THE POWER OF DESIGN

September 14th, 2017

How many times have you organised an event, business strategy or promotion and the last thing you do is think of the design of your advertising and printing?

Organising an event or promotion can be overwhelming, no matter how big or small the event is. That is why it is recommended to plan your campaign design and to consider your printing and finishing options which are the most frequently overlooked yet the most crucial element. It is the design and print that determines how the end user will experience, respond and react to what it is that is on offer.

We have decided to give you a few tips to help you in the process.

  1. LESS IS ALWAYS MORE:

Yes, you might want to explain in detail what it is all about, but you need to take into consideration what this is going to be printed on, is it a flyer? If so, is the content optimal for readability? Or is it a pull up banner? Is it eye catching enough for people to notice, stop and read. Don’t forget images can talk more than words and your customers might find it easier to relate to an image. Don’t just focus on the text.

  1. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX:

Our mind is capable to fill in the gaps and to see the bigger picture if you aim for it. So, when designing your banners, flyers or artwork why not dare to use the border of your design to make it fun and to stand out. You can extend your images to the edge of the artwork & even main text if it is big enough.

Print                                   Print                                   Print

  1. BLEEDS AND SAFE AREA:

The trimming of the prints is never 100% accurate, so your graphics must exceed the intended trimming line to ensure that there is no unprinted white border left on the artwork if any shift occurs during trimming which could potentially ruin your design. This safety cushion is called “bleed”.

The safe area follows the same principle as the bleed, but this applies to the inside (rather than the outside) of the intended trimming lines. Keeping all your text, logos and images in the safe area, at least 3mm away from the intended trimming because anything outside the safe area might get cut off unintentionally. We do however recommend using our templates provided on our website in which safe areas and bleeds are designated.

  1. IMAGE RESOLUTION:

Your design is only as good as your image resolution.

If you are using images in your design, make sure you are using the correct resolution. The resolution of an image is can be measured in two ways, dots per inch (dpi) and pixels per inch (ppi). The dpi determines the amount of detail the image has. If the artwork is to be displayed on a computer (E.g, Web or Social Media) the resolution should be 72-96 dpi. If it is for printing then it is best to set the dpi to the highest number you can – 300 dpi at a minimum. If you wish to enlarge an image to be used on the web or for print, always scan it at the highest dpi you can, and then enlarge the image size in your graphics software (eg Photoshop or Illustrator). You can then save it to the appropriate file format for us to download and open here in the design office.

  1. MONITOR AND PRINT COLOURS:

After years in the printing industry, we have heard the same question over and over. “Why are the colours on my computer screen different from the colours on the printed item”. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this frustrating question. There are many variables that play a role in the colour variation from your monitor to the printed item.

It all starts with the colour model. The standard colour model for computers is RGB (Red, Green and Blue) and for printing it is a CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) An RGB colour system can display a much wider range of colours than a CMYK Printer can print, monitors are able to display millions of colours, producing a richness of colour compared to the four colour printing process of a CMYK printer which combines the 4 inks to produce the illusion of a full range of colours on the printed item. another factor is that your screen colour are produced by light and in printed the colour are mixed and lay on a white substrate, which is called in the printing industry the 5th colour, this substrate white colour can vary on brightness and tint which makes it more difficult to replicate that colour you desire.

If you have any questions on how to create your design, or are unsure on how to achieve consistency of colours on your prints, we have the facility to scan your desire colours and give you the perfect match and we can also help you with your design!.