Alphabet soup is what you might think once you begin discussing artwork creation and transfer with clients and decorators. Here’s a handy cheat sheet to help clarify the jumble.
- DPI (dots per inch) is the unit of measurement for resolution, communicating the density of dots in a print image or on a computer screen. It is helpful to remember that as the dpi doubles, the number of dots within a square inch quadruples. Therefore an image that’s 300 dpi will have 90,000 dots per square inch. Remember, the higher the dpi, the better the resolution of your image.
- CMYK color: This is the color method based upon pigments. “CMYK” stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Using these four colors, most other colors can be achieved.
- PMS (Pantone Matching System): This is a printing color method based on a list of specially mixed colors by Pantone Corp. These colors are considered to be “pure” and “true” based on their exacting specifications.
- BMP (bitmap) is a map of dots or pixels, which typically comes in file formats such as .gif, .tif, .jpg or .bmp. Each dot can specify a color. The larger the resolution the better, but these files generally aren’t the best choice for imprint artwork.
- GIF (graphics interchange format) is often the format used for the photos you see on the Internet, because the files are small and download quickly.
- JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a standard compression format for high-resolution color images. They too are created by pixels. The higher the dpi, the better the image of the jpeg.
- TIFF (tagged image file format) is a file format for exchanging bitmapped images.
- EPS (encapsulated postscript) is a type of graphics file written in postscript language.
- PDF (Adobe portable document format) offers an easy way to share files and to illustrate what you want your artwork to look like. However, these files aren’t always the best from which to have your garment imprinted.
If you need assistance in decipher the “graphic file” language, we would be glad to interpret. Pop us an email or we can stop by and help you.
Presented by the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce, CVB
Saturday May 8, 2010 ~ 9:00am – 4:00pm
McLeod County Fairgrounds, Hutchinson, MN
No Fee – Open to the public
We are busy, busy getting things ready for our part in the Bring It Home Family Fun & Business Expo. We have lots of fun things planned.
Coloring Contest
Kids of all ages can participate and show their creativity with our dot-to-dot coloring contest sheet. We will be awarding kid’s meals and game tokens for Coney Island Eatery to the top 3 winners and will be posting the entries on our facebook fan page/Moxie Media of the contestant’s artwork. Who knows which one will be a future graphic designer.
Door Prize Drawing
Starting a new business? have a home business? or need a face lift for your existing business brand? Our Door Prize drawing will be a Design & Print package. The winner will receive a logo design, 250 – business cards and 250 of the following choices: a brochure, postcard or flyer to promote their business. Details coming soon.
Free Seminar
Integrated Marketing is our hot buzz word for businesses. Frequently we are asked about social media marketing, direct mail marketing, ad campaigns, give aways (aka promotional items), clothing, trade show marketing and a number of other media types included in marketing – how can they all work together? This seminar will help you connect the dots to make the perfect marketing campaign for your business. Our seminar will be from 9:00 to 9:45, Saturday May 8th at the Bring It Home Family Fun & Business Expo.
Meet our staff
Our staff will be there to meet you and answer our most frequently asked question.
FAQ – what do you guys do? Stop by and see all the things we do. You will be amazed and will walk away saying “I didn’t know they could do that”
FAQ – are you guys local? Absolutely. Our offices are located on the first floor of the Pride Solutions building in the Hutchinson Industrial Park -120 Eastgate Drive SE. by the Hutchinson Utilities building and Impressions printing company.
A great title slide can help you get more views and increase the number of clicks to your presentation. Here are some tips for a great first slide.
1. Keep It Simple. The title slide should introduce the presentation clearly and quickly. It should be easy on the eyes, it’ll get left up on the screen for a while
2. Bigger is Better. Big fonts, big simple pictures. On SlideShare your first slide also doubles as a thumbnail. Make sure everything is big enough to be readable even at thumbnail size.
3. Make a Headline. Your title should be exciting and read like a headline or book title. Enticing trumps informative. Keywords are nice, but don’t make it read like a PhD thesis. (Not that there’s anything wrong with PhD’s)
Promotional items are just one way to reach your customers. Handing out a trinket, a pen, a mug, needs to serve a specific purpose. How do you choose?
There are many factors in choosing but the following are some we ask as we walk our customers through the process.
What is the marketing goal you are trying to achieve when you hand out your item?
We are a new retail company in town and need to our name out.
We want to say thank you to our employees for all their hard work this year.
We want people to remember where they get their service done.
How many will you need? And when do you need it?
This is probably one of the most important questions as it will weed out alot of options. It will pay to preplan.
What is the price range you need to stay within?
Is the product available in the color scheme with in your brand. Do the colors match or coordinate with your logo?
Will the recipient keep it visible so others can see it? Or will they show it to others because of it’s meaning and purpose?
How do you plan to distribute the items?
Will they be mailed, personally handed out, left on a table at a meeting?
If you need some ideas, give us a call. We would be glad to walk you through the process?
