Color must be made to be subservient to the overall rendition of the printed material – the message is key and all the other elements, such as layout, fonts, spacing, imagery and graphics must fall into line along with color in supporting the message.

If you use color badly, this will disrupt the overall impact and impression you are looking to create. Too much will overload the material and prove a distraction from the result you are looking for. Too little color will render the printed material bland and lifeless. You must strike a balance which can sometimes be a very fine line and is where an experienced print designer and partner are worth every cent of the money they charge.

Smaller projects, such as a business card, may use only one color, though two-colors will usually have a greater effect on the finished product. Multiple color schemes should usually be limited to the se of four colors to avoid overkill. No matter what the number of colors you use, you always should ensure that there is enough white space to contrast and place a setting for whatever imagery and colored text you are using to sit within.

There is more to consider with color than just the actual color schemes – shading plays an important part too. Black and red provide the most attention grabbing colors for headlining or underlining areas which you wish to accentuate; blue and yellow are considerably more subtle in their impact while green is considered a soothing color while orange is associated with fun and a good time. Do not be bound by the simple palette available – play with the shading so you get the right tones and contrasts for your work.

The most important element of any business print job is the message – the printed word.

“Uniformity of message” simply means that all of your business communications relay the same message. This is a sub-set of “branding”, where imagery is also used in the creation of a corporate identity which the buying public instantly recognizes and comes to rely upon and trust.

Consider this:

Market flyer states you are the #1 reseller of widgets to the US Government;

but

Marketing brochure states you have just been appointed to sell widgets to the US Government.

While the two are not necessarily incompatible, it is strange that you claim you’re #1 in one piece of collateral but claim to be a new supplier in another.

This is an important point as customers will read more than one piece of your marketing and business collateral and such inconsistencies will stand out.

It is not simply the words and their meaning which should be the same, but the impression you are seeking to create. Being #1 at something implies you have been around for a while, or have cornered a new market. Being a new supplier indicates neither of these – their is lack of uniformity of message here.

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.

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.

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.

Here we continue with Booklet Design 101.

A guiding principle is to add value to your reader and their investment of time in reading what you wrote.  Provide information which is practical and usable by the reader.  A good example is a home improvement company – give advice on how to fix a shelf; a garage – car care; a doctor – healthy living or how to give up smoking.

Maintain the “uniformity of message” and this means being consistent throughout the booklet – a simple way of doing this is to ensure you use the same images throughout the booklet or if you are using different ones, that you ensure they are all to the same consistent quality, subject and format.  If you use diverse images and formats, you will detract from the impact and allow the booklet to deteriorate into a patchwork of ideas which will become easily lost, not least because you will easily lose the attention of the reader.

It’s a good idea to allow for some space for your reader to make some notes – a “jotting pad” at the end of each section or page,   By doing this you are personalizing the booklet to your reader and this is especially effective if they make use of the invitation – people rarely dispose of a document upon which they have written some notes!

As with any business literature, make it easy for a reader to find your contact information.  It may not be possible for you to have your telephone, email address or mailing address on every page but it is certainly practical to try or to have contact information repeated throughout the booklet.  Do not ignore this because when a reader encounters a piece of information in your booklet, they are likely to experience a “Eureka” moment – that is, they understand how your information can provide a solution to an issue they have – when that happens, they will want to contact you quickly.

Though a booklet may not be a purebred sales document (although it can be), this does not mean that you abandon marketing principles – as a reader goes through the booklet, there should be calls to action provided.  Examples are: an electrician – make sure you perform an annual electrical equipment safety inspection; medical – contact your doctor for a cholesterol test on a regular basis; garage – make sure you rotate your tires every 7,000 miles.

There are many other issues to cover but just because the document is a booklet and not a full-blown book does not mean you should skimp on the creativity or thought behind developing it.

We will continue with Booklet 101 in Part 3 with more hints and practical tips for you to improve the effectiveness of your efforts.

Here are some of the issues we frequently encounter when being asked to help out.

Make Sure You “Bleed”

The bleed is that part of the document around the edges which the printer uses to manipulate the document – imagine you need a space at the edge of a photograph which allows you to hold the photo – a printer uses the bleed to correct design inaccuracies and optimize print production.

You may sometimes have to dig around your software package to find the bleed settings but it is essential you make sure they are set at an appropriate bleed.  Typically, a 3mm is fine for most pieces of work.

Use Overprinting if the Budget is Tight

When the budget is constrained, it is usual for a client to restrict themselves in the use of color.  This can lead to a dull or lifeless finished product but many people, including printers and designers, forget that most of our color spectrum is actually a compound of three primary colors.  That being the case, try using overprinting to create great color effects using only the minimum of colors, you only need 2 colors to make 3!

Using this technique you can create great image effects using photographs and other images, so don’t limit yourself.

Expand the Mind and Think Outside the Paper

Our minds will fill in information we expect to see, so play around with the print subjects at the borders of the paper and even though most of the image or text may be missing, the reader’s brain will complete the gaps.

Here’s an example of how the human mind can do this – try reading the following:

“The hmaun barin si ecelxlnet ta flinlig gpas ni ttex”

You should be able to read, “The human brain is excellent at filling gaps in text.” – as long as the starting and ending letters are in the right position, it doesn’t matter what order the other words are in – we can still read it.

Don’t Be a Slave to Standard Paper Sizes

Using a standard paper size can stifle creativity and the impact of your finished document.  How about using a square paper shape to create an interest, especially effective for booklets?  If you are looking to motivate and persuade people to take your document away with them, use a small paper size so it fits comfortably in their pocket or cane be stashed quickly and easily.

Don’t restrict yourself when it comes to getting your project off the ground, there are lots of different ways in which you can inject interest and vitality into any document.  It does require a desire and ability to let go of some preconceived notions and think, quite literally, outside of the “box”, or at least, the sheet of paper!

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.

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