Every graphic designer can relate to this: You pitch a great idea and your client asks, “Can you make the font a little bit bigger?”  Or, you get “Oohs” and “Ahhs” during the meeting but, afterward, a client says, “I showed your idea to my wife and she thinks it would be better if…”

Translating visual graphics into logical ideas that clients will accept has become a graphic designer’s ongoing challenge. And while clip art and the latest software might make it easy for the average person to create a nice presentation, this also creates “armchair graphic designers” who often think doing your job is as easy as you make it look. Enter “Presenting Identities,” Neenah’s latest promotion for the prestigious CLASSIC CREST Brand.

The promotion’s purpose is to help graphic designers present identity designs to clients who are more linear, logical thinkers and bridge the gap between these right brain creatives and left brain strategists. Less a teaching resource to educate designers, “Presenting Identities” is more of a tool designers can use to help educate clients.

“If you don’t walk clients through how you arrived at a design solution, while they might give their approval during the meeting, after the meeting they might second guess their decision,” says Robin Salter of Farmhouse Design, the leading Atlanta firm that created this ingenious resource.

The promotion has all of the components to make any business identity complete. Known as the “Complete Communicator,” CLASSIC CREST Papers offer a variety of colors, weights and sizes as well as matching envelopes, label stock, announcements, digital sizes and sustainable offerings, too.  The second you open the folder, you see why it is the logical choice for business identities.

“My best pitching successes are when my clients have an ‘Aha’ moment, for example, when I effectively point out to them why a subtler typeface actually communicates a stronger message, or why a certain color elicits a specific emotional response,” says Salter. “At the start of the presentation, I review with clients their objectives. I review what they initially told us about the brand attributes, what they are intending their identity will convey, what they want to communicate. During the presentation of the designs, we relate every element back to their objectives…the fonts, the colors, etc.”

Don’t be afraid to take the promotion to a client meeting. Show your client how different fonts or colors demonstrate certain characteristics, how embossing adds panache, or how using color and texture is a great way to kick it up a notch. It can add value to the design when you’re working with a smaller budget.

And you can validate your color selections by consulting the Neenah Paper Guide to Using the Dewey Color System “Olive Is Not Drab promotion.” 

Research has found that 80 percent of business cards are still printed in black ink on white paper [1], and 90 percent of business cards go into the circular file [2]. It has to make a graphic designer stop and think, “Could color make all the difference?” 

“Identities are starting to include untraditional pieces that grab clients’ attention,” says Kristin Carpenter, assistant design and advertising manager for Neenah Paper. “Paper, special processes and color are all becoming even more important factors.  Graphic designers feel no limit to how they can use this versatile paper because they trust in the print performance of CLASSIC CREST Writing, Text and Cover papers.”

The brand now also includes FSC-certified and processed chlorine free (PCF) offerings. In fact, in all of the CLASSIC brands, Recycled Bright White and Recycled Natural White colors are now “green.”  Neenah is the first mill in the world to watermark the FSC symbol and Chain of Custody into its papers and the first premium paper mill to be certified PCF by the Chlorine Free Products Association (CFPA).

The PCF-certified papers are made without chlorine or chlorine compounds, and they can now proudly carry the PCF emblem.  Third-party certifications such as those from the CFPA demonstrate that the exciting choices Neenah offers are also environmentally unsurpassed. CFPA is an unbiased organization that is forging new ground to verify high environmental standards are being met.  It offers a credible way of assuring customers that Neenah has met the most rigorous standards.

PAPERWORKS Contest
It’s easy to see why three of the four examples used in “Presenting Identities” are former winners in the PAPERWORKS Contest.  PAPERWORKS — which was recently updated to include all four geographic regions — recognizes graphic designers, paper merchants, printers and end users for the finest examples of using Neenah’s Writing, Text and Cover papers as well as the Fox Heritage and Gilbert brands. 

PAPERWORKS Contest entry forms can be downloaded at www.neenahpaper.com/contestforms or printed forms may be obtained from Neenah Paper customer service by calling 1-800-558-5061, then press 5.

To request a copy of the CLASSIC CREST Papers “Presenting Identities” promotion, call 1-800-558-5061 and press “5,” e-mail finepaper@neenahpaper.com or contact your local authorized Neenah Paper merchant. You can also visit www.neenahpaper.com. 

[1] Business Card Basics, www.allbusiness.com

[2] Chris Brunner, Ninety Percent of Business Cards Get Dumped Because of Poor Planning, www.hedgefundsspace.com (September 1, 2004)

8/8/07