I was reminded today how drastically the printing industry has changed since I began my career. We were actually looking through a binder (aka notebook) that held pictures and negatives for a customer of mine. That in itself was amazing as negatives for photos is a thing of the past. Now with digital photography, everyone can take photos to use online, in print and publishing. For those of you who are ancient in the field, you will remember how we used to cut rubylith over photos to knock out the background of the photo for printing. Remember how many layers of film and acetate there was to making one plate for a 4 color process printing job? The number of man hours was phenomenal to create a catalog. It would take an entire month for 5-6 people to put together a magazine. Now with a few clicks or strokes on a keyboard, we can recreate this process on our computers using the correct software. The people who used to do this were called lithographers professionally. We called them “Strippers” as they would strip the film together and that was the source of many jokes. As a sales rep that worked with the client on their print job I wanted to learn as much as I could about the process. I would ask questions, what was a “shrink and spread,” creating a trap in the film, what was a fake duotone, mezzotint screen, dots per inch. Understanding the methodology made me a better sales person. It helps me to understand what the computer does automatically. Wow – has it changed. Now I proof through online proofing systems, checking color, registration, pagination, and resolution. Some people think that digital media and social media will take over and printing will be a thing of the past. I am not so sure. One thing I know for sure, the process will change and Moxie Media will change with it. I am excited for the future and learning new ways of doing things. Some day we will look back again and say, “Wow, things have really changed!
What are some of the ways that marketing has changed the most for you?
I get asked this question a lot by my customers because what we provide are different marketing media. We work with our customers to define the purpose of their marketing media and how it fits into their marketing and sales plan.
Marketing is the process of generating leads and opening the door for the sales person.
Sales carry the responsibility of converting the lead to a sale.
They have different responsibilities but their message must be the same or conflict will occur within the company and with the customer. Try to recognize the different roles that each area plays in the process. Marketing consists of advertising, social media, collateral printed materials, promotional items, signage, displays, that introduce the message to the customer. Sales will connect with the customer on a one-to-one basis and inform the customer of choices, and help them to make the decision to buy – close the sale.
But you need to strategically combine the two to make a business successful. From the top down, the entire staff must be on the same page. If your marketing message is “that you deliver on time, every time,” then everyone needs to know what part they play in making that happen. Many times the message is not the same between marketing and sales efforts.
Can Moxie Media help you define and deliver your message?
When looking how to spell “tchotchke” I ran across this blog post from a company in the UK that sells promotional items. It is exactly why I was looking to how to spell “shotzky” because I wanted to explain the different words that describe promotional items or ad specialties. So here it is.
The articles of merchandise which are used in marketing and communication programs are known as Promotional items. These various items are generally imprinted with a company’s name, slogan or logo. Its products are given away at conferences, trade shows, and also as a part of guerilla marketing campaigns. The Promotional items are referred by the slang terms swag from the British usage of word meaning as “stolen goods” and also as tchotchke derived from a Yiddish word which means “trinket”.Promotional items as Business gifts are used to foster customer goodwill and retention. The main objectives of companies behind using promotional items is to facilitate brand awareness, employee and public relations, new customer generations, internal incentive programs and marketing research.
The Promotional items are same with the term Promotional products. Most of the promotional items are quite inexpensive and small in comparison to other items. But often expensive perfumes, electronic items and leather goods are used as promotional items for like celebrities at film festivals and popular award shows. Companies use to provide the celebrities with expensive gifts and in return ask the celebrities to allow a photo shoot with the gift item. Thus the gift presented to the celebrities act as Promotional gifts helping the company for promotional purposes with the brand name and product.
HOWEVER…. I sometimes take offense to promotional items being referred to as cheap plastic “stuff.” It may be inexpensive, plastic or both, but remember if you buy it, you buy it for a reason. Not because it is on special, or it is cool but what is it going to do to promote my company, organization, event and the message I want to deliver to the audience. Oh, and YES…special pricing and cool can be very effective in marketing.
From its inception, Coney Island was based on the events, places, food, and atmosphere of Coney Island in New York.
Allen Cronen and his wife recalled the memories and events of her childhood, growing up on the east coast. Coney Island restaurants have popped up across the United States. It was their dream to bring Coney Island to the Hutchinson area. Moxie Media was hired to help create the identity of the restaurant. Lots of time and research went into the logo design and pre-opening events. Moxie Media staff coordinated the first ever Hot Dog eating contest featuring Nathan’s famous hot dogs in conjunction with Water Carnival. Frisbees were given to everyone to build the excitement of the opening. People in Hutchinson soon knew that something special was coming to Hutchinson, a family friendly restaurant with fantastic famous food. A radio jingle was produced, a website was launched, the staff was outfit with colorful aprons and name tags, and the restaurant has opened. The menus were digitally printed at Moxie Media and people can order the famous food of Coney Island. Overwhelmed by the number of people coming in, the restaurant got off to a rough start. Join their Facebook Fan page we created for them and let people know the food is really good, reasonably priced and if you had a good experience there. I personally enjoy the cheese curds on a stick, famous from the Minnesota State Fair.
Together, we became a part of the Hutchinson Health Care Foundation — Community Senior Care Campaign.
The satisfaction of being a part of this campaign becomes a reality when the groundbreaking for the new Senior Care Campus takes place in April. It will reflect the foresight of the community to do something now to ensure the future of health care in the future. Collateral materials were created to communicate the message to the community about the needs of senior health care. The 4 color brochure was designed to correspond with a previous brochure and a website created by another design firm. Being conscious about the branding that had already begun was important to the continuity of the project. Once the new brochure was designed and we had coordinated the all the aspects of the mailing set in place, a newspaper ad was designed to run in the papers immediately before and after the mailing. Post-it-note pads were printed to hand with major donor packets. We plan to attend the groundbreaking this April.
