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Writing Brochure Copy? 5 Tips to Ease the Pain.

Brochures before and after

Often the first and most lasting impression of your business comes from a company brochure. Telling the story of your business in a compelling way, visually as well as literally, the company brochure establishes who you are, how your product or service can be of benefit, and why customers should look to you for help ahead of other competitors – important stuff!

Both the design and the writing of copy for your brochure need to be done with your overall branding requirements in mind. A powerful brand must be consistent across your marketing efforts. Printed materials should consistently match your online presence, both in tone and appearance. These printed materials will connect in a way online marketing cannot — by physically placing your brand and information into potential customers’ hands, to be read at their leisure. Its physical nature establishes a sense of permanency and credibility in the public’s mind. writing brochure copy

Often we feel overwhelmed when trying to focus our thoughts about our business into the content of a brochure. Below are a few quick tips to think about as you start to prepare your brochure copy:

5 Tips to Writing Effective Brochures

Set the tone – Energetic? Cutting edge? Warm and fuzzy? Know the impression you want to leave in your customer’s mind and set the tone at the outset for the overall text of your brochure.

Be clear – How will you benefit the reader? That is what you want to state clearly and consistently. Be sure to keep their perspective in mind when you plan your content — not necessarily what is most important to you. Think from your reader’s perspective – and give USEFUL information that will benefit someone looking for the services or products you offer. If your copy lapses into “sales” talk, you may be defeating your purpose.

Get personal – Highly technical information or simply too much information bores and even alienates the reader. Your copy should be readable, relatable and enlightening without being dull. Remember that the scope of a brochure is fairly limited – you do not need to try to provide all relevant details, but rather to outline your major points with an appropriate amount of elaboration.

Get organized – Lead your reader through the information in an organized, logical way. If they get lost or confused along the way, you’ve lost your reader. Sketching out your main points in a brief outline format (yes, on actual paper!) can be a great way to get and stay on track with what you want to get across. And always end with a ‘call to action’, encouraging them to make contact for further assistance.

Make it easy – If you have done your job well, your customer will want to reach you… make that easy with a map or directions to your location, your web address, phone and fax numbers.

 

Print is a vital component of any successful integrated marketing campaign. It works in tandem with your website, email, signage and other outreach – yet the unique power of print lies in physically reaching the hands of your potential customers. Rely on your printer for advice and direction in the creation of all your marketing materials. They should be able to guide you in everything from copy writing to the latest technology to help get your message out… 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.
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Presentation Folders: Create a Branded Marketing Presentation Kit

Present a fresh image with branded full color folders

Every business needs a branded, high-quality, printed presentation folder to be used by all sales staff and marketers whenever making a call or attending a conference or seminar. Develop a set of innovative, interesting presentation kits all using the same branded folder and you can ensure your customers feel special when they receive this packet. The best strategy to leverage ROI:

Brand. Custom design your folder and make it be an eye-catching, classic representation of your business and your look. You can choose from many different sizes, paper types, and pre-diecut designs in order to save cost but still be unique and true to your own style.

Order a large quantity. The folders are multipurpose and can be used consistently by all staff for many purposes, thereby ensuring one look, one standard, one brand. It is the same reason UPS dresses their workforce in a recognizable uniform and why Target stores are synonymous with their large red circle logo. You want your business to maintain and further its brand recognition, and presentation folders are a great way to help establish that for yourself. By ordering a large number, you will be using them over a long period in a consistent manner.

Make it (and fill it with) something people will want to keep. A quality folder will be remembered and used by your clients, and you want them to travel home with them. Fill them with all the information you DIDN’T have time to cover in your face-to-face meeting, but also include giveaways or gifts to stimulate even more interest and use from your folders. Consider customized flash drives, key chains, pens, notepads… there are an endless variety of promotional products to make your message more powerful and successful, and to make your customer feel special.

To browse through the huge selection of presentation folders, and promotional products available, go online here. Also, check out our blog for information and ideas on branding, promotions and integrated marketing or visit our website.

 

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in choosing and branding your promotional items. They should be able to provide you access to just about any item you can imagine. 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.
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8 Moments in, Not the History of Paper… but the Paper of History!

We love paper – and it is not very difficult to make a case for the iconic role paper has played in our lives and history. Take a look below at a few watershed moments of the past century and notice the piece of paper, print or photography right at its center.

1920 – Women’s Suffrage

After a struggle that began in earnest in 1848 at Seneca Falls, NY, women were finally granted the right to vote in the U.S. through the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The power of that small paper ballot and the extension of suffrage to all people changed the face of all elections to come.

