Paper Inspiration Thursday

Congratulations to Minneapolis based agency, FAME for winning the PaperSpecs Take Note Award for their unique invitation design!

 

 

Why print buyers should think like cyclists (and work late less often)

Print buyers should think like Olympic cyclists.  Find out how this will help them in this article

I was delighted when Team GB did so well at the Olympics.  It seems that British cycling has really entered a golden period.

But this success hasn’t come by chance.  It has happened because the team have been constantly looking at how they do things.  They have been regularly challenging what they do and how they do it.  This is what has created their success.

Print buyers can improve their results by thinking like Olympic cyclists
Print buyers who challenge process will create better supplier partnerships.  They’ll get rid of all the inefficiencies that make their relationships with printers frustrating.  They’ll be in control of their projects.  And they’ll be able to achieve more during their day (and work late less).

Print buyers who don’t challenge process will carry on with their late nights.  They’ll struggle to achieve what they need to because they’ll be using slow, inefficient methods.  So they won’t have the same control over projects.  Their supplier relationships will be full of arguments and annoyances.

So here are three ways to improve process and get rid of these problems.

Use templates
Templates are a great way to standardise documents and make sure that nothing important is omitted.  This system works really well for price requests, purchase orders, internal communications and contract documents.  You could even have a document template library for everyone at your company to use.

I am famous for forgetting to tell suppliers how many items I want when I issue a price request.  So now I have a quote request matrix that gets rid of all those un-necessary phone calls and e-mails.
But using templates for price requests can mean that you are dealing with too many individual prices.  There’s a way round this.

Use matrices
If you order a lot of similar items a price matrix can be a very useful way of getting instant pricing.  This need not be an expensive solution.  Even a rough and ready spreadsheet can manage this easily.  It can even analyse different price sheets and recommend the correct printer according to the print run.

This method ensures that you can get rid of much of the regular price requests that you may need to deal with.  It also allows you to deal with sudden changes in quantity.

But you can make things even more efficient.

Use a web2print system
A web2print system can bring efficiencies to many areas of print buying.  These include order administration, order analysis, stock management, quoting and stock management.  I’ll be looking at web2print in more detail in a future article.
The investment in web2print need not be high.  There are several systems that are licensed as software as a service.  This means that you pay for exactly what you need.

However, you need to be aware of one thing.

Make sure that you processes work with current company systems
It is essential that everyone in your company is aware of what you are doing and is happy about how it will work.  A price matrix spreadsheet will not have any effect on other peoples’ systems.  But if you start issuing purchase orders through a web2print system you need to be sure that the accounts department is happy with this.

For some print buyers that is the least of the issues involved.  For them, there is a much deeper problem.

Don’t these processes take out the skill from buying?
This is not the case at all.  Good processes mean that a buyer spends less time on order processing and other clerical duties.  This means that they can spend more time on strategic print buying issues.  Isn’t that what print buying is all about?

Here are three action points to help you improve your current systems

1. Set out your current processes
2. Ask print suppliers how they feel you could work more efficiently
3. Ask for feedback from other members of your company’s staff

Soon you’ll be just like the British Olympic cyclists
You’ll be getting gold medal results.

Copyright © 2012 Print & Procurement Ltd, All rights reserved.

Weekly Paper Inspiration

Eagle Brook Church loves Greenhaven Printing!

Thank you Jamie Colbert at Eagle Brook Church for the great testimonial! We appreciate your loyalty!

"We love Greenhaven Printing! From personal customer service to print capabilities and process, from competitive cost to efficiency in meeting our often quick turnaround times... the team at Greenhaven is excellent! They have a 'can do' attitude. And they sure do. I truly don't worry about much when it comes to our print pieces, because they always take great care of us. They always impress us with their ability to exceed our expectations!"

 

www.eaglebrookchurch.com

Greenhaven Printing would like to thank everyone for the partnership and success we have shared working together. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday!

Business Cards That Work for You: Tips and Best Practices

november 13, 2012 at 11:39 am leave a comment

These days, business card design is a popular topic and, since business cards are often the cornerstone of a good networking program, a decidedly important one. The web is full of examples and templates in a wide variety of layouts. There’s no shortage of creative designs you can buy ready-made or have modified by a designer, and then have printed by a company like 48 Hour Print. Therefore the biggest problem is how to get a card design that is something special.

