Our Design Story: From Mechanicals to Modern Media

If you work in design today, you’re probably familiar with sleek software like Photoshop and Illustrator. But there was a time—not too long ago—when creating print ads meant rolling up your sleeves and getting hands-on with physical layouts. Welcome to the world of mechanicals. It might sound old-fashioned now, but it’s where On The Mark Communications got its start—and those early, hands-on days will always be a special part of our journey.

The Beginning of OTM: A Sticky Start

When we first launched On The Mark Communications, our focus was clear—help local businesses stand out and get noticed. An early project was for a local golf shop looking to boost foot traffic for the holiday shopping season. It was a small job, but another chance to “make our mark” in these early days. Back then, the tools of the trade were a little different. Before design software became the industry standard, we used mechanicals, a.k.a. a whole lot of cutting, pasting and … patience.

What Exactly Were Mechanicals?

Now, let’s break it down. Mechanicals were the old-school way of putting together print ads. Imagine this: you print out the text, grab your trusty X-Acto knife and carefully cut it out. Then, you glue it down on a big artboard. Images? Those were photostats or film separations, which meant more cutting and pasting. Oh, and we had these magical little blue pencils which we used for notes—things like crop marks, positioning and “do not touch this!” It was arts and crafts for grown-ups, with a dash of design thrown in.

And let’s just say: there were plenty of sticky fingers involved. But hey, we made it work!

Slide your mouse over the image to see the film separation in action for Larry’s Golf Discount Center ad where each piece was cut and aligned on individual film sheets.

Turning the Page: The Shift to Digital

Just when we thought we had perfected the art of cutting and pasting, the digital revolution hit with QuarkXPress, PageMaker and eventually InDesign. Suddenly, we were designing without the mess (thank goodness). The first time we sent a digital file to the printer? It felt like we’d unlocked some kind of secret design level. We could tweak, adjust and send everything off with a click—no more X-Acto knives, rubber cement or waiting for film separations. It was faster, cleaner and way less complex. The world of assembling layouts by hand was officially over, and we were fully in the digital age.

From the Ground Up

It’s incredible to think about how far we’ve come—from the hands-on chaos of mechanicals to the streamlined design tools we use today. But we wouldn’t change a thing. Those early days taught us invaluable lessons about patience, precision and finding creative solutions—even when things got overwhelming.

Today, at On The Mark Communications, we still carry that spirit with us. We mix tried-and-true lessons with cutting-edge technology to create designs that are fresh and innovative. So, here’s to those messy beginnings—because without them, we wouldn’t be where we are now!

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