Archive for June, 2009
How To Set Up Your Printer In Ubuntu
June 30th, 2009
Or, how to print effectively without any hassles in Ubuntu.
Step 1] Boot Ubuntu
Step 2] Make sure your printer is connected (via USB) and switched on
Step 3] Have two glasses of water
Step 4] Watch TV for five minutes
Step 5] Return to your terminal and start printing.
That’s it. No spoolsv problems, nothing. Ubuntu will notify about low-ink and out of paper problems. It also reads .pdfs and .docs, so there is no question of incompatibility anyway.
New designs launched in IML
June 30th, 2009
The VWP and Puriclean range of cleaning products have been re-launched in in-mould labelled tamper evident plastic pots. The simple but bold design stands out against the white pot giving strong consumer appeal. In mould labelling has replaced conventional printing on our range of tamper evident plastic pots as it has greater visual appeal using the full range of colours and more flexibility in production and distributiuon.
The 120ml and 520ml tamper evident plastic pots used for the VWP and Puriclean products are ideally suited for the cleaner steriliser concentrate which has a wide range of applications in both the domestic and export markets.
For more information call us on 01795 479 000.
New pot printing for established customer
June 30th, 2009
The VWP and Puriclean range of cleaning products have been re-launched in in-mould labelled tamper evident plastic pots. The simple but bold design stands out against the white pot giving strong consumer appeal. In mould labelling has replaced conventional printing on our range of tamper evident plastic pots as it has greater visual appeal using the full range of colours and more flexibility in production and distributiuon.
The 155ml and 520ml tamper evident plastic pots used for the VWP and Puriclean products are ideally suited for the cleaner steriliser concentrate which has a wide range of applications in both the domestic and export markets.
For more information call us on 01795 479 000.
Letterpress Rules OK
June 30th, 2009
My father was a printer. And he was all letterpress. He would have used machines like this Original Heidelberg, although his two were probably older.
Original Heidelberg
Letterpress printing with movable type is one of the classic technologies that was invented in the Middle Ages by .
Movable Type
I spent most of my childhood in that printing works in Wood Green. I used to set the type for all sorts of letterheads, posters and brochures, but perhaps my biggest claim to fame, is that I used to do all of the handbills for the Dunlop tennis tournaments, that were held all over the UK in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Sadly, I do not have one of those handbills. If anybody has one, I’d love a photocopy.
I also learned to read and write with poster letters. These are of course backwards and you’d think that it would have caused me to have some sort of reading and writing problem. I suppose it may be one of the reasons for my atrocious handwriting in that I learned that printing, computers or typing is much better from an early age, but it did give me a strong mental alacrity in turning images through 180 degrees.
My father also had one of the oldest proofing presses, I’ve ever seen, but sadly there are no images of it.
Proofing Press
This one is from about 1850 and was at least fifty years younger than my father’s. His probably ended up in a scrapyard, when a museum would have been a better bet. Printing museums are rather thin on the ground and there isn’t even one in Heidelberg! Although I did find a whole section in one in Belarus.
Wartime Printing in Belarus
My father’s letterpress business died.
Offset litho technology was coming in and because of the bizarre purchase tax system in operation in the 1950s and 1960s, it was cheaper for companies to do their own printing. Tax on plain paper was zero, but if it was printed it was 66%, so work it out for yourself. VAT would have solved the problem.
But now letterpress is coming back and like the printer who provided the pictures in this note, it is doing well.
There is nothing like the feel of a properly printed card or letterhead! And you can do so many clever things with a proper printing machine, like score, number, decolate and perforate.
“Spending on advertising is huge…”
June 30th, 2009
Spending on advertising is huge. It is estimated that worldwide companies spend over $400 billion dollars advertising each year. Most companies large or small, rely on marketing to create customer interest. For some business, little advertising may be done. Instead money is spent on other promotions such as personal selling through a sales team. For others, advertising may consist of an occasional advertisement in the local newspaper. Before you begin any marketing campaign you should find out an essential fact about your advertising and promoting efforts. Are my efforts for this marketing campaign worth the time and the money involved? Your cost can be measured monetarily, while your benefits can be an immediate return or long term benefit. Below is a list of ways to do print advertising and the costs and benefits of each.
- Placing ads in newspapers, magazines or other publications
Monetary cost: ranges from free to $50,000 Time cost: varies, depending on if your are creating your own ad Benefits: No one can predict if an ad will work or not. - Bookmarks/flyers/give aways Monetary cost: ranges from free and up, depends on Benefits: having something to give to someone during a conference or promotion setting is important; this reinforces your business but doesn’t necessarily mean they will purchase something from you.
