Print Design TipsTips and Information About Printing

No matter what you are sending out of the door, a bill, a payment, a sales brochure or a letter to your best customer – you are on display and there is also an opportunity to promote yourself, your brand and your business. Just take a moment and think about the numerous ways in which customers, prospects and the general public are able to see your brand and you are quickly going to see where this is leading.

It is not just the obvious examples which spring to mind such as banners and sales leaflets but the less obvious ones which you should also consider – think about your logo and brand identity next time you give a PowerPoint presentation or a slide show at a seminar or meeting.

Logos

A logo does not need to be complicated, in fact, many small businesses make a serious mistake in trying to “over design” their logos and making them very complex – this loses the “concept” that a logo embodies and customers do not wish to see the devil in the detail – they want it front and center and as plain as day. Complex logos are also difficult to render well in the printing process and they do not replicate well when they are small, especially on a company letterhead or business card.

Stick to simple designs with few colors, use one color is you can and remember that not every printing process can utilize full-color printing.

Business Cards

Business cards are the most important marketing tool you have in the stationery package. The business card should be recognized as the company salesman that never sleeps and is usually the first point of contact anyone has with your company. This being the case it is very sad that so little time and thought is put into their design and production by most businesses – a humble black on white card is fine for ultra-low cost but it does nothing when it is in a draw full of the same black-and-white, same size cards.

This said, there are numerous ways you can differentiate your business cards – try using rounded corners or a different shape from the regular rectangle; color business cards are increasingly common and are not “unprofessional” while there is also kudos to be gained by using (and proclaiming) they are printed on recycled paper.

Letterheads, Compliment Slips and Envelopes

The best advice to follow here is simply to print a lot more of these than you initially thought you might need – it is far cheaper to do this than to return for a re-order and much more convenient. The difference in the bill is likely to be a small percentage of the total cost, so don’t skimp.

Needless to say, every time you communicate with a customer or prospect in particular, you should be ensuring that they are faced with your corporate identity or brand. Letters in particular, are used to convey serious messages which are unique to the recipient and your message is supported and enhanced by the letterhead design and layout as much as what you have to say. A well designed letterhead provides you with instant credibility so do not skimp on this.

Your letterhead is an essential piece of your stationery package and it is likely to be seen by more people than any other item you may use – you need to get the design and feel of the letterhead right because it is your constant representative to the rest of the world.  A letterhead forms the center piece of your entire stationery package and is an essential piece of printed material when it comes to creating yor beand identity.

Remember your letterhead will end up in all kinds of places and situations and will be seen by a good number of people who it was not initially sent to – every time someone sees your letterhead, or for that matter any piece of yoru stationery, it is an important opportunity to promote yourself and yoru business as well as convey your business communication.

Basic Components

As a minimum your letterhead should contain the following:

• Logo
• Business name
• Contact information including telephone number and website address along with your mailing address and email

Footers and Headers

It is typical to break a letterhead down into the header (at the top) and the footer (at the bottom) with the main body free to present your text.  By organizing the letterhead in this way you instantly  create a space to maximize what you wish to say but at the same time have designated space to include your basic and optional components you wish to include.

Break the header up into three distinct sections – far left, center and far right – and make sure you leave space between them so that they do not merge into each other which will create a cluttered look.  Typically a header will be between half to 3 inches and a good hint is not to use fonts less than 8 pts as less than this becomes difficult to read or allow the information contained to be easily located on the letterhead.

Similar guidelines apply to the footer but with the additional caveat that this is where you are more likely to put the “small print” such as corporate and legal notices.  Again use no less than 8pts font size because it still has to be readable but a good touch is to separate the footer with a color band or “hairline” from the body of the letterhead sitting above it and this can neatly tie into the brand identity you are trying to create.

Backgrounds

Using a background is an excellent means of differentiating your letterhead from the rest of the pack but it should be understated to ensure it does not take over the appearance of the body of the letter.  A watermark using your logo or business name is an excellent means of achieving this and is especially effective when you are using full-color printing – ask your print and design partner for samples so you can see the effect.

Be careful with the colors you use in the background as you must remember that dark (black or less often, blue) text will be running across the body area of the letterhead – if you have black background and black text is printed across it then it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to read.

Using full-color printing for your letterhead will enhance your brand image and cement the marketing message in the minds of those receiving the letterhead. Creating a brand identity is an essential component of differentiating yourself from the competition and as your letterhead is seen by so many people, not just your customers, it pays to design it with your branding in mind.

An easy differentiator is to use full color – using one or two-color letterheads color schemes does not allow you to be differentiated much – using full color will let you create a simulated watermark, using your logo, you can add a design to the reverse, unused side or use photographic images far more effectively. Using full color will allow you to more completely customize not only the letterhead, but the entire stationery package far more effectively than using one or two colors, meanwhile, the vast majority of letterhead and stationery packages rely on single or dual color schemes so you can more easily and effectively achieve a brand differential with full-color.

This leads us onto the wider aspects of your business printing requirements. Letterheads are seen by more people than any other piece of business stationery but they are not the only tool in your arsenal – business cards are probably a close second to business letterheads, but there are numerous other opportunities where you will be using printed matter to send to customers, business partners and suppliers, prospects and general public, local and government agencies (such as the I.R.S. but also think of the budgets wielded by a local county which needs millions of dollars of external contracted-in services and products).

Invoices, receipts, compliments slips, business cards and don’t forget the envelopes, all provide an opportunity to promote your logo, company name, tagline and your contact information. Every occasion you have for sending printed materials for any reason should have the same basic components which provide a uniformity of message and image to all who see them. By ensuring that you are following the same theme with your stationery package you are seizing every opportunity to promote your business and engender the “idea” which is your brand identity.

