I saw a website online today for a Sydney-based graphic design company (I won’t name names, to protect the guilty!) — and splashed on their front page was the slogan:

“Near enough is never good enough…”

Then… on their sample page of work, they have a category for “Stationary” and “Recent Stationary”

Why can’t designers spell stationery the right way?!? Sheesh!!!

If I see one more designer or printer use “stationary” instead of “stationery” — I’m gonna scream!

It’s like a chef not knowing how to spell “food” — one of the basics of the industry.

Stationary — not moving. Think if the “a” as AT a stop, standing still.

Stationery — paper, envelopes etc for letter writing, correspondence. Think of the “e” as EDUCATION — kids using paper to write stories in class.

Crikey. It’s not that hard!

Next thing you know, people will start using “it’s” instead of “its” and “your” instead of “you’re” — hmmmm.

I read with interest a flyer yesterday for a plastic card printer: very obviously translated into English by someone who doesn’t speak English all that well!

And today, another one… Mel was creating some hand-made invitations for a client, and the instructions and information on the back of a new packet of “Glue tape” (like the liquid paper that comes in tape form, but glue!) were quite amusing. The product is made in Korea.

Here’s a few gems from the packaging:

Under “Special Feature”

5. The front tip of the tape as the figure works good even benting part glue

Not quite sure what that was intended to mean! Maybe it’s to do with applying glue on curved lines?

Under “Glue Tape Usage”

1. Gluing envelope, postage and receipt.

2. Editing, data arrangement and tentative plan.

3. Paper fold, gift packaging and environment decoration.

4. Put memo temporary.

We could figure most of that out (number 2 probably means creating a temporary layout; not sure about the “environment decoration” for number 3 though).

The Glue Tape works great… just glad we don’t need to rely on the English instructions on the back!

It makes me wonder too at the value of automatic online translation services. Have you ever tried to type something (in our case, in English) and then translate it via an online service, AND THEN translate it back into the original language? Every time I do that the end result in English is nothing like what I wrote originally.

Back to the Glue Tape. Luckily the graphic design pictures used on the packaging show any necessary instructions, without the need to rely on the accompanying text. That highlights the importance of both making the product user-friendly and using graphics in a universal way to communicate.

We have assisted clients in the past with translating instructions on product information flyers — or, more specifically, re-writing instructions that were translated into English in a similar way by the product manufacturer.