Today we’re giving  you a few tips on how to choose the right business card design that will be both impressive and effective for you. In order to not affect the feelings of any designers, Noupe.com asked a designer from CrazyPixels to create several designs. Of course, he was trying his best to draw the attention to the details we’re going to talk about. As a result, we’ve got some incredible, modern and interesting business card designs to share with you here.

Below, we’ll be showing you business card design listed under the following topics:

Pictures on a bright color background
Color scheme usage
Minimalistic designs
Embossing aka letterpress effects
Creative business cards with QR codes
Business cards influenced by typography
See-thru business cards: transparency, a new idea
Black and white business cards
Unusual shapes

If you enjoy this post, these other articles may be of interest.

Pictures on a Bright Color Background

So, now for the first design:

It’s a bright and stylish business card. It strikes the eye at first sight. If you are a creative person like a photographer or designer, this business card could be the best option for you. The picture on the back could show off your skills as a creative professional and the business card would thus become a part of your portfolio. You can create a few variants of such designs with different photos and give your potential customers an ability to choose which they like the most. I do believe they will remember you.

Here is a showcase of stunning business cards designs with great images and bright colors:

 

Usage of Color Schemes

Just take a look at this business card design:

No matter what kind of pattern shows on the business card. Would it be stripes, squares, circles or triangles, the main thing is a color scheme that fits. As in the previous design, this business card draws attention with its colors, but this time it’s not a single color, but a whole color range. Also I want to draw your attention to the QR code, which you can see here. Note that the points on the QR code are in the same color range as the whole business card. This is a small thing, but it gives the design a thought through look and makes it more interesting.

Roundup of business cards with interesting color scheme:

 

Minimalistic Design

A quite minimalistic logo, which was designed with only one color and creative use of white space featured on the front of a card is a brilliant way to make a stylish business card. You can place a logo or any design on the front and all the needed info on the back, including name, tag line and contact information. There are a huge number of variants to create a similar design.

http://www.noupe.com/design/business-cards-that-work-71822.html

 

Embossing aka Letter Press Effects

Embossing is a style of using a stamp in order to create a raised tracery on you business card in different shapes. This effect gives a business card texture and classical style. It allows you to use only one color, it’s the true color of business card paper. It makes the business card modern and elegant.

Letter-pressed business cards:

 

Adding QR Codes

QR code is a modern tool which allows you to take a picture of a code on a business card with a smartphone. The code would redirect you to the website, online portfolio or resume. It’s a perfect way to bridge the gap between a business card and your online work. Make sure that this modern tool is receptive to your target audience before create a business card with QR code.

Creative business cards with QR codes:

 

Typography

Typography is a popular trend and it’s worth to pay attention to. It can be difficult to find a corresponding font, but with a wider range of growing choices you won’t be ending up without the right one…

Business cards influenced by typography:

 

See-thru Business Cards: Transparency, a new idea

Transparency is a trend in advertising. Such kind of business cards are usually made of plastic, which is why they are more durable than a lot of the businesses that decide to use them. They also have a high retention value that the standard paper-business card does not have.

Transparency business cards designs:

 

Black & White

Black and white business cards are a perfect option for businessmen, economists, lawyers and other people in the so-called serious business. If you need simple, elegant and classic design, black & white business cards probably are what you are looking for.

Black and white business cards:

 

Unusual shapes

Such kind of business cards have unusual shapes and are in most cases custom-made. Business cards with unusual shapes need more resources in comparison with the usual ones. They might impress more, but due to their mostly uncommon shapes might make your clients throw them away easier as they don’t fit in their pockets. You should think this choice through from the side of your potential client.

Here are some examples of unusual shapes business cards:

The Bottom Line

Try to do something different, even when it comes to business cards. There is just one chance to give a good first impression to your potential customers. Give it a try and you’ll see what works out for you. Your card should represent your brand and name. Hope this collection inspired you to create a unique and creative business card design of your own.

About the Author

Pavlushka is the author of CrazyPixels web design blog. He writes inspirational articles about web design technologies and useful web design tutorials, where you can find a lot of top tips how to create amazing web design artworks. Feel free to follow him on Twitter. Here’s his Homepage.