The Value in Expertise
The hand-wringing over the demise of expertise in American politics reflects some subtle changes in the world of business, too. With regular updates on social media now possible—if not advisable—for nearly every business, free apps from grammarly to Inkscape provide useful support for effervescent content. Still, when you expect your content to be more durable, in the form of leave behinds, product packaging, or even business cards, it’s more important than ever to use staff dedicated to the craft of writing and graphic design at some stage in the production.
Print materials make last impressions. Simply put, they just stick to human memory better than pixelated images. So, if you have a person in your office you count on to generate good ideas and represent them well in creative copy, that’s great. Would you be tempted, then, to use your desktop color printer to produce your latest flyer or brochure? It’s unlikely, because the digital printers and offset printers in today’s print shops offer considerably better quality and, in turn, better value by way of a durable, positive impression. In “How digital package printing safeguards a brand’s quality,” Jaron Lotan argues:
“The added benefit that digital printing adds to brands? Higher value. High-quality packaging allows for more design variations and thus more targeted marketing, capturing the consumer’s attention with relevance in a world where a product can be removed from the cart, returned or replaced by another product with a mere click of the mouse.”
This lesson, too, applies beyond packaging. We’re all competing to capture consumers’ attention, even in B2B transactions. And that’s why it’s nice to have expert editors and graphic designers weigh in on your project: they think about word choice and phrasing, colors and layout, all day long, and our in-house staff wants to help you fulfill your mission, over and over again. Whether you need a flyer, custom greeting cards, or a die-cut invitation with round corners, we invite you to seek the counsel of our graphic designers, and to employ their expertise on your behalf.
At Foote Printing, we’d welcome more widespread faith in expertise. In the meantime, we’ll continue to rely on our own experts to ensure that all of our clients stay delighted with the work that we do. To talk to us about your next project to get your clients’ attention, call us at 216.431.1757, or click here to send us a note.
WE'RE (STILL) LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD
In a world of digital media, analog and paper remain viable platforms. In 2017, sales of vinyl albums grew for the 12th straight year. “Listening to vinyl is a physical act—it’s an active choice to go to the rack and pull out a record from the sleeve,” Toddrick Spalding, direct of music at Mob Scene, recently told Forbes. “It physically forces you to interact, contrary to telling Alexa to play a playlist on Spotify."
Print media holds the same allure, and maintains an enduring impact on human memory. Message recall is a whopping 70% better for print materials than pixelated materials, and it’s less taxing. It takes up to 21% less cognitive effort to process analog rather than digital messages. If you’re running a business, you need to have a digital presence: full stop. You also need to take care of your clients who rely upon your “leave behind” materials to motivate them to get back in the mix.
And yet: what about the environment? Clients and consumers celebrate the benefits of “going green,” and for good reason: this planet’s the only one we’ve got. Fortunately, manufacturers of vinyl and printing materials, respectively, continue to reduce their carbon footprints in novel ways.
In 2016, Green Vinyl Records received a grant from the European fund to develop a method for pressing albums via injection moulding. According to Vinyl Factory, the new process is expected to “cut production costs, improve sound quality and reduce the environment impact of conventional record pressing.” Ink and paper manufacturers continue to do their part, too. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2018, and it continues to promote responsible stewardship of forests all over the world. (FSC’s charge is a difficult one, and it still struggles to limit tropical deforestation.) Manufacturers of printing ink substitute vegetable-based oils for petroleum products, and Living Ink has jumped on the “algae train”: algae plays a big role in the emergent biomaterials revolution, and Living Ink is at work on an algae-based ink that, in terms of social costs, is much cheaper than the $10,000 per gallon attributed to petroleum.
Now, it might not be possible to have “guilt-free” records or print materials. Still, human innovation is a powerful force and, with each green-oriented development, the guilt associated with tangible goods continues to shrink—which is good news for material girls and boys alike.
