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Because they want to…? (more pictures below)

There’s a myriad of reasons to put stupid decals on your ride, but what might seem stupid to some is not for others, likely many others. And yes, the title of this post is probably stupid too. This article is about our humble beginnings, as well a here-and-there dip off the edge straight into lunacy.

Life on this rock is like drifting through an ocean of change, discovery, and knowledge—while bumping into many things along the way, some that we might not agree with at any given time. As humans we live and learn, and have a strong desire to express ourselves. We want our individual ego to shine while it can, or for some, render shadow. So how can we put ourselves out there, tell to the world our opinion, or just shout!? Myriad ways. Vinyl decals and graphics (what I happen to sell and the purpose for this ramble—and this blog!) are just one of countless mediums to do just that!

Lore and I have been selling these vinyl decals, stupid or just all-out crazy stickers since 1999 (many are too cool and awesome to be called stupid!). It all started when I sold my truck (we actually made two attempts at starting this business—long story), then we used the money to buy an old flat-green Dodge van (nice one actually, it had a 318 motor and wide tires) and a truck load of stereo equipment and boomboxes. Then, a just-do-it attitude, and we put ourselves out there. We set up on the street corner and sold and installed car audio, woofers, entire sound systems! Yep, right outside under a tent, and cars would pull in by the mob full. Business was good, and the competition was angry (another story in itself). We worked seven days a week for the entire Spring, through a 100-plus-degree, El Paso summer, and, made a descent pile of money—coming from someone who previously made two-hundred cash per week before that while working for someone else doing the same thing, well it really was, for us. By year’s end we rented a shop and moved indoors, even began taking a day off once in a while. And it wasn’t long before we added vinyl graphics to the mix. Guess how? Yep, I sold the other car (a car I really liked, my just-painted bright-yellow ’83 Mazda Rx7) and bought a Summa vinyl cutter, plus the software, which cost nearly as much as the cutter itself. I still remember heading into the Post Office then buying the money order and sending it away, before that I had never ever even owned a computer! It was late 1999.

Well, the cutter arrived soon enough, and I had to go get a computer. Dashing out the door after making a few sales in order to afford it, I picked up an old junker and the pawn shop, and the rest is history.

I made some of the stupidest decals you could imagine, and, Lore and I sold some of them!

Lore didn’t think it would work (at least not for the long term), because I was the stereo guy. It was what I did! Oh, could I hook a ride up—with a few 12-inch woofers (even 15s or 18s!) and some amplifiers, a new or used CD player, EQ, car alarm, the works! And customers would roll out with a smile, the massaging bass working their backs through the seat.

I was passionate for at least a decade. I ate, breathed, and slept vinyl graphics.

But life was a struggle and we put in the hours, making stupid (haha, I never really thought they were stupid, and still don’t) but cool decals and signs and vehicle graphics, whatever. We were raising a family, working every day, most years seven days week. And the years went on as if time was pulling us along like a tractor beam. However, things changed when I picked up that book.

It all about the books, learning! Not just saying you’ll do it. Get the book, open it, and do every damn exercise in it until you learn it!

Things were looking up, after I read it. Yes. I did do every exercise in the book titled: PHP by Larry Ullman. Fantastic book! PHP and learning to code. We switched gears from a brick and mortar shop, plus a few eBay sales, and using my newly attained knowledge I built the website from scratch. Full Intensity Grafx is years in the making and every line of code to this day is all thanks to that book (which I recently sold—pretty much gave away—at a yard sale, to another passionate young coder). Today the website, which got in early before all of these WordPress sites that are everywhere, a world where everyone has a website, is still treading water. Some times I don’t believe it!

We make all kinds of stuff. Sometimes I feel like a doctor, confidential with every patient. Together as a team, with Lore’s indispensable help, we have created almost every decal that could be imagined. Well ,not really—the ideas never stop.

Here’s where things get weird. Stop reading now or fall into the rabbit hole.

The world is bigger now, well, at least more full. Ideas are spawning from ideas at an unprecedented rate, like an old man whittling a stick on a porch, ideas are the splinters of wood merging with the breeze and flying away. When will the innovation stop? Never you say? Think again.

I warned you!

Imagine red oil and blue water in a jar, not mixing, while the water floats on top of the oil. Now take that jar and shake it violently. Entropy gone haywire—and that’s what our human civilization doing! There will come a point in time when maximum entropy has been achieved and the liquids cannot be further broken down, hence mixed. We’re somewhere on the uptake now, like Bitcoin on the graph, skyrocketing! And like the water and oil we will reach the maximum possible amount of entropy, and then, the accelerated curve shall begin it’s descent, back to the Stone Age, back to a quiescent realm in the corner of the universe where once had existed a world of people expressing myriad ideas until no more could be contrived.

