Shapes are at the root of design and have been historically from cave paintings to ancient writing to the modern period. Shapes define layouts, make patterns and are fundamental to the other elements created on the viewed page. Lines are used to draw the eye and mind’s attention to specific parts of the design, to define the parameter or area of the design, or as a separator of different page content. Lines can be straight or curved, but they do not need to be drawn necessarily – a line can be implied by the design, for instance typed text following a curved path.

Color is a very important element in graphic design because it impacts upon viewer’s perception and it is changeable depending on the context within which it is viewed. Color is also a factor which resonates emotionally with the viewer – there are warm colors, e.g. orange, and cold colors, e.g. light blue. Type refers to the fonts used in text, but also size, color, alignment and spacing which all affect how the text is rendered and how it impacts within the overall design.

Images, including photographs are also powerful design elements because they can bring a design to life and as the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words!”

A simple absence of color can convey a lack of emotion, a professional aura, prudent and sober decision making.

A presence of color can convey bright ideas, shock and taste, happy go lucky approach, friendly and easy to deal with attitude and much more.

The use of color or its absence is intrinsic to the success of your brochure, newsletter, direct mailing or sales flyer and cannot be ignored so let’s look at teh basics with color without blowing your budget in the process.

There are two ways color is used: spot color printing and four-color process.

The Four Color-Process uses a combination of four colors to produce the actual colors you will see on your finished product.

Spot Color Printing uses different color inks applied as required to produce the finished product.

You will need to be familiar with terms such as grayscales, screens and halftones along with CMYK, RGB and PS to understand how color is working with your printing projects.

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black – this refers to the four inks used in the 4-color process and from these colors are produced the rest as required.

RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue and is used on monitors (computer screens) and televisions to produce color – this is important to know as you will be scanning pictures in RGB (to produce the best monitor reproduction) but the actual finished product needs to be printed as CMYK files to ensure maximum quality in reproduction.

PMS stands for Pantone Matching System and is used in the spot color inking process with a computer design package having literally thousands of Pantone color schemes for you to use in creating your design and ultimately finished product.  Use swatches when selecting colors because on the computer screen they will always appear brighter to your naked eye due to the back illumiination of the monitor screen but this will not be available in the finished product which will appear duller in comparison.

A sound principle is to place content first  and design second – assuming you are following this, let’s now concentrate on some design issues.

Inversion Impact

When you read a headline of a newspaper, you will frequently find it has been inverted, that is the headline is in white against a solid, black background.  This leads to a greater visual impact than simply printing teh headline in, say, larger typeface.

This can also be used for grapic imagery and photographs may be particularly effective but you need the help of a skilled designer to garner the most out of such complex imagery.

Less is More

Buy no means are we advocating the minimalist approach but if yiou are trying to pack as much content into one page or one document, you are going to overload your readers.  Marketing and company brochures in particular are prone to this common error and it pays for you to take a huge step back and look at what truly is vitally crucial for your readers to understand and cut out the extraneous pieces of content you are stuffing in.

Work with the Grid

The grid is a design technique for arranging layout and especially for simpler pieces it is best to “Stick with the Grid!”

You don’t need to strictly follow the grid and settle for the staid 3 column layout; try experimenting with different combinations and personally I find the 7-column setup expands the possibilities enormously with sidebars, 2-column overlaps and so on.

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.

A two-fold brochure is an easy and attractive means of presenting your company to potential clients and with a little research into the work produced by the copious number of print and design companies available to undertake this work for you, you are going to see a wealth of choice.

Make sure you request samples of their work and pay special attention to the design; is the artwork-eye-catching?  Are the colors powerful enough – it has been scientifically proven that people are more likely to respond to color and retain information! Does the wording inspire you to read all the content?  What is the overall feel of the quality of the finished product they are producing?  How happy are their existing customers?  What other projects have they carried out that are similar to your own needs?

Once you have satisfied yourself that you have found the perfect printing company, make some notes on how you wish them to portray your business and the services you offer.  Communication with the design department is crucial if they are to understand your requirements and they should have the expertise and production capabilities to deliver what you are looking for but you will need to clarify what you wish to portray.

You need to present an impressive impact in order to glean the most productive response to your marketing campaign.

Consider the extent of your marketing campaign, it is usually far more economical to order in larger numbers (but only if you need that quantity) while there are often offers of other stationery and printing supplies at much lower prices if all are included in the same order: business cards, headed notepaper, reports, packaging etc.

Discuss and agree the prices in advance of placing your order to save disappointment when presented with your invoice.

The information and ideas you have provided will be used along with the professional skills of both the design and production teams to produce a proof for your examination.  Don’t pay for your printing until you have examined the proof and agree it is correct, free of errors and what you are looking for because it is too late to argue once the job goes to print.

