For this client we designed a 4 x 9” rack card, printed on 12pt stock, double-sided, four-color with a UV (gloss) finish. Her water-lily study Jazz, with its combination of bright greens and black is an ideal attention-getting image for this purpose.

The 4 x 9” rack card is one of our most popular formats – it fits in a standard number 10 business envelope so it is easy to mail with a cover letter or other materials. It can also be mailed without an envelope, either unaddressed or addressed. Rack cards get their name because they are primarily used in information kiosks ‘racks” where cards stand vertically. Rack cards are commonly used in place of a brochure because they have sufficient space to carry a reasonable amount of text and/or graphics.

The find it more about Elizabeth Sander, visit: www.elizabethsander.com.

Diamond Steel Roofing has a classic look that harkens back to turn-of-the-century styles – it is well-suited to older homes. The former Christian Science church located on 1^st Avenue West has a Diamond Steel Roof installed this past fall. The grey-coloured tiles are accented by diamond patterns in blue and red making it very attention-getting.

MW Simpson is expanding its market in the Grey-Bruce region and has chosen to do so through direct mail and limited newspaper advertising. This is unique product and therefore should be targeted to a select market that can appreciate this type of premium product.

For this client we designed a 5 x 8”, two-sided, four-color mailing piece printed on a 12 pt stock with a gloss finish. We also handled the distribution through Canada Post to select neighborhoods in Owen Sound and the surrounding area.

This is a very popular style of mailer because it allows room for a considerable amount of text and/or photos or graphics. Typically, these mailers will include an address box area where the label can be attached and are also commonly sent using unaddressed mail. The gloss finish makes these items very durable and long-lasting.

For more information about MW Simpson and diamond steel roofing visit: www.diamondroof.on.ca.

Heidi works in encaustic, an uncommon media these days, in which pigment is carried by wax and lends both texture and transparency to the final image.

For this client we did the prepress work and printed a 24-page catalog overwork for a recent show held at the Mudtown Gallery. The catalog was designed by Becky Comber of  Toronto who shipped us a print-ready design via the Internet.

The catalog is a four -colour job with a gloss, 12-point cover. The internal pages are printed on a coated 90lb stock. The finished size is 8 x 10” and it is both folded and stitched. Our digital printing method allows us to produce this type of catalog in small quantities and retain a master in our system so additional quantities can be produced on demand.

We also prepared and printed a series of folding 5 x 7” folding cards featuring her work. These cards are a nice item to give away as a promotional item or can be sold separately.

To see more of her work, visit: www.heidiberger.com

Check out these statistics from industry studies:

• American companies spend an estimated $20 on labor costs to file a document, $120 on finding a misfiled document and $220 to reproduce a lost document.
• Companies typically misfile almost 20% of their records.
• Approximately $14,000 of productivity is lost per worker per year due to their inability to find necessary data.
• Citigroup found that it would save $700,000 each year if each employee used double-sided copying to conserve just one sheet of paper per week.
• A four-drawer filing cabinet costs about $25,000 to fill and $2,000 per year to maintain.
• Every year 7.5 billion documents are created and 15 trillion copies are made.
• The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper each year.
• Approximately 90% of business information exists on paper.
• A typical company can cut its paper consumption by 25% by increasing the use of e-mail, on-line forms and reports, double-sided copying, and lighter-weight paper.

Source: Kathleen Wills – ExpressMilwaukee.Com

Document imaging as been in use in most large companies for over a decade but it is not widely used in the small and medium-sized enterprises. Although there is some movement in this sector to adopt the technology, most have mountains of paper, much of which must be retained for several years.

Despite their assumptions, paper is not a permanent medium and susceptible to damage from humidity, fire and water. Few small businesses are adequately insured to cover the cost of recovering these lost files.

A QR code works like a UPC barcode except its square and looks a little like terrazzo tile. It can contain a considerable amount of information and most importantly the URL link to a webpage. An example, linking to the home page of www.tech-centre.com is shown at right.

To read a QR Code you need a mobile with a built-in camera and the necessary QR code reader software installed. To read the QR code, simply take a photo of it. This will launch the web browser on your phone and immediately direct you to a webpage assigned to the QR code. This linking from a physical real-world object is known as a “hard link”.

QR-code readers are available for a wide variety of smart phones and several websites allow you to generate your own QR codes free of charge. Although QR codes are not yet widely used, it is expected to increase rapidly as smart marketers find more ways to utilize the technology.

How can QR Code technology help your business?

Suppose you operate a bed-and-breakfast inn and are used to advertising your business with a brochure rack card available to the tourism information booth. A tourist and take a photo of the QR code which will link them directly to your website where they can see your accommodation and easily obtain directions on how to get there.