And they, the humans, used countless methods of expression. Even stupid decals!

We have a tenacious desire to build, expose our unique ego to the world while it’s still alight. And while some might say, “Hey, that’s stupid, why clog up your back window with stupid decals?” Well, it’s what I do, so it’s what I’m writing about right now. I see it as the human condition, we’re a few molecules in the jar, breaking down, splitting up into new ideas. And cumulatively the whole of it all will seemingly  grow and grow, forever—until it reaches that point, that is!

Overboard? Lunacy? Maybe, but we as humans will continue to express ourselves for some time to come. And all of the ideas have not been thought up—just yet!

Interested in this form of expression? Use it as your media, head over to Full Intensity Grafx and design a stupid decal! Visit us on Facebook or stop in to say hi, or to give me another idea for an article. If you happened to like my article, by all means please subscribe. I told Lore I’m going to try and write one per day for a year. It has to be relevant to Full Intensity Grafx, but I’m allowed to go off on a tangent once in a while, right?

Here are some more pictures relating to our story…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a year 2017 was! And, this is not a pity post.

I need not say more, for everyone knows what I mean. Times are tough for many. For about twenty years we’ve sold vinyl graphics and decals, which generally come in last compared to necessities such as food and bills, and the myriad of other expenses for those raising families, or just trying to make it on their own.

For our family 2017 was difficult year as far as finances go—difficult being a quick way to put it. We had to learn, and re-learn, new ways to get by. It might sound ludicrous but some months were really tough and we even found ourselves reusing garbage bags several times—yes, I wish they had a Dollar Tree here in our town! Every drop of toothpaste counts, and at times it seems like we’re edging back into those early “Ramen Noodle” days—when Lore and I just started out in a mud hut of a $200-per-month apartment. To further save costs we heat our bedrooms with body heat—yes, the rooms freeze but we use massive piles of blankets! Can anyone relate?! But we try to get out as a family at least one day on the weekend to explore, find things to do that are free, and sometimes even do some shopping, look-only shopping. But you know what? We stay upbeat, and have discovered that just looking can actually be as rewarding a day out and about. We look yet imagine, and know, that one day business will be back on the upward trend. Families will thrive and maybe even, this terrible inflation will go down—well probably not inflation—and the middle class economy will surge. Like all, we have had our good years, and difficult ones.

This is not a pity post. Good times roll like a ball on uneven ground, I know that. I started this blog only a few days ago and sometimes wonder about what to write each day. So I’m here today, kind of just letting it some stuff plop—whatever words fall onto the page, fall. Tossing thoughts, I figured I’d write a tad about the previous year, and let everyone in on what’s going on with our business and some news about how we will be moving forward: ways we’ll try to earn your business, become your graphics supplier for life, and starting today, provide greater discounts that will make vinyl graphics, for your pleasure or your business, more affordable.

I spend about 4 hours a day working on the site, and now writing these blog posts to see if it we can get a little more exposure for our business: Full Intensity Grafx. Are you reading this? Visit us on the site!

Lore and I have four great kids, one in every tier of school right now and we do our best. Everyone pitches in with whatever can be done to squeeze by yet another month, or week, or sometimes things go day by day. So what, sales have been unpredictable these days? Could it be the highly polarizing politics, or an unstable economy, or that a competitor has managed some fancy search-engine optimization and bumped us down a rung? Well, I guess it could be anything, but I do see others struggling too, families like ours cutting everything but the most important things.

So, in moving forward into 2018 we’ll be stepping it up at Full Intensity Grafx, as much as we can. I’ve been sending out free decal sample packs throughout 2017 and will continue to do so. It’s a marketing strategy and hopefully you’ll keep us in mind if you happen to arrive at a need for quality decals and vinyl graphics. I know many of you have been with us since the beginning—nearly two decades—and we highly appreciate your business, more than you know, we’re humbled and honored! Lately I’ve been reaching out on social media pronouncing new specials and deals. I’ve put countless hours into the website and our eBay listings and hope the experience is enjoyable and fun.

We’ve stepped up our game!

