Print Design TipsTips and Information About Printing

Business printing is usually clear and concise as companies seek to get their message across using a variety of printed media – business cards, newsletters, marketing brochures, proposals, white papers, adverts and the list is endless.  While clear and concise language is great for quickly getting the written message across, the design and appearance of the piece needs to attract and excite the reader to actually pick the item up and read, at least, the first line.

This is where good design and creative imagination comes into play, and one of the most powerful tools at your disposal are the myriad numbers of fonts and effects you can create with them.

Use Simple and Straightforward Fonts

You want the reader to be able to quickly and easily read the text – it is no good having a really decorative, cursive font only for it to be virtually unreadable by someone with a busy life, being jostled on the train or having to switch to reading glasses to decipher what teh text is – they simply will end up not reading it at all!

This is why you should keep your fonts simple and easy to read, but this doesn’t mean boring!

Font Mix & Match

By mixing different fonts into your text you can create interest and break the text up into more manageable chunks which allows the reader to skim rather than actually read completely (here’s a hint: most people skim to the good bits when they read, they do not take the time to read it completely).

By using headings and sub-headers in conjunction with differing fonts, you can create a more inviting and easily understood piece.

Typefacing Issues

More than mixing fonts, by using different typeface effects, such as italics and bolding, you can highlight the important parts of your communication for the reader’s attention.  Whenever there is a crucial part of your text, set that in italics or bold it as a block of text – this way you signal the importance to the reader.

Do not use bolding in isolation and frequently – it makes the text difficult to read.

Utilize Spacing Techniques

Spacing is one of the least appreciated print design issues because many novices or people intent on making their own designs, think they have to pack the space available with images and text.  Spacing creates a flow and acts as an attractor for those design elements which are important and simply cramming text and images in leads to the message getting lost and a confused piece being created.

You can also utilize different text height and widths which involve using space differently in order to emphasise aspects of your text, eminently suitable for headers and sub-headers.

Contrast

Creating contrast with your text and background is also a great way of making parts of your message stand out to the reader.  Back fill with a different color to the rest of the paper, changing the font color being used or inverting the text/background colors will create different highlights and effects.

Offset printing makes use of plates and ink to create an image on paper (though originally, the technique was used to create images on tin in industrial England).  This requires plates to be created which is time consuming and labor intensive; the plates are created by burning and mounting reverse images upon the film, typically now computer driven, and by adjusting the output to balance the color and contrast. For this reason, offset printing is not susceptible to making changes, and especially not in the middle of a print run which makes it imperative that proofs are carefully checked prior to giving approval for the print run to proceed.

Digital printing does not require this heavy labor-input or the cost of creating the plates upfront – everything is software driven, so the first printed piece can be created without incurring great set-up costs.  The catch with digital printing is that offset printing provides greater quality of reproduction and when large print runs are involved, the overall cost drops dramatically because the high set-up costs are spread over a large number of pieces.

The question arises as to when a client should opt for offset printing as opposed to digital printing, so here are a few guiding hints and tips to consider.

Quality

If you are seeking to create a great impression with a glossy marketing brochure, you are going to want the enhanced quality provided by offset printing methods.  Digital printing does deliver high quality reproduction levels and which is catching up with traditional offset methods, but it still lags some way behind them.

Print Run Sizes

The size of print run will determine the economics of the case – print runs of less than a 1,000 will favor using digital printing methods as the high set-up costs are not present, however the variable cost of digital printing is relatively higher than for offset printing.  Larger print runs will cause a financial argument to move towards using offset printing.

The number of repeat print runs you are likely to need will also form part of the financial case.  If you are going to need extra print runs, you should ensure the printer is aware of this so they keep the plates – this will avoid the need for incurring the set-up costs all over again when you place a re-order.

Turnaround Times

If you have a rush job that needs to be done overnight, it is unlikely you will be able to source an offset printer who can manage the job for you.  Digital printing on the other hand, involves setting up the print run using a computer and software – changes can be made on the fly and there is a dramatically reduced turnaround time.  Offset printing is more suitable when you have enough time to provide adequate notice to your printer so proofs can be created and properly checked before the print run takes place.

