The story of Blue Dog Printing & Design began in 1999, when we stopped at the Brandywine Valley SPCA to pick out a pup.
We had been married for 3 years in 1999. We had just bought our first house and went to the Chester County SPCA to adopt our first dog. There were many Pit Bulls and Rotweilers, but quietly seated among them was a dog that really stood out…because she was BLUE! She had been abused by her previous owners…tied to a pole, no shots, rarely fed, physically beaten and—the last straw—dyed blue from head to toe. We brought her home and quickly fell in love.
In 2000 we found out that we were expecting our first child, so we had to make room for a nursery! Debi's graphic design company, Designing Wright, moved into the basement and in March of 2001, our daughter Alex was born. Debi hired a full-time designer so she could cut back to only 3 days a week, giving her 2 days a week to be “Mommy.” To this day, she can’t give up her slippers…she's often found wandering around the office with them on.
One day in 2003, Bill was reading the Sunday paper (remember those?) and saw a print shop for sale. He turned to Debi and said “Hey, what if you could print all the stuff that you design?” Debi thought he was crazy…all she could picture was a noisy, smelly print shop with paper and ink all around. Not to mention the fact that neither one of us knew a darn thing about running an offset press! He suggested we at least take a look at it.
At that same point in time, Debi was working on benefit books for the NFL…32 teams with all different information for players and coaches. She kept thinking “There has to be an easier way than making 64 documents.” That’s when something new in the industry started gaining some attention…digital printing. We went to look at the existing print business and wanted to integrate the new digital print technology into the client base, but saw that the numbers were not going to add up to keep running the offset equipment. We looked at each other and said “Let’s just start our OWN print shop!”
The wheels were set in motion, equipment was leased, office space was found, paperwork was filed. The only problem was that we didn’t have a name! We have very opposite personalities, and we couldn’t agree on anything…Bill's names were too “boring” and Debi's were too “out there”. On the night of our 7th wedding anniversary, we were out to dinner at Duling Kurtz and Debi said “We are not leaving this table without a name!” Needless to say, we racked up quite a bar bill that night!
Debi threw out “DigiDog” and Bill said “I kind of like that…” WAIT! Could Bill POSSIBLY like a name Debi came up with (even if just a little bit)? Then Bill said “What about Blue Dog?” At that instant, we knew it was the perfect name. What better inspiration than the pup who stole our hearts by standing out from the rest?
We’ve always believed in running our business like a family, and strive to treat our employees and customers as such. Our daughter has watched Blue Dog evolve from the time she was 2 years old. Now an adult, she still helps out with stuffing envelopes and shrink wrapping (sometimes even without complaining!)
We are committed to providing our clients with marketing, graphic and printing solutions that not only fit their immediate needs, but will also allow their message to evolve with their company’s growth.
We look forward to working with you…
