Print Design TipsTips and Information About Printing

It is the words which are the primary factor in any document, especially for business or educational purposes.  Sure, a picture can paint a thousand words but it is the words which tell a reader where to find the image in the document (the contents and appendices), what it means and what context (the caption) and what it can do to solve whatever problem or issue the reader may have.

Do not let the design tail wag the word dog!

There are two aspects to the document text – the words.

The first is that the actual word content itself must be pertinent and of a written quality that leaves the reader in no doubt that it has been crafted by someone who understands the subject matter and English.

A simple example will suffice to make the point.

“a simple egzample will suffix to make the points”

How about this:

“Weird processor diction Aries should knot bee relayed on”

In short, you need someone with an excellent command of English, but this then brings forth the issue about technical knowledge and experience on the subject matter.  A writer may be able to put your thoughts and actions into excellent English, but will a writer with no engineering background be able to expound on the detail of Positive Vane Technology and use in Industrial Pumps?

The second issue is the typography – this deals with how the print is laid out, the font size and style, in essence anything that affects the appearance and ability to read the words which have been formulated.

Some fonts are a definite “No-No” when it comes to business documents – the weird and wonderful “Wingdings” or cursive scripts that are difficult to read and not effective in attracting prospects to spend their precious time in finding out what you have to say. If you are targeting people over 40, it is absolutely imperative that you are using fonts and font sizes which are easy to read.  This is not being ageist, simply practical because by the mid-40’s, most people are finding that they cannot read as well as they used to, it’s a simple fact of life.

The bottom line is that the words must dominate.  It is the words which carry your actual message and how to contact you to take the discussion forward and out of the document and into a face-to-face meeting or a telephone call to place an order.  The use of graphic and photographic elements are to help to attract the attention of the reader so they are enticed into the text of the document – no-one reads a passage and then looks at the photograph, they read the text because they have already looked at a photograph!

You must back up your use of graphical design imagery by appropriate use of headings – headlines and sub-headers.  A headline has one objective – to get the reader to read the first line of your piece.  That first line has one objective – to get the reader to read the first paragraph, and that first paragraph is used to suck the reader into the entire piece.  It’s a simple rule but easily ignored, but you can give your written work greater structure by using a headline and then splitting the piece up using sub-headers which in turn will help your document users.

Maintaining quality over your printed materials is essential and here you have to manage not only yourself but your printing partner so you continue to achieve the standards you are looking for.

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!

Many printers and designers belive the design is the key to a good piece of printed media, however, this is not the case for many readers looking to find your message within the content – design is critical and the visual impact and style play a great deal in the success of your material but ultimately, do you wish to produce art or send a message that your target market will easily see, read and understand?

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.

Designing your printed materials is something we all must face sooner or later, but whether you are experienced with the process or a first-timer, the results are truly only limited by your imagination and the ability of your printer to render the imagery created.

This is one area where good communications with your printer are essential as there will be some things that to you as the customer may seem a little off the wall and “out there” but to him are pretty straight-forward pieces to create.

To get your creative juices flowing and hopefully help you with your next meeting with your print partners, here’s a few hints and tips for you to use.

Think Outside the Paper

The mind works in funny ways sometimes and one of the quirks you can capitalize on is the m nd w ll f ll  n th  bla ks.

You can use this to your advantage when designing your marketing media so when you are looking at layout, don’t focus simply on what will fit in the space – use the borders too and don’t worry about overlapping the edges.

Paper Standards

Depending on the purpose of the printed communication you are likely to use the established paper sizes bu, there are times when you shouldn’t and there is no reason why you have to follow them religiously.

If you are looking to get your brochure noticed, use a non-standard size so it doesn’t fit precisely into a neat pile of letters and other documents – make sure it overhangs or peeks out of a stack of papers and this will help get it noticed in the sea of junk that everyone accumulates.

Content is King

Foxus on the content – this is where your message is contained and not within the imagery – don’t let design take over your project, it is important but remember people read so focus on that first and make teh design revolve around the content.

Finding a printer who delivers a quality product can be hard enough but finding one who delivers the same standards repeatedly as you order and re-order should not be a life or death issue that takes over daily life.

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.