Logos can be a work of art in themselves. The bigger they are, the better chance they have at being given the credit they are due. Poster, postcard and brochure printing has never looked so good.
 
Design is Getting More Individualized
Printed design trends seem to be moving toward hand drawn and sketched graphics. Although this look has been quite popular with gig posters, it is now finding its way into marketing materials, such as with brochure printing. Even fonts styles are being custom made by designers. Text is no longer the only reason for typography. Letters are becoming part of the design. The point is that there may be trends but the designs are unique to themselves.
 
Designs of the Past are Holding on Strong
Retro, nostalgic designs are still prevalent, and will be even more so in 2010 than in the past decade. Grunge is new on the scene as a comeback. The early nineties have reestablished themselves as far as design and fashion are concerned. You are sure to see much more of it in the future.

Simplicity Remains a Solid Part of Printed Design
Nature and nature-inspired design is very popular this year. Designers are also reverting to minimalism in 2010. The most impact in design is created by fewer content and more balance. White space remains ever popular, and will continue to grow in popularity in even high-content materials such as brochure printing. 
 
The trends discussed are already popping up everywhere, and they will continue as the year progresses. If you are a designer, then you have probably already begun to make these changes in your portfolio. If you are just an admirer of printed design, then you will not be disappointed with the brilliant designs that will come out of this year.

Start Copy with Benefits to the Customer
Product descriptions should start with the benefit customers will receive from the product. People must see that an item will improve their lives before they will want to buy it. Do not assume they will figure out benefits on their own. You should describe benefits for at least your top twenty items. After benefits, then give ordering information and price.

Tell About Benefits in Call Outs
Include call outs in your catalog printing to get the reader’s attention. These are short phrases in large bold print that get attention even if someone is just flipping through the catalog. Just like with product descriptions, call outs should tell about benefits to the customer.

Highlight Best Selling Items
Avoid the temptation to showcase poor selling items to increase their sales. You will increase profits much more by putting best sellers in prominent positions. Also, tell readers that an item is a best seller, because this will reassure them that it is a good product to buy.

Use Presentations that Worked in the Past
Pull out old catalogs and use design elements that worked well in the past. Chances are you stopped using some layouts and techniques simply because the design team got bored. Your customers will most likely respond well now if they did before. Customers are not confronted with your catalog on a daily basis the way your team is, so it takes customers a lot longer to get bored with a design.

Make Purchasing Easy for the Customer
Make sure your catalog design is organized and intuitive. The last thing you need is a confusing layout. Consistently use symbols, such as letters, to match up pictures with product information. Put your phone number and web address at the bottom of each page. Make your order form easy to find by putting it in the same place in each catalog.

Great catalogs are always designed with their customer in mind, as the above tips suggest. So always keep your customer at the forefront when making design decisions, and your products are sure to sell as well as you imagined.

Partner with Other Companies
Partnering with another firm can double your audience while cutting costs. Think about other businesses that could naturally partner with yours. For instance, a pizza parlor and a video rental go well together; another logical pairing would be a florist and a wedding planner; another combo might be a real estate agent and a small loan company. 

Join forces and share your advertising costs. You can put both businesses on everything from radio commercials to posters. You could also give each other coupons to pass out to customers, and offer packages combining your goods or services. This can cut costs on promotional gifts as well; for instance, both include coupons and your logos when brochure printing.

Give Out Calendars
Give out thank you gifts to your customers and put your logo and contact information on them. You could also do a calendar printing and send them out at the end of the year. Use the calendar to make a personal connection between your customers and your business by featuring an employee on each page; tell a short story about that employee and get creative with the photograph. 

Submit Articles to the Local Paper
Raise the stature of your business by writing articles related to your industry and submitting them to the local paper or to professional organizations. You are an expert in your field, so make sure others know about it.

Use Promotional Items at Events
Have lots of promotional items made to give out at trade shows, community events, fairs, and meetings. You can have mugs, erasers, key chains, and drink cozies made for little money. You could also do a calendar printing or create promotional stickers. Be sure your items are attractive and have your logo and web address on them.

Offer Free Classes on Your Area of Expertise
Host seminars at your location on subjects related to your industry. This will help people to view you as an expert. It will also give you a chance to announce the event in your local paper and give you a reason to send out direct mail inviting people to the classes.

The most important thing to remember about marketing is always be advertising your company. The best way to make your business popular and known is through consistent marketing. Just don’t get stuck in a rut with your advertisements so that customers remain excited about hearing of your new offers and promotions.

Downright Hilarious

Betty White’s snicker ad was voted by most viewers online as one of the funniest super bowl commercials this year. And the “Don’t touch my Mom” Doritos ad was close. Of course, Simpson’s Super Bowl Coke Ad was a brilliant take on the over-the-top “life is better with a coke” theme. Bud Light aired quite a few commercials with some of the more laughable, maybe even slightly on the stupidity side, being the Bud Light Human Bridge and Bud Light Party ads. Loved the Coke commercial though.

Slightly Shocking

The “I Wear No Pants” Dockers Ad although very funny could be seen as somewhat shocking with men in underwear parading around a field. But the Career Builder Ad with an employee passing gas on a co-worker was so, um, childish? that it topped the Dockers Ad. Most everyone would probably agree, though, that the Sexy Danica Patrick Go Daddy “Spa” Commercial passes the “slightly shocking” label and even soars into the censured status.

