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http://www.finelineprintandweb.co.uk/

Fineline Print and Web, 32 Clwyd Street, Ruthin (2026)

18/05/2026

For pure blood-curdling threats, few could match the letter we received from our electricity provider at the start of 2025.

Fifty Grand in arrears, the letter said.

And then went on to list all the unpleasant things that would happen to us if we didn’t pay the whole damned lot by the end of the month.

We politely but firmly told them to sod off, which was just as well because it turned out that they were the ones who actually owed us money.

That goolie-shrivelling feeling came flooding back when I received a ‘routine’ communication from one of our trade suppliers the other day.

This time, there was more blood-curdling language.

But on closer inspection, it was nothing more than a message to tell us that a proof was still awaiting sign-off.

All I can say is that it must have been written by an overgrown toddler with serious anger management issues. And … crucially, never checked by a responsible adult.

Which all goes to prove that the words we use matter. A lot.

There is, after all, a sizeable difference between ‘Just a gentle reminder’ (which this missive was meant to be) and a message that reads like the opening stages of a hostage negotiation.

If you’re working on new marketing material and want somebody to sense-check it before going to print, we’re always happy to act as a sounding board.

Until next week.

Alec

11/05/2026

‘Not for Children under 36 months’.

Unbelievably, those were the instructions on the packet of my new spokeshave.

If you haven’t used one before, a spokeshave is a very handy woodworking tool, which I use to pare down a new shaft or handle for my garden tools.

If you have used one, you’ll know it has a lethally sharp blade.

Any lunatic who thinks it’s suitable for a toddler to play with is a complete lunatic.

Nurse! Screens!

I know I’m going out on a limb here, but I hold very similar sentiments about the design tool Canva.

In the right hands, Canva is a brilliant piece of design software and is widely considered the default design tool for UK small businesses lacking in-house designers.

So, good on them.

The trouble is, they’ve made it so easy to use that anyone with the design skills of a Just Stop Oil paint chucker thinks it’s turned them into Picasso.

The designs they come up with aren’t half bad sometimes, but poor file prep means they are as ready to send to print as a frozen chicken is to eat.

Cue frustrating delays and rising temperatures as people and things start to go into meltdown.

Before you know it, you’ve got a 3-mile Island situation on your hands and blame certificates flying around by the dozen.

Stress Monkeys may love it, but the rest of us don’t need to be told that it’s not good for our health.

That last yard between finalising your design and handing over a properly print-ready file can be daunting.

If you want to bypass the nuclear meltdown stage and build in a bit of breathing space, we’re here to help you over the line.

Until next week.

Alec

05/05/2026

Question: What’s got a turnover of over £1billion, has more stores than Waitrose, and has an astonishing cult following.

Answer: Farmfoods, and it’s Britain’s second-largest frozen food outlet behind Iceland.

And I bet you’ve never heard of it.

I’ve driven past our local branch a dozen times, probably more, and always thought it was where smallholders went to buy feeds for their animals.

Hands up. I know this is a perfect example of the unimaginative straight-line thinking men are so good at.

So, it’s no wonder our better halves think we are so utterly useless.
But it did get me thinking, what’s in a name?

If you and I came up with a name that suggests we sell apples when we really sell pears, then we’re in a spot of bother.

Because, unlike the big boys, we haven’t got a bottomless pit of spondoolicks to spray around on brand awareness.

No. We have to be a lot smarter.

ChatGPT and its ilk might be a good starting point.

But don’t be surprised if ideas that seem astonishingly brilliant after a glass or two of château collapso don’t hold up when you’re staring into the mirror with a stinker of a hangover the following morning.

So, if your name, message, or first impression is even slightly off, people don’t just misunderstand you … you’re completely invisible to them.

And that’s a hard thing to fix after the fact.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and want to make sure everything lands exactly as it should — on the page and in people’s minds — we’re always happy to have a quick chat.

Until next week.

Alec

28/04/2026

Any of us can go out today and purchase an ink cartridge – a pretty simple task, right?

Our presses use dry toner that arrives after an automated alert from the presses, which is about as effortless as it gets.

But it wasn’t always that easy.

Centuries ago, it had to be made by hand, to a very specific formula.

And it all started with the humble gall wasp, laying its eggs in young acorn buds.

In doing so, it effectively reprogrammes the oak, turning embryonic acorn buds into galls that become a home for its larvae.

There are many types of oak galls, but one in particular has helped shape our history.

For a thousand years, we’ve created a special type of ink with which almost all historical documents have been written.

And all because a tiny wasp laid an egg in an oak bud.