Now, for 2018, all orders get 2 FREE DECALS and we’ll continue to mail out those free decals regularly. We’ll continue to use only the best materials such as proven Oracal 6-year vinyl, and top-of-the-line clear application tape. And I have just finished reworking our decal-discounts page! Yes, I introduce greater discounts! So for anyone needing graphics, please consider Lore and I. We ship daily and treat each customer as if they are family. And if anyone needs custom decal work or a quote feel free to let me know any time. I answer emails day and night, weekends and holidays. Thanks for reading and I hope 2018 treats you and your family well. Cheers and here’s to thing looking up!

Without further ado here are the new discount codes (there are many more on the site, including reverse discounts—in case you feel like tipping!)

Orders of $18 or more can get the JUST BECAUSE discount and received 10% off. Enter code JUSTBECAUSE at checkout!

Orders of $35 or more can get the GEE THANKS discount and received 15% off. Enter code GEETHANKS at checkout!

Orders of $65 or more can get the DECALS RULE discount and received 15% off. Enter code DECALSRULE at checkout!

AND! Orders of $100 or more can get the whopping I LOVE DECALS discount and received 20% off. Enter code ILOVEDECALS at checkout!

Now, I wonder what I can write about tomorrow, and what else can I do the the site to make it better?!

We’ve been making graphics for a long time, and while I’m not naming names, of course, together with my wife, Lorena, we’ve heard some things crazy things from our clients, or just passersby inquiring about our cool decals or custom lettering graphics

I wonder what they’d say about me—probably crazy too! I mean, who else sets up at an event in 50-mile-per-hour winds, or freezing rain. As vendors, we had some great camaraderie and competition, lots of hardworking teams! Without further delay and from the top of my head, here’s number one.

1. “It must be nice!” Things were tough in the early days, but business was really insanely, fantastically great, before the crash of 2008, before the healthcare nightmare that sent the middle class crashing, and well, before a lot of stuff. Back in the day when Clinton was Prez, and we had a line of customers out the “door.” Yep, we sold vinyl graphics at flea markets, shows, festivals, you name it. And did they, once upon a time, sell like hot cakes! Thinks are a little slower these days—more competition perhaps, and as always one can blame the economy, but, things are still rolling along.
   I remember one particular customer, a regular, and one we would usually see coming from quite a distance. He always wanted whatever he had in mind, right then and there. It was a Sunday and we were beat, totally, 100 degrees outside and I just had to say, “Sorry, we’re off on Mondays.”
   We worked six days a week, then, and for years earlier, the whole seven! But Monday had become our day—no phone calls, no decals, no nothing, a total day off. Upon telling him, “I’m sorry, man. I can get to it first thing Tuesday, we just can’t do it on Monday, it’s our day off.” He replied, “It must be nice!”
   Well, Lorena and I just looked at each other, exhaustively from working at the market since 5 a.m., and we both grinned. And since, well, we have retained this one, every once in a while still letting out a: “It must be nice!” And it brings a memory of hot days (or freezing, windy days), hard work and good business, but good times.
2. “There was a balloon in there!” We ship our decals in a box, wrapped around a balloon so they don’t get squished. Anyway, one day I had a question from a customer about the order they’d received, nothing bad, although I can’t recall exactly what it was. The customer was surprised to find a balloon in the package, and I hope to this day, and think just maybe, that the balloon may have gotten deflated, or had become smaller—rare but it could happen I suppose. Every once in a while, just like the phrase above, I say it to keep things interesting in the shop, or while I’m blowing up a balloon and packing a decal, “There was a balloon in there!”

   

3. This one is a little long, and a little unbelievable. Not naming names of course, so you’ll never, ever, know who wrote it! Muahahaha!
   Anonymous potential customer:
   I am not a huge fan of the stick figure family and take pictures of other people’s stick figure families and call it the serial killer’s checklist, then I post them on Facebook. I just think people shouldn’t advertise who is in their family, and what they are interested in, especially their kids.. It’s a safety thing, I’m a mom you know. My question is that I recently saw a stick figure family sicker murder scene. Now THAT’S something I could get behind. Can you make something like that? It seems like a strange question, but they they have stickers for everyone… Lol
   Now this was a tough one to respond to, but the messages I get many times keep me on my toes. As for the names, don’t use them! If you are using the family sticker for another purpose, perhaps, and there are myriad personal in-house, creative uses for these family stickers, not just car windows, then by all means, the name option is there. As for making a murder scene family sticker, I don’t think that would be in good taste. We do have some crazy decals that’s for sure, designed by many artists around the world, and many times customers order decals and modify them later, but a murder scene family sticker might just be going a tad far. But then again, it’s a crazy world, and everything can be found online now!
4. Shipping dilemmas. It’s been a good run, really. There’s a lot of peeves about the graphics business, and I have many friends on my social media accounts and we go around from time to time with our tales. Since transferring to a strictly online seller one of the things we have to deal with are issues arriving because of faults with the shipping service—or other things that are out of our hands.
   When ordering online buyers most times come back to the sellers, first, although we both rely on a third party service, usually the USPS, to do the actual shipping part of the deal. Often sellers take the hit and USPS gets off scot-free without so much as an email. Here’s one I recall when a package got returned to us because of an incorrectly entered shipping address during checkout:
   Me: “You item was returned to me today, marked ‘undeliverable as addressed.’ If you would provide the corrected address, I’d be happy to resend.”
   eBay customer: “Never gotten item… Don t need it now. Please refund my money.. Sorry for the delay, but I forgot about the item I ordered.”