Summary

There are obviously more issues than these few factors in determining whether you should use an offset printer or opt for digital solutions – quality, time and cost are amongst the most important ones however, and you should discuss your immediate and long-term job requirements with your print partner to assess which is the best method of delivering the material effectively for you.

Whatever the business communication you are working on, even if it is not something for business use, the art of getting your message across is to concentrate on putting into words and images what is in your head.  This is what writing is really about – conveying your thoughts into a message which will be understood in someone else’s head and as a print design tip, it is one of the most powerful.

Two things come out of this – firstly, that it is important you think clearly and are able to visualize what you intend to have as a finished product to offer your audience; this includes conceptualizing the entire process from first encounter with a prospect, the anticipated journey through the buying process and the final delivery and after-sales care which you want to deliver.

Secondly, while you want to conceive of a clear message from your side of the divide, you want the prospect to understand your message – for them to understand the problem they have, for them to realize this can be tackled and that it is in their interests to act, and when they decide to act, that they understand you are the provider of the solution above all others.

This is a lot to take in but we can boil this down to very simple concepts and the most important is to focus your ad, your section of a brochure, your chapter in a white paper – whatever the print project is – to focus on selling one thing at a time!

Let’s take an ad – how many times have you seen an ad which has a great product or service with a fantastic price, but you can’t see where you have to call or email or what you are supposed to do?  There is just too much information being thrown at you from the piece that you suffer overload?

In fact, you probably are not aware of any such ads because your brain has automatically shut them off from your consciousness - it is only when you go looking for bad examples that you will become aware of them.

The rule is – one ad – one message.

This does not preclude you from exercising your creativity – it is not enough to say, “Buy this one now! Call 800-800-8080!”

Pick one of your products and then reverse engineer; look at what the product is able to do, what purpose does it serve, what unique problems or applications does it have?  Once you have identified these, what are known as Unique Selling Points or USP’s, you can then identify the target market which this problem afflicts; you can now craft your ad very specifically and very deliberately telling this target section that you have the answer and they need to buy your product.

This is important as if you leave focus, your ad, your brochure, even your simplest of business cards, will become muddled and incoherent and this reflects on your business and you.

Notice how some ads spring from the page and right into your brain when you turn a page in a magazine? Look again through the newspaper and try to see which ads have a great service of product offering but, they don’t evoke any feeling inside of you to do something about the message they are conveying. Best of all, get two ads side by side – one which hits you in the gut and one which doesn’t and see what the differences are.

The 40-20-40 Rule

This is a rule from the catalog industry, which believes that successful design comprises 40% good product and service offerings, 40% is preparing the right product list and the final 20% is creativity.

This may seem to belittle creativity and lead you to think you need to find products which “sell themselves”, but actually this is not the case. Being creative involves understanding and being daring enough to leave out design and product aspects rather than just trying to stuff everything onto the space available.

Do not over face your reader – give them enough to provide a taste of what is on offer – you serve the full course when you have the client ready to make a buying decision!

Always Be Selling!

Advertising is ultimately about selling and the point of your piece is to grab attention and generate interest. This actually follows form one of the salesman’s acronyms – AIDA – this stands for:

• ATTENTION
• Interest?
• Decision
• ACTION

In fact, your ad will have to satisfy all four of these conditions because you still need the prospect to make a decision to contact you, and take the conversation you have initiated further down the buying path.

Be Concise and Clear

You never know who is going to read your piece nor what frame of mind they will be in when they first encounter it. First impressions do count because, it is unlikely that a reader will look at the ad once and then come back to it, unless they have already been stirred by the contents. Most of what we create is destined for the trash, so maximize the opportunity to get your message across in one instant.

Be brief and to the point.

No clichés or puns and get straight to the point.

Know Your Audience

The more you can find out about your target audience, the more likely you are to tap into trends and fashions which they are more interested in. As a basic minimum, find out the following about your target audience:

• Simple demographics such as age, sex, employment status, specific common interests;
• What type of buyer are they – considered or impulse buyers?
• What application do they have for your product or service –i.e. identify their problem and show you have what they need to solve it;
• What are their basic needs, desires and fears – in bare terms, human behaviour can be boiled down to response to one of two motivators – greed and fear – simple, crude but very effective; and
• How do they behave as a group e.g all vote Republican, all go to church, all are active.