November 2012 – ImageBlog

November 30, 2012

New 2013 USPS Rules for Folded Self-Mailers (FSMs)

As of January 5, 2013, the USPS puts into effect new rules for the design and preparation of FSMs, or folded self-mailers, a staple of effective direct mail marketing. As anyone involved with mailings can attest, the USPS rules and regulations for mail piece design, sorting and delivery can be mind-boggling. In this instance, they have done a good job of giving us all plenty of notice about the upcoming changes (publishing a “final rule” providing mailers with upcoming changes back in December of 2011), and spelling out the requirements in a fairly clear manner (despite the clear-as-mud “Decision Tree Design Matrix” spreadsheet someone spent a lot of time creating). Clearly, the USPS sought to accommodate a variety of design options in these rule changes to encourage direct mail marketers and their creativity while still ensuring mail piece compatibility with automated processing. Good job, USPS!

In an attempt to summarize, here are some GENERAL highlights in this rules change:

If the FSM is secured with tabs (rather than glue dots or strips), at least two are required, and they cannot be on the “bottom”, folded edge.
The bottom of the mail piece must be a folded edge. If the piece is oblong, the short or leading edge must be the fold.
New recognition of closure methods such as glue strips on lead and tail edges. The rules define many closure methods: continuous line glue strips, glue spots, elongated glue lines, and various tab options. Some of these are dependent on what weight of paper and how many folds are used.
Panel count maximum is 12 for non-newsprint folded pieces, 24 for newsprint paper.
Allowance of a 1-to1 cut-tie ratio for all perforated lines. (This has to do with the strength of any perforated pieces so they will not separate en route).

A “Folded Self-Mailer Reference Material” guide is available on the RIBBS site. It includes helpful diagrams – often with rules this technical, a picture really is worth a thousand words. It also includes the aforementioned “Decision Tree Design Matrix,” if that works for you. You can also contact mailpiece design analysts at the USPS for guidance:

“The MDA Support Center hours of operation are Monday through Friday, between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm CST. Customers may contact the MDA Support Center by dialing 855-593-6093, or by sending a request via email to mda@usps.gov.”

It’s easy to complain about all the confusing rules when trying to learn the basic requirements for mail piece design, but if you consider all the variables that must be accomodated by the USPS when codifying exactly what can and cannot be accepted, it makes sense. Mailpieces must be compatible with processing machinery, or appropriate charges attached for other methods of handling. While we may want to know just a simple rule for folded self-mailers, they must consider all the variables that could be involved: is it closed with a tab, staple or glue strip? What size can the panels be? Is it folded top, bottom, tall, short, twice or more? How do different weights of paper affect those rules? Is there a flap; an insert or attachment? a perforated panel? When you take into account all of the design options possible, it’s pretty amazing they can present the rules in any intelligible way at all!

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in integrated marketing with direct mail. They should be able to answer all your queustions – if they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

November 27, 2012

Your Life… on Paper. The Power of Print.

From conception to expiration, paper and print are there at every important milestone in your life. Consider how print and paper record, accompany, educate, entertain, sustain and preserve your journey…

(For some great insights into the value of paper in our culture, check out Domtar’s Paper because… campaign.)

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

November 19, 2012

Variable Data Printing or VDP Produces Direct Mail Results

During the 2012 presidential campaign, both major political parties spent more on Direct Mail than any other form of advertising except broadcast television. Are you surprised that more was invested in old fashioned snail mail than internet or mobile outreach? It is because the campaigns know that Direct Mail works. Direct Mail with variable data works even better. And to the surprise of many it works more effectively than most email marketing efforts. The reason why says a lot about both the nature of email/web ads and the benefits of smart direct mail print marketing.

Many people’s first impression of “blast” email marketing was that it would save print production costs and revolutionize campaign strategy. What prevented that sea-change however is basic human nature. Most people ignore – even sometimes resent – unsolicited email messages, and easily overlook banner ads or website advertising, especially if it is not accurately customized to their personal interests.

Direct mail has long been a staple in reaching a target audience and producing results. Personalizing the message on direct mail through variable data printing (VDP) can increase ROI even more – anywhere from double the normal return to 10-to-15 times! And the best part is that it works even better when you get creative with the possibilities – use VDP in a way that is unique to your clientele and needs.

