’s culture in so very many positive ways.
Share this post
Send to a Friend
Share on Facebook
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Myspace
Post to Reddit
Digg This