A Costly Error

Back when blank DVDs were a thing, a multi-pack went to print with a website address one character out.

An unused pack design for a Verbatim DVD-R 16x 10 pack from the same era.

Nobody spotted it. Not the designer, not the client, not those checking the print proof. It was only realised after the whole order had been produced and half a million units were on a ship from the Far East.

I was a junior at the time and I'd picked up a previous job and created this new iteration from that master. For a while I thought I was on the hook for the mistake, but it was found in the previous job as well.

The slightly different URL led to a site that sold DVDs of an adult nature.

One character. That's all it takes to turn a clean job into a reprint, a delay and an awkward conversation with someone senior on the client side.

In the end, the client had to take this one on the chin. They had signed off the artwork several times and hadn't seen the mistake. The entire shipment was routed to a warehouse and a team had to pull each item apart and repackage in replacement outers. It must have cost them a fortune.

Localisation and multi-market artwork lives and dies on details like this, not the big creative calls. It's why I'm careful these days to check over the copy and read every line. However many times someone has already checked, the job will need checking again before anything goes near a printer.

What's the smallest detail that's caused the biggest headache on one of your jobs?