New Year Card

Custom Printed New Year Cards

The New Year is upon us again. The iconic New Year Baby symbolizes a fresh start for all in the coming year. This year, more than ever, gives cause to refresh and move forward.

Custom New Year Cards sent to family, friends and business associates are perfect for expressing appreciation and inspiration in the New Year. Create a message that is special and memorable for a lasting impression into the New Year.

All pricing FOB plant. Art requirement: Press ready PDF. Same day – Files in by 9AM out in FedEx same day or delivered within San Francisco city limit ** some restrictions apply ** Next day – Files in by 11AM out in FedEx next day or delivered within San Francisco city limit. Sales tax added when applicable. Payment terms: Prepay with order.

In appreciation of our valued customers, orders placed thru 12/31/12 receive design services for a special rate of $50.00! Now is the time to order your custom printed New Year cards.

Simply E-mail your custom designs upon completing the order form below, FTP upload available upon request, or contact Visual Identity about art services to make your message unique and special. Mailing service available upon request.

 New Year Card Order Form

Company

Name(required)

Street(required)

City(required)

State(required)

Zip Code(required)

Phone Number(required)

Quantity(required) 25 50 75 100 250 500 1000 2500 5000

Turnaround(required) Same Day Next Day 2-Day

Email(required)

Website

Upon order submission you will receive a confirmation E-mail and receipt with payment instructions within 1-2 hours. Make sure your junk mail filter detects info@visualidentity.com as valid mail

Order Contact:
707-462-3095
email:info@visualidentity.com

Custom Printed Holiday Cards

Holiday Greeting Cards are a great way to spread the holiday spirit to family, friends and thank business associates.

Everyone enjoys receiving cards. The act of taking the time to send a message filled with merriment and good tidings leaves a lasting impression.

Custom Printed Holiday Card Price Chart
10×7 12pt C1S printed 4/4 CMYK, scored for 5×7 fold, packaged flat

All pricing FOB plant. Art requirement: Press ready PDF. Same day – Files in by 9AM out in FedEx same day or delivered within San Francisco city limit ** some restrictions apply ** Next day – Files in by 11AM out in FedEx next day or delivered within San Francisco city limit. Sales tax added when applicable. Payment terms: Prepay with order.

The tradition of printed Christmas cards date back to 1843 in England. This custom spread throughout the world, cards are now sent during the last month of every year around the globe.

Printed greeting cards hang around often into the New Year. Now is the time to order your custom printed holiday greeting cards.

Simply E-mail your custom designs upon completing the order form below, FTP upload available upon request, or contact Visual Identity about art services to make your message unique and special. Mailing service available upon request.

 Holiday Card Order Form

Company

Name(required)

Street(required)

City(required)

State(required)

Zip Code(required)

Phone Number(required)

Quantity(required) 25 50 75 100 250 500 1000 2500 5000

Turnaround(required) Same Day Next Day 2-Day

Email(required)

Website

Upon order submission you will receive a confirmation E-mail and receipt with payment instructions within 1-2 hours. Make sure your junk mail filter detects info@visualidentity.com as valid mail

Order Contact:
707-462-3095
email:info@visualidentity.com

Catalogs

Publication Strategy | Catalogs and Booklets

Printed catalog marketing is still one of the most used means of offering products. Retail giant IKEA recently announced the re-design of their 200 million circulation catalog. The global retailer intends to bring technology to their paper catalog so they can tell their story in new ways and drive a seamless connection to purchase.

Creating catalogs is a big undertaking when considering the coordination and number of elements involved. Multiple pages of copy and images require thoughtful planning and coordination in order to produce a printed pub that will be read, retained and acted on by recipients. Prior to exploring content, size, page and cover designs, strategic planning is necessary and often overlooked. Audience, function, habits and distribution are some of the key areas to hone in on.

Audience
Assessing customer needs, level of education, and expectations are important to help determine content, product lines, pricing, design theme, and more. A better educated audience may view your sales piece differently than a less knowledgable reader.

Function
Knowing all the various ways your intended recipients handle, review, share, and store your publication will provide helpful insights about ways to make their experience advantageous. An 8.5×11 page size is a readily available standardized U.S. format but it may not be the best solution for your customers.

Distribution
Understanding market segments and distribution channels upfront will help add those subtle yet valuable features that often impact the overall effort. Discovering that a self cover 45 lb. text catalog is not heavy enough to resist the rigorous process of delivery networks or recipients handling habits could end up as an expensive lesson.

Catalogs require a systematic process leading up to press and launch. Highly successful publications, like IKEA’s, involve much more strategic research and effort, but can be scaled for your needs. After all, large companies were once small enterprises with big ideas.

All our catalog printing is on special this week AND we will honor discounts on all orders placed this week by allowing art file upload at a later date. Remember, all of our products can be trimmed to custom sizes. If you require printing specifications outside the parameters on the website, contact us for free estimates and advice about planning your next publication.

Postcards

Postcards: Not just for mail

The economy of printed postcards makes them also suitable for non-mail purposes as we mentioned in a previous blog article, Increasing retention of postcards where we featured an oversize business card application on a 4×6 postcard.

Smaller postcard sizes, such as our current special, can be easily tucked into pockets and compartments. Their durable 14pt stock increases longevity.

Here are a few non-postcard ideas which may stimulate your own creative processes and provide you or your clients with cost-effective printed communication.

Menus

Dainty menus are a beautiful way to feature drinks, appetizers and specials. Limited menus can be formatted nicely on any postcard size and the economy of printing them makes for a high quality yet inexpensive take-a-way. Catered events are a great application for postcards size menus too. Beyond food, mini service menus for Salon’s, Auto Detailing, and many other service related businesses are an effective way to professionally present information.

Product Cards

Packaged products often require information and provide an opportunity to feature other products to customers. Postcards are an economical solution with varied sizes to fit nearly any packaging system. Product tips and shortcuts cards for items which require infrequent setup, such as camp tents, are useful as reminders. Desktop cards with keyboard shortcuts are always handy too.

Mini Posters

Feature events or other information to be posted or as take-ones in high traffic areas. Bulletin boards are often filled in desired locations but your “mini poster” will likely find a spot. Our 6×11 postcard size provides sufficient area to feature expanded information. Create a minimalist design on 4×6 or 5×7 for a compact miniature attention getter. Print both sides of the card for the take-a-way factor.

Note Cards

How many times have you seen an image and thought “wow, that would make a great postcard”? Print that image on one side of a note card and format the other side for writing personal or imprinting messages. A series of images can be created and printed economically on any postcard size. We can even trim your cards to a custom size such as square or narrow, at no extra charge, to make them unique. Envelopes are available in various sizes to contain your messages. Remember to order uncoated or satin finished cards for written or desktop imprint use.

Collectors Cards

Commemorate events or milestones with little takeaway cards featuring aspects of accomplishments. Compile notable historical events into a series for collectors. Circulate them among clients and associates or distribute them in campaign strategy. A custom size and spot UV add value to your printed collectable for a nominal price increase.

Greeting Cards

Send out greetings to clients and prospects for all occasions. A printed celebratory card carries more meaning when received given the frequency of internet saturated messaging. Holiday, festive, or just fun images are available thru royalty free stock art services at reasonable use fees. Create or commission your own custom images for your greetings. Printed envelopes with a matching image theme enhance the spirit of the message for your recipients experience.

With all the possible uses, our October Monthly Special 4×6 and 4.25×6 cards present affordable opportunities. High quality offset color printing complete with aqueous coating or UV varnish over 14 Pt. stock offers an economic advantage in October to enhance your printed communications. For larger size cards check out our wide variety of competitively priced Postcards.

Contact or Email us (info@viprintshop.com) today to discuss innovative ways to use postcards in your printed communications.

