Designs on Demand

04/03/2024

It's been a week since my rep called to tell us the news that one of our main suppliers was shutting its doors. Here's my list of what made Condé Systems, Inc. special and why I will miss them.

Dedicated sales rep - Stefan has been our rep since 2005. She knows our business and our family, and more than once she saved us with her dedication and going beyond for us. A dedicated rep is a rarity in the supplies business.

Unique products - I don't think I realized this until now. The dog tags, the ProSpray, the SubliLinen products, the ColorLyte acrylic line. They were on the forefront of developing new products for sublimation.

An engineer as founder - This gave the entire company a different slant from others. David Gross was thorough, exact, and I knew I could trust the company and technology because of his background.

Communication and training - From YouTube videos, CondeTV, and NBM Graphics Pro articles, their commitment to excellence, training, and developing our businesses was outstanding.

Black Friday and Anniversary Boxes - I recently combined and studied what I actually had received from them since 2016. What a treasure trove of new products to try. I will miss them.

Recycling of Sawgrass cartridges - This surely is something Sawgrass itself sponsored, but no one else in the industry seems to do this. The $5 per spent cartridge in credit, whether the physical cartridge was reused or just the chip, will be missed.

I could go on and on. I think you don't realize how key a company is to you until it goes away. This happened with another major supplier in 2021 for us. Being in our own 25th year in business, it makes me think again about succession planning, and the adage, "You owe it to your customers to stay in business." It's not always possible, and my own father shuttered his business back in the day, but maybe I will work harder to figure out our own path forward.

Thank you, David, Stefan, her backup Claudia, Merlin, Andy, and everyone at Condé.
Darrel Scheperle Margaret Klug Scheperle

09/25/2023

In case anyone is wondering, I am fighting some bad guys who have taken money as well as claimed I was infringing copyright. I hope to get back soon to posting about our incredible journey over 25 years of being in business.

07/22/2023

1998-3
3rd in a series of posts about our 25 years in business. How do you come up with a business name? And a logo?

We didn't want to go the acronym or initials or name route, "ABC Designs," "Scheperle Products." Nor was I clever enough to do a nonsense word, which is a recommended strategy, like Zazzle or even Amazon which is a real word but out of its normal context. So I started doodling with our names, and I realized we'd named our children M-A-N-D. Add Darrel and an offset MargarEt, and there was the word DEMAND. We wanted to make custom products as people wanted them, so Designs on Demand was a good fit in defining what we were about, but not too confining if we changed course through the years.

In hindsight, and especially later with registering a web address, we found Designs on Demand is a long name and an easily confused one (Design on Demand, Designs by Demand, etc.). Later when we started up ColorPatch, we avoided that mistake.

Here are the logos we've had over the years. I cringe at the first one. We were heavy into making mugs on the second one, and it was quite fun to dress that one up at different times of the year. The current one has a relaxed and eco-vibe.

07/07/2023

1998-2
This is the second post about the 25 years Designs on Demand has been in business, with a story from 1998.

There were several factors leading Darrel Scheperle and me to start this business. 1) His father had started several and although Darrel was working as an architect, he always wanted to have his own business. 2) I had been working for Hallmark Cards for almost 20 years and was doing some competitive sleuthing about memory and personalized photo products Hallmark was interested in. 3) Darrel and I attended a seminar about starting a photo products business. We had previously considered a convenience store and a photo shop.

But 4) the big impetus was a mailing we got for a new process called dye sublimation and a sample coaster. Darrel looked at it and said THIS is what we need to be able to make. Here is that sample and coasters for two of our early customers.

07/01/2023

Today is the 25th anniversary of our business! We started it from scratch on Wednesday, July 1, 1998. Our four children ranged from 3 to 11 years old. We held our powwow at a Shoney's in Ozark, MO but we can't go there for old times tonight as it is gone. ColorPatch was an extension a few years later.

I plan to write at least 25 posts throughout the year detailing how we started, what we learned, some favorite jobs and memories and customers, and what the future might hold for us.

Custom personalized products, photo gifts, advertising specialty products. Photo dog tags, photo ribb

07/16/2020

We’re pulling for Addi and her family! We’ve donated over $3000 so far to them, due to her awesome supporters.

I talked to Margaret from Color Patch Designs and she has re-stocked and has plenty of masks available for anyone who wanted to order. She has Addi’s Journey ribbon magnets, masks, mugs, dog tags and Faith over Fear magnets available. She sent me one of each of these and I love them all and wanted to share with you so if you would like one, you could order.

The masks are excellent quality just like all of the items that Margaret offers.

Click on link to order.

http://etsy.me/3i9H3IF

Much love ~ LaLa

04/21/2020

Magnets to support our essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Order at https://bit.ly/3as9wnV

10/02/2019

What a beautiful ceremony at Dollywood last weekend honoring fallen soldiers' families, sponsored by Humana and SOS and TAPS. This little girl was newborn when her daddy died. We made over 200 photo dog tags for the event.

09/13/2019

It’s a wrap for the 2019 Hot Rods for Heroes event! Wish we could see the cars this weekend decorated with the 120 stickers we made of soldiers, sailors, and Air Force who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you, Ronald Greenwood!

09/13/2019

This is our 2nd cancer awareness fundraiser for a beautiful child. We are closing in on $2000 sent to the two families so far. etsy.me/2HfO4GM Addi's Journey