Blue Ridge Quick Print Internship

  The main method of motivating employees to work harder and more effectively comes through the form of a positive work environment. Supporting employees by being constructive and appreciative helps foster the growth of workers and more effective work ethic. It can be too common for employers to be to harsh towards new hires or workers that make mistakes, but instead of strict criticism, my employer shows understanding towards mistakes and helps me to learn on the job and fix my errors. Another way that helps employees work more effectively is the system of client orders and sharing information with one another. It helps maintain a constant flow of employees helping one another and processing orders to be as effective as possible. My employers also promote breaks to avoid burnout and help regain focus. Free lunch is also a benefit that improves morale and helps workers feel appreciated.  Making people feel appreciated is a main method to improving morale. Making people feel go...

  In regards to marketing and raising awareness of the print shop, we mainly advertise through our website, business cards, and community / word of mouth. The website is utilized to give more information about the business itself, what services it provides, the history behind it, and how to contact us. It allows customers and clients to get a deeper view into the company. The business cards are effective at briefly introducing the company to potential customers, providing a short description and contact information. I was tasked with redesigning them a couple weeks back, but we haven't had an opportunity to settle on a design or begin printing them. Lastly, the community in our small town is it's own form of marketing, giving good impressions to customers and having them spread the word to others about our services. This is effective in a smaller town, and with only two printing businesses around, it keeps us in business. Connections are really important in the design industry,...

From working at the studio for a couple of weeks, I have begun to admire Mrs. Ronneburger as a mentor and designer. She is the one mostly running the business, which takes a lot of dedication and work ethic. The two main aspects of her character I admire greatly is her passion for design and perseverance through difficult times. She has been designing for a great chunk of her life, going so far as to teach design and digital media in high school for a long period of time, which is where I met her the first time. Now she owns her own printing studio, where she works to use her design skills to help the community. Her passion for design has fueled her entire career and life, which is something I hope to carry with me in my future job opportunities. Secondly, her perseverance through difficulties and trials is admirable to me. Even in just a short couple of weeks, I have seen her deal with demanding clients, faulty software, and technical issues that could drive anyone insane. Despite thi...

In regards to the history of Blue Ridge Quick Print, I know that it was opened in 1978 under the original owner, and operated for 47 years until the owner sold it to my current manager in 2025. While we have new clients occasionally, most of our clients ordered stuff from us previously. All of the saved designs or products are located in a massive organized drive, which we have to look through to find specific information or previous work for clients. The business focuses heavily on local community, diverse utilities, and a mix of quality and fast services. The biggest change that has impacted this business has mainly come from the change in staff, with new owners and employees. This has lead to a few changes in regards to the companies values and methods. With a few designers involved, we not only want to print with great quality but make the printed designs the best they could be. We want to give people what they want while also improving it for the benefit of the client. While they...

  For my first week on interning, I had an overall positive experience. I was able to get introduced to the studio and into some projects quickly. A majority of my work involved editing existing designs per client's requests and then sending emails to confirm their approval or ask for feedback. I did get to work on a few projects that allowed creative liberties, mainly business cards.  The studio is somewhat small, with a reception desk, two work tables, a desk with two monitors, a main office, and an array of printers. I sit at the desk with the monitors, in the corner of the room. The main working area takes up a majority of the space, with enough room to move around and place printed materials.  As an intern, I mainly work as a support to the organization, doing quick edits and design work to help the more experienced workers get bigger projects done. While I have learned a little about printing and the machines, I have mainly been situated on the computer, unless my a...