Marina Poropat Joyce knows both sides of the creative-print relationship, and she wants printers to rethink how they approach designers and agencies. A longtime art director and founder of one of L.A.’s first design-to-print firms, Marina now leads marketing and sales development at Lithographix, an employee-owned company known for its high-end, collaborative work.
“Our role is to help creatives be creative,” she said. “We don’t want to stifle that creativity — we need it.”
Marina will be part of a panel at Edge Long Beach focused on connecting with the designer and agency market. In a conversation with Deborah Corn, she emphasized how much the creative customer has evolved. While creativity remains central to print, she said, the roles and environments have changed. “A lot of creatives are now in-house rather than at an agency,” she explained. “It’s a different kind of sell. They bring so much vitality and energy to projects — it’s not just about price.”
When working with creatives, value comes from expertise and seamless execution, she said. “I think one of the things we’ve done for a long time is show them fancy paper samples. But it turns into an exercise in frustration of things that aren’t stocking or available." Instead, real-world examples, technical insight and smart guidance are more helpful. Printers need to help creatives succeed without making them feel unintelligent.
Marina’s biggest pet peeve? Selling with an equipment list. “Don’t sell to your equipment list,” she said. “If a buyer doesn’t know the difference between foam core and styrene, what is an equipment list to them? It’s a whole different language.” Rather than dumping a table full of unrelated samples or specs, printers should understand their customers’ work and show only what’s relevant. “Lead with what matters. Everything else is secondary.”