True Colors
“Color is the first principle of Place.” Ellen Meloy, Anthropology of Turquoise
Amid the grey days of winter here in Cleveland, Ohio, it’s easy to recognize the impact of color and light on our relationship with place. Meloy’s lovely book is not anthropology per se, but a meditation on the sense of vision:
"The complex human eye harvests light. It perceives seven to ten million colors through a synaptic flash: one-tenth of a second from retina to brain. Homo sapiens [dedicate] up to 70 percent of its sense receptors solely for vision, to anticipate danger and recognize reward, but also--more so--for beauty."
Meloy, Anthropology of Turquoise, pp. 8-9
Apple Inc., of course, takes the visual sensitivity of humans seriously. With the 2010 iPhone 4, Apple introduced its first Retina display. At 300 pixels per inch (PPI), on a device held 10 to 12 inches from the eye, individual pixels became effectively imperceptible. With the iPhone X, youhave 458 PPI and photographic versimilitude--or so I’ve heard.
My main interest remains, of course, printed materials, which still set the standard for the representation of text and images. Digital printing technology has nearly equaled the standard of offset printing in terms of resolution, but resolution’s not the only variable. Colors matter, and your team of designers and printers can take selective steps to ensure that your materials accurately “harvest light” for the business (and pleasure) of your clientele.
What your designer sees on the screen in terms of the CMYK color model (cyan, magenta, yellow, and key, or black) will typically match what comes out of the printer--but not always. Print-outs of your job need to be verified as “true to color,” which is easier to manage if you live, say, in Phoenix (310 days of sunshine per year) than Pittsburgh (164 days of sunshine per year). For those of us in more Pittsburghian climes, LED lights allow us to approximate true sunlight, either at designated stations or in all available light fixtures. We have them standard, in every room of the shop, in order to ensure that your job and its colors are true blue--or cyan, in this case.
As a client, you want to be certain that you’re seeing the true color of your job. As Rebecca Killam notes on the 1000bulbs.com blog, true color is a key concern for many businesses. "You don’t want your customers loving an outfit on the sales floor only to lose the sale in the dressing room because the overhead lighting isn’t flattering or that pink blazer suddenly looks orange." LED lights bring the equivalent of sunshine into the office and may, in turn, help alleviate seasonal affective disorder, too. So, the more LED lights in your printer’s shop, the happier those employees might be, and that’s good for business, theirs and yours.
Welcome to 2018!
While it’s early, 2018 appears to be another year that's short on consensus. Other than the year of the dog on the Chinese calendar, forecasters imagine 2018 to be the year of: employee experience (okay), taking action (sounds reasonable), Italian food (buon appetito!), peace in Syria (great idea), and, according to Brian Potts in Forbes, either solar power or coal. We’ll know within the week, following a January 11 decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The moral character of solar—the “it’s-good-for-the-planet” idea—is quickly becoming a matter of smart business. In certain areas of the country, Potts notes, “utilities are retiring their coal plants and announcing plans to replace them with large solar arrays.” From June to September, solar holds the advantage, as solar arrays have the capacity to deliver energy during peak heat over the summer.
At Foote Printing, we’re committed to attending to your business needs, and we hope that those needs include working with vendors who—like the sun—are local, reliable, and affordable. (Okay: maybe the sun is less reliable than we’d like in NEOhio.) For projects big and small, for offset printing to digital printing, we are proud to be your printing company of choice. Let’s talk soon about your printing needs. Give us a call at 216.431.1757.
Holiday Trees and Foote Printing's Carbon Footprint
‘Tis the season of shorter days and longer nights, and a time when many residents of Northeast Ohio seek to bring a bit more light inside their homes. Often those electric lights end up on a pine tree of sorts, which is of course brought indoors for a few weeks for on either side of winter solstice. The National Christmas Tree Association is a national trade association for the industry, and they are eager to let you know a few things about their wares:
1) trees are completely recyclable, and make great mulch;
2) a tree takes on average seven years to grow, and tree farmers are currently growing 350 million trees in the US; and
3) for every real Christmas tree harvested, farmers plant one to three seedlings the following spring.