 

1927 – Lindbergh’s Welcome Home

Following Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic in The Spirit of St. Louis, he received a hero’s welcome in what had already become an American tradition, the Ticker-Tape Parade. Filling the skies of New York City with paper seems a fitting way to pay tribute to the pilot who worked hard to promote snail mail through the U.S. Air Mail Service.

Manhattan Project and Dewey Defeats Truman

1942 – The Manhattan Project

The notebook seen above on the right records an experiment of the Manhattan Project, the US Government’s secret race to build an atomic bomb during World War II. Noted on this yellowed paper is the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, achieved on December 2, 1942.

1946 – “Dewey Defeats Truman”

The now infamously wrong predicition of the Chicago Tribune‘s banner headline has become synonymous with jumping to conclusions before all the facts, or in this case votes, are in. The presses rolled too soon, as Truman emerged the victor of the 1948 presidential race.

Eisenhower's executive order for Little rock and Photos of Guantanamo Bay Missles

1957 – Desegregation at Little Rock’s Central High School

Above (left) is President Eisenhower’s executive order of September 23, 1957 which sent Federal troops to Central High School in Little Rock, AR. One piece of paper – Executive Order 10730 – placed the Arkansas National Guard under Federal control and brought 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers in to restore order and enforce the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education that overturned the “separate but equal” laws and enforced the desegregation of public schools.

1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis

Printed photographs like the one above reached President Kennedy in Washington in October of 1962 and provided proof that the Soviet Union had installed medium-range nuclear weapons in Cuba which were capable of striking major U.S. cities and killing tens of millions of Americans within minutes. The world held it’s breath for two weeks until the Soviets agreed to dismantle the missles, thus averting international nuclear war.

Campbell's Soup Paper Dress and Earth Day

1966 – Warhol’s Soup Cans and a Paper Dress

Symbolizing the ongoing revolution in art, culture and marketing of the sixties, Andy Warhol’s screen printed images of a Campbell’s soup can even made an appearance as the ultimate in disposable fashion – a dress made of paper. Pop Art transported the commonplace and mass-produced into the realm of high society with a healthy dose of irony.

1970 – Earth Day

The modern environmental movement gained widespread attention in 1970 with the first celebration of Earth Day, symbolized by the now internationally recognized symbol for recycling. The “Mobius Loop” design was the work of a 23 year old college student named Gary Anderson. Today paper is an environmentally sustainable and renewable resource, and 87% of Americans have access to curbside recycling for paper products.

For any questions about print, marketing or communication, ask your printer. They can help you consider your choices and develop a marketing plan, long or short range. 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.
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Judging by the Cover: Memorable Book Cover Design

Judging a book by its cover is, in most cases, not a wise idea. But that old adage tends to diminish the importance that a cover plays in the interaction we have with a book. Judging by the cover may be unwise, but the impression a cover gives is very influential. The very mention of a book title can immediately brings to mind the image of its cover – that image becomes tied to the work, the author, the experience of reading the novel. Below are a few samples that got impressed into my memory over the years:

Book Cover Design

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

The cover was painted by Francis Cugat, and it is said that Fitzgerald was so enamored with the work (which was completed before he had finished his novel) that he incorporated it into his story. Entitled “Celestial Eyes,” it is probably one of the most iconic and best known covers in publishing history.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute – Grace Paley

Edward Hopper’s “Compartment C, Car 293,” an oil painting of a young woman reading on a train, is a beautiful illustration for Gracy Paley’s collection of short stories, all set in New York. Once read, its hard not to see Paley’s narrator Faith as the woman on the train.

Salinger and Burgess

A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
and The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

Such simliar covers for two very different books. The straightforward serif font in yellow on a classic crimson background reveals very little about the story inside Catcher in the Rye, yet is without a doubt inextricably tied to the story in the minds of millions of readers. Similarly Burgess’ futuristic distopian thriller could seem almost too bizarre to evoke in such a simple cover. Amazing how the simple skewing of the sans serif title diagonally across the orange background does the job wonderfully.

Examples of Book Cover Design

The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway and
Absalom, Absalom! – William Faulkner

Two favorite novels of mine – but not what I would consider great book covers. In a way, they seem lazy – almost as if someone decided “Hey, this image will work, won’t it?” But these two images are what springs to mind whenever I hear these titles. Would a better choice have made for a better reading experience as well?

Book Cover Design from Classic Paintings

It’s interesting to notice the frequency with which classic paintings by great masters, that generally have nothing to do with the novel they are chosen to represent, are so often the choice for cover designs – and are an uncannily perfect fit. Penguin Classics is one publisher that relies heavily on this technique, finding classic portraits that seem to perfectly represent the character in a novel.

 

In my opinion, the best book cover designs often lean toward simplicity and minimalism. There is something powerful in sensing the feel or meaning of a novel’s theme in just the barest of images, or color, or font placement… a simple, eloquent cover that hints at the complexity within. (Regardless of the cover, if you haven’t read the novels above, do yourself a favor and check them out. All great reads.)

 

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in design and branding decisions. They have years of experience working with the entire gamut of design trends and tastes. If they can’t help you, they will know who can! 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.
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The Letter: 10 Songs About Mail, the Written Word and the USPS

Mail and Music

Despite the ease of digital mail, it cannot quite match the impact of the arrival of a handwritten letter. While the USPS struggles through some very difficult economic times in the digital age, it has stood tall in our cultural history in fiction, film and song. Many dramas have arisen about our communications through the mail: waiting for the mail to arrive with an answer, a missed letter with a life-changing message, the dilemna of whether a lack of communication is the post office’s fault or signifies something bigger. Just like our previous blog post about Print, Paper & Ink in popular song, below are some classic evidence of the role mail and letter writing plays in our culture.

Please Read the Letter – Robert Plant & Alison Krause (2008)

Beautiful, haunting song named Record of the Year at the 2009 Grammys. Originally recorded by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Plant claimed the lyrics are an “unfinished business.” No USPS involved in delivering this letter however; the narrator just nailed it to the door.

Box Full of Letters – Wilco (1995)

Gotta box full of letters – and not enough time to answer all the questions. Same feeling we get now with an inbox full of email, but it just doesn’t inspire the same musical feeling that snail mail does somehow.

Strawberry Letter 23 – The Brothers Johnson (1977)

Known as the most sampled song in hip hop music, I remember this hit from high school. Seems the author was so moved by the strawberry scented paper on which a girlfriend wrote to him, that this song was born. A trippy, psychedelic imagery fills the lyrics about this 22nd letter, the title suggesting he’s waiting on the next delivery.

 

Anchorage – Michelle Shocked (1988)

In the lyrics, two friends on very different paths separated by a “burning bridge” catch up via the USPS. A letter is sent to Dallas, “but the reply came from Anchorage, Alaska.” Le Roy’s wife must have used the Change of Address service!

Sep ’88 “Anchorage” hits Billboard Top 100 from Michelle Shocked on Vimeo.

The Letter – Joe Cocker (1970)

Originally recorded by the Box Tops, I just like Joe Cocker’s gravelly-voiced version from his album “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” better. This was Cocker’s first Top 10 hit in America. The lyrics illustrate our deep cultural belief in the right letter arriving at the right time and it’s ability to change someone’s life. A missed email doesn’t seem to have the same built-in drama of a misplaced or misdelivered letter.

You Wear it Well – Rod Stewart (1972)

The entire lyrics are a handwritten apology to a lost love, from the man who blew it in Minnesota. He says he’s been meaning to phone, but “Now I’m eating my heart out, trying to get a letter through.” (Check out the great violin solo from Dick Powell.)

Take a Letter Maria – R.B. Greaves (1969)

R.B. Greaves, the nephew of legendary singer Sam Cooke, hopefully did not write this song from real life experience… a terrible story about a businessman dictating a letter to his secretary to break up with his wife whom he had just caught cheating, then asking the secretary out for a drink. My bet is Maria said “No!”

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) – Stevie Wonder (1970)

Enjoy Stevie on The Dick Cavett Show singing his first hit he produced himself. A classic.

All My Loving – The Beatles (1963)

Early Beatles at their best. “I’ll write home everyday, and I’ll send all my loving to you.”

Letter to Me – Brad Paisley (2007)

We have to include one from the country world. The USPS hasn’t mastered this delivery service yet, however: “If I could write a letter to me/ and send it back in time to myself at 17…”

 

Some obvious examples not on our list include: “Return to Sender” by Elvis, “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” by Fats Waller, “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp)” by Allen Sherman, and of course, “Please Mr. Postman” by The Carpenters, The Marvelettes, The Beatles and many others. Not favorites of mine, so they didn’t make the list.

The post office also honors the music industry. Check out the USPS stamp series, Legends of Rock & Roll/Rhythm & Blues from 1993, and order the 2014 Rock Icons series here, featuring Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Lydia Mendoza, Edith Piaf and Miles Davis.

 

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.
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Posters: Print as Art, Political Player and Cultural Icon

La beaute est dans la rue

Posters are a uniquely powerful form of media with a brilliant cultural history. They have weilded political power, changed minds and attitudes, and served as influential icons of art, politics and popular culture. Think of the “Wanted” posters of Depression-era gangsgters, movie posters from the golden age of the silver screen, and political posters from every campaign since the press was invented. In the digital age, posters have proven no less powerful –  the Obama “HOPE” posters or the art generated by the Occupy movements. Look around town at the musical, political and social events being advertised in shop windows and on phone poles. The poster is alive and well and as intersting as ever.

Seventies iconic posters

I grew up in the 1970s and was thinking about the popularity of posters in that day — check out a few examples above. Everyone I knew had their room decorated with posters of rock stars or television or movie heroes. I assume that pretty much holds true today as well? Every trip to a store like Sears or the local record store back then included browsing through the hinged display frames of posters to see what would look great on your bedroom or dorm wall. Probably the most famous poster of that era was Farrah Fawcett’s red swimsuit poster. From a photo taken in her back yard, 12 million copies were sold. My bedroom wall back in those times had posters of Elton John, Linda Ronstadt and Paul McCartney.

Check out some influential posters that have now been curated as art: posters from the 1968 protest uprisings in Paris designed by the “People’s Studio” (artists mostly from the Paris School of Fine Arts); and David King’s collection of revolutionary and avant-garde posters at the Tate Modern in London. Print is powerful!

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in creating and distributing posters of your own. Advertize an upcoming event, promote your business or your politics, or generate your own cultural meme! The poster is everyman’s media for self expression. To get yours produced and seen,  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.
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10 Tips for a Great Multipurpose Newsletter

10 Tips for Great Newsletters

In a steady, pervasive way, our economy has shifted from one where the greatest value is produced in the manufacture of goods and services to one where the greatest value is mined from data, ideas and knowledge. In such an information age, being generous with your knowledge and expertise carries a great reward. Get that information, advice, data and news out to your public with a newsletter – one that is printed, mailed and cross-purposed into an e-mail resource. You can compile the newsletter from your online blog content, or work in reverse… build your blog with the information you have gathered for your newsletter communications. While information about sales, new product lines and commerce is important, the talent and technical education you and your staff have in your field is perhaps even more valuable to your clients. Sharing it with them will make you trusted and remembered.

Content is king

For sure, all of this can be time-consuming. As small business owners, that time is precious and often scarce both for you and your staff. To help, below are some helpful tips for gathering and preparing great newsletter content.

  1. Name your newsletter. You don’t have to be overly catchy or clever, but think of your newsletter as your own magazine, with a unique title and a clear editorial focus. A suitable, memorable name will allow it to stand out and be recognized once you have loyal readers.
  2. Share your personality. No matter how clinical or technical your field, relay your excitement and interest in what you do for a living in a human voice. Inject your personality into the copy and let readers feel there is a person behind what is being written. Consider including a photo of yourself or your staff as well to establish that human connection with your readers.
  3. Write what you know – use who you know. The information you already possess in running your successful business is your richest source for content. Write about your company’s mission, goals, decision making process, failures and successes. And be sure to rely on your staff as well. Every employee is a source for topic ideas and stories based on their unique experience and knowledge within the company. At the very least, require each employee to submit one story idea a month. Make contacts with other industry blogs online and ask to “guest-blog” an article for them in exchange for one of their own.
  4. Take lots of photos – use them wisely. While stock photography serves a great purpose, nothing is more authentic than photographs you have taken yourself of relevant scenes, people, and products. Since you most likely have a great camera in your smartphone, remember to use it throught your work day. They can be used to illustrate your articles.
  5. Establish serialized columns. Familiarity is an asset when you are vying for a reader’s time. Set up one or two features that appear in every issue of your newsletter. For instance, “FAQ’s” or “Did You Know….” or “Ask an Expert” are all regular column ideas that people are comfortable with and can easily browse.
  6. Write smart headlines. To catch someone’s eye, headlines and graphics are at the top of the list. But remember a good headline also needs to accurately describes the topic of the article. I notice many publications rely on an incessant use of puns, song and movie titles or catchy “plays on words” as headlines. For instance, a story wind velocity and roof repair gets called “Gone With the Wind.” Is it really that funny? No. Does it explain what the article is about? Well, beyond the fact that it involves wind, no. It’s clear an editorial choice has been made that requires each article use this device as a headline. It becomes tiresome and misleading. A great pun can work well as a headline – feel free to get creative – but straight talk can also do the job.
  7. Be accessbile. Use your newsletter to provide as many ways as possible for someone to reach you: phone numbers, web addresses and links, maps to your locations both online and in the real world. Let people know you want them to be in touch.
  8. Do not think of your newsletter as a piece of paper. Yes, you will want to print, mail and distribute physical copies of your newsletters to employees, current clients and the public. But begin to think of the newsletter as the information itself. It will take the form of a printed piece, but can also be repurposed into blog posts, e-newsletters, and website information. Just be sure to learn the rules for email marketing and don’t let yourself inadvertently run afoul of the CAN-SPAM act.
  9. Employ social media and the internet. Staying in touch with your industry peers online through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and relevant trade association or industry websites provides you with a wealth of topic information and inspiration for your content, as well as serving as an avenue to promote your newsletter/blog/website. Check out exmples of other newsletters and a plethora of blog posts like this one giving advice on how to write, design and distribute your newsletters. Stay connected.
  10. Be consistent. If you plan to publish a monthly newsletter, stick to your schedule. Do not miss a month, especially early on when you are hoping to gain reader loyalty. Also, be consistent in your editorial approach.

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in creating and distributing your newsletters, by mail or online. They should be able to provide you with everything from encouragement all the way to the complete design, layout, copywriting, production, multi-purposing and distribution of your periodic marketing outreach. 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.
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How to Get Your Rack Cards in Welcome Centers and All Over Town

Get your Rack Cards in Welcome Centers

You’ve done the hard part… designed, created and printed a stunning set of rack cards to advertise your business. (See “Print Power: Six Tips for Creating Custom Rack Cards.”) You display them in your shop and use them in targeted mailings. But what other ways are there to put these branded, custom designed pieces to work for you? They need to be out working for you – available where the right people will see them.

Rack cards are perfect for targeting the traveller and the tourist industry. Displays are seen at welcome centers, convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, restaurants, tourist attractions and local businesses. Anywhere and everywhere the travelling public is likely to visit is a potential distribution point for your rack cards, but getting into all these places can be difficult and very time-consuming. Consider hiring a distribution service.

Tourist brochure distribution businesses serve exactly this need. They maintain and service rack card displays in a variety of venues where tourists and travellers frequent. You have seen these racks in hotels, restaurants, craft shops and attractions. Tourists have come to rely on these sites for information about local events, bargains, restaurants and entertainment. The distribution services refill and service the rack displays on a regular basis – weekly, and more frequently during peak tourist seasons. They also may offer advice on or even handle brochure printing, or special deals for Chamber of Commerce members. Locally (we are here in Asheville, North Carolina – a booming tourist area) two such services that offer great distribution schedules are Mountain Information Centers, Inc. and Brochure Advertising Services, Inc.

Welcome to N.C.!

If you choose not to use a distribution service, a great venue to get your rack cards or brochures into the hands of a large group of potential customers FOR FREE is through your state’s Welcome Centers. Travelers stop for a quick rest and to stock up on information about accommodations, tourist sites, events, restaurants, historical sites, and shopping. Each state operates differently and with varying guidelines, so the first step would be to contact your state tourism authority. In North Carolina your contact is the Director of Visitor Services at the NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development (4324 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699). You can find instructions at this link. Any tourism or tourism-related business is permitted to place its brochures in the North Carolina Welcome Centers, but you must first receive approval of your pieces, and then you will be provided a list of Welcome Centers and instructions on how to properly send your free materials for distribution.

Welcome Centers in NC will display your rack cards and brochures in their display units. If your pieces are larger than the standard 4″ x 9″ size, they can be displayed on tables nearby but this will be at the discretion of the Center director. Some brochures are not permitted – such as purely commercial or non-tourist related businesses, literature that rates travel attractions, political or religious tracts, etc. – but if your business is related in any way to the tourism trade in your area, check out the opportunities your state’s Welcome Centers hold.

Ask your printer to help you find out all the options that are open to you for rack card and brochure distribution sites. They can help you design, create and distribute your cards to all these places. 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.
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Print Power: Six Tips for Creating Custom Rack Cards

Rack Cards are High Impact, Low Cost Marketing

Rack cards are a staple of print marketing, and perhaps their greatest asset is their size. The standard 4″ x 9″ size makes it convenient, concise and appealing. As opposed to a flyer, pamphlet or folder of materials, the rack card is just the right size to pick up, slip into a coat pocket or purse and carry for later reference. This size forces you as a designer or copy writer to edit down your information and graphics a bit – leaving the essential information, but not an overload of details or offers. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your next rack card design:

  1. The TOP half is your prime real estate: depending on both the way rack cards are typically displayed and the natural path the human eye travels across a page, the top half of the front of your rack card needs to include an eyecatching image, graphic, or type. The split second in which a person’s eye passes over the rack card is the only chance you will have to catch their attention and entice them to stop, take in the image or word and hopefully pick up the card to read further. Do not bury the main impact of the design at the bottom of the card, as many times this will be covered up in a rack display.
  2. Include a clear call to action: The size of the card will encourage you to include only the important information. But be sure this has both a clear and easy to follow call to action: i.e., call this number, click this QR code, bring this card in today for 10% off. And don’t forget your contact information – phone number, website, and physical address. Hopefully they will be referring back to this card to find you.
  3. Plan a series: Rack cards can be used effectively to advertise or inform about a series of products or services. Design a set with the the same graphic features, but vary the color of each so they are all complimentary. You could do one card for each of your business’ services, product lines, sale promotions, company policies, etc.
  4. Mail ’em out to a targeted audience: Rack cards are 4″ x 9″ for a good reason – a standard #10 envelope is 4.125″ x 9.5″. Rack cards are built to be mailed. You can design them with a mail panel and use them as a “self-mailer,” saving the expense of envelopes. Target your mail recipients with a purchased list selected based on location or household income or other specifications. Also, print some pieces on heavy card stock to be used as in-store displays or handouts, and others on text weight paper to be included in mailings, billing, or any other bulk mail that you are sending out. If you are already contacting customers for another reason by mail, don’t miss the chance to include a text weight rack card insert that won’t increase your per piece mail cost.
  5. Invest in good display racks: keep a well stocked display of your rack cards in your lobby, waiting area or near registers where customers or clients will normally pause. You can also have employees hand them out during the course of other transactions, and keep them handy for people to pick up as they come and go.
  6. Include a QR code: quick response codes will help link your print marketing to your website and online marketing efforts in a trackable manner. Most folks are now familiar with what a QR code looks like and how to “click” it with a smart phone to access more online information. Let your rack cards serve as a link between your on and off line business.

Finally, choose a printer that can help you define the look of your printed materials, keep your products in line with the look of your brand, advise you on marketing strategies, mail and e-commerce solutions, and who can suggest other options you may not have thought about for your marketing budget. That advice comes to you free of charge – an amazing bonus of working with a quality, professional print/marketing provider.

 

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.
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Mixing Ink – the Pantone Recipe for Print

Pantone Swatch Book

Twitter uses a specific blue – not the same as Facebook blue, or Ford blue, or “Big Blue” IBM. Coke always wants the same red, whether its on a T-shirt, paper, plastic, a television screen or a glass bottle. To reproduce color consistently, especially across different media, platforms, techonologies and visual arenas, everyone needs to be communicating in the same language of color, so to speak. The PANTONE® Matching System is that language – an industry standard and means of selecting, communicating, reproducing, matching and controlling colors. For offset, lithographic printing, Pantone created a Color Formula Guide with well over 1000 classified colors that fill the CMYK gamut. From a set of basic inks, each of these colors can be mixed.

For spot color printing, the Pantone Guide contains ink mixing instrusctions for each color, a “recipe” with amounts given both in parts and percentages. If a printer needs a large quantity of ink, or is doing regular printing for clients who use a specific color for their brand, these inks will be purchased premixed. But for smaller quantities, each color in the Pantone Guide can be created with a mixture of 2 or more of 14 standard base colors. They are: Yellow, Yellow 012, Orange 021, Warm Red, Red 032, Rubine Red, Rhodamine Red, Purple, Violet, Blue 072, Reflex Blue, Process Blue, Green, and Black.

PMS spot color ink

In the image above, our printer is mixing PMS 151 Orange for a client’s job. The formula for that exact color is 12 parts of PANTONE Yellow (or 75%) and 4 parts of PATNONE Warm Red (or 25%). For this small amount of ink needed, he weighs each ink amount on a scale and then mixes thoroughly together for the correct color match, which is then tested alongside the PANTONE preprinted swatch for that color to doublecheck the outcome.

Pantone recently unveiled their cloud system of color management, PANTONELive: “a cloud-based color bank.” It is a color management system for companies and brand owners who do marketing over a large variety of media and across a diverse geographical area to ensure everyone is speaking that same color language.

 

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.