If you are a retailer, you may want to include a QR code in your newspaper ad for direct mail marketing piece which would drive readers back to your website where they could get additional information on the products on sale and special offers only available through your website.

Smart marketers are using QR codes to help them track response rates to help determine the most effective advertising channels. Print advertisements in different publications can carry separate QR codes with the link going to different web-pages or offers. Tracking the number of hits on the target pages is a good overall indicator of average response rates.

Implementing QR codes into your print materials is not difficult. The company producing your print materials simply needs to generate the necessary QR code and include it in the design. There are no special printing requirements.

Want to use this exciting technology in your printed materials? Call us at The Technology Centre and we can demonstrate that how it works.

If any of these issues have crossed your mind, you need to consider the benefits that document imaging provides.

Document imaging has been in practice for over 20 years but the cost has commonly placed it out of reach for most small companies. With improvements in computers and scanning technology, the cost has decreased and the results improved. Now, for pennies a page, you can store thousands of documents in a space the size of a deck of cards and search those pages in seconds.

Is document imaging a practical solution for your business?

The simplest way to find out is to have us come to your office and assess the type of documents, the volume and your retrieval requirements. With this information we can:

Help you determine which documents should be saved and which should simply be destroyed

• Explain how to prepare files for scanning.
• Estimate the cost to digitize files.
• Suggest methods for storage and retrieval.

And answer any other questions you may have about the process.

Get more information on our services >>

Are you interested in making your marketing materials more effective?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may benefit from our design for non-designers seminar. The seminar is intended to provide you with an understanding of page layout, type size and selection, the use of graphics and preparing your work for printing. Microsoft Publisher, MS Word and Adobe InDesign will be used as the sample software to demonstrate these concepts.

If you are interested, call 519–371–5955 during business hours. Space is limited to six people. The seminar is approximately 3 hours in length.

Trans-promo combines marketing information with bills, statements and notices in the form of inserts and printing directly on statements. Businesses, realize they can take advantage of regular communications to reduce advertising costs, sell more products and develop customer loyalty. Sophisticated users tailor messages to specific customer groups and individuals using demographic and previous sales data.

Although many businesses are migrating billing notices and potentially all of their communications with customers to electronic forms, they may be ignoring the value that customers place on a tangible printed statement. It’s especially important to businesses in highly competitive markets where regular customer contact is beneficial.

How do you implement trans-promo in your business?

The simplest method is to include an insert with invoices. It can be in the form of a brochure, flyer or smaller insert. It takes little additional effort to stuff them in the envelope you are preparing anyway.

Printing directly on statements can be completed with common desktop printers but results will not match those prepared on professional equipment. Most accounting systems only allow for the smallest of marketing messages and few allow the inclusion of graphics which means it can commonly require a two-step printing process.

Although it may sound like a lot of extra work, the results are commonly worth it. Studies show that businesses generate a larger percentage of new sales from existing customers than those they do not have an existing relationship with. Knowing who you marketing to lets you sharpen your message and improve results.

Interested in implementing this idea in your business?

There are several ways we can help.

• Design and printing of inserts
• Printing of statements including folding, addressing and mailing
• Design of graphics/ad messages for use on statements
• Development/management of customer databases

Contact us for additional information.

1. Hand-written changes on the menu. Digital printing allows for quick and inexpensive menu updates so it is better to reprint when making pricing changes or discontinuing items. Not only is it time consuming making manual changes, it always looks “last minute” and adversely affects the look.
2. Misspelled items and text. These errors can be eliminated with careful attention and editing by more than one person. If you design your own menu it is very easy to miss common errors that spell checkers do not detect.
   
3. Listing items that are not regularly available. Don’t set people up for disappointment by advertising items they can’t have.
4. Too many or too few items. Too many items can confuse customers and make it difficult to identify your specialties. It can also be costly to your business. Too few items and customers may decide to go elsewhere if they can’t order something they want.
5. Changing items too frequently. Repeat customers commonly want to order the “regular” and can be disappointed if it is suddenly no longer available. Even if it is not on the regular menu you may want it to still be available.
6. No signature “specialty of the house” items. These are the items you should be famous for and are essential to building your brand. It provides a basis for your advertising by distinguishing you from competitors. It can also make it easy for customers to decide what to order. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive item on your menu but it can be one of the most profitable.
7. Not engineering your menu to showcase items properly. Customers can spend several minutes pondering your menu. Proper design can showcase signature items, increase the sale of add-ons and impact your bottom-line. The overall design must suit the type of restaurant and the image you are trying to create.

This list is adapted from the original article by Andreas Breitfuss, menu designer and restaurant consultant. Follow this link for the complete article: http://www.squidoo.com/restaurantmenudesigner#module4518402