The ability of a commercial printer to design for printing is often critical to its long-term viability and profitability. Highly successful print shops can design for print, from the initial design phase to the final stage, match printed materials with a client’s Web presence, design pieces that reduce mailing costs, and create unique folds and effects.
One print service provider stated, “we’re in a tiny market and moving towards one-stop shopping.” We can assist [clients] with their concept, advertising, premium items, and collateral. Our reputation in this market is built on the fact that we have our design department. We will work with clients where we can add value.
Design from the beginning to the end
Print service providers with decades of experience agree that carrying the design through all stages of the printing process is crucial.
Peter Palermo is the owner and general manager at Elm Street Printing & Graphics, Camden, ME. Palermo, an ex-executive at advertising agencies, says that he has learned from his advertising experience that you need to have the correct input and agree on the strategy from the beginning. He bought a print shop in Maine with his wife Kim when they moved from Connecticut to Maine in 2003. Elm Street is now a marketing communications company.
Working with clients is the most challenging thing. Everyone must agree in writing so you are on the same page and there are no surprises later. Some clients think they know everything when they see it. If we ask the right questions, get the correct input, and talk to the right people, we can get the design and concept right 90% to 95 percent of the time.
Palermo’s clients have Elm Street as their graphic designer, copywriter, Web designer, and email marketer. He says, “You can work with us to create a plan and see it through to its execution.” We can design collateral material for clients who come to us with ideas. Our design team is available.
Lou Goldberg, the president of Good copy in New Haven, CT, a 44-year-old shop that handles everything from concept to fulfilment, shares similar thoughts. He says, “The more control you have over your job, the better it will be for everyone.” You want to make sure your client is happy. You have to meet deadlines, and you must be able to control every aspect of the project.
Carrying the design concept through finishing is one of the strengths of CL Graphics, a 31-year-old Crystal Lake, IL, a business that bills itself as a “marketing-across-media resource firm.” President Rick Children says that CL Graphics takes projects from the design stage right through printing, binding, and mailing.
It can reuse the same message in email marketing and digital applications such as landing pages and personalized URLs. He says that clients might be disappointed if a design company creates a beautiful picture that is difficult to reproduce or costs more than it should.
Interactive Design and Match Print
Clients sometimes need to realize the importance of matching their desktop or mobile websites with their printed collateral. Jeff Westphal, president and CEO of Westphal’s Group in Brownsville, WI, said that clients’ brand presence wouldn’t be consistent if it doesn’t match. Westphal’s Group was started in the mid-1980s as a hobby by Westphal while he was still in college. It provides printing, graphic design, embroidery, and print collateral materials.
Westphal states that a common problem is when companies print collateral materials from their local printer but need to update their websites so everything looks the same. He says that their website should be the same as their printed collateral material or have the same theme. It’s easy to do this. If that happens, there is a feeling of instability within the company. These companies appear to be two entities; the end user might think they aren’t showing the right image.
According to Children, matching print and interactive design is more critical than ever because many companies’ printed materials direct potential customers to their websites. He says that the website must look the same. “Customers need to feel they have found the right place.” CL Graphics should be involved in all aspects of the marketing campaign discussion, not just a part, to give clients a better chance of a coordinated and branded effort.
Distinctive Folds & Effects
According to Westphal, almost any PSP can handle double-parallel folds and gatefolds. Sometimes, they will even take on manual folding jobs to make pieces that attract attention. Clients can still get essential work done at their local copy shop. He says clients pay for materials they cannot get at their local FedEx Kinko’s when they come to us.
Goldberg says Good copy does not emboss but can handle 99 percent of all folds requested by customers. Edie Goldberg is the vice president of marketing at Goodcopy. “If you are given something technical that you know will be difficult to achieve, that’s where your bottlenecks can come in,” says Goldberg. Efficiency will follow if clients consult us early in the design process and bring us in at the beginning.