Newsletters

A newsletter is usually mailed out on a regular basis, giving up-to-date information. So what can a business newsletter have and do for your business? If you create a newsletter and publish it quarterly you will have repeated exposure to your clients and prospective clients. You want to keep you name in front of them so they do not forget about your services. This way when they have a need for them you are the first one they think of. You will want to create a layout for your newsletter and once you have one you like stick with it. If you are constantly changing the layout, it will be hard for your customers to find the information they are looking for. If they get used to specific information in one place all the time you do not want to be changing it in every newsletter. Be sure that your business information is in every newsletter. Talk about your product or services. Mention all new services and any specials that you are running. You can also consider placing a coupon in your newsletters, this will help you attain new customers and keep established ones. Remind them of any holidays or local events that your services or products may be relevant to; this will increase your sales during these time periods. Getting your newsletter printed professionally will give them the finish you need to represent your company the way it deserves. Try to make them colorful and fun for the reader.

Magazines

Magazines are a great addition to business communications. These can be a source of revenue on a few levels. You will be talking, of course, about your product or services and how they can benefit people. It is a good idea to target your area and stay with that topic rather than venturing too far off topic. Talk about how your products or services are going to be of great value for an upcoming holiday; Christmas or Labor Day for example. Include articles about various items, events or anything that relates to your business. You can run specials from time to time. Get businesses to advertise in your magazine will be an additional way to earn money from your magazine. Contact local businesses that may be interested in your field. You can also contact businesses that are only an online business; they may want alternate sources of advertisement from time to time. The last way you can earn from your magazine is by subscription. Creating a good magazine with a variety of reading, ads, specials, events and more will attract readers that want to receive your magazine on a regular basis.

Conquest Graphics specializes in newsletter printing and brochure printing.

Perhaps the worst mistake a company can make is to create their own business cards using their home printer. Nothing screams amateur more than this and in all actuality you won’t be saving much, if any, money at all. Custom printed business cards are not nearly as expensive as they once were and thanks to the internet you can buy them in bulk quite inexpensively.

These days it couldn’t be easier to find a printing company online that can design and print professional custom business cards for you. Using the internet you can even create your own cards using a variety of pre-made templates, clipart, etc. You can also upload your own photographs and graphics in order to create a more personalized finished product.

You may not have to use the internet if you prefer not to; there may be quality printing companies in your area that you can go to in order to have your custom business cards designed and printed. Chain and franchise stores may be the place to go if you are looking to save money and still get a quality product.

In short, business cards are one of your most important methods of reaching customers, so never attempt to cut corners by making your own cards unless you have the know-how and equipment that can produce professional cards.

Creating advertising postcards wasn’t always possible for small businesses to do however. Nowadays the Internet and computers have made it quite inexpensive to develop and create your own postcards in order to promote your business. You have the option of mailing postcards or passing them out at local events for example. Both of these methods are relatively inexpensive and can really help to get the word out about your business.

Because of all the technological improvements made just over the past decade you are actually able to have your professionally made custom printed postcards created with state of the art technology. Whether you currently are a one person show operating out of your home, or have employees and an office, advertising postcards are a perfect place to get started creating your company image.

You will find that you will have no problems creating your new postcards with the high-quality designs that are available to even the most modest of budgets. For perhaps the first time, you do not have to be a large company to afford this type of advertising.

Get high quality postcard printing at Conquest Graphics for a discount price.

The next step to creating this identity would be to have some custom printed magnets, business checks, and rubber stamps. It is always best to have a separate bank account for your business with its own custom printed checks. Having custom printed designs on the company car can really help to spread the word about your business as well.

You can also help to improve your company identity with your employees as well. Since everybody that works for the company is a representative, it is important that they always make a good impression. Custom printing is also needed when designing the company uniform if applicable.

Last but not least, now more than ever it is important to put forth a good impression with a well-designed Web site. Printing firms are often branching out into this realm these days as they are related. Having a poorly designed Web site can immediately turn off potential customers, especially if the site is difficult to navigate.

Many people submit the photos that they have taken with their digital cameras to professional printers, only to get poor prints back. They are quick to blame the printer, but the reason why the print is of such poor quality is because the resolution was too low for the size of the image.

In order to make sure that you get the best quality of images possible, there are a few things that you should take into consideration: the number of pixels that are in the photo, what resolution the photos should be printed at, and what the best print possible under these circumstances is.

In order to determine how many pixels are in your photo, you will have to look at the settings of your camera. For an example, the typical 5 mega pixel camera has a 1944 x 2592 pixel count. The lowest recommended resolution is 240 ppi, or pixels per inch. Divide the pixels per inch into the total pixel count of your photo and you will get the maximum size in inches that your pictures should be printed at. Continuing the previous example, a 5 mega pixel camera with a 240 ppi should be printed at a size of 8.1 x 10.8. Whenever you try to print a picture at a size that is larger than the pixel count allows for, you are going to get a blurred and pixilated image.