   Another, item not received (shipped during the holidays, and this item was marked as delayed at the USPS website tracking service).
   Customer: “I was supposed to get my item today and I dint get anything.”
   Me: “Hi, I checked the tracking and it’s marked delayed by USPS. I hope it will arrive soon. Likely today or tomorrow.”
   Customer: “No you didn’t send me anything I haven’t received nothing. I just want a refund”

   Again, this second one was from an eBay sale. Funny, I do seem to get more issues when dealing through eBay. It had gotten worse after, years ago, eBay halted the ability for sellers to put anything else than good, bright green feedback for customers. However, these customers are extremely rare, such as one per six months maybe, or less. But like a blooming Colorado apple tree, so are the apples with little green worms in them!

   Both seller and buyer rely on third parties to handle the actual shipping process. We must all try and realize that sometimes delays are out of sellers’ hands. We all must be respectful and patient. Over the years I’ve learned, it is true, and must remain true, even for those rare customers that might try to ruin your day: the customer is always right, do the best your can, send the refund, take the hit, and move forward. Of course there and always will be exceptions!

5. Crazy stuff aside, here’s what we mostly hear, and it really keeps Lore and I going:
   Hi John and Lore,
   I just received my Decals from you and I must say I am very pleased with the work you did and decals I received. Thank you very much! You guys are fantastic! And thank you for the little bonus decals too, that was a really nice unexpected surprise. I even received my faster than any Canadian company over. I know where to go for my decals from now on. Once again thank you for the great work and fast expedited service!

I want to take a moment to say thanks! Ad thanks for reading this ramble of a random post. Sometimes I wonder what to write about in this blog, but it usually doesn’t take long to come up with some ideas! Your feedback is highly welcome and it sends our mood flying. We are honored to have served the decal and graphics needs of so many over the years and your business is humbly and graciously honored! And although this post had a couple dabs of rare negative experiences, we’ve run into almost every type of client, most good, very few bad, we want to continue to be your one stop shop for vinyl graphics!

 

How do I Create Cool Family Stickers ? It’s really quite easy, and fun! Also see video below.

Well, I could advise, having had cut thousands of cool family stickers for nearly twenty years! Head on over to Full Intensity Grafx and create cool family stickers that are insanely unique!

1. Choose your category (Dads, Moms, Boys, Girls, Pets, etc.) using the buttons on the page.
2. The family stick people designs will appear for that particular category. Simply click one to make your choice.
3. Next you will be able to add a name for that member, as well select other options. Entering a name is optional. If you do not want a name just leave the box empty.
4. Repeat steps one through 3 for as many family members as you would like to add. After adding all desired family members use the other options to further customize your family sticker. Choose a header, the text’s font style, and the vinyl color.
5. Easy family member positioning: Use the small arrows beneath each family member to move that member left or right in the order. Click the Remove link to remove any particular member.
6. Member changes. Simple! Click on the image of any member in the preview window. The Member-Swap function will activate and the next member chosen, with any selected options, will replace that particular family member.
7. Finished? When your family sticker is exactly how you want it scroll down and review your selected options then add the design to your shopping cart by clicking the Add To Cart button.
8. Want to design more cool family stickers? From the shopping cart choose Continue Shopping. Upon returning to this page click Clear All Choices. Then repeat the steps above to create another family sticker.
9. After your family sticker is ordered we will create, then email a link to you. Follow the link to view your optional sample proof. Note: Family sticker sample proofs are generally uploaded to your order details page within (1) hour or less during normal business hours. We’ll adjust the height of the family members and tidy the design up a bit!
10. Verify your sample proof. If your family sticker is exactly how you want it click Approve Sample and let us know. An email will be sent to us.
11. That’s it! We ship the family stickers (5) days a week worldwide. Expect yours to arrive soon! Create cool family stickers that will surprise, or shock, your friends!