Make time for creativity: How Pink Cactus uses Acrobat Fill & Sign to keep business moving

Steve Jobs once said “creativity is just connecting things” and for the owners of Pink Cactus, there are endless possibilities for connection.

Taking inspiration from the natural world, science and technology, the team at Pink Cactus specialises in designing and producing pieces and props for theatre, film, television, and events, as well as public art and furniture for the home or office.

Owners George Buchanan and Govinda Webster met at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) when they were both studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Properties and Objects, where they fell in love and began taking on small projects.

Today Pink Cactus has a core team of six that can expand to as much as 30 people depending on the project. Buchanan and Webster credit their business growth to being “yes” people.

“We’ll get asked if we can make even the most outlandish thing and we’ll say, ‘YES,’ and figure it out from there. That’s how we’ve ended up making such a broad variety of things. We’re yes people.”

Navigating the creative process

Even for those seasoned at making new “creative” connections, the process comes with inevitable twists and turns. An enthusiastic yes is often followed by a period of doubt, uncertainty and missteps before new ideas and solutions come to the fore.

For Pink Cactus, this makes it all the more important to reserve as much time as possible for the evolving creative process.

“Having more time to problem solve – that’s where we get to be creative in a way that makes our business really tick,” says Buchanan.

The collective skills of the team help buoy the various stages of the creative process as they are able to draw on a range of skills spanning metal fabrication, engineering, model making, scenic art, 3D design, special effects, sculpture, costume design, set construction, events, shopping and much more.

This is an advantage when it comes to bringing ideas to life as there is always a myriad of materials, methods and technologies to draw upon.

“Our staff are always updating their skills and knowledge base,” says Buchanan. “Whatever the prop, be it a small mechanism or a huge robot, you have to have incredible amounts of creativity and imagination.”

Keeping business moving

Ultimately, making the business side of things run smoothly helps create more time for creativity.

“I’d rather be on the workshop floor making stuff, but as a business owner you have to find the balance. I take care of emails, accounting and paperwork, and my partner does the quoting.”

With the work primarily commission-based, the various moving parts of business administration and paperwork, including signing contracts, needs to be done before a project can commence.

“We can’t get started or hire contractors until each project has complete sign off,” says Buchanan.

For Pink Cactus, the Adobe Acrobat Fill & Sign tool means the team can save time and get the job started faster. “Every contract that comes our way, I’ll open it in Adobe Acrobat and use the Fill & Sign Tool, and boom! It’s done,” says Buchanan.

As Buchanan admits, you can’t keep moving as a business without these processes, so saving time where you can, is integral to protecting creativity. “Every bit of time I can save by using Adobe Acrobat gives me more time to be creative. I’d say it’s a tool that’s just as important as a paint brush or screwdriver.”

Want to try for yourself? First, start your Trial with Adobe Acrobat then follow these simple steps.