We think often about these sorts of things, since the paper industry depends upon the tree industry. So, in addition to our love for solar power and skilled union workers, we also purchase paper products with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) seal of approval, which assures that the paper we use is sourced from responsibly managed forests.
So, if you’re looking for a big production for leave-behind materials (think offset printing), or a one-off item for a small group of friends (think digital printing), rest assured that we’re Lorax-like in our diligence to work in concert with the environment, rather than against it. We love Lake Erie and our City on the lake, and we’re determined to ensure that Foote Printing keeps its carbon footprint as small as possible.
‘Tis the season for B2B Holiday Cards
The holiday season is upon us: it’s time to book flights, reserve a turkey, and order custom-designed holiday cards for your business associates. You can certainly find some stock cards online, and even have a service send them out for you. But the holiday season is a time for gratitude, and you want to ensure that you send the right message to your clients—a message with a personal touch.
Here are some guidelines for your B2B holiday cards. We’re happy to review these ideas with you over the phone or face-to-face, of course.
1. Keep it secular. We live in a grand, pluralistic society. Focus your message on your relationship and gratitude, rather than grace.
2. Keep the message light. As Henry Clay noted, “Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.” If you decide to use an inspirational quote, make sure it’s reflective, rather than autocratic.
3. Make the paper heavy. Your card will be displayed alongside other cards. Select a high-quality card stock.
4. Make it a modest labor of love. A 150-word note isn’t necessary, but a hand-written personal greeting, a short note, and a closing will resonate with your clients. Do the same for the envelope, too.
5. Order soon. We are delighted to field your questions about card stock, design, and the text for your card. Please contact us at 216.431.1757.
And, while I can’t put this message in my written script here, we’re grateful for your business this holiday season and all year long!
The Renaissance of Print Materials
Back in the day, among the glossy music magazines, Rolling Stone and Spin ruled the roost. Rolling Stone was becoming a bit avuncular in the late 1980s, but they still had a great stable of music writers and political journalists. While Spin presented itself as its disaffected adolescent counterpart, its staff took their cues from Rolling Stone, and the latter’s early summer “Hot” issue in particular. Hot on its heels, Spin hit newsstands with their annual “cool issue”: “because what’s hot gets cold, but cool lasts forever.”
Spin’s been digital-only since 2012, and Rolling Stone may follow suit, now that a majority stake in the magazine is for sale. The migration of advertising dollars from print to digital is undeniable. Digital marketing is hot, but printed marketing materials remain cool, and hold advantages over digital advertising, in terms of readers’ rates of processing ease and recollection.
People like paper, and glossy paper especially. As a result, readers’ information recall is up to 70% better for print materials than pixelated materials. Likewise, it takes up to 21% less cognitive effort to process analog rather than digital messages. If you’re running a business, you need to have a digital presence: full stop. You also need to take care of your clients who rely upon your “leave behind” materials to motivate them to get back in the mix.
At Foote Printing, we handle brochures from the design stage to distribution. We’re here to tend to all of your standard or custom printing needs. Give us a call, or stop by for a face-to-face chat: you can reach us at 216.431.1757, 2800 East 55th Street, Cleveland, OH 44104.
Keeping Clients Happy
Hello!
It’s Mike Duhr, the owner of Foote Printing. I want to thank those of you who are repeat customers, and to invite new and future customers to learn more about Foote Printing. Our base of repeat customers certainly like our work, our reliability, and competitive prices. They also like what I call “the ethical amenities” of doing business with Foote Printing. These amenities include working with a union shop powered by solar energy. These things are important to us, of course, but they are equally important to a clientele committed to Cleveland’s future, and to the economic prosperity of Cleveland’s present. Here are just some of our clients’ favorite amenities of working with our family-owned shop, established here in Cleveland in 1907.
