Black vinyl on windows is unreadable!

This is one tip that I have to pass on that I heard from one of my vendors. He was talking about how windows are considered black and black vinyl is just unreadable on glass. I looked up to my building's sign and said, "Just like that one?" Yup. Can you imagine driving in a car by this front door and totally missing it?

I have included my version for Towne Storage. Not only is it white vinyl with a little stroke of black (that gives it more contrast) but I have the copy stacked so that it haves the impression of an actual building. WOW! Now that really makes sense.

© 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved

follow up to last WOM marketing missed opportunity…

I tried calling the Costco optician to schedule an eye glass appointment. The phone was busy…AMAZING! Now, most normal customers are going to call someone else, especially if it is an emergency.

The message should say, "Sorry, for the inconvenience but we would like to respond to your call immediately, please give us your name and phone number. Thank you again for calling Costco's optical department for Dr. Hammmhamma."

It just is a no brainer! Sometimes you get this opportunity only once.

© 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved

Better have a Smart Phone!

If you are designed any marketing piece with a QR code I recommend that you test it out before you send it out to the masses.

1. Reversing QR Code

I designed a piece where I vectorized the QR code and reversed it so that it was white on a solid color. I would also check when using on colors that have the same hue/value. Result: It doesn't work!

2. Let the user know where it takes them

Like I have in the sample above, "for more info go to our website". It is better to inform and not frustrate.

Please let me know if you have any other QR tips & tricks.

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Elton John

"A friend of mine in the music industry personally auditioned a singer by the name of Reg Dwight in the 1960s. He unceremoniously shoved the singer out of his office for wasting his time. That singer is now better known as Elton John."

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Fred Astaire

After his first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, "Can't sing. Slightly balk. Can dance a little." Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

Why we struggle in our public schools…

I am reading a very inspirational book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers".

Gladwell's interview sounds like a conversation that I have had with many people about being a creative artist…

"We sometimes think of being good at mathematics as an innate ability. YOu either have 'it' or you don't. But to Schoenfeld, it's not so much ability as ATTITUDE."

Gladwell quotes this math professor, Alan Schoenfeld, from Berkeley, "Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds." 

From an article posted in the Costco Connection by Andrew Lock on "Don't Give UP".

Thomas Edison

"…teachers said he was 'too stupid to learn anything.' he was fired from his first two jobs for being 'nonproductive.' As an inventor, Edison made more than 1,000 unsuccessful attempts to invent the light bulb. When a reporter asked him how it felt to fail 1,000 times, Edison said that he didn't fail all those times, but that the light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

I had to chuckle the other day when one of my client's managers asked, "Can't you design our company brochure in Microsoft Word?"

You see this quite frequently in the software industry – just like Microsoft Word™ was originally designed as a word processor. Like other software applications, Microsoft is trying to convince their buying public that Word can do everything. Well I am here to tell you that it is like trying to rake up your leaves with a shovel. Word™ has been a wonderful tool for communications side of business. But it has it limits just like other software!

Word™ Limitations

1. No Bleeds. 

You cannot create a bleed with your document. It just looks very unprofessional to have a 1/4" white space go all around your document. Your document just screams, "Is this as creative as you can get – my mother could do this!"

2. Font Conflictions.

It will substitute some of it's own fonts for those that you have specified for the document. The difference in fonts may vary in spacing when the document is moved from your work station. You will notice that these fonts below may look simular but can cause big problems when being substituted on different machines (note: take a close look at the "a" at the end of Helvetica).

3. Word uses RGB color rather than CMYK

To have any document printed in color it needs to be in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black). RGB (Red, Green & Blue) is made for video or television. It also is not capable of specifying PMS (Pantone Matching System) colors if you want to print your document more conservatively than four color. Even when RGB is converted to CMYK there is a major color variance. Big problems & headaches for the prepress operator that is trying to make printing plates from your file.

4. What if I need to make edits to my Word document

If there are corrections to be made (after you have sent your document to be printed) the printer most likely couldn't make the changes for you. They would have to send you back the file to be corrected. Now you will be delayed in the timeliness of this project and there will be added costs.

If you were to go to any legitimate printer or prepress house in your local community they would all suggest using a page layout software for all your printed marketing materials (Adobe InDesign™ or QuarkXpress™ are the best and most well known). These are not cheap or easy-to-use pieces of software so there is a learning curve. In these programs you can resize, rotate images, add drop shadows, adjust transparency of a placed photo and quickly make adjustments to the high res files. Finally, if you want to send a pdf to a client to view or print there are lots of options that work to your advantage. 

I can guarantee you that by using the correct software to create your files will save you lots of time & money down the road. My policy has always been, "Use the software for which it was created for!"

© 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved

Mastermind Brainstorm for Local Printers

We were brainstorming marketing ideas for my business during our bi-monthly Mastermind group. One of the members, Terry said that I should come up with a marketing piece for local printers that are struggling in this new economy. I told him that I had a postcard that I designed when I was at Revere Graphics (prepress company in Portland, OR).

Now the printing company could either direct mail these to their existing mailing list or even to new markets. My client, Derek (from Lasko Printing) likes to present something to his client when making sales calls. 

While at my office, I came upon another great concept that may work better than a postcard. I bought these along time ago for creative brainstorming from Roger von Oech. This would be another great option is to have an oversized trading card size that the client could keep in a package that was branded with the Lasko logo. 

I pitched both ideas to Derek and he liked the trading card idea. Now I slowly have to build up all the card/tip designs.

Lasko Trading Card Idea

This is what I came up with. They are a little bigger than playing cards or your business card 3" x 4.5" but printed on a durable 100lb card stock. They have been varnished to keep off finger prints and protect from the wet weather. I also like the die cut rounded corners, it is very subtle but adds a little extra. Very professional!

100+ Different Tips & Tricks

I started to write a list of different subjects/tips that I could write for printers. Here are just a sampling of the subjects that I covered:

prepress techniques

bindery/finishing

social media for printers

spot vs. four color printing

software tips

direct mail

marketing tips for small businesses

photography tips

creative graphic design tips

digital printing

what to look for at a press check, etc.

It seems almost endless…I could probably write 300 of these tips, if I put my mind to it.

 © 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved

Catch their eyes!

I was very happy with this ad that I created for local CEIC publication. It does a couple of things…

1. It will stop people when they are reading publication because of curiosity. Why does this cow have a funny icon on him? Now they have to read the copy.

2. It is humorous which reflects on my personality and business model. 

3. The icon (or QR code) is one of the fairly new social media technologies that will actually direct you to my website blog if you were to use a QR reader on your smart phone.

We also thought about putting a testimonial from another CEIC member but I thought that it would disrupt the clean layout. I love the white space!

Do you have any other samples of good layout that has plenty of white space?

© 2011 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved