The ebb and ebb and sometimes flow of business in Italy
A few years ago, I was hired by a large printing company outside of Torino to make designs that could be reproduced in a variety of formats: greeting cards, notebooks, journals, posters, agendas. In my New York promptness and eagerness to get the job done, I produced an entire collection of digital paintings, the City Series, for their online store.
The client loved it, but the contract wasn’t ready yet, and they were still working on their web site. Ok, I was willing to wait, figuring on a couple of weeks at most. Six months later, they called me up for an in-person meeting. We spent the day talking about the site, sharing abundant and delicious regional meals, touring the printing plant, meeting some of their staff. That night, I was a guest at their country villa –– we really felt like family. No sign of a contract, but, perhaps we would talk about it in the morning.
The contract was not ready yet, and neither was the site, but very soon! A few months later, Ecco! the first contract to sign. The site was still in maintenance, but a preview was ready. Then, a few months later, I received a new version of the contract, slightly improved, and please disregard the old one by signing this piece of paper.
The site ? It was never completed to satisfaction, though it was live for a brief period. During our whole back and forth process, which endured three years, the printing company was sold and my contact there branched out on his own. That same year, he had a wedding and a long honeymoon, he moved, traveled and, now, I believe, is working on making his own family.
The pace here in business can be quite slow. By now, I accept that a relationship is long term, business or personal, and the design process may extend over months, even years. In the meantime, I can create quite a lot and pepper the waiting periods with work for American clients and my own projects.
Notes
Italian for “waiting”: in attesa