Here is a brief guide for you to understand the difference between your ells and leadings.

AA’s

Author Alterations – ussually changes made by you as the customer during or after the proofing process and as such billable to you as extra work performed – plan your work carefully beforehand and be meticulous at the proofing stage to avoid a nasty shock with the bill.

Actual Weight 

This is the actual weight of the paper used and it is used to determine the price for shipping as well as the purchase price for the paper itself – you may see different terms such as basic weight or basic size when planning your project and they mean different things so ask your print partner exactly what they mean and what they are using.

Bleed

This is where an image runs off the side of the paper – a technique that can concentrate the attention of the reader but does result in greater costs at the printing stage – the bleeds are created by trimming the paper to size (which increases the cost because of the extra labor and extra paper size).

DPI or Dots Per Inch

This is the number of dots which fit horizontally and vertically into a square inch of printing – the higher the DPI the greater the detail that can be presented including color differentiation.   A higher DPI is needed for graphics and photographic replication than for simple printed text jobs and the cost increases generally with a higher DPI.

Em Space

This is a lateral space equal to the width of the letter “m” – equally there is the En space for the letter “n” – these spaces are used in typography and typesetting.

Finish

Refers to the finish of the paper used – there are various types of finishes depending on your budget and the use to which the piece will be put.  You can have an embossed finish, felt, smooth or vellum, calendering,  papermaking and many others – ask your printing partner for a selection of finishes which they will usually have as a sample book.

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The originality of your brochure is somewhat self explanatory. This applies not so much to the design of the brochure, but how your company is represented. It should inform the audience of something unique about your company in order to make you stand out. The design of your brochure has to do with its outline and layout. In cases like this it is best to go for a simple design that is uncluttered and easy to read. Make sure only necessary information is included.

The images that are used in your brochure should always be the highest quality possible. Always ask the person who is designing your brochure what type of images they will be using. Sometimes they will take their own photos and other times they may prefer to use stock images. Regardless, make sure that they use high-resolution images.

Color is important in a well-designed brochure. Colors have a way of invoking feeling and emotion in a person. The colors used in the brochure should also go well with the images used such as the company logo. Finally there is the page bleed. This is where color runs off the edges of your brochure when printing in order to account for any shifts that may occur. At least a 1/8 bleed is recommended.

For restauranters, the menu is crucial but so many menus fail to deliver either the information in a readable and easily identifiable way or just as bad, fail to convey the atmosphere and tone, that ambience, which is so vital in creating an enjoyable dining environment which creates repeat business and restaurant success.

Strive for Clarity

Most menus fail to achieve clarity and by this we mean the food and drink choices are easily found and understood but also the overall message and personality of the venue is carried on through in a unified theme.

Almost every menu has too many words - take any menu and cut the word number in half and you will automatically improve that menu – take whatever yours is and try to cut out all the extraneous wordage making it more direct and compelling with respect to your dining offering.

This makes it easier for the customer to understand what is available and also with yoru servers efforts at cross-selling other food, sides, desserts and drinks.

Typeface & Font

The print on a menu should never be too small to read but you also must take into account the lighting when a customer is likely to be reading the menu – if the venue enjoys bright light that’s fine but if it is providing a more intimate experience with reduced lighting or candlelight then it is imperative a customer can be able to read what is before them.

Never use less than 12 point typeface – anything less is going to be difficult to read for many customers under any conditions.

Making sure you have a font style in keeping with your ambience and personality is also important but again, many customers look to the weird and wonderful fonts available as a means of distinguishing themselves from other competitors – only to end up with frustrated diners quizzing the servers over what is meant!

Menus Change

Depending on your clientele and the market you are in, your menu is going to change no matter who you are but how you effect these menue changes will have a direct impact on how you present the menu to your customers.

Having a card based menu which needs to be reprinted every time you have a menu item or price change is going to be expensive and perhaps only suitable for higher-end eateries.  For mid-range dining establishments, a folder with inserts is probably a better option so each insert only needs to be changed and not the entire menu.

Tip #1 – Choose a Partner Where the Quality is in Control

This may mean abandoning printers who focus on price at the expense of quality; achieving the quality you are looking for time after time requires a state-of-mind to deliver consistently.  You cannot expect either yourself or your partners to deliver the standards you are looking for on the cheap or by cutting corners while if you are thinking quality, that is much more what you are likely to get with the end result time after time.

Tip #2 – Get Organized

Being organized will help you both to maintain clear communication which in turn avoids silly mistakes between initial enquiry and final product.  If you are not organized it also means more work for your print partner which in turn means more cost to you or a loss of interest in your account – neither is good for you!

Tip #3 – Punctuality

Your printing partner needs you to be timely with submitting and approving drafts – they have to do their share when you have done yours and they have other clients to cater to as well as you.  Being late, or leaving things to the last moment is not good for you either as you may be putting your print partner under undue pressure to get the job delivered on time when in fact you are the one holding everyone up.  Rush jobs usually mean more mistakes and poorer quality – be on time!

Tip #4 – Be Clear what You Want and What You Expect

Don’t let your print partner second guess your requirements – if you want cheap and cheerful, you’ll get that but if you want top of the range quality, you must make it clear to the print partner this is what you will be demanding when the final product is delivered.

Don’t hold back – be very clear what you expect and what you will accept.

Tip #5 – You Decide What Your Quality Standard Is!

You are the one who sets the bar when it comes to quality so never let anyone tell you what constitutes quality  - you set the standards and everyone will judge you by the standards produced!

It really doesn’t matter that you have highly interesting content, fantastic visuals from a really good photographer or graphic designer and a superb product finish – get the typography wrong and it all follows from there.

The type fonts you use will set the tone of the document and content; if you are unsure, stick to the established neutral fonts such as Ariel, Times New Roman, Courier and so on. Many experienced hands will recommend you look at Helvetica, Swiss or Akzidenz-Grotesk but personally I recommend you experiment with a range of between five and 10 fonts and see how you feel reading them.

The font size is important as this directly impacts the readability – if you are targeting seniors, use a larger font size to aid vision – I’m in my mid-40′s and have noticed my vision has deteriorated significantly from my 20′s, so larger font sizes are welcome for me too and I am not unique.  Small print is also frequently associated with the writer or publisher seeking to hide something, so be aware of the connotations of using smaller font sizes.

So, for the non-typofiles amongst you here is a brief checklist to follow:

1. shortlist between five and 10 fonts; use some you know and some you don’t for a good mix;
2. try out each font with both large and small font sizes and gauge the effect – you will notice some will slightly alter in perceived appearance and not always pleasantly; and
3. check each font type in both upper and lower-case letters as again, a font may look good in lower-case style but appear ugly when capitalized.

Illustrated stationery printed with the personal details of a friend or family member or even for your own use. These can be stylish, modern, or as traditional as you wish. The choice of lavish packaging is amazingly extensive. Playing cards, drink coasters, all printed with your own design, or from the huge selection offered by the printer with your own message!

Birth announcements, party invitations, wedding stationery, just inform the print-shop of your wishes when ordering, chose the design from their extensive range on offer, or supply your own.  What nicer gift for a new born baby than a photo album personalised with the family details and information about the Baby’s progress throughout the first year or even five years for the larger version. 

Maybe have a family photo printed on the front cover!!  

An album depicting the life of a loved one due to reach a special Birthday or retirement, including photos of them and their school friends, work colleague’s, special events enjoyed over the years.

How about personalizing your wine or beer with your own labels to enhance the bottles for the occasion to add a touch of class when you present a bottle of home made wine, jar of preserves as a gift or at the table! 

How about personalizing your clothing embossed with your club emblem or sport-team’s name, fund raising paraphernalia for your club/team/charity, calendars with pictures of your choice, be it pets, nature, scenery, or even photographs of your club/team members. Mugs with your team logo, even have your team photo printed on. Pens printed with a logo or contact details…the choices are endless!

Once you have made your selection, you must decide if you will submit your own design or take advantage of their experienced, in-house design team.  Although you will be given expert advice and guidance by your consultant, you will need to provide information about your company, the products and services on offer.

Firstly, consider the choices of what form of advertizing material you wish them to produce for you, and what quantity you require.  You may simply need as little as just the basics with envelopes, plain or printed with your company details, headed notepaper, compliment slips, business cards, or, all of this stationery and marketing collateral and reports.  It is advisable to use the same design, color, company logo on all of your printed products to enable your clientele to recognise your communications at a glance.

