Last winter I was working alternating weeks of day and night shifts, either 6am-4pm or 4pm-2am. Day in and day out it was steel toes, carhartts, company shirts, ID badge, earplugs, safety glasses, hair and beard nets, and a hard hat, as I worked my way through six rotating positions on the production line. Whether operating a forklift or just pushing buttons, a crew whose motto seemed to be “nothin’ to me,” surrounded me. As in, “sure that should probably be done but why should I do it? How is that going to affect me? It’s not my problem or mine to worry about. Do your own job and leave me to mine.” Staying motivated was not the easiest thing to do. Keeping my cool wasn’t always that easy either when guys would start razzing me, saying I’d still be there in another 15 or 20 years. I did my best to use those comments as fuel for the fire under me arse.  I had started telling myself that if I hit a year out of school without finding my first job in the design industry, I would move to the Portland/Southern Maine area to attempt to infiltrate the design community there. If I was going to work a warehouse type job, it might as well be in an area where I could attempt to build a network and bring in some freelance work until I found something full-time. That cut-off point was only weeks away when a letterpress printer in Somerville, Massachusetts (Mike Dacey of Repeat Press) told me about an internship position open at The Mandate Press in Salt Lake City, UT. On June 23, I showed up for my first day as a part-time intern at 1077 S Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. Six months later, I’m working 35 hours a week at the shop (no more working two jobs!) and I’ve put a month or two in on the Heidelberg Windmills after spending most of my time in the first few months cranking the Vandercook #4. Being home for the holidays has been awesome for reaffirming the fact that I’m on the right track and doing what I want to do. I’ll admit that some long hours and some difficult setups have left me a bit frazzled and frustrated over the past few weeks. At some points it seems to be just the luck of the draw whether I breeze through a setup or it takes me hours and of course, a longer setup means a later night at the shop, which means Ramen for dinner. However, coming home and seeing college friends in Boston, the guys at the rink, and family at the house has led to many conversations that have highlighted all the best parts of my job. I’ve been left with the reminder that this is the time to earn my stripes and the days of more experience and greater knowledge will only come as a result of working those longer hours and being patient through the challenges. Over the past few weeks I’ve been worrying a little that I haven’t been noticing a lot of progress but these conversations have reminded me of where I started at the end of June. It is no exaggeration that I used up my previous experience in the first week (if not the first day) on the job and that everything I’m doing now has been learned first-hand by simply doing it. In addition to securing the exact job that I thought I’d never have, I’m also getting more comfortable with the city which has led to me enjoying it more. Now, refreshed a bit by kicking up my feet on the East Coast, I’m looking forward to a Happy New Year at The Mandate Press. Pictured is 55his’ ”Retro Radio Print,” printed by The Mandate Press
Pop-upView Separately

Last winter I was working alternating weeks of day and night shifts, either 6am-4pm or 4pm-2am. Day in and day out it was steel toes, carhartts, company shirts, ID badge, earplugs, safety glasses, hair and beard nets, and a hard hat, as I worked my way through six rotating positions on the production line. Whether operating a forklift or just pushing buttons, a crew whose motto seemed to be “nothin’ to me,” surrounded me. As in, “sure that should probably be done but why should I do it? How is that going to affect me? It’s not my problem or mine to worry about. Do your own job and leave me to mine.”

Staying motivated was not the easiest thing to do. Keeping my cool wasn’t always that easy either when guys would start razzing me, saying I’d still be there in another 15 or 20 years. I did my best to use those comments as fuel for the fire under me arse. 

I had started telling myself that if I hit a year out of school without finding my first job in the design industry, I would move to the Portland/Southern Maine area to attempt to infiltrate the design community there. If I was going to work a warehouse type job, it might as well be in an area where I could attempt to build a network and bring in some freelance work until I found something full-time.

That cut-off point was only weeks away when a letterpress printer in Somerville, Massachusetts (Mike Dacey of Repeat Press) told me about an internship position open at The Mandate Press in Salt Lake City, UT. On June 23, I showed up for my first day as a part-time intern at 1077 S Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Six months later, I’m working 35 hours a week at the shop (no more working two jobs!) and I’ve put a month or two in on the Heidelberg Windmills after spending most of my time in the first few months cranking the Vandercook #4.

Being home for the holidays has been awesome for reaffirming the fact that I’m on the right track and doing what I want to do. I’ll admit that some long hours and some difficult setups have left me a bit frazzled and frustrated over the past few weeks. At some points it seems to be just the luck of the draw whether I breeze through a setup or it takes me hours and of course, a longer setup means a later night at the shop, which means Ramen for dinner. However, coming home and seeing college friends in Boston, the guys at the rink, and family at the house has led to many conversations that have highlighted all the best parts of my job. I’ve been left with the reminder that this is the time to earn my stripes and the days of more experience and greater knowledge will only come as a result of working those longer hours and being patient through the challenges. Over the past few weeks I’ve been worrying a little that I haven’t been noticing a lot of progress but these conversations have reminded me of where I started at the end of June. It is no exaggeration that I used up my previous experience in the first week (if not the first day) on the job and that everything I’m doing now has been learned first-hand by simply doing it.

In addition to securing the exact job that I thought I’d never have, I’m also getting more comfortable with the city which has led to me enjoying it more. Now, refreshed a bit by kicking up my feet on the East Coast, I’m looking forward to a Happy New Year at The Mandate Press.

Pictured is 55his’ ”Retro Radio Print,” printed by The Mandate Press

9 Notes/ Hide

  1. scrtcollective said: I would like to say “Thank you” for posting this. I am in the position described in the first paragraph and have been struggling for a while to keep my head up and in the game. Its nice to read this and it just helps to motivate me to move forwards.
  2. thegraveyard posted this

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus