brochure design Archives - building websites for authors

Getting estimates on a print job? Look online and local, too.

Good copywriters make everything sound easy. Think of the last time your swore at your desktop printer and you’ll know it’s never as easy as it sounds.

Printing is a complex process. My knowledge of this industry, and how to get a job file ready for a printing press is extensive and comes from 20 years of experience working with every local printer — and some hundreds of miles away.

Real Life Story

One of my long time clients, Bright Spot Therapy Dogs had a ‘happy’ problem — their list of followers and contributors continue to grow so they need more newsletters each year. They also need many more to handout at speaking engagements, local events, and community outreach opportunities. I’m always trying to save them money, while maintaining quality, so when they requested 2,000 newsletters this year, it seemed like a good time to check out one of the large print houses that advertise on television, and the Internet.

Printing Bargains Can Be Found Online

A few of the more ‘famous’ value printers could not accommodate the large size of the BrightSpot newsletter which measures 25.5″w x 11″h flat, and is tri-folded to 8.5″w x 11″h. They only run industry standard sizes:

3.5″ x 8.5″

5.5″ x 8.5″

8.5″ x 11″

8.5 x 14″

11″ x 17″

I was able to locate two reputable value printers who offer “standard size” brochures as large as 25.5″w x 11″h flat.
The actual printing price was less expensive than my local alternative – not by a lot, but enough to give them serious consideration. The Bright Spot job needed to be tabbed for mailing, as well. When compared to the price my local printer gave me for tabbing, I was surprised to learn the value printers charge more for this “additional service.”

Don’t Forget to Add in Shipping Costs

Shipping costs are based on weight, and paper gets very heavy, very quickly. When shipping was added the per unit cost rose. In the end I chose Marcus Printing, a local, high quality printer to produce Bright Spot Therapy Dogs 2014 newsletter because it was less expensive, plus I knew I would get a great product.

Takeaway

I was pleased to learn my long-time local printer was the least expensive option to print 2,000 newsletters on 80 lb. coated house stock, on the size the customer needed, that also required tabbing plus two different finish fold options: one for mailing and one for promotion.

Personally, I prefer doing business locally. As a graphic and web designer who still offers print services, I value my resources and business relationships that took years to develop. An added bonus was being able to be on site when the newsletter was printed. There’s nothing quite like the sound of the pressroom, and watching one of my jobs run through the inked rollers, and be handed a sheet that’s literally, hot off the press.

My label is Graphic Designer, but what I really do is solve problems. The first problem is helping my clients determine what product they need in order to attract their perfect customer, so they can make more money.

The Brochure

My client asks for a 3-fold brochure design, but is that what they really need? For example, will a 3-fold, standard sized brochure, that fits into a sales rack do the job — or would a two-sided rack-card with bullet points better serve and attract their ideal customer? Maybe they have so much information about their product or service that they need a 4 or 5-fold brochure with a tear-off mailer, instead.

The Questions

What is my client trying to communicate?
• Special sale or limited time offer?
• General information: what they sell, where they’re located, how to get in touch?
• Are they soliciting donations?

The Design Decisions

Not only do I solve problems as a designer I make lots of decisions that effect other decisions like:
Headlines:
• headline size
• headline color
• headline position
• Does the headline need a bold color band behind it?

Body copy:
• font type
• font size
• Does it look best left, right or centered on the page?

Where to show-off their logo:
• size
• placement on the page
• Should it be on every page?

A Real-life Design Problem

One day I met with a committee of four. Each headed their own department, but they shared a common mission: They needed to raise money for their organization, individually and as a group.

They had worked with other designers in the past, and all designers had given them brochures with a front cover photo containing at least four of something. One designer even convinced them that a colony of penguins was the perfect solution to their fundraising mission. Many of their donors may have indeed, looked as regal as the Emperor Penguin, but they were not raising money for birds. They were raising money to help college students.

About 40 minutes into our first the meeting I was beginning to notice tension building between the four department heads. “They all want their own cover,” I thought, but knew they were only going to agree to printing one brochure.

Having lots of experience with paper, paper folding, and brochure design, I knew that:
1. a brochure has a front and back side = 2 new covers
2. if the brochure could be folded inside out it = 2 more new covers

When I suggested a unique fold that would allow each department head to have their own cover, the room went silent. I then added, “A brochure with four distinct, but related covers, would also help tell the story about your mission: four different departments working together to raise money for one cause. Furthermore, the donation form would be written to clearly state that donors could give to all four departments, or to one or more departments, individually.”

Suddenly everyone was getting along, once again.

Today, this brochure is in its third printing. Occasionally I’ll be asked to swop out the cover photo but the overall design shows no signs of strain because
1. it works, and
2. new donor prospects keep being added to their mailing list.

Another win-win, and another graphic design problem solved.

Advantages Of Printing Locally