A little quirk of evolution that has shaped our history.

The dry oak galls are crushed, mixed with water, iron sulphate, and gum Arabic to form a durable, long-lasting ink.

The same ink that was used on our Magna Carta, the American Declaration of Independence, and the drawings of Rembrandt and Da Vinci.

The oak tree has helped us record our past, express our most profound ideas and share our deepest emotions.

Putting ink on paper is what we do.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and you’d like the print side to look sharp and run smoothly, we’re here for a quick chat.

Until next week.

Alec

13/04/2026

Haven’t we all been there?

A poisonous Biryani on a Saturday night, and there’s just a little too much distance between you and the thunderbox.

Will you make it, or will the compost hit the air conditioning big time?

It’s a nerve-shredding moment, and it feels like your life depends on making those last few yards to safety.

It doesn’t matter who or what gets in your way. You now have the resolve of a superhero to get there, come what may.

What happens when you get behind that door doesn’t matter.

You’ll have reached safety, and will sort out the collateral damage later.

If that scenario brings you out in a cold sweat, imagine that happening several miles up in space.

The prospect would be truly terrifying.

Well, that’s almost what happened to the crew of Artemis II shortly after launch on their mission around the moon last week.

Yup, that’s right.

Millions will have been spent building the finest systems that NASA’s engineers can offer, and the one critical bit of kit that throws a wobbly is the khazi.

Luckily, the crew hadn’t eaten a poisonous biryani that day, and the loo’s malfunction was fixed before things got critical.

It’s also a reminder of something else.

When things go wrong, what really matters isn’t the problem… it’s who’s there to deal with it.

Whether it’s a spacecraft or a print job, you want someone calm, experienced, and already thinking two steps ahead.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and you’d like the print side to look sharp and run smoothly, we’re here for a quick chat.

Until next week.

Alec

07/04/2026

To fall off one’s chair with surprise is probably an overused expression.

But that’s pretty much what happened to me recently when a postcard from our delivery company dropped through our letterbox.

To put it mildly, I wasn’t exactly in a rush to read the contents.
They only ever get in touch when there is bad news to impart, or they want to give their customers a good kicking for some reason or another.

You wouldn’t expect anything less from a company whose accounts department’s been trained by the East German Police.

There’s never been any Swiss Finishing School for those guys, that’s for sure.

But read it I must.

And that’s when my jaw dropped.

The message was from a young man who’d only recently joined the company and clearly hadn’t been there long enough to have been brutalised by the system.

Without much ado, he quickly got to the point, saying how much the company appreciated our business after 25 years as a loyal customer.

After I’d been resuscitated, I had to reread the message just in case I’d dreamt it.

But it was true.

After 25 gruelling years, probably longer, this was the first time I could remember ever receiving anything so much as a squeak to say how much our business meant to them.

Which, I have to admit, got me thinking.

A reminder to thank our best customers is something we all need, and a stack of pre-printed postcards close to hand is the perfect way to do it.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and you’d like the print side to look sharp and run smoothly, we’re here for a quick chat.

Until next week.

Alec

30/03/2026

Flying at 2,000 feet under a clear blue sky, with the Australian outback unfolding below, life had never felt better for flying Doctor Clyde Fenton.

Also known as the flying larrikin, Fenton’s parish was larger than England, and his trusty De Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth was the perfect means of transport when patient visits could easily be 1,000 miles apart.

One moment, he was in utter bliss; the next, utter horror.

Noticing a small movement out of the corner of his eye, it suddenly dawned on him that he had a most unwelcome passenger.

A snake.

This slithery brute just happened to be the fourth-most venomous snake in the world, and it was gradually making its way along the cockpit floor towards his feet.

If bitten, he’d have been rendered senseless within minutes and dead within the hour.

There was only one thing for it.

He was going to have to land. And fast.

Clambering onto his seat, that’s exactly what he did, and somehow without mishap.

This story came to mind while taking part in a contingency planning exercise so beloved of earnest lanyard-wearing consultants.

The sort who want a plan for a 100-million-megaton meteorite hurtling towards us at the speed of light.

If that were to happen, we’re probably f****d anyway, but they still want an answer.

That’s not to decry that sort of exercise because it does make us think, but these seminar wallahs do get carried away sometimes.

How the heck Dr Fenton could have planned for what happened to him is anyone’s guess. But he still got out alive.

The only contingency planning I’d worry about right now is your spring marketing.

Whilst others are hiding under the duvet waiting for everything to blow over, now’s a great time to steal a march on the competition.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and you’d like the print side to look sharp and run smoothly, we’re here for a quick chat.

