Category Archives: Collateral Development
QR Codes on the Rise
by Allison Russo on March 24, 2011 | 1 comment
in Advertising, Branding, Collateral Development, Marketing, Social Media
If you haven’t heard of a Quick Response (QR) code, I’m sure you’ve seen one. They are the little barcode-like images popping up on everything from advertisements and business cards to t-shirts and even napkins. Encoded in the QR code is text, URL or other data that be scanned and accessed through a Smartphone.
Commonly used in Japan since 2004, QR codes have recently taken the US marketing industry by storm. By simply including a QR code that links to your company’s website or social networks in all of your collateral materials, consumers can connect with your company instantaneously through a simple scan.
How do you create one?
There are a lot of QR code generating websites out there. I used Kaywa to create the one above and it only took a few seconds (check it out!). You can then save the QR code and use it wherever you like.
How do you access the code?
Just download a QR reader app to your Smartphone. Some of the more popular QR code reader apps are i-nigma and QR Droid. From there it’s simple – open the app, scan the code and be connected!
Do you scan QR codes when you see them?
Direct Mail Successful Year After Year
by Jessica Turner on October 2, 2009 | no comments
in Collateral Development, Marketing
One of the projects I have enjoyed working on the most during my time at Lovell is the annual Strength for Service direct mail piece. (Strength for Service is an ecumenical daily devotional geared toward the military and others in service professions.) Each year, we do a mailing to more than 35,000 Methodist churches encouraging them to host a Strength for Service Sunday – a turnkey program for churches to collect donations support this non-profit book.
It can be a challenge to come up with a fresh look and content each year, but we do! Check out the covers from the past three years.
We just received an update from Strength for Service and are pleased to share what program director Larry Coppock had to report:
This year, with a $16,000 investment, we have raised more than $122,000 or more than 10 times what we spent! Lovell has done an excellent job communicating the message of the project in a fresh and relevant way every year.
-Larry Coppock
This piece is an excellent example of how strategic thinking (a direct mail piece to every Methodist church in America) compelling content (stories and testimonials mixed with an easy program) and great design (see images above) can cause people to take action.
Production Management 101: Print Production (The First of a Two-Part Series)
by Robin Embry on June 4, 2009 | no comments
in Collateral Development
Sometimes a good PR plan includes production of collateral materials, brochures, annual reports, videos, web sites, etc. You can learn theory from a textbook, but really mastering production management requires on the job experience.
This blog will focus on print production. The unfortunate truth is the biggest headache projects have taught me the most. So, in order to prevent staying at a print shop for so long you smell like ink fumes for days…yes, this really happened… I thought I would share some trade secrets I’ve learned the hard way.
#1: Design is more than a creative eye. Choosing the inexpensive high school student next door may seem like a good idea at first but it can lead to big problems down the road. Hiring an experienced designer is key. Someone might be able to design, but without proper pre-press training, your project could be in trouble. Files have to be set up a certain way to print properly.
#2: Blue ink may have you singing the blues. Ironically, I would guess 80 percent of our clients use blue in their logos. So, we have to deal with the pesky color on a daily basis. However, it’s important to know that if you have a project with a heavy saturation of color, blue could give you some issues. It is slow to dry, difficult to stay consistent through a print run and can smudge even days after being printed…the last problem leads me to hint #3.
#3: Smudges and fingerprints are a nightmare. If you print a large amount of solid color (which means the printer is using a lot of ink and it could easily smear) or you print on a coated sheet, ask the printer to apply an aqueous coating or varnish. This will help your job dry faster, it will help set the color and it will greatly reduce fingerprinting.
#4: Why don’t my colors match?!!! A one or two color job uses exact Pantone colors so printed pieces will always look the same even reprinted a year later. On the other hand, four-color process uses a combination of black, magenta, cyan and yellow to simulate full-color images. This is used for most brochures, annual reports, posters, etc. Because of the color combo, it is almost impossible to make an exact color match and reprints may not look exactly the same. For example, if you want your logo to look the same in everything, I suggest running a five or six color job. This includes the four-color process and the exact Pantone colors. It is a little more expensive but it may be worth it if consistency is an issue.
If you want to learn printer’s lingo, go to www.printindustry.com/glossary.
My next entry will explore some of the lessons learned during video production.
What Kind of Critic are You?
by Jessica Turner on April 20, 2009 | 2 comments
in Advertising, Branding, Collateral Development
One of the many things I enjoy about my job is working with graphic designers to create logos, collateral, advertising and other visual communications for my clients. When I saw this cartoon on a blog, it made me laugh because I had a story that went along with every critic.
Sometimes, I am a blender: I see a concept and I like something from several options, and I ask the designer to merge them together.
Sometimes I am a waffler: I want to see A LOT of concepts before the perfect one emerges.
Sometimes I am a micro-manager: I want “little” things such as fonts changed.
Being a critic is not always a bad thing. I believe that when it comes to client work, it can be very positive because it pushes the creative team to achieve the best possible product. And at the end of the day, we all have the same goals. We want the company we represent to be successful. We want to see positive results – and positive results are always worth going the distance to achieve.
When you are working on a creative project, or in life in general, what type of critic are you?
Taking My Hobby to Work
by Jessica Turner on March 30, 2009 | 8 comments
in Collateral Development
Confession. I am an avid scrapbooker. And when I say avid, I mean, I have more paper and embellishments than Michaels. So it comes as no surprise that some of my favorite projects that I work on at Lovell are those that involve collateral development. I love the process – coming up with the right size and format, figuring out the right pictures for the piece, working with a designer to get the appropriate look and finally receiving the finished piece off the printer. In the video below I share a few scrapbooking projects and discuss how they influenced the development of some collateral pieces I worked on.
Here is an up-close look at the College Living Experience view book cover — one of my favorites.
Do your hobbies influence what you do at work?
