Sometimes making people happy in the world of business can result in wonderful personal gains . And no, I’m not referring  to an “arms-deal-type” happiness, which may be terminal (in business and in life) like in the case of  Mr. Shaik (aka Shaba). No, I’m talking about good, prompt, hassle-free delivery of service and product.

I was afforded some happiness last week when I received two VIP tickets to yesterday’s Rugby Festival which was held at the new Cape Town Stadium in Green Point.It was an experience of “goosebumpular” emotions which resulted in a great victory for the Stormers over the Boland invitational team (43-17). And in the curtain-raiser the South African Legends 10s team beat the International Legends 27-5. So…. all-round victories for the locals.

The greatest victory however goes to a happy people; the famous Capetonian sea-breeze; a beautiful mountain and the organisers (some wearing Lava Ink promo t shirts) . Even with a crowd of 40 000 people, it was  smooth sailing from beginning to end.

The organisers of the event SAIL Stadefrance, made sure that help was available at all times and that the assistants were easily visible, wearing Lava Ink’s VB 145 gram t shirts in bright yellow. This is an excellent cost effective promotional product which is 100% South African (and cheaper than the Chinese imports nogal). It’s not very “feshenable” but rather functional as it serves its basic purpose.

People can moan and groan about the state of the world……….and all that is, is talk. Then there are those who do. Those who do are the ones who change world. Organisations like The ManKind Project (MKP). I love their vision, which is partly described by this inset taken from the MKP website :

Men have been warriors since the beginning of time and every man has his warrior side. But social forces pressure many to repress this part of themselves. They unconsciously substitute a distorted shadow for the healthy warrior energy so essential to sustaining individual and communal balance.

The New Warrior is a man who has confronted this destructive “shadow” form and has achieved hard-won ownership of the highly focused, aggressive energy that empowers and shapes the inner masculine self. Sustained by this new energy, the New Warrior is at once tough and loving, wild and gentle, fierce and tolerant. He lives passionately and compassionately, because he has learned to live his mission with integrity, and without apology.

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We were asked to print some 200 gram t shirts for MKP and initially I wanted to do a Direct To Garment (DTG) print. I was then handed this strike-off  and informed that the guys got this result with a screen print - we decided to run with it because it looks amazing!

Strike-off (pre-production approval)

What’s great is that the actual t shirts even looks better than the strike off (see below). Well done guys, I must say that your skills are unmatched and you have restored my faith in CMYK screen printing.

Actual printed t shirts

Last month we did some work  for a well established UK company who does exactly what we do but on a much larger scale. We were given this order because of a tight deadline and because the goods had to be delivered to Cape Town.  Amazingly, we had a product that was almost identical to the one their client wanted. We delivered the goods within three working days with the branding they required.

About this product

170g Polyester micromesh
Moisture management cooldry fabric
Contract shoulder & side panels.

Available in 11 colourways:
Black/Orange, Black/White, Navy/White, Black/Red, White/Red
White/Orange, Royal/White, White/Royal, White/Black,
Black/Yellow, Red/Black

ADULT SIZES: S – 3XL

Mock-up vs actual.

Mock -up approval

Actual t shirt print

The days of web designers are numbered. Better technology leads to better technology and this is why technology is such a wonderful thing.  Yola is an example of the evolution of technology which allows one to build a website without having programming experience.

One thing that we’ve learnt from being an online company is that businesses that utilize the internet as their main marketing tool and make a living from it, are more likely to use other businesses that are internet based.It is probably because as an online company you know that other internet businesses are the same as you are (ethically) and therefore you are more trusting towards them. So if you are still advertising in the Yellow Pages your days are numbered as well because in this fast-paced world of business, nobody has the time (or the muscle) to pick up a heavy book to look for a company,product or service and ….it requires the turning of pages. The www is growing, so that means that there will be more people wanting to use internet based businesses, which means if you don’t have an optimised website, you are not going to be found. The internet is filled will young, time-strapped “internetters” with loads of cash who need to do business quickly.

About Yola

Yola brings website building to the rest of us. Small businesses. Groups and organizations. Non-profits. Your Aunt Martha. The guy in the next cube. Everyone.

Our website builder lets you easily take what’s in your head and turn it into webpages in front of your eyes. Yola lets you make great-looking sites with webpages that work beautifully together.  We do it without imposing banner ads or throwing up pop-up ad windows everywhere.

taken from yola.com

Thank you Yola for trusting Lava Ink with your t shirts.

yola t shirts

The greatest thing about being in the t shirt business is that I get to meet many different people from different industries. You meet those who are very precise and orderly – who plan months in advance to ensure that everything is perfect. Then you get the more arty laid back people who decide that t shirts would be great for the event that will be taking place tomorrow. The guys from the Apollo Film Festival is of the latter sort and we did this job within 3 days. No complaints about the deadline from our side, we accommodate all personalities . Thanks for the work guys!

About this client

The Apollo Film Festival now in it’s Eighth year, promises to deliver yet another exhilarating edition. The only one of its kind in South Africa, the festival prides itself in promoting strictly South African Films. This important event in the South African Film Calendar will run from the 2nd to the 5th of October this year at the Apollo Theatre in Victoria West. The Apollo Theatre is also a heritage site in Church Street, and is one of the last remaining art deco cinemas in the country and forms part of the Apollo Development Association – a community based organisation aimed at creating youth and economic development through culture and tourism.

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The brief was submitted with the following image. Required was a 2 colour screen print on the front of the t shirt. T shirt had to be a high quality grammage.

We supplied them with our ST 185 gram t shirts and did a 2 colour screen print in the proportion depicted on their pic.

Great result, happy customer!

These are our VB 180 gram crew neck t shirts with a one colour print on the front and rear. The 180 gram fabric is perfect for uniform-wear as it is durable and maintains its dimensional stability after many washes.

About this client

With a love for coffee and a passion for the African adventure, Bean There Coffee Company acquires, through fair trade, the world’s finest single origin coffee, which is hand roasted to produce an exclusive optimal roast.

Fair trade guarantees farmers will receive a fair payment for their coffee, regardless of market fluctuations, which ensures community development and empowerment. Bean There provides single origin, unblended coffee beans from a single country, region, and crop. All coffee beans have an optimal roast: a point within the roasting process where the key coffee elements of aroma, body, acidity and flavour meet perfectly, resulting in a most desirable, optimal roast. Bean There has sourced the world’s most exclusive coffee which it traditionally hand-roasts in small batches and packages hot, arresting the aroma and flavour until its release. The coffee taste and experience emanates class, distinction, extravagance, and passion. Every cup of Bean There coffee creates an adventure able to transport the taster to the jungles of risk, the farms of intrigue, the plains of mystery, and the taste of Africa’s coffee heritage.

Taken from Bean There Coffee Company website