Auckland’s Logick Print continues to prove that small printing companies can achieve big results
David Gick, founder and managing director of Logick Print, would love to tell someone the secret of the company’s success… if only he had the time. While speaking to Gick in November after the company won a bronze medal in an international competition, he said the team at Logick were over the moon about the award but hadn’t had time to celebrate. He wanted to talk some more but the work was keeping him too busy.Fast forward to January 2009 and Gick still hasn’t had time to put the award into perspective. He says, “We’re busy all the time. The printing industry is so pressured.”
Logick Print has a formula for relieving the pressure that the industry places on his staff. Gick says, “We have to enjoy what we do. It’s got to be fun. Why else would you do it? We have a small team here and we can work some long hard hours, so making it enjoyable is key to what we’re about.”
It might sound like Gick has oversimplified his case, but Logick Print’s record speaks for itself. Although it’s only six years since Gick started the business, it has won gold at the Pride In Print awards each year since it first entered.
Specialising in difficult jobs keeps the enjoyment level high for the team at Logick Print. Gick says, “We deal with a lot of designers and creatives. Designers like to push the envelope and we’re not afraid of that. We’ll give it a crack. Some people might say, ‘We can’t do that, we’ve never done that,’ but we like to say, ‘Okay, we’ll look at it and try to find a way.’”
Outside the square
THE relationships that Logick has built with designers has led the company into some interesting projects. Gick says, “We’ve had to develop techniques of our own to achieve some of the results we’ve had. I know it’s a cliché, but we have to think outside the square.”
One such project, The NZ Rox Jewellery Box, won gold at Pride In Print and bronze at the Pentawards, a worldwide competition devoted to packaging design. Gick says, “We were quite lucky. The customer came through Stuart Kenyon and Sean Connor who are good designers. It helps when the designer has it mapped out in his head already. We did a press proof and developed it as we went along. Connor is very talented. He designed the folds and got all the angles right. We’ve printed thousands of them. He’s expanded the concept worldwide from Australia through Japan and the USA. Hopefully, it’ll turn into another New Zealand success story.
Coping with success
HAVING experienced a certain degree of success, Logick Print knows it can’t sit on its haunches. Gick says, “We’ve got forward plans that we intend to implement, but we need to take care. Our number one priority is to look after the customer base that we have as we expand.”
Gick takes customer relations seriously and says, “There’s been quite a few occasions where I’ve said to customers, ‘I’ll come out and see you.’ All of them express surprise. They say, ‘You’ll come and see us?’ We are constantly asking them, ‘Are you happy? Is it working
He believes in keeping things as simple as possible. He adds, “We go back to our basic philosophy: honesty. We have to keep it honest everywhere, internally and externally with all our customers. There should never be excuses. If we say we’re going to get a job done today, then that’s how it happens.”
Teamwork
WHEN you discuss Logick Print with David Gick, you never hear him say, “I.” Teamwork forms the basis of what the company is about. A couple of years after Logick started up, Gick’s wife Jan agreed to come on board. Kieran Dale, Sarat Adar, and Mitchell Tomai complete the small team and all believe in achieving quality print jobs. And while Logick Print is understandably proud of Dale’s achievements as the winner of a bronze medal at the WorldSkills competition, Gick also expresses enthusiasm for the team as a whole. He says, “We started as a young team and that’s part of our strength.”
