Graphics shop floating atop a specialty niche.MIKE McHale and his wife Terry own and operate MJM MJM Multi-Jet Modeling (prototyping manufacturing) MJM Metropolitan Japanese Ministry MJM Married Jewish Male Graphics in San Pedro, where they've developed a specialty niche--creating the lettering for names on ships in the local harbor. Mike McHale has stayed in business for 35 years, in part by keeping up with the newest printing technology. Also, instead of throwing out his old computers, he has assembled as·sem·ble v. as·sem·bled, as·sem·bling, as·sem·bles v.tr. 1. To bring or call together into a group or whole: assembled the jury. 2. a small museum. Mike McHale: "We started doing the boat lettering because we're in the yacht yacht: see motorboating; sailing. yacht Sail- or motor-driven vessel used for racing or recreation. The term is popularly applied to large recreational engine-powered boats; the sailboats known as yachts and used for racing are usually light and club at Cabrillo Landing and people there asked us if we would do their boats. We have a sailboat and a powerboat. Our boat lettering is double in the summer and we do about five a week. It costs about $250 and up. It's printed vinyl vinyl /vi·nyl/ (vi´nil) the univalent group CH2dbondCH—. vinyl chloride a vinyl group to which an atom of chlorine is attached; the monomer which polymerizes to polyvinyl chloride; it is toxic lettering, so it's guaranteed for seven years. Hand-painted letters only last 18 months in the sun and sea. We do 22-karat gold lettering for luxury yachts The term luxury yacht refers to a very expensive privately owned yacht which is professionally crewed. Also known as a super-yacht or a mega-yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht. , that's a couple of hundred dollars more. "Our primary business is graphic design. The boat lettering and digital sign-making is secondary to commercial printing, custom graphics, brochures, postcards, business cards and color packaging. We specialize spe·cial·ize v. 1. To limit one's profession to a particular specialty or subject area for study, research, or treatment. 2. To adapt to a particular function or environment. in short-run color, so our customers are often local designers and photographers. "We have a Macintosh museum, with every model from the original 1984 Mac 512m to the new G5. We have about 10 on display and eight in use." Terry McHale: "We have a storefront, press room, art room and office and a shed in back for storage. We still get walk-in walk-in A new brokerage customer who simply walks into the office. Although walk-ins are generally assigned to brokers, they have the right to specify a preferred broker. customers off the street. We've had some customers for 25 years. We don't advertise because we have more business than we can do. We often work together with other printers here. There's enough work to go around, so there's kind of a community of printers that help each other out. If someone has a job but they don't have the equipment to do it, another shop might help them finish it. "Almost everything we do is custom. The weirdest thing we've done is the lettering for 'Spirit of America," a jet-car that went for the land speed record. He didn't make the record. He crashed." |
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