Minnesota Printing and Direct Mail Experts
Just another WordPress.com weblogArchive for March, 2009
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Printed Design
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the 11th posting in the series and is featuring another local twin cities designer. I was lucky enough to meet Cindy Martin (the owner of bSharp Creative) recently. Through our recent conversation and in reviewing her samples, the thing that moved me about bSharp…the thing that sets them apart…is the way they can combine an understated peace with a powerful message. The images they use in their printed samples are beautiful and moving, the design is creative and their skill and affection for well written copy is something Cindy and I talked about right off the bat. Check it out:
http://www.bsharpcreative.com/
After you open their website, go to “Greatest Hits”, then page 4 under “Identity” - Wait a minute…I know that guy! (Super seo guy if you need one – Robert Swedeen, owner of Internetbusinessseo.com.) OK, back on track: go to “Greatest Hits”, then page 3 under “Collateral” – my fave.
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Printed Design
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the 10th posting in the series. You wanna check out some awesome identity work, click on the link below for Justin Bieganik @ Beganik Strategy and Design. This is exactly the kind of design I was thinking about when I started this series in my blog. ..beautiful work that demonstrates the genius of design and production.
http://www.beganik.com/work.html
In this spot in my blog I usually make a note about which of the samples is my favorite…but I can’t pick…all of it is incredible…the kind of stuff I’d just like to pick up, touch, and admire. Great work!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the nineth posting in the series. Brian from Form and Logic is a super creative, yet grounded, local Minneapolis designer and so far is the only designer I have featured on this blog that I have actually done work with. AND he is one of my personal favorites. Brian is one to take every production detail into consideration when designing his pieces for print… and to push the envelope in using techniques that are not common-place. His creativity is balanced by a work ethic that makes him super productive and a logical, step-by-step “let’s plan this thing out and do some testing to ensure success” approach to his work.
This link is to his general website, just click on “Work”, and then click on my favorites: Burns Engineering, USBio Energy, and the WeiseLaw identity package.
His work rocks and the bonus is that he is a super great guy to work with!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the eighth posting in the series. I met James Conklin, a rep for Last Call Studios, at a networking event last week. I couldn’t wait to check out the website for samples of his printed pieces…and it did not disapppoint.
I encourage you to check out the whole site, but my faves are the Harley pieces (I’m sure the printed samples kick butt compared to the on-line representation of that printing):
http://www.lastcallstudios.com/oldsite/collateral/HDposter.html
And the ELCA packaging…awesome use of duotones:
http://www.lastcallstudios.com/oldsite/packaging/elca.html
Very nice stuff, indeed. Thank you, James and Last Call!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the seventh posting in the series. I selected “Oh That Jill” (a local Minneapolis copy-writer) to feature today for several reasons: 1st – I appreciate the art of copy-writing as much as I appreciate the art in design and I like the style she exhibits on her website (check out her “jillosophies”), 2nd – there is an identity piece within her printed samples that ROCKS, and 3rd – her site is pink, and in case you didn’t notice, we at Highlight are all about pink!
Click on the link below, then click on “work”, then “print” to see the identity package I mentioned – it is for Treat and Company.
There were several other ultra-cool designs, but the Treat and Company identity is striking and makes me want to dig deeper to learn about the inspiration behind this particular branding. Alas, I will probably never have the opportunity to talk to the designer, so will just have to be content to appreciate its beauty.
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the 6th posting in the series and I am so excited to include them: Rotor Design (another local Minneapolis firm..why have I not heard of them?! Where have I been?!) exhibits exactly the type of creative, beautiful, well-planned, well-executed design that makes me just want to stare at their work in complete appreciation of the genius behind it. I have included a link to their blog AND their website – both are fantastic!
http://www.rotordesign.net/blog/
http://www.rotordesign.net/site/portfolio/print/html/print6.html
My faves are the Spider Wire logo and packaging (self explanatory…check it out!) and the Mock Turtle Identity and Packaging/labeling for the absolute richness of the design. Beautiful!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the fifth posting in the series. I selected Creative Aces (a husband and wife graphic design and photography team in MI) to feature because their website shows examples of beautiful vintage automobile photography and the sales literature they created with that photography.