Until next week, and wishing you a well-earned great Easter break.
Alec

PS The snake didn’t survive. Fenton dealt with it once he’d landed. Not a recommended in-flight procedure.

24/03/2026

Reaching Sydney Harbour on the 12th of December 1966 was a crowning achievement for Sir Francis Chichester.

But that was just half of it.

In just 107 days, he’d reached the halfway point of his attempt to sail around the world single-handedly.

Astonishingly, this was to be his only stop during his 226 days at sea.

Far from being able to celebrate, his boat was badly damaged, and he’d been battered mentally and physically.

Worse still, Gipsy Moth’s self-steering gear had been destroyed beyond repair.

Most people assumed the voyage was over.

To say that he needed a rest was an understatement.

Many looked at the situation with foreboding, and the press openly debated whether he should abandon the attempt.

Without hesitation, he set to work on the urgent repairs needed for the next leg of his perilous journey across the Pacific and around Cape Horn.

The trip around the Horn was every sailor’s worst nightmare.
Chichester himself had said that the waves there were measured not in feet, but in increments of fear.

Nevertheless, six weeks and six days later, he was ready to go.
Slipping out of Sydney Harbour on the 29th of January, he declared, ‘I shall go on.’

119 days later, he sailed into Plymouth harbour to a hero’s welcome.

At the time, it set three records: the fastest solo circumnavigation, the longest non-stop passage by a small vessel, and the first true solo circumnavigation via the great capes.

Whilst this momentous achievement might have taken place 59 years ago, the lessons are profound.

It’s all too easy to throw in the towel when the going gets tough. But the prize often awaits those willing to push on when others would falter.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and you’d like the print side to look sharp and run smoothly, let’s talk.

Until next week!

Alec

16/03/2026

Fancy eating lunch on a soggy park bench under dark, leaden skies in late winter?

No, me neither.

But for those lucky enough to be getting away for a spot of skiing, eating al fresco can be pure bliss.

The scenery is breathtaking, the air crystal clear, and a subtle hint of pine drifts on the breeze.

The beautifully manicured pistes sparkle in the dazzling sun, and the snow crunches underfoot.

The feeling of being surrounded by pure, unspoilt nature.

If you could bottle the experience and take it home, I’m sure plenty of us would.

While I can’t bring the actual slopes to you, you can get closer than you think.

With custom-printed wallpaper, you can wake up to those breathtaking scenes every morning.

If skiing isn’t your thing, maybe lakes and mountains are.

Print: transforming your home and your workspace.

You took the photo. We’ll do the rest.

Keep the mountain feeling alive.

Send us your favourite shot and let’s create something that stops you in your tracks every single day!

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and you’d like the print side to look sharp and run smoothly, let’s talk.

Until next week.

Alec

03/03/2026

Christmas has barely disappeared in the rearview mirror.

The last of the turkey sandwiches is covered in mould so thick it would give Granny’s mink fur coat a run for its money.

And now Easter is heading our way. Fast.

Apart from being the most significant date in the Christian calendar, it’s also a chance for a well-earned break at the end of a thoroughly dismal winter.

But Easter isn’t just about chocolate eggs and a long bank holiday weekend.

In our world, it fires the starting gun on a glorious, chaotic sprint of events that require planning, promotion, and ex*****on without a hitch.

Conferences, Exhibitions, School Fayres, Sports Days, and any number of spring-themed marketing campaigns.

And they don’t happen by accident.

Behind every slick exhibition stand and professionally printed roller banner is someone who remembered to order them before the existential panic set in.

Push off, many might say. It’s only March, what’s the rush?

The rush is the difference between sensible lead times and a phone call that begins with

“I know this is completely unreasonable, but ...”

followed by a budget-obliterating express charge that makes your accountant quietly weep.

Maybe that’s your thing.

Maybe you’re an adrenaline ju**ie who can’t function without a fast-approaching deadline, mainlining urgency straight into your nervous system.

Some people are just wired that way.

They do their best work at midnight the night before. They thrive on chaos and have blood pressure that would make a medic wince.

This blog is not for those people.

This blog is for you.

The quietly organised, the sensibly proactive who’d genuinely like to enjoy Easter weekend rather than spend it desperately refreshing a courier tracking page.

Food for thought?

Until next week!

Alec

Fineline Print and Web

18/05/2026

11/05/2026

05/05/2026

28/04/2026

13/04/2026

07/04/2026

30/03/2026

24/03/2026

16/03/2026

03/03/2026

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