From my time at Trader Joe’s I learned of a word that we use all the time: “Kaizen”. Depending on who you ask, “Kaizen” means to always be improving, and/or to enact “Good Change.” Kaizen is a daily process and it refers to activities that continually improve all functions and eliminate waste (especially in a business environment). We use the word all the time at Trader Joe’s to encourage people to work better and “smarter not harder.” I do try to implement good changes in Pink Toe Press too.
Doesn’t that bag look lovely?
One recent “Kaizen” was to solve a problem with my tote bags. They are great bags, I love them. I love screen printing my designs on them, and I love sewing my own bags from canvas. But I was running into a problem: What if, at a store where Pink Toe Press retails, a customer or employee puts my bags away backwards? There was no way to tell from the back where the bag is from if there just a print on the one side. How is a customer to know that it is not just a blank canvas tote bag?! I had to make a change to make my bags more appealing to customers, and to also make them more valuable for Pink Toe Press.
My solution: Create a design to print on the back of the bags that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but that showcases the Pink Toe Press logo in a big way. As I do a lot of sewing, I thought that a motif with stitching would serve me well. I chose a mostly-square design with scalloped edges and a criss-crossed quilted look. love the way the design turned out and I LOVE the way it looks on the slightly textured canvases that I use for my bags.
It’s impossible hard to find a tote bag where the back looks just as nice as the front.
This way, the tote bag looks great on the shelf and on your shoulder. Customers get to purchase the tote bag with their favorite design on the front and Pink Toe Press gets a cameo on the back. Both sides of the bag look so nice that you can show off your Pink Toe Press pride and carry the bag with the logo facing out. I do!
And, of course, the design looks great on all colors of canvas!
All newly-printed Pink Toe Press tote bags will have the Pink Toe Press logo on one side moving forward. What a great Kaizen!
Page Redford 