Believe it or not, I have a thin skin. A few weeks ago I received an inflammatory e-mail from a customer complaining about how their print was damaged via shipping, it rarely happens, but unfortunately, it does happen. UPS is a good company but 90% of their handling is done by machines and conveyors (and those machines don’t read the ‘Fragile’ sticker on the box), I’m not shipping metal bolts afterall, I ship fine art paper products.

Normally in these rare cases I file a claim with UPS and send out a new print right away to the customer with an apology and at no charge—never has been a problem. This customer, however, didn’t stop there. Included in the e-mail was a whole venom-laced lecture pointing out that there was no artist signature on the print and an “ad”, yes, an “ADVERTISEMENT” we defile the print with (you can witness the shocking proof in the image above. hint: bottom-right, another hint: you may need to squint. the hintiest: squint harder).

This has kept me up nights. So I thought I’d explain why we put our name on each print with 6 pt type: to protect the artists and the customers!, I’ll elaborate: Thumbtack Press was designed specifically for a customer/fan to buy directly from the artist, no strings. Some boutiques and smaller galleries purchase prints and under-valued original art to (gasp!) resell at inflated prices &#150 in fact they could make up any lie about the product they want &#150 even “sign” these prints to appear as if they were limited editions. Caveat emptor! Hopefully our teeny-weeny-itsy-bitsy name on the product will will alert a potential buyer to check us out online first and understand what we are all about so they do not get suckered.

Plus our name is never on the image itself (God forbid!), so buying a $2 mat to cover the name, not to mention preserving and enhancing the print, isn’t a bad idea.

I am not taking our name off, okay?

Ironically, despite the customers’ complaint they gushed about the resolution of the print, the vivid colors, and superior paper quality. That’s a comfort. I really, really love and take care of my customers. But like I said when I began this journey, I’m going to be open and honest, as soon as you begin to edit yourself you become a candidate for mediocrity.

There, I feel better.