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Continue Shoppingexit343design: Fall 2021 updates and changes
As a small business owner, it's important to consistently evaluate what is working, what is kinda working, and what is dead weight. Also as a small business owner, sometimes these changes can feel so personal and monumental that it's tough to commit. But, in nearly every instance, hindsight shows the choice was right and you or your business grew because of it!
Today's post is about two difficult choices I have made with exit343design that I believe will allow exit343design to serve our customers better in the long run.
1. exit343design has discontinued the "booze bag" line of products.
Booze bags have always been a labor of love. If there's anything I adore, it's an easy and thoughtful gift! IMHO, these hand-printed gift bags are the perfect way to jazz up all sorts of bottles - wine, booze, beer, olive oil, whatever. With 48 different designs, there is no shortage of choices to select from!
Full transparency: the number one issue from the start has been the price. The blank bags cost about the same as a full-size shopper tote bag with the same production time. However, gift packaging is an industry packed with low-price bags, wrap, tags, etc- it is difficult to compete!
The time has come to sunset this product line for now. All booze bags have been marked down on final sale and are as supplies last. You can shop the remaining stock here- each listing has been updated to reflect exactly how many are remaining.
2. exit343design is transitioning select greeting cards designs to be digitally printed.
Oof, this decision was a doozy to make! The act of printing is one of my favorite parts of making. Often, when printing a first edition of greeting cards, I'm figuring out the ink and paper colors in studio for a more hands-on approach. I love this part of the process!
The part that I don't love? Being a production printer so that I'm reprinting designs over and over again until it starts eating into the time I would otherwise dedicate to other aspects of exit343design.
This time suck, combined with rising supply prices (looking at you, print paper prices up 30%), and a positive customer reaction to more colorful greeting cards, has led me to this point. I am still figuring out how this change will look, but in general it means this:
- Current card designs with 3+ printed colors will be digitally printed.
- Cards that are digitally printed will be notated on exit343design.com in the product's listing under "Print Method."
- Current card designs with metallic inks will continue to be screen-printed.
- All greeting cards will be the same price regardless of print method.
For as tough and personal as this decision feels, I know it will be the best for my sanity and for my customers needs. It will keep the price even and free up time for me to design new (more colorful!) work.