Think of VDP as much more than just someone’s first name on the front of the card. For example: if you own a pizza place, you could collect personalized data from customers in house with a survey card – then mail each customer a coupon for the specific pizza they said they enjoyed most, vastly increasing the likelihood of their return over just a generic coupon that goes out to all customers. In this way you begin to profile your customers buying habits, and can target your marketing efforts in a much more effective, powerful way.

For a good overview of VDP, check out Adobe’s VDP Resource Center. Then call us and we’ll brainstorm some exciting VDP solutions for your integrated marketing.

November 2, 2012

Our Logo Evolution: Graphic Updates from the 1980’s to Today

Instead of writing about the logos and branding success or failure of others, this blog post takes a look at our own branding – ImageSmith’s history from a start in the 1980s to a brand that changes to keep looking forward. Our graphic development has sought to reflect the changes in our industry and the scope of our operation, as well as the progress in technology associated with graphic design and marketing communications. The company name combines three essential components of our business:

the company owners and founders, Mary and David Smith;
the word “image”, representing both the visual and graphic aspects of modern printing/marketing, and the idea of “image” as the overall impression a customer’s brand and marketing creates;
the nature of print being a craft – just like the blacksmith or silversmith – who trains and hones his skills over time to become an expert in his field.

These three elements of ImageSmith branding have remained consistent through our development up to today. The look of our logo, however, has changed significantly.

Our earliest digital ImageSmith logo is seen above, circa the late 1980’s. This version definitely reflects the graphic sensibility of it’s day: the rainbow gradient central to the mark promoted full-color offset printing, something less common, more expensive and more time-consuming to produce that today’s quick, digital output. The fonts used look outdated today but reflect the quickly expanding availability of new, creative typefaces for desktop publishing in that era. Our tagline: “Full Service Printing Specialists.”

The second icarnation of the ImageSmith logo came in 1998. The printing industry was in a metamorphosis as the internet and print technology were bringing quick and unsettling change to the industry. The word image was streamlined to a sans serif font to modernize the appearance of the brand, and the drop shadow went from a hard vector shape to one with transparency – a nod to the technical advancements in prepress design with Adobe PageMaker, PhotoShop and Illustrator. This was one year before InDesign premiered and transparency moved from something that only lived within PhotoShop native layers. We changed our tagline from “Full Service Printing Specialists” to “Printing Your World on Paper” – an emphasis on the foundation of our company in offset printing and on the ability to graphically capture communication and marketing messages on paper. By 2002, the scope of our business had changed to where the emphasis on paper was less important than e-commerce, digital printing and file transmissions, and other technological advances. We changed our tagline to be the url of our newly expanding website.

By 2005, the evolution in print and marketing demanded a more drastic change to our brand. The current ImageSmith logo was designed to reflect these changes and to function in a much more versatile manner, just as our business has expanded to cover more versatile means of communication.

Our name itself changed to “ImageSmith Communications.” The logo evolved into a sleeker, more visually concise mark. Gone were the gradients, drop shadows and complex typefaces that had been significant in an earlier age of prepress technology, but merely givens today. The logo merged into a mirror-like image: the “i” and “m” of “image” with the “m” and “i” of “smith” – a subtle representation of the merging, fluid and integrated state of the technology and communication at which our business excels. We grew to offer much more than just offset printing – web development and e-commerce, design, digital printing, integrated marketing, mailing services, embroidery, signage, branded merchandise. In response, our logo needed to be much more versatile – to function equally well on a small embroidered patch as on a large format sign or website. In addition, our branding added our zebra Marty as a type of unifying “mascot” with the tagline “…earning our stripes, every day.”

Your brand and logo need to remain relevant – to proactively speak your message through changing times. If your look represents your beginnings, but not your evolution and promise, then you should put some creative thought into what changes are needed to your brand. Sometimes a refresh is appropriate, other times a major overhaul is needed. Making such design and marketing decisions is time-consuming for a small business owner. Turn to your printer for sound, experienced advice on where to begin the process. They should be able to provide you guidance and advice every step along the way from brainstorming ideas to final production of a new look. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.