Crumpled on the side, one corner completely torn off, the poor thing arrived at my doorstep a few days ago. Was it the loser in a feral cat fight? No, just an innocent postcard that got caught in an ill-fated traffic accident.
Now, we all get a solid number of direct mail pieces each day, but what made this one so special was the fact that it actually looked much worse for the wear than most and … wait for it … was mailed by a printing organization. Not that it was their fault as such … it’s just that funny irony thing again … especially given that the “Paper Queen” ended up as an eyewitness.
Bulking Up for Protection
It was a large postcard, a very large postcard. At 6 x 11 inches, it offered a lot of marketing real estate. But was there any connection to the overall size and its tattered condition? Was it the weight of the paper or perhaps the thickness of the paper that left this card in a vulnerable spot? Read more »
QR codes are the hot topic. So I thought it might be fun to share a few facts about QR codes many people may not know.
1. QR codes can be in color. Pick one — red, green, purple. Just make sure the contrast is high enough for the readers to pick it up.
2. QR codes can be branded. Because codes can be incomplete (the percentage of allowable incompleteness varies based on the code), they can be branded. QR codes are showing up with logos inserted inside them more and more often.
3. QR codes are really a sub-category under 2D barcodes. 2D barcodes can be proprietary or non-proprietary. There are two primary types of non-proprietary codes used in the United States today — QR codes and Datamatrix. Read more »
Armed with paper samples and fact sheets, my search for exciting products to inspire designers and printers brought me to the recent Visual Media Alliance conference in San Francisco. What innovations would I find this year?
Like Goldilocks, I considered my choices and said, “Too big,” as one speaker promoted social marketing, blogs and Web traffic. “Too small,” I thought when another speaker revealed his clients’ requests for marketing materials in animation and video rather than print.
Finally, it was “just right,” when Ian Flynn of Direct Response Imaging and Mike D’Eredita from ColorGraphics presented three new technologies in digital and offset print. Dimensional printing, remote proofing and QR codes are fascinating tools with tremendous potential.
1. Feel that texture with dimensional printing
Dimensional printing is a new print technology that can be used to simulate a texture or add dimension to digital printing. Created with Kodak’s NexPress Digital Production Color Press and Kodak NexPress Dimensional Clear Dry Ink, “There’s no other machine that I’ve heard of that does anything like this,” Flynn said. Read more »
Packaging, particularly sustainable, well-designed packaging, is an exciting and complex issue as PaperSpecs’ recent webinar showed.
We want to thank Neenah Paper for sponsoring this special event and Steve Sikora, creative director and co-founder of Design Guys, for sharing his vast store of knowledge and insight into the subject. As well as your many questions, which are answered below, you also had great praise for our speaker.
“Great presentation, great samples and it’s very informative. Steve has shared a fountain of knowledge about packaging and branding. Thanks.”
“That was VERY interesting and informative. Steve was an excellent presenter and had some great ideas and examples. I am very glad to see a package designer of his stature pushing for more sustainable packaging. It is very heartening.”
But now, on to your questions and Steve Sikora’s answers! Read more »
Every minute counts. If the client approves the design by 5:00 p.m. today, we can get the files to the printer first thing in the morning, and ultimately make the client’s crazy deadline after all.
But … your client doesn’t approve the final artwork until late afternoon the next day yet still expects you to make the deadline originally agreed upon. Sound familiar?
Some deadlines are crazier than others
… and some clients more challenging. Projects that were set to be completed in four weeks end up taking six months (Ask me about the health care forms for the Wodonga Hospital some time.)
But so far, by far, the award for the longest project in the making goes to a good friend of mine – Heather Hitchcock, salesperson at Ironwood Lithographers here in San Francisco.
The utterly amazing thing was not the complexity of the piece – even though it was, in and of itself a piece of art – but the time it was a “work in progress.” Read more »
“We had so many incredible questions during our Managing Critical Color webinar that we taped an extra segment with our guest speaker Daniel Dejan just to get them all answered,” said Sabine Lenz, CEO of PaperSpecs.