Never underestimate how many people will see your letterhead and stationery package – it is not just the recipients of your letters or the accounts clerk who processes your invoice – send a letter through the mail and your letter will be handled by a number of mail workers before it gets to destination; if your recipient is in an office block, numerous other people will see the package or letter before it gets placed on the desk of whoever it is intended for. This is minor in comparison to many other marketing efforts but the effect is compounded by repeating the same thing over and over – the result is that your simple envelope and letterhead become synonymous with you as a business and this is the sign you have created a brand identity.

Most of your competitors will not be taking the time or energy to create a stationery set which clearly differentiates themselves from the rest of the pack – it does not need a great deal of time on your part nor a huge investment but this is an easy win for you.

Large or small, creating a brand identity is a primary goal of successful businesses because it is an essential mechanism for achieving differentiation between them and their competitors. Print advertizing is a proven method for achieving a brand identity and creating a separate perception in the eyes of the public, your customers, employees, suppliers and business partners.

Print advertizing encompasses a wide-range of products and techniques and there are numerous ways that print advertizing can be used to create and enhance your corporate image.

Corporate Identity

You may already be familiar with the phrase, “Uniformity of Message”; this means that you have a standardized way of putting together all your business communications no matter what they are used for – marketing and sales, general correspondence, legal issues, employee relations – no matter who you communicate with you are going to be using the same, uniform components such as:

· Logo

· Tagline

· Basic contact information

You will use these no matter what printed medium you are using, so;

· Business cards

· Envelopes

· Letterhead

· Marketing brochures

· Website

All these will carry the same basic components which are integral to your branding efforts.

Direct Mail

Direct mail campaigns are an excellent way of getting yourself in front of customers and prospects. Use direct mail campaigns to communicate new products and services, special offers and news affecting your business offering and your customers. Direct mail is highly effective and especially when you use them in conjunction with press releases.

Press Releases and PR Campaigns

Many businesses fail to use the media because they simply don’t imagine what they have or what they are doing is newsworthy. This is fallacious; editors and newsrooms are hungry for news items and what may not seem interesting or noteworthy to you may be just what the editor is looking for.

Press releases have a set formula for their construction and layout so it pays to research this well before you dive in and it will also pay dividends if you take the time to make some press contacts first as well. Whenever you have a new product or service, issue a press release – this is news. The same applies when you promote an employee, or make a new business partnership, offer a new product line or providing a special offer. All of these things are cause for issuing a press release.

Banner Advertizing

Posters and banners are good promotional material and cheap to produce though where you get them placed can significantly vary in terms of cost and quality. Ensure you have your logo on these as the logo forms the center-piece for your brand and corporate identity. Use this form of printed advertizing for getting yourself in front of the general public at large and for raising awareness of your brand and business.

Other Print Matter

There are numerous promotional methods for getting yourself noticed and it is a good idea for your business to have at least one of more of the following or similar available to hand-out to customers and prospects:

· Calendars

· Booklets

· Catalogs

· Notepads

· Stickers

· Door hangars

· Bookmarks

Establishing your corporate branding will take time and is a process rather than a simple “order” and it gets delivered exercise – a brand is synonymous with the company which operates it and you will need to exercise your imagination as well as a variety of printed and non-printed media to get the message and concept across.

Effective printed materials rely on good graphical design and layout but the real message is in the print – your story is in the words you use. The interplay between graphics, words and the layout need to be combined in order to maximize the attraction and cement the attention paid to the publication whether it is a marketing flyer, sales brochures or a newsletter, in fact, anything you are publishing.

Take Advantage of “Skimming” Readers

Most readers will initially flick through the pages of the magazine or newsletter you are publishing so, in order to attract their attention, strategically place pictures and graphics on the outside of the pages. A reader will skim before they decide to invest more of their time in reading what you actually have to say and you only have a matter of seconds to grab their attention and make them come to the decision to continue.

Focus Attention

When you are pulling disparate subjects and issues together, creating a central focus for the eye to concentrate on will help keep the reader’s attention on the page. For instance, if you are discussing “The Ford F-150”; have a good quality image of the vehicle in center of vision which stands out from the rest of the page elements. This will help readers to keep their “mental focus” on your subject matter and stay on the track you are creating for them.

Use Pull Quotes

Pull quotes are very similar in effect as images and graphics – they are most likely to be read and need to stand out and have impact.

Here’s an example:

“The US Department of Defense keeps telling Congress that it needs no more planes to fulfil its responsibilities.

“Congress imposes $700 billion spend on unwanted fighter jets!”

Despite the pleas of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Raptor is still in production largely because too many districts rely on the fighter to keep jobs going in under-utilized defense contractors.”

Look at this carefully and you will see your eye is drawn to the headline in bold which leads you to read around the quote.  Making the pull quote larger than the smaller printed text also helps the illusion and you are more likely to get your text read as a result.

Cover Design

Cover design is by far the most important design aspect of your publication. It is what will catch the eye of the reader to begin with and you really need to create maximum impact. Place yourself in the reader’s position and tell them what is in the publication for them – upfront and central, you’re telling the reader what they are going to get, how it will help and why a reader with a nano-second of attention span should pick up your newsletter or brochure from a cast of hundreds.

Spacing

Using “white space” around text or images is known as “leading” (rhymes with “heading”) – leading counts as you will quickly find out. Using white space around images and separating text vertically, not just with line spacing, makes the whole result far easier on the eye. You can use leading, especially in conjunction with photographs, to create a definite style and tone for your brochure or piece.