QR Codes

Print Matters

By Ken McCormick

Quick response “QR” codes: The missing link

QR codes are matrix barcodes that were originally designed and used by the automotive industry for tracking parts. Nowadays, these ubiquitous codes enable smart phone users who, by scanning a QR code with their phone’s camera, to receive text, add vCard contacts, instantly jump to internet resources, or even compose emails and text messages among other functions. Most smart phones with cameras — android, iphone, nokia, blackberry — can download free QR-code reader apps from their regular app sources.

According to a recent U.S. Study, during the month of June 2011, 14 million mobile users scanned a QR code or barcode. 53% of users were men ages 18 to 34; some 58% scanned codes from their home; 39% in retail stores.

Today’s mobile-connected consumer provides limitless opportunities, from billboards to business cards, for savvy businesses to engage and inform.

Caution: Web pages formatted for mobile viewers will impress far better than those configured for bigger computer monitors. Keep this in mind, before you purchase 5,000 QR-coded stickers, directing consumers to an online manual at your website. Small text or copy that wraps outside the frame of their smart-phone screen might dampen enthusiasm for your products. Proper formatting yields an efficient experience, worth tweeting or sharing on Facebook.

Size matters

Since QR scanning is a function of your phone’s camera; size, data complexity, and scanning distance must be considered. Catalogs, postcards, and business cards are easily scanned from inches away, while yard signs and billboards are captured at further distances. Short urls produce larger dot patterns, easily scannable whereas vCard info creates smaller higher density data points.

All in all, the QR code is the no-longer-missing link between your printed materials and online presence. Turn your print materials into online-ready worker bees.

Ready to get your feet wet? The easiest place to begin is with our business card special. Save your mobile customers time by adding a QR code containing your contact info on the back of your business card.

Email or call us today for a free consultation and assistance with designing QR codes for all your printed media.

Will Electronic Media Render Printed Matter Obsolete?

Gutenberg Press

Gutenberg’s discovery of movable type in the year 1436 revolutionized communication throughout Europe and eventually the world. Indeed much has changed in print craft since ancient clay and woodcut type but the natural attributes for human communication in general will always remain.

Heads out of the Cloud — If one considers the number of applications used to communicate in print, it’s clear that print is here to stay. From Wedding Invitations to Wine Labels to Soap Boxes, the thousands of different printed components required for daily communication simply cannot be substituted with back-lit displays or electronic ink.

Touch it, feel it — The physical properties of printed materials are more compatible with everyday human experiences. The feel of Letterpress characters de-bossed in soft cotton paper cannot be replicated on the glass surface of a computer screen. Lenticular printed prizes in Cracker Jack boxes showing flip and animated effects will never serve the same function in digital form.

With all the creations and inventions to come in print, it is safe to conclude that the World Wide Web, E-mail, Blogs and Social Media feeds offer a new opportunity to engage customers and prospects. When suited to certain marketing goals, they can deliver valuable, albeit fleeting, experiences. However, by coupling with printed communications, they add longevity without logins.

The next time you think about discontinuing the print issue of the newsletter, catalog, etc. consider this: Of all the media vehicles, only print can deliver in physical form. The craft of Lithography, Letterpress, Gravure and other printing processes communicate outside the Cloud and add the means to arrest the attention of finger tips, eyes and noses that their RGB partner cannot.

Print That Works: Coupons Deliver

While the recession has forced lower spending, use of coupons has gone up. According to NCH Marketing Services, Inc., Mid-Year 2009 Coupon Facts Report,[1] coupon redemption is up a whopping 33% from one year ago. Where’s the surprise, right?

In an article by Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert,[2] a online Quick Poll at his site asked what it would take to get people to buy “better for you” foods they had foregone, due to economic pressures. Lempert reported consumer-preference rankings this way: “… promotional discounts (90%), coupons (83%), larger bulk packages (22%), single-serve packages (18%) and more in-store education that teaches the benefits/values of these foods (16%).

In other words, coupons nearly tied with the top preferred incentive, promotional discounts, both of which were favored by more than three-and-a-half times over the nearest alternative.