The automobile industry is a perfect example of where a printed piece beats the snot out of a website in its ability to create a “feeling” in the viewer. Who doesn’t love taking a new car brochure home to dream about the car that one day might be theirs? I imagine sitting on the couch flipping through a brochure that FEELS good enough to make me want to flip through it again and again, and with enough eye candy (beautifully printed mood-shot photography with a creative use of spot varnishes or UV for an ultra-shine) to make me dream of what it will be like owning and driving that spectacular piece of machinery. Those brochures even make driving a mini-van seem sexy! It makes me want to call Creative Aces to get printed samples!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the fourth posting in the series and is another great designer from the Minneapolis area:
http://www.thetenthplanet.net/print01.html
My favorites are: Page 3 for the strength of the identity and Page 4, for its use of a lighter color of ink on a medium color of paper – that is a great effect!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry and a lover of all things printed. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Examples of Beautifully Designed Printing
Highlight Printing, a local printer near downtown Mpls, is creating a library of examples of beautifully printed pieces:
A well-designed, well-printed piece is like a piece of art…and should be appreciated for the art it truly is. This area of my blog is dedicated to the appreciation of great printed design. (If you would like to be featured, or if you know of a deserving design or designer, my contact info is below).
This is the third posting in the series. I have included the link to his print and identity samples:
http://www.heitmandesign.com/print.htm
My favorite is the Factor 10 sample – I was immediately transported to the peace of the up-north MN experience.
http://www.heitmandesign.com/identity.htm
Nice work!
If you are interested in discussing the production creativity we bring to the table, in our consultative, can-do approach, please contact us @ 612.522.7600 or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com. Also, we welcome your comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE.
Highlight Printing, Minneapolis, MN: Tips and Tricks for Designing (and Saving Money on) Booklets
Booklets are a great way to communicate your message with your clients, employees, trainees, etc.: In this short-attention-span world in which we live, a booklet is the perfect way to communicate your message thoroughly and quickly. They are a convenient size, don’t weigh much, handy to keep for reference, and easy to store. Instruction books, reference books, guide books, employee guidelines, mini-catalogs, health-care reference books, maps, and more – the possibilities are endless.
How to create a library of booklets that will be easy to reference: If your topic includes several different categories, or if you have several different lines of product, it is a good idea to keep the size and overall look consistent, but change one design element for easy reference for the recipient. For instance: design all books to be the same overall dimension and use the same binding method (spiral, booklet-making, perfect-binding, etc.), but change the color of the cover, or the color of the spiral. Envision the credenza in your recipient’s office or home with your books all neatly lined up, looking consistent, with easy differentiation between the topics by just looking at the spine.
Speaking of binding/finishing methods: The classic method for finishing a booklet is called “booklet-making” or “saddle-stitching”…usually under about 15-20 sheets that get folded in half and stapled on the folded edge. Other frequently used methods of binding are spiral, wire-o, or perfect binding. (More on each binding method within the archived “Bindery and Finishing” section of my blog, but one note-worthy thing is that perfect binding will also give you the option of printing right on the spine…another easy reference tip).
Tips on saving money on your booklets: There are many variables, and a lot depends of the quantity, but some general tips are: Design your booklets without bleed (no image running off the edge), and black and white printing is less expensive than color printing, changing the color of the cover paper is less expensive than printing the colors in color (but carefully evaluate this because the little bit of cost a color cover will add enables your cover pictures to be in color, which can be important). If you are supplying print-ready files to save money, supply hi-res single page PDF’s. We can help you evaluate all of the above, plus paper choices, quantities, various methods of production (digital printing vs. offset printing) and bindery options.
If you’d like any tips specifically about your project, or if we can present estimate options for you, please contact us @ 612.522.7600, or through our website @ www.highlightprinting.com Also, we welcome comments to this blog.
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution. You can email her directly at lisab@highlightprinting.com
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovationsTo see other topics within this blog, click HERE