Marketing materials are also offered by the printer.  Leaflets or flyers are one of the most cost effective promotional techniques.  The design from your company stationery will enhance the immediate impact on existing clients, and familiarise your company to new clients. Consider your client-base and what is most likely to attract their attention to maximise an effective marketing campaign.

The most expensive mass-mailing production is the catalog. The advantage of this choice is that your catalog is like supplying a portable, unobtrusive salesman who can enter your potential client’s business premises or home for them to refer to at their leisure.  The content must be dynamic; your product must be enhanced by the design elements and color, not competing with them.  Avoid overwhelming your customer with lengthy descriptions; condense your text to descriptions that hold their interest.  Arrangement of your products is important, place popular and lower priced articles to the front, graduating to the more expensive, superior items.  You may consider using speciality products on the outside covers.

Color leaflets depicting a sample from each of your product ranges are a much less expensive alternative to a catalog.  You can more afford the risk of a percentage of potential clients never doing more than putting it through the shredder!!  The same options are offered by the print company as with the catolog but pay special detail to the color and limited space for description detail.

At the lower end of the price spectrum is the ‘Flyer’ a single, usually two-color information sheet.  The limited space available for artwork and description of your company and product can be compensated by clever design and vibrant coloring.

Which ever option you choose for your company marketing campaign, it is essential that careful checking of all details be made prior to printing.  It is a good idea if the editing is carried out by two different people to double the opportunity to correct any errors that one person may miss!!

There are two issues with printing quality – the objective standards that can easily be measured and the more subjective aspects such as color tone, design layout and ideas that flow between you and the print shop.

When you are checking through the work produced, and particularly when you are making your selection for an initial print run, check out the objective issues first as these are straight forward and errors are simply and quickly found:

·         Are the pages in the correct order?

·         Is the binding straight?

·         Have the pages been printed positive with no mishaps with over-printing and the colors merge properly rather than casting color shadows due to misalignment?

·         Have the pages been properly typeset so they are printed with correct margins and footer and header spacing as well as appearing straight and true rather than offset at some angle?

Once you have this out of the way, you have to consider the more subjective issues which for the most part will be dealt with by a combination of your gut feel which will significantly improve over time and the feedback you get from others, especially the readers and users of your material.  In particular, consider the following:

·         Color scheme and mix; how the subtle use of color is brought to bear on your printed materials’

·         The ink coverage on your materials – is it acceptable across the whole spectrum of the publication or medium you are using?

·         Editorial and physical layout – make sure you do not allow the graphics to dominate your written message.

·         Compromises over colors and how your requirements are interpreted, this really comes down to how well you work with your print partner and the quality of communication between you.

This brings about one of the issues you need to consider; if the print quality is not up to the grade what is your position when it comes to getting the printer to accept responsibility for work that is not up to scratch.  You shouldn’t have to be looking over the shoulders of the printer at the shop, nor is it practical – you have every right to expect consistent quality, run after run, no matter where you happen to be situated and if a printer isn’t prepared to step up to your mark when it comes to quality they really have no justification for expecting your repeat business.

Both quality and cost can vary significantly so ensure that you have been informed of any special deals that may be on offer, only order large quantities if you are likely to use them all to avoid the risk of a false economy! 

Make sure that the printing company are aware of any important time schedules you may have, and obtain assurance that they can meet any dead-lines. 

The essential Information to include on a detailed draft layout is: your Company name, logo, graphics, photographs, or digital images. Contact details, including address with zip code, web site, email, telephone number (many people forget this one) and remember, your customers will vary in their choices of how to communicate with you so it is important that you cater for their needs.  

Include all services that your company offers but don’t focus so much on what you do and who you are – focus on what problems and needs you can satisfy and solve for your prospects and customers because that is what they are looking for.

When your Brochure is ready for print, consult the printing company design team for advice, after all, it is their expertise that you are paying for!  Most print and design shops that are worth the name will be able to take your brief and information on CD, DVD or email and you can also send a print-out of the artwork for their reference.  This makes sure that everyone is working from the same material and pool of ideas so you are not disappointed when you get the proofs.