Finisher? What is a finisher?
There are several definitions for the word finisher, some sporty, some practical...and some scary:
1. The Ryan's (my BF's): Closer, finisher ((baseball) a relief pitcher who can protect a lead in the last inning or two of the game).
2. The Ryan's 2 (BF loves sports): finisher (a racing driver who finishes a race).
3. HGTV's-like: finisher (a painter who applies a finishing coat).
4. The closest to what I'm going to talk about: finisher (a worker who performs the last step in a manufacturing process).
5. More sports?: finisher (a race car that finishes a race).
6. Sports meets mammalian, reptiles, etc, etc: finisher (an animal that wins in a contest of speed, AKA "The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit").
7. Movie trivia: a la Harvey Keitel as Victor the Cleaner in "Point of no Return."
OK. Enough with definitions and such. When you work in the book / magazine world, the finisher is the company that binds your printed product. In my case, I needed perfect binding for my book Buenos Aires. Paperfold was highly recommended by a colleague and by the company that printed the book. I had a really tight deadline, but they squeezed me in without any problem. The only downside of the process? They charge customers a minimum for their binding services (200 copies) so for people like me, who only printed and bounded 35 books, this service was expensive. I was aware of this because they make that clear even before they schedule your product.
Their office is located in an industrial area and it's fairly easy to find by any GPS or Altanta-savvy person. Just drive towards the airport, baby! Paperfold is a family business, so you'll come into a place that is very relaxed and friendly with zero interior design elements or fashionable accessories but a cool, little Daschund that will play with you while you wait for your paperwork to be done. They were extremely nice to me, and very serious about getting my book done in time without sacrificing quality. Both times I went there (to drop the book and to pick up) I was helped with my very, very heavy boxes.
Their service was top quality from the first phone call all the way to the moment they put my finished books in my truck's trunk. The books looked great, the binding was perfect in all the sense of the word, the doggie anti-stress therapy an unexpected delight and the warm, thoughtful treatment was a great surprise.
Talk about industrial sublime! read more
