These days, marketing your business involves an effective online strategy in conjunction with your printed advertising.  Most businesses wouldn’t intentionally send out confusing print marketing campaigns, or pieces that play music when you open it (we’ve all seen those children’s birthday cards).  In line with this – we should keep some basic concepts in mind when designing and delivering online marketing efforts, primarily the layout of a company website.  After all, your website is your corporate identity through which a vast portion of users are introduced to your business.

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KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) is really THE primary element of a successful website design.  The rest is just fluff.   Unnecessary complexity should be avoided as it turns out consumers don’t care much for opening up a musically animated page that fades into a puzzle that must be solved to find what they’re looking for.  If this sounds like your site, rest assured that you are turning off potential customers and the revenue they could be sending your way.

Actually, your clients care far more about your location, phone number and services than an artsy experience that a designer wants to charge $5,000 to create.  Most web visitors prefer a site that makes it easy to find what they’re looking for, like a restaurant’s hours of business, accurate contact information, and valuable features like the ability to purchase online gift certificates, book appointments, or gather contact information from prospects.

Unfortunately, many businesses are far too focused on flashy visual aesthetics of their web design and spend an inordinate amount of time waffling on the music, background and images on a splash page, the whole time allowing the critical importance of usability to take a back seat.

I know what you are going to say; “My business requires a visually competitive edge!” or “Our appearance is everything to our customers.”  Have no fear!  Your website can deliver the complete package; functional navigation and excellent modern designs that catch the visitor’s eye and draw them in for a closer look.

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Your business website needs intuitive navigation, proper image placement and careful use of white space to help establish your brand identity – all while allowing visitors to rapidly find what they are looking for.

Ask about PFL’s new online services, which are now providing dynamic websites to our customers. And be sure to sign up for the webinar, which is scheduled for August 24th, at 12:00pm Mountain Time. Don’t miss it!

Well, this business card is definitely one of a kind when it comes to the information provided. Rarely do you see a card advertise insurance fraud, tiger taming, women seduction and buying or selling wind machines, bongos or whiskey. We really don’t know who this is, or even how to get a hold of him. Kind of a mystery, actually.

But even if only a portion of the claims on the card are true, it definitely makes you stop and look–and that is definitely the goal of a business card.
So, Kuma San, whoever you are, keep emptying bars and starting revolutions (but be sure to leave your card, too.)

PFL customer, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), recently printed a pair of 11 x 17″ posters highlighting two very different animals for their organization and cause, which provides a wide level of appeal — elephants or cats (take your pick!).
Additionally, by using the 11 x17″ size, which also works well as a brochure in its folded form, it allowed them to use a product that was both functional and cost-effective.

Check out the two versions here, and pick your favorite:

Giacobbe-Fritz Fine Art created a visually interesting postcard, which will be used to announce an artist’s reception. I tried to identify all of the artists highlighted in the piece, and while I was able to recognize most (Dali, Warhol, Pollack, Munch) there were a few inspirations that I just couldn’t place.

Either way, this is creative combo of some of the best artists in history with an old-school, pulp-fiction styled cover.
Can you name all of the artists represented?

Twisted Stitches, out of Portland, Oregon, created a very cool fridge magnet, that really captures exactly what they do: screenprinting and embroidery, of–you guessed it, shirts.

This would have worked as a standard square or business card-sized piece, but they got creative, and made a perfect little shirt out of the magnet.

Business cards are an ever-present,  required piece of paper every business person should own. Who doesn’t have one?

But to really stand out from the sea of cards cluttering desks, wallets and drawers everywhere, that vital piece of informative paper stock doesn’t even need to be paper. What if you had a “clear” business card? Sounds kind of like an invisible plane…but, check out what Peter W. Sears of PSGDesign created for Steel Fab Erecting.

This card combines the iconic skyline of New York City with steel girders, giving it the illusion of depth and and a horizon. A very unique way to stand out with something as common as a business card. Want to find out more, or get something like this printed for your own company? Check us out, or give us a call at 800-930-6040.

Test Monki, one of PFL‘s customers, created a cool “window static” for Opinion Jungle, a review and recommendation site for businesses.

The piece at first glance resembles a coaster, but when peeled back, reveals a double-sided window static, perfect for doors and windows of businesses, cars and anywhere else it would need to be seen by the masses.

In addition to the cool look and color, they also incorporated a QR code (Quick Response) for instant smart phone scanning, providing even more information. Cool indeed.

The Yellowstone Valley Lodge is located in beautiful Paradise Valley, Montana, and offers up first-class lodging, meals and activities, ranging from casting flies to rising trout on blue ribbon streams, horse back riding, rafting and relaxing; they are right down the way, so to speak, from PFL’s headquarters.

To convey all of these activities through print required a break from the normal shiny, glossy printed piece, and incorporating creative elements such as unique paper and layout choices.

The paper used was 65# Neenah Sundance Cover Felt, in Natural White. This gave the piece a subtle texture, almost like the cover of an old book or well-worn leather. It fit well with Yellowstone Valley Lodge‘s mission. In addition to the paper, the creative “look” of weathered paper in the background, complete with wrinkles and imperfections, gave the closed-gate fold brochure a classic look. Coupled with the eye-catching imagery, and they have a winning brochure to promote their lodge.

Be sure to check out the entire brochure!

Indigo Resource Group, a PFL customer, designed an 11×17″ half-fold brochure with an interesting title, and an old-time, “Western” look to the design (sepia tones and a cowboy boot). The title is definitely eye-catching, with a humorous double entendre included. 
 Check it out here:

I got two words for you……….plain and simple.
No need for “fancy schmantsy or even artsy fartsy. Plain and simple are often exactly what you need to accomplish the job. Recently I had a print job catch my eye again as I walked through the press room. The job was business cards printed on a stock that resembled chip board and was complimented with two simple pieces of clip art. Those cards drew me towards them like a gold prospector honing in on a shiny rock. Not a common occurrence during my 37 year trek through a labyrinth of ink and paper.

I think of how easy it is to search for a photo on Google or go online to a “photo supermarket” and get the artwork you need for your printed piece; it is amazing how far the printing industry has come. Everybody’s doing it! That’s what I see when I look at the sea of printed pieces on our shop floor today. Trends like “drop shadows” or “gradients” certainly help mark the milestones. Real life photos, as if lifted off the pages of National Geographic, now adorn business cards for Gazelle Plumbing.

What sets this business card apart from the others is its simplicity. The artwork in the upper right and bottom left corner are green fern leafs. There is a small “clip art” owl, slightly above the words, “Wildlife Safaris”. Two months from now, I’ll still remember the name and I’ll remember the location. I won’t be distracted by anything, and when I’m looking for the card in my wallet to pass along, I’ll know exactly which one it is, even at a fast glance.

Why?
It’s plain, it’s simple and it looks nothing like all the others. Next time you’re on a safari and you see the zebras all zig, see if you can spot the one that zags.