Our union staff: Foote Printing is a union shop, and its staff belong to the Northeast Ohio Allied Printing Trades Council. Many of our clients opt to include the union sticker—or “bug”—on printed materials, in order to assure their own clients that the women and men who assembled these materials receive good wages and benefits. For others: it’s about the assurance of quality and craftsmanship, along with the timely delivery of high-quality, fairly-priced goods and services.
Powered by the sun: In summer 2016, we installed an array of solar panels on our rooftop. Summer 2017 offered plenty of sunshine in Northeast Ohio and, on select days, solar energy provided 85% of our shop’s power. Let your customers know that your eco-friendly business understands the importance of reducing its carbon footprint. Just tell our staff you’d like to include our “printed by solar energy” footer on your next run of marketing materials. And, speaking of carbon footprints: Foote Printing only purchases paper products with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) seal of approval, which assures the paper is sourced exclusively from responsibly managed forests.
Giving back: Foote Printing supports Cleveland by offering our workers good wages and strong benefits, and it remains committed to generous charitable giving each year. Amid the many signs of the region’s recovery, some of Cleveland’s residents continue to struggle, and we want to play our part.
Let’s continue this conversation face-to-face. I look forward to seeing you at our shop at 2800 East 55th Street, in Central Cleveland (216.431-1757).
Offset Printing vs. Digital Printing: A Primer
My mother gave me my first digitally-printed photo: a snapshot from my wedding reception in summer 2001. She printed it that night and gave it to us the next day. The dull hues of the photo were well-pixelated. It looked like a sun-bleached photocopy of a photocopy.
Today, digital printing is far more technologically advanced, and its products are often indistinguishable from those of offset printing. (In brief: digital printing entails backing four-color toner powder onto the page. Offset printing entails the transfer of the inked image from a plate to a roller and onto the page.)
Digital printing certainly has its advantages: small-batch runs can be completed in under two days, and updates to the image itself can be handled quickly. Offset printing has its own advantages, and we encourage you to learn more from one of our staff members here in Cleveland—especially if your next order of brochures, flyers, or booklets includes 500 units or more. With offset printing, the economies of scale are impressive. For some jobs, an order of 1000 may cost only a few dollars more than an order of 500. (Use our direct mail marketing services to save even more time and money.) While digital printing color standards continue to rise, offset printing remains the best option for getting the colors you want just right.
What Message Do Different Colors Send?
When you design a flyer, logo, mailer, billboard, or any kind of advertisement, the types of color you use play a big role in the message you want to send. Graphic designers know the importance of color in ads and can help you send and illicit the right message and emotions. Let’s take a look at what colors represent in the advertising and print world.
Red
Yellow
Orange
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Warmth
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Caution
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Excitement
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Confidence
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Good for call-to-actions
Blue
Green
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Health
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“Natural”
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Wealth
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Growth
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Relaxing
Purple
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Wealth
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Success
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Wisdom
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Used on beauty products
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Creative
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Foote Printing is a local print shop located in Cleveland, OH. We specialize in offset printing, digital printing and wide format printing as well as offering mailing services and graphic design.
If you would like to learn more about our company visit our site.
Summer Outings
As the days get longer and the weather gets nicer, many companies and organizations have some kind of party or event planned for the summer. Some places host or travel to company golf outings, charity events, or live events.
You may not be thinking about printing when you think of these things, but print companies have a lot to offer businesses that are involved in some kind of event.
Some ideas include:
Company T-shirts
Banners
Flyers
Posters
Yard Signs
Tablecloths for Tradeshow Booths
If your company is having or sponsoring an event, make sure you are seen. By working with your company we will be able to figure out the best options to fit your needs and make sure your company stands out.
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If you would like to learn more about our company visit our site.
Vehicle Graphics: A Simple and Overlooked Strategy
With a number of different marketing outlets available, many business owners overlook the thing they use every day, their car. You might be thinking of vehicles that are entirely wrapped with the company’s name and logo, while some company vehicles can look like this, many professionals do not want to ride in a giant advertisement.
There are many ways you can advertise your company without wrapping your entire car. Car magnets and stickers can be a good alternative that a print shop can help you with. Insurance agents, realtors, landscapers and many other industries use vehicle stickers that do not cover the entire car but still promote their company.
