Given the restrictions of 2020 thanks to COVID, the term "slidedeck" has probably entered everyone's vocabulary far more than they care to know.

With nearly everyone spending at least three hours a day online in digital meetings, digital slide presentations have become commonplace. However, that doesn't mean going digital is the best choice for those decision-making events.

The Tangibility of Print

The standard for a powerful presentation has been and continues to be the professionally printed presentation package.

For decades, flyers have been a go-to marketing tool for businesses of many stripes. But are flyers still effective in the digital age?

Angela Brown, the “House Cleaning Guru,” says the answer is emphatically YES.

“I am a huge fan of running flyers. My book, ‘How to Start Your Own House Cleaning Company,’ has a huge section on flyers,” Brown said. “Flyers are a great, cheap way of advertising your business, and if you do it the right way, you can have business coming in within a day or two. And lots of people save the flyers. If they are not ready to hire you today, they can hire you when they are ready. And once you have clients, you can work from referrals after that.”

Do printed catalogs still work?

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) worked with a U.S. based specialty jewelry company to find out.

This e-commerce retailer (which had no physical store presence) typically generated an annual operating profit of $12 million, with a database of approximately 28,000 customers. This company partnered with HBR to study the impacts of bi-monthly print catalogs through field experiments involving 30% of its customers over a span of six months.

Have you ever rushed out the door and slipped on an icy sidewalk?

Or made a hasty decision in traffic that cost you loads of energy in the long run?

Accidents happen when we hurry, and that’s true in both life and work. In project management, sometimes people fail to allow adequate time for extra details or unexpected delays. As you draw close to a marketing deadline, errors are made, and important details are overlooked.

According to large-volume print production expert Allen Glazer, marketers should allocate 25-75% of a design project’s budget for printing costs. And if you don’t catch a mistake in prepress, it will be much more costly to fix down the line.

Have you ever made an impulse buy at the grocery store? Or been drawn to an online store that you knew was probably fakey clickbait?

Sometimes, when the right offer hits you at just the right moment, it seems impossible to resist! And they don’t call this “magnetic” appeal for nothing.

In marketing, Magnets are an effective technique for gaining a prospect's contact information and/or drawing them into your sales funnel. Sometimes called lead generation, this process of stimulating and capturing interest (to develop a sales pipeline) allows you to nurture a lead until they are ready to buy. 

When you are building a business or launching a product, a label or a logo might not seem like a top priority.

But these branding pieces are essential because they open the door to your identity. Logos and product labels grab attention, make a strong first impression, separate you from the competitors, and make you more memorable (so customers come back again and again!).

Many businesses settle for something simple when crafting these brand icons – like the company name with a small swath of color. But have you ever considered an illustrative icon? These visually delightful options carry a pictorial presentation of the features and aspects of your product or personality.

Here are four examples:

As you exhale after a tumultuous 2020, now is the time to clean out and set yourself up for a productive, successful new season. And one way to invigorate your image is with new business cards.

If you’re going to change a little, why not change a LOT? Here are five bold ideas for your next business card design.

2020 was a year we had to go with the flow in many ways.

In design trends, creativity flowed in liquid patterns, 3D realism, funky geometric shapes, innovative typography, and more. But while these concepts borrowed from sci-fi and futuristic tech, new styles may pivot toward bringing reality back in focus.

Here’s a sneak peek of four graphic design trends to watch for in 2021:

Have you ever judged a book by its cover?

You’re not alone! First impressions are essential to how people judge a person, a product, or a business. And when you’re going for visual impact, research suggests visitors will form an impression in as little as 50 milliseconds!

Once you’ve invested all the hard work and planning into your print marketing materials, it is important to go the extra mile on quality.

Want a simple technique that beautifully enhances your impact and appeal? For a budget-friendly bonus, try adding a varnish!

Design is a process that turns an idea or a requirement into a finished product.

While many people believe designs just “happen,” that isn’t the case. Some designs may come together quickly, but generally, there are many stages along the way. Whether you need full-service graphic design or collaboration together along the way, it can be helpful to approach the design process in stages.

Want to produce more inspiring designs? Approach the process in a strategic, focused way. Here are four key stages:

In September of 2019, Apple unveiled the iPhone 11, featuring a dual-lens rear camera, automated night mode, and built-in support for vision, hearing, and mobility.

One of the biggest surprises of the iPhone 11 was not its technical features, but its price. The iPhone 11 started at $699, down from the iPhone XR’s previous price of $749, and signaling one of the biggest year-on-year reductions in iPhone history. Apple also implemented $150 cuts on products like the iPhone 8 and the Apple Watch. Tech specialists were quick to comment:

In building brand awareness, a sales pitch is the hook, and consistent marketing is the “glue” that pulls your visuals and words together in a relatable way.

Marketing is about building relationships, and people commit to brands that seem dependable and trustworthy. Companies lure you in with witty slogans or incredible offers, but it’s a brand’s reliability that keeps you coming back. Customers stay loyal to brands when they feel comfortable and “in sync” with them, and the key to building that dependability is consistent, stylish marketing.

What does that look like in real life?

3 Examples of Brand-Building Marketing

Here are three organizations that do brand consistency well, and some take-home tips you can grab from their examples.

For many decades, stickers and labels have been helping to establish brands, elect politicians, spark micro-marketing engagement, and build social proof.

Stickers and labels are more popular than ever. Just sit in a coffee shop for 20 minutes and look at the water bottles, laptops, or notebooks of young people. Stickers are not only inexpensive and enduring, but they are also fun for users!

Read more...

2019 was a year where taking risks in design was considered normal.

What design trends can you look forward to this year? As we round the corner into a new decade, we may see a softening of some of 2019’s more abrasive trends and a shift toward simplified contrasts when designers want to be bold.

Here’s a sneak peek at five design trends to watch for in 2020:

1. Beautiful Flowing Shapes & Lines

The last few years have brought an abundance of geometric, rigid, proper shapes.

In the new year, these designs will be replaced by more flowing shapes, patterns, and lines. Flowing shapes can convey a natural, abstract, peaceful feel on a page. Whether you use a soft speech bubble to surround text or place images overflowing water or lava currents in your backgrounds, this shift toward flowing lines brings a down-to-earth, creative, and authentic tone. 

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Does your brain ever feel tired? Some days, that’s probably due to information overload.

According to ad agency Red Crow Marketing, the average person living in the city 30 years ago saw up to 2,000 ad messages a day. Today, experts estimate we are exposed to over 5,000 brands per day (though research suggests only three percent of ads make a lasting impression).

Want to increase exposure and impact for your marketing messages?

To stick with viewers, your print ads need to be creative and clear! Here are three compelling print ad examples, with a few insights into what makes them so great. (Read more)