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Postcards and letters Monetary cost: between 35 and 85 cents each to print and send Time cost: depends on how much of the printing and mailing you are doing yourself Benefits: alerts audience to new services, products or other information about your company and reinforces your business
Before you begin any printing advertising you may want to do a cost benefit analysis. A cost benefit analysis is done to determine how well, or how poorly, a planned action will turn out. Although a cost benefit analysis can be used for almost anything, it is most commonly done on financial questions. Since the cost benefit analysis relies on the addition of positive factors and the subtraction of negative ones to determine a net result, it is also known as running the numbers. A cost benefit analysis finds, quantifies, and adds all the positive factors. These are the benefits. Then it identifies, quantifies, and subtracts all the negatives, the costs. The difference between the two indicates whether the planned action is advisable. The real trick to doing a cost benefit analysis well is making sure you include all the costs and all the benefits and properly quantify them. You may have to try different things and figure out what works best for your business and what doesn’t. Adjust your time and money accordingly.
Managing Limited Edition Printmaking
June 30th, 2009
Our various touchpoints:
425.481.4900
Our Graphic Design Studio
425.481.4900
18002 Bothell-Everett Hwy Suite 6,
Mill Creek, WA 98012
At the intersection of 180th Street SE and Bothell-Everett Hwy
At the border of Mill Creek and Bothell
Across from the 7-Eleven, Silver Dollar Casino and the new Bartell’s Drug Store
Specialties:
Digital Color Graphics (Large/Wide Format)
Business Cards, Brochures
Labels, Decals, Stickers
Tradeshow, Convention, Exhibit Displays
Vehicle, Fleet, Equipment, Product Graphics
Magnetic Materials
Banners
Window Graphics
Ready To Apply (RTA) Graphics
Dimensional Letters
Monument Signs
Construction Signs
Real Estate Signs
Retail Signs
Point Of Purchase (POP) Signs
A-Boards
Electronic Reader Boards
Directory Way-finding Systems
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Signage
Received a “Thank You” card in the mail last week that excited me. Please check out the brief video I made in regards to it.
My excitement spilled over into adding it as a discussion point I had with varies print industry people. Many of them also agreed it had some potential. As Social Media (SM) grows it becomes harder and harder to keep up with and filter out the noise that it generates. In fact at this point the noise of SM is at a roar level. That simple Thank You card coupled with SM had a very profound impact and most importantly, it made me LOOK at the website and possibly become a buyer on that site.
Sitting in Dallas last week with Joe Polanco from PIA-MidAmerica helped further expand on this SM noise. By the time we finished 2 beers and a nice conversation the tag line “The more noise social media creates the more clarity print provides” had been formed.
Dont get me wrong I am a huge fan of SM and think it is an extremely valuable tool in many ways. It is the combining of the two that I find interesting. It is similar to how I look at things like Google AdWords. The first few results in a search doesnt mean legitimacy in my mind, it can also mean someone that is good at getting top rankings for key words, but otherwise not having much value. Thus as many people do, I look at the paid for advertising as a solid option.
The coupling of the two mediums is a strong fit. What better way to filter out the noise than to receive a card in response to something connected with on SM. In fact it is a barrier of entry as the printed piece costs a small amount of money to send and thus acts a good filter from spammers and others that just use free communication tools aggressively, but have a product that has no value or limited value.
Better filters will certainly come soon for SM and like all things the adaptation of the new tools will need to be assessed and relooking at the value proposition of print will need to happen.
Brian
Promote your “Green” Products on Paper?
June 29th, 2009
I always like to make it a point to share stories with you about marketing items that grab my attention. Over the years, one of the most successful companies at grabbing my attention, by delivering creative marketing messages to my home mailbox, has been .
This weekend, Honda made another impression when a brochure for their new landed in my mailbox on Saturday afternoon. Not only is the piece creative (I will get to that in a minute) but it also begs the question, ” How do you manage to market a product designed to promote a sustainable, “green” lifestyle while printing thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of brochures?” In this case, Honda has done a couple of things to make sure that you know that the brochures is as “green” as the cars they are building.
The major way this is done is through the use of a certified paper stock and by including the FSC or logo and certification number on the back of the brochure. This logo tells me that the piece is printed on 100% recycled paper stock and that natural inks were used to print the graphics. To learn more about the FSC and their mission, please .
On the inside, front cover of the brochure, there is a small “seed disc” attached to the lower left-hand corner. Next to the disc are directions for planting the seed disc in order to grow your very own black-eyed susans. Very cool!
From there the brochure unfolds like a children’s pop-up book to reveal all of the Insight’s new features and environmental benefits. This pop-up element also grabs your attention and helps differentiate Honda’s message from the fifteen other offers in Saturday’s mail. I may not be in the market for a hybrid sedan, but Honda definitely let me know that they have a new “dog in the fight” and are coming after the .
If you are interested in learning more about how Proforma Innovative Ideas can help your organization use environmentally friendly products and practices to promote your business and products in creative ways, please let us know. We can be reached at .
My First Ivone T-shirt
June 29th, 2009
I came up with this t-shirt design as a little project in DC149 (Print Reproduction). I did this with using paper stencil: printing a design on paper, then cutting it out, and letting the paint through the paper and a screen onto the shirt.
I liked the idea of printing out her name, so I did. And I included my logo on the first of four squares. I was amused. They were amused. I wonder how she would react (if ever she knows). I hope she would be delighted, if ever.
It’s just a little project, on an old t-shirt, using an old printing technique, but it’s not about that. You know what it is.