Dejan, North American ETC Print and Creative Manager for Sappi Fine Paper/North America discussed the in-and-outs of optimizing a color management workflow, showed where most print challenges occur and how to address them to avoid costly pitfalls.
Here are his most informative answers and insights to your questions!
When it comes to an uncoated job, how will it appear on a printer’s glossy proof? Read more »
There are six sides to conventionally designed product packaging. While marketers focus on the five panels seen by most consumers, packaging designers like Apex Die also pay close attention to the sixth side: the bottoms of your boxes.
To select a bottom closure style, consider the function, budget and usage requirements of your packaging application. Some styles prioritize strength to support heavy products; others are designed for ease of use. Check out a few popular bottom closures:
Auto-Lock – Using a combination of carefully designed glue tabs and flaps, an auto-lock design automatically forms the box bottom as soon as the box is opened. Auto-lock bottoms are easy to use and create a strong base.
Sealed End – This style uses a solid flap glued the length of the packaging to seal the bottom. Sealed end bottoms are popular for food packaging and can be performed inline during product packing for some applications. Read more »
With the direct marketing industry in the grip of a series of upheavals, from the digital revolution to the economic meltdown, figuring out what’s coming next is becoming progressively more difficult. Creating effective strategies based on these expectations is the toughest part of all.
And so, faced with one new challenge after another — from increasing costs for production and materials to rising environmental concerns among consumers — marketers have intensified their push to get ahead of the industry curve. This has led to a massive scramble to determine where the most significant industry trends for next year will emerge.
To help, Deliver Magazine sat down with experts from around the country to attempt to divine what was in store for direct marketing in 2010. While a number of potential trends were discussed, there were four key areas — targeting, measurement, channel integration and prospecting among baby boomers — that kept coming up as likely hot spots for growth and innovation. Read more »
Let’s say you’re at a clothing store. You’ve finally found a pair of jeans to replace your favorite old pair – not too dark and not too tight. But before you put it in your cart, you scan the tag with your iPhone, and it connects you to a virtual world in 3D.
Like shopping with the best sales staff answering your every question, this tag activates a video presenting the product’s different styles, sizes, laundry care and carbon footprint, all animated in a clever and entertaining way.
The future is here
It’s called Augmented Reality and Alfredo Muccino predicts it will soon influence the way we shop and buy. Muccino is chief creative officer at Liquid Agency, and his expertise as a design and brand strategist makes him the go-to guy for predicting future design trends.
Muccino recently spoke in San Francisco at the annual Visual Media Alliance conference formerly known as PINC – the Printing Industries of Northern California. He explained that one problem with predictions is that today’s newest trends didn’t even exist 10 years ago. Read more »
The June PaperSpecs Webinar “Understanding the New FSC Labels” could have been called “Everything You Wanted to Know about the New FSC Labels But Were Afraid to Ask” except that attendees weren’t afraid to ask anything!
Guest speaker Monika Patel, FSC Canada’s program officer served up answers to your biggest concerns about the new labeling standards and graphic formats. And while you may see some of those new labels (FSC-STD-50-001) in use today right along with the original format (FSC-STD-40-201), the updated labels are not required until January 1, 2011.
Big Change 1: New Standard Much Simpler
Under the new FSC Labeling standard (FSC-STD-50-001), the on-product labels are much more concise. The original seven included FSC Pure, FSC Mixed Sources 1, FSC Mixed Sources 2, FSC Mixed Sources 3, FSC Mixed Sources 4, FSC Mixed Sources 5 and FSC Recycled. Come January 2011, there will be just three: Read more »
Now, we all get a solid number of direct mail pieces each day, but what made this one so special was the fact that it actually looked much worse for the wear than most and … wait for it … was mailed by a printing organization. Not that it was their fault as such … it’s just that funny irony thing again … especially given that the “Paper Queen” ended up as an eyewitness.
