[synthfiend]

What do you do if you are a "production artist", and you are brought a job to do with no information? By that, I mean, a paper is left on your desk that essentially says "Hi, I need this ASAP".

Is there a size? What text and graphics do you want? What colors are you printing?

Is this unreasonable? Am I asking too much? Hello?

OK, now picture this.

Another person next to me asked this and was "shushed" by the requester. By shushed, I mean the person extended their index finger, placed it over their mouth and waved the person back to their desk whilst making a shhhhh sound.

The artist returned the request to this person, and grabbed another job to work on. She said nothing else except she couldn't complete the job with zero information.

That night she was fired for being "difficult".

Lastly, this happens all the time, and it is always the same person.

Is this a "look for another job" issue? All signs say yes. The person in question is apparently untouchable.
And blessed with what appears to be an IQ of 80.

Help?

[peeb]

1. Yes. Look for another job.
2. If you think you are not in the position to do that, you have a couple of options:
a) Try to figure it out, take a stab at it with no information.
b) Try to communicate with the boss. Ask for a meeting, and politely explain that you want to do a good job, but need more information on expectations. You might want to write down the things you want to say, and possibly send this as a letter if you can't get a meeting.

[synthfiend]

Peeb,
Thanks! I will try that. The manager in question is unavailable right now.

And I just found out that a meeting about this person is going on right now. <snoopy happy dance>

[andi*pandi]

that person sounds mental. your coworker who merely complained about being "shushed" was restrained, I think I would have smacked someone for doing that.

You could phrase it to your boss as a waste of company resources (ie, your time) to have you muddle around with no specs trying to guess this person's/the client's wishes.

[synthfiend]

Yeah, I agree with you. She is Mental. But it's more of a dumb blonde thing. I have never in my life said that about anyone, but it is.

The other production person was FIRED for being "too slow". Guess why it took her so long to do her job.

I'm really beginning to dislike working under people that have no accountability whatsoever.

Thanks for the advice!!!

[art_director]

If your corporation has an established work order in place you should point to that document. If your company does not have such a process you should take initiative and try to implement one. If you face resistence start pulling your portfolio together. You may want to do that regardless since there's a madwoman roaming the halls. Of course, it's fun to be around when people like that finally get their due.

[JJM]

Originally Posted by synthfiend 

What do you do if you are a "production artist", and you are brought a job to do with no information? By that, I mean, a paper is left on your desk that essentially says "Hi, I need this ASAP".

Is there a size? What text and graphics do you want? What colors are you printing?


Is this unreasonable? Am I asking too much? Hello?OK, now picture this.

Another person next to me asked this and was "shushed" by the requester. By shushed, I mean the person extended their index finger, placed it over their mouth and waved the person back to their desk whilst making a shhhhh sound.

The artist returned the request to this person, and grabbed another job to work on. She said nothing else except she couldn't complete the job with zero information.

That night she was fired for being "difficult".

Lastly, this happens all the time, and it is always the same person.

Is this a "look for another job" issue? All signs say yes. The person in question is apparently untouchable.
And blessed with what appears to be an IQ of 80.

Help?

FR JJ: Hi There:
I'm not sure how long you've been in the production business, but I have for about 15 yrs. I have my staff (of about 50+) well trained to know that we cannot always read their minds (in some cases we've worked together so long I think I actually can) however, the first step is to create a form (soft copy and hard for the non-computer die-hards)
This is what mine says;

================================================== =========
E-MAIL Quick PRODUCTION FORM
================================================== =========
PROJECT TITLE: Sleep Guidebook
TODAYS DATE: 11/09/07
DATE DUE: 11/12/07 (please type as: mm/dd/yy)
Date at final destination( NOTE location): @ Ad Agency by 11/14/07

================================================== =========
Your Name: Bla
Mngr's Approval per: Bla Bla
================================================== =========
Description:
____ I put stuff (sample, copy, roughs, etc) in PRODUCTION IN-BOX with
PINK NOTE attached with the same name as PROJECT TITLE: (above)
(PINK NOTES are in PRODUCTION IN-MAIL BOX in Prod. Dept)

____ I put copy/text/word computer document in the
!Prod.Transport folder located on the server with the same name as
PROJECT TITLE: (above)

___ see attached

================================================== =========
Important Specs:
Quantity:
B&W or Color:
Size: __8.5 x 11 ___11x17
Folded: ___1/3rds ___1/2
Laminted:
Hole punched:
_________duplexed_______ single-sided
Graphics/Imagery/Photos: _________attached __________find:
Special instructions:

================================================== =========
A form like this is totally modifiable per your business and staff.

I am proud to say that not only do our staff use it as they know that I am serving them but even the CEO an extremely creative chap likes to use it via email while he's traveling on a plane he'll generate one to me or if he's really busy he'll shoot me an email and I'll return it with one of these filled out asking if all is correct before proceeding. My CEO knows that any unnecessary time I spend is money out of pocket. He always appreciates seeing what I've written as this shows if I truly got the picture or not. 90% of the time there are some refinements to what written before I even begin.

Sounds like this person has an inflated ego (small shoes size) and is not very creative in this way. If you really need this job and cannot work for someone who is more fun and flexible then I guess the flex is in your court and you might want to "give it a stab" and see if you can read his/her mind. And over time as a way to "make time count" introduce these ways of making your world and the company more efficient. You might even be appreciated for it over time.
Good luck, JJ

[synthfiend]

Sweet!
So, they fired me.

Merry Christmas.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by synthfiend 

Sweet!
So, they fired me.

Merry Christmas.

For taking this issue up with management/someone?

I hope you took art_director's advice and started putting together a portfolio and keeping your eyes and ears open for other opportunities?

[synthfiend]

I did.
Unfortunately, things are a little dead right now due to Christmas.

:-\