Making a Statement

Several commercials this year seemed to be either trying to laugh off issues from this past year or promoting a cause. The Audi 2010 Green Car ad was a hilarious ad that poked fun at censoring not-so-green living. The Ed Begley Jr US Census Ad seemed to be trying to make citizens aware of the upcoming census or poking fun at themselves — it was hard to tell which. Tim Tebow and his mom starred in a Focus on the Family Ad that encouraged viewers to visit the site for more information on pro-life.

More Celebrities

Some of the ads were simply memorable because of the celebrities involved, but not all of them necessarily made sense. For instance, the David Letterman Show ad included Oprah, Jay Leno, and David sitting on a couch watching the super bowl together, and not much was said. And was Hyundai comparing itself to Brett Favre in its Brett Favre Hyundai ad? Kia Sorento’s Toy Joy Ride featured famous figures from children’s programs, such as Yo Gabba Gabba, having a night on the town, which was slightly disturbing at the least. The truTV ad showed Troy Polamalu being pulled out of a hole to see his shadow and predict more football.

Waste of Money or Just Plain Stupid?

Some commercials wavered between being a complete waste of money and so stupid that it risked annoying viewers. Denny’s Screaming Chicken may have been one of the more annoying commercials with a bunch of chickens screaming at each other. The Monster Jobs ad showed a beaver searching for violin jobs and eventually rising to fame and fortune — why a beaver? And what was up with the Kool & the Gang’s Honda Commercial? Nice choice of music but why the animated animal?Volkswagen Ad in that they were like any normal prime time TV commercial. If it wasn’t for the reliable ones such as Budweiser, those of us who watch the game for the commercials may have taken a vow to never watch another super bowl again. Here’s hoping that next year, advertisers will step it up to the level of ingenuity expected for million dollar TV commercials.

Honestly, the between-game entertainment was somewhat disappointing this year. Most of the ads seemed to be like the Volkswagen Ad in that they were like any normal prime time TV commercial. If it wasn’t for the reliable ones such as Budweiser, those of us who watch the game for the commercials may have taken a vow to never watch another super bowl again. Here’s hoping that next year, advertisers will step it up to the level of ingenuity expected for million dollar TV commercials.

Use Photos that have 300 to 800dpi
For your pictures to look their best, they need to be at a high resolution. They will have to have at least 300dpi (dots per inch). If you can get shots with more dpi that is great, but you probably will not want to go higher than 800dpi because the pictures will take forever for your printer to download. It is a good idea to check with your printer so you know what dpi range they are able to work with for calendar printing.
 
If you decide to go with stock photographs, be sure to check their dpi. Most images on your computer only have 72dpi, so be extra careful when you find shots on the Internet. You can find pictures with 300dpi online if you look for them on stock photo websites. If you want to use a picture that has a lower resolution, you can scan it into your computer and use Photoshop to change the resolution to 300dpi, but this will shrink your picture down, so make sure the resulting image is the size that you need.

Convert Pictures to CMYK Colors
The pictures on your computer are in RGB colors, which are produced by red, green, and blue light. Offset printers use CMYK colors, which are made by different combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (Black is called key, hence the “k.”). Even if you take your own pictures, you will probably still have to convert the colors because a lot of digital cameras take photographs in RGB colors, and scanners use RGB colors as well. You should know that the colors will look a little different in CMYK, so make sure the photos will still work for your calendar printing project.

Save Photos in EPS or TIF Format
EPS and TIF formats are the best for transferring your photographs to your calendar printing company because they will keep your pictures looking sharp, and they will help to preserve your colors. Plus, printers are able to work with these formats much easier.

Upload Links to Your Photos
Instead of embedding your photos into your files, just upload links to your photos when you send your files to the printer. Embedding your photos would make your files huge, and it would take forever to upload them. Don’t forget to also send the actual files of your photos so that your printer has the location for the links!

The best part of using an online printing company is that most are willing to answer any questions you have about correct photo uploading procedures. Find a printer with excellent customer service and even art check services to insure the best results without any hassle.

Editorial content
First of all, in addition to all of your product information, you can include editorial content.  This can include a small section about recent changes in the industry, important company-wide information, or just interesting articles that may be relevant to your customers.  Editorial content that is carefully built into your booklet printing adds unique value for your customers by including information they may not be able to find anywhere else.

Industry calendar
If you work within a particular industry, consider including a calendar of events.  This may include trade shows, continuing education events, or even lectures at the local community college that might be relevant to your customers.  You may even want to put this calendar on the back cover of your booklet so your customers can reference it quickly.  Calendars are another value-added feature that can make your booklet important for your customers to keep around.

Further research sources
Finally, make sure that your booklet printing project includes a way for your customers to research your products and services more thoroughly.  Provide them with a technical support hotline or even links to your website.  Remember, you do not have the same amount of space that you might have in the catalog for detailed product information.  So keep them interested in your products and then guide them to a location where they can continue their research.

Conclusion
One of the keys to making sure your customers perceive your booklet printing project as a reference tool is to keep the information relevant to them.  You may have to do a little bit of extra research to find out what your customers want to know, but if you can include this extra information of editorial content, an industry calendar, and further research sources you may very well create a powerful tool that your customers keep at their fingertips at all times.