Michael Osborne was asked to create heart imagery for Moo.com’s Luxe Card product promotion. The results reflect his signature style—bright, cheerful, fun and inventive. Fifty unique designs for card backs were printed in CMYK digitally on stock that is as rich and unique as the designs—triple the thickness and weight of most ordinary cards with a rich seam of color within the layers of paper.
“Nobody needs business cards anymore.” At least that’s what I’ve heard from several printers lately. But there it was…in one of the least expected places! With that instantly recognizable little blue bird, “it” was a Twitter business card.
“Dancessence” embodies not only the emotional and physical essence of the dancers photographed, but of the very reason coffee table art books are treasured possessions. The cover wrap that surrounds this Smyth-sewn book is a custom color match, handmade Nepalese paper (from Legion Paper). A debossed frame holds a small tipped-in image that suggests the delights within.
It didn’t seem like such an unusual request when a printer friend of mine asked, “Can you help me find a matching color? I checked with my paper merchants, but they couldn’t help.” This was a big client with a huge order, and I didn’t want to let my friend down. It was a make-or-break situation.
Sharing printed samples with your clients is vital for companies selling all types of printed materials, including wedding invitations. Seeing and touching invitation samples is as important as the cake tastings—probably more important when you consider how long that invite will be around.
I get a lot of extra-large postcards in the mail these days. Of the nine cards I collected in one week to test for this post, most had at least a 10-pt. caliper. But because of their larger size, the postcards still felt rather floppy.
Dimensional direct mail, such as this featured box, receives among the highest response rates. It’s easy to see why with this gift box. The Esse Pearlized stock retains its texture and sparkle even after receiving the flood of red ink. Lift the luscious lid and...SURPRISE! The bottom of the box unfolds like an origami flower to reveal the invitation to a private, after-hours holiday reception.
Since many clients are on tighter budgets these days and feel they have to forgo some of the high-end finishing techniques, it’s good to keep metallic, iridescent and pearlescent papers in mind. Contrary to what the name might suggest, there is no metal used in creating metallic papers.
“Faster, better, stronger” will also describe the supply chain if the overall paper market rationalizes SKUs in a similarly thoughtful, customer-focused way. For many categories of paper, the total days of inventory within the system can be mind-blowing.
A well-constructed pocket folder that is stylish and useful speaks volumes about the quality of this purveyor of western wear and its brand. Worth noting are the gussets and bleeds, and the tailoring of a stout offset wrapped tab closure also suggest a quality product. This effect was accomplished by designing extra width into the tab, which was folded over and glued for a double-thick sturdiness.
