Nightclub design postcard - an example of market profiling.

More than anything else, good printing design is determined by the target marketing you are trying to reach. There is no point designing an outstanding looking flyer or leaflet, if it does not attract the right kind of client. But how do you know what will attract your target market? Well, I am going to put down a few tricks within the context of a common type of flyer design - nightclub design postcard.

Be specific about the target. When profiling there is a tendancy to generalise. Obviously, a nightclub is trying to target a young audience (primarily 18-30), but for a well targetted design you need to break this down much further. There is a big difference in the tastes and social standing of a 29 year old London professional, and an 18 year old student for example. Try to think of a single, typical customer rather than a large group and examine their personal tastes.

Use other brands to help. A quick and easy way of profiling a customer type is to look at the brands which they like. If you isolate a popular brand within your sub-group then you can effectively lift the imagery and tone which these brands use for your own design postcard.

Look at their interests. Within the context of what you are advertising, look at your target markets' interests. In the nightclub design postcard example, the obvious thing to look at is taste in music. If your target market is into dance music, then look at the imagery and approach used by dance music magazines, CDs and websites. Likewise, if they are into urban music then look at hiphop magazines etc. The idea is to find the key elements which attract the interest of your group and bring them into your design.

Pick a key selling point. Every good flyer should pick one key selling point as the centre of the design. You need to consider what aspect of the thing you are advertising will appeal most to your target market. Back to the nightclub design postcard, if you are targetting a student audience then you may want to emphasise the value for money (2 for 1 on drinks, cheap entry cost . . ). If you are targetting a young professional you may want to emphasise the exclusivity of the event. Just think of that one thing, which alongside the targetted design elements you are using, is most likely to pursuade your target to act.

Booklet design - presentation and printing.

When budding graphic designers are studying for their future career, one element which they are hardly ever taught is how to prepare work for print. When we employ a new printing design designer, we always find that while they are always familiar with the software and can layout a simple and striking design, when it comes to converting this to a format the printer can use there are always mistakes.When it comes to prepping work for print, a booklet design is always difficult because the numerous pages increase the chances of mistakes. So these are things to look out for.

Number of sheets per page. Always ask the printer how they want print work presented. Traditionally, printers have always wanted the designer to do the hard work and layout the pages for them either in spreads, or in printers pairs. However, printers with new software most often want each individual page laid out on its own, in order. They simply feed this into their software and it compiles the booklet design document for them. CMYK conversion. Make sure all colours are pictures are converted correctly to CMYK.

Crop Marks and Bleed. When work has no bleed, printers get nervous. Make sure that each page has at least 3mm bleed. On the design side, also make sure that all the text and pictures you want are safely inside the crop marks.

Embedded fonts. This one is a killer, as mistakes are often really hard to spot on printer's proofs. Make sure that your fonts are properly embedded, or converted to vector paths. Otherwise the font you expected to see will be replaced for a slightly different 'standard' font. If this happens to a logo font, then you are in trouble and often the whole booklet design will have to be reprinted.

Colour Choice. Unless you are working in Pantones, colours will always vary in print. Make sure you play it safe and there are adequate differences in your colours so text stands out against the background.

Provide clear instructions. Printing is a very competitive business, and many printers will not take long prepping your material. Make sure any instructions are made really clear and never assume that a printer will do what you expect - it is better to be considered patronising, than to have 100,000 copies of your booklet design printed with a stupid mistake.

Flyer Designs - the basics.

In commercial printing design, great flyer designs are not those that simply look good, they are the ones that elicit the desired response from the audience - whether that be to ring a certain number, buy a certain product or remember a certain piece of information. Any good flyer designs, therefore, starts with an understanding of the audience it is aimed at. It is the first vital step for any good design, but the one which often gets overlooked in the rush to create something which looks pretty. Think about the audience - their tastes, favourite brands, aspirations - and their relationship with the item being advertised. Most importantly what benefits will it bring them. A persons choice to read a piece of advertising often comes from self-interest; therefore to work effectively, flyer designs have to not only look relevant to the reader, but also quickly educate the reader as to why they should be interested. Remember, your audience is likely to have a short attention span for advertising so think of a key message and stick to it. Select your text and images for your flyer designs with this in mind. Do you want a simple product shot, or would a photograph which shows the benefits of using the product be better? Do you want a long description about the product and what it is made of, or would sticking to a few key benefits be more effective. Remember, great flyer designs are not just about good graphic design, they are about good marketing. Visit our website for more information on printing design

How to design postcards.

Postcards are one of my favourite advertising media, but also one of the hardest to work with in printing design. With flyers, you really do have the space to include what you like. However, when you design postcards, you really have to be economical and really concentrate on pushing forward one single and unified message. You also really need to think about how postcards are used. Your advert is likely to be that much more effective if it creates an attractive design and encourages the recipient to keep it. Concentrate on making the front of the postcard something which is simple and striking. An interesting and intriguing image, or something which is likely to invoke a positive reaction in the viewer. You can then save the back to push forward your promotional message. If the front of a postcard invokes interest, then the viewer will instintively flip it over in search of an explanation. Many graphic designers also consider leaving blank space on the back when they design postcards. This increases the chances that the postcard will be used and passed on, keeping your advert alive well beyond its first hit.

Flyer or Postcard Designs - which to choose.

One question that always reoccurs with printing design is which format to use for a cost-effective promotion - a standard A5 flyer or an A6 postcard designs. This primarily depends on what you are going for - impact or longevity. Postcard designs are smaller so they generally have less impact and presence, but in my experience they seem to be more likely to hang about than be immediately disposed of. Because of the positive connotations of postcards (holiday postcards / fine art postcards / letters from friends) they are seen as a less advertisy medium. So, if the postcard designs are appropriate, they may get stuck on a fridge, or tucked into a diary, or even passed to someone else. A flyer, on the other hand, is used exclusively for advertising, and advertising only, so although it may create that initial impact, it is more likely to be binned, faster. So flyer or postcard designs? It may sound like an arbitary choice, but mix the right format with the right design - and your promotion is likely to be that much stronger.

Flyer designer - what makes a good designer.

Being a good flyer designer means balancing lots of the different talents. Obviously, you have to have good printing design skills but to truly excel as a flyer designer you need to have other skills as well. A good flyer design is one which targets the right customer in exactly the right way. This means that alongside graphic design ability you need to have sharp marketing skills, and more specifically, a very good understanding of the target market and what might appeal to them. At Add Design, our flyer designers handle projects from all kinds of businesses in all kinds of industries so understanding the target market is not always easy and involves the ability to undertake quick and effective research. It also helps to talk to the client about their understanding of the market, so good communication and interpretive skills are a must. The actual design, of course, is only half of the flyer design - the text can be just as important so if there is not a good copywriter at hand then the flyer designer also needs to fulfil this role and be able to cut down text into short and effective copy which will work alongside the design to create the right tone to engage the target market. Lastly, there is an understanding of print. A design may look fantastic on screen, but a good graphic designer needs to be sure that it will also look good in print. Different paper types (silk / matt / gloss) and thicknesses are good for different effects and functions so every flyer designer needs to know which is the best combination to work with their design to make it as an effective piece of advertising as possible.

Letterhead Designs - creating the best design.

In terms of printing design, letterhead designs are often overlooked, yet it is responsible for carrying your business directly to the customer. While a simple and well printed letterhead will make sure that your business looks professional, it is also a little bit of a wasted opportunity promotionally. After all, letterhead designs are often quite mundane so doing something just a little different is a quick and simple way of standing out and pushing forward your brand. For us, as designers, letterhead designs are also one of the biggest challenges.
The limitations on size, shape, content and use of images are such that to do truly great letterhead designs is a real creative challenge. If you are a budding designer, then it is the perfect way to practice. The secret is to think about the logic of convention. Does the address really need to be in the top right-hand corner. If you are a solicitor or accountant then it probably does, but if you are a less traditional business then convention becomes less important and you can look at moving the information around, or portraying it in a different way. Remember, it only takes one small innovation to make your letterhead designs stand out. For more information on letterhead designs, check out Add Design's printing design pages.