A great example is the Geek Squad cars. When the company first started they would drive around in black and white cars with the Geek Squad logo on the side. It was quickly recognizable and they were everywhere. Vehicle graphics offer an easy way to promote yourself and stand out.
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Foote Printing is a family-owned Cleveland printing company with a close-knit crew of printing professionals. If you would like to discuss how Foote Printing can help you with vehicle graphics, visit our site to contact us today!
Why Work With a Local Printer?
With sites that offer printing services to companies all over the U.S., you may think that they can do anything you need to. But local printers can offer the same products and services as their online counterparts, but have several unique characteristics that you can’t recreate virtually. From the variety of options, easy communication and building a business relationship, local printers are the best bet for print projects.
More Options
Compared to online sites that offer similar services, local printers offer more options for your business and your specific print job. Online sites often limit your selection of sizes, material, and ink. Local printers can offer you a wide array of options and styles. If you want a piece to be a certain size, shape, and material they can help you make that a reality.
Easier to Communicate
Naturally, communication is important to the success of any kind of project. When you work with a local printer you can call or even go to the office and speak directly with someone. Not only is it easier to get a live person on the line to work with you, but if there is a problem with a project it is much easier to fix when you work with a local person compared to an online printer.
Communicating your wants effectively is another reason local printers are better suited than online stores. Sometimes you have a specific look in mind or a more complex project that you want to be completed. A local printer can sit down with you and find out exactly what you need instead of trying to explain something to a phone rep or via email.
Better Relationship
With local printers, you build up a relationship. It does not matter how many times you print from an online source, they are not going to be able to make recommendations specifically for your business or help you figure out what kind of design works best for your brand. Local printers will be able to learn about your business and help you make decisions on print projects.
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If you want to start working with a local printer that understands your company and can act as a business partner and not just a website, we can help. Visit http://footeprinting.com/ to learn more about our company and how we can help your next print projects.
Using Direct Mail to Stand Out in the Digital Age
In the business world, most companies today focus their attention online. While this is good, standing out from the crowd is more difficult. There are plenty of tools and sites companies can use to automate messages to their customers, whether it’s sending a “thank you” message for their business, a “happy birthday” email or sending holiday messages. This is a nice way to stay in front of your customers, the only problem is, every other company is doing this also.
Direct mail offers a personal touch that your customers won't receive through an email or social media post. “According to USPS, 69% of people feel that mail is more personal than the internet.” Most of your customers receive all kinds of emails saying “thank you for coming in to see us today...” and most people know that these are just automated emails that go out to everyone. This does not make your customer feel any more special than if they had gone to another place for their same needs.
So, what kind of direct mail should you send to your customers?
Thank You Cards
You do not need to send a thank you card every time a customer comes to see you, but for first time customers a physical piece of mail that thanks them for coming in will stand out much more than the generic “thank you” email that most other companies send.
Birthday Cards
Taking the time to send your customers a birthday card will definitely make a positive impression on them.
Holiday Cards
Sending holiday cards is another easy way to use direct mail to reach customers. You can easily create a direct mail campaign for certain holidays and send your customers cards for those holidays. Most companies will just use social media and post a “Happy….” status update. But sending a card is creating that personal touch that your customers value.
In the cluttered online world, direct mail is an easy way for companies to stand out. If you would like to learn more about how direct mail can benefit your company visit our website here.
Today, digital printing is far more technologically advanced, and its products are often indistinguishable from those of offset printing. (In brief: digital printing entails baking four-color toner powder onto the page. Offset printing entails the transfer of the inked image from a plate to a roller and onto the pages.)
Vehicle Graphics: A Simple and Overlooked Strategy
With a number of different marketing outlets available, many business owners overlook the thing they use every day, their car. You might be thinking of vehicles that are entirely wrapped with the company’s name and logo, while some company vehicles can look like this, many professionals do not want to ride in a giant advertisement.
