Brands and logos; are they synonymous? A person that isn’t business savvy might say that they are, but for your business to be successful, it’s important that you understand the differences between these two words. A logo is a picture or special colors and fonts that you recognize companies by. They’re the Target bulls-eye and the NBC peacock. If you were to show just the logo to someone from a foreign country, they wouldn’t be able to say much about them but when you show it to your friend, they’ll be able to communicate their feelings for the store and television network.

Brands leave a mark, they are not the mark.  The logo is the mark. The brand is how the company interacts with its customers. It’s the feelings that you associate with restaurants, electronics, and cars. It’s certainly possible for people to not know the logo but know the brand quite well. If you have a successful brand, you can change your logo without many ill effects. Take time in choosing your logo and try to have it match the vibes of the brand you want to build.

Brands are made by clients while logos are made by companies. A logo alone, while pretty simple to obtain, isn’t enough. You need a brand, which is what will be built as you have repeated positive interactions with customers. They’ll return as repeat customers and drum up more business via word-of-mouth.

Logos illustrate, brands show a purposeful vision. You can’t tell much about Apple from it’s simplistic logo but if you know anything about the company, you know that their brand represents their vision for the future. They are hip, simple but sophisticated, innovative, and leaders in technology. But if you come from a third world country, you might mistake the logo as belonging to an orchard. A brand is built over time and with great purpose. You can always tweak your logo but you must be more strategic in planning how you want your brand to be recognized by future clients.

Brands protect, logos project. Logos give a visual representation of a company. Think of all the logos that you see in your favorite television shows. They are projecting their presence on the viewers. The brand is what protects the image of the company. Maybe someone views the logo unattractive, but if they know the brand behind it, and believe in it, they’ll probably give the company their business.

As you begin to start your business, take time to plan out how you want your brand to look a year, two years, five years in the future and make sure that your actions support those goals. Choose your logo carefully so that it fits with your brand and is a positive reinforcement of your business.

You want to make your brand stands out but don’t have a huge marketing budget, so what do you do? A simple, yet very effective way to get noticed is by purchasing die cut business cards. Your contacts will certainly remember your remarkable business cards, which may be shaped like an oval or circle, a rounded square, a leaf or even a half circle. Think of all the business cards in your collection. Do you remember any of the people simply through their business cards? Probably not. However, for those who invest a little more time and money into special shape cards, which will make them stand out, the return on investment offers great potential.

Remember that your business cards don’t just give out your contact information; they also help promote your brand. While your logo should certainly go on your cards, your card design should complement it and add to your brand.  How cool would it be to have business cards shaped in a circle for you to hand out? People would certainly keep your card, if not for the fact that it’s fun to look at. This increases the likelihood of them calling to inquire about your services and becoming a customer.

It’s pretty simple to get decent looking business cards. Anyone with a computer and printer can make them, but that doesn’t mean they give your business a professional image. While it’s much cheaper to print them yourself, you’ll make a huge impact on future customers by handing them a card that has a bit more time and money invested in it. When people come to you they want to know that you are a professional and that you’re serious about your business; that it’s not just an idea that you came up with last week and are only half serious about it. They’ll also appreciate the fact that you are willing to show this in order to gain their business.

If you’re ready to take a step towards gaining customers through this unique way of marketing, contact us today. We’ll work with you to get your special shaped business cards designed and printed.

Creating a business card may seem like a pretty simple thing to do. Everybody knows what goes on a business card, the company name, a person’s name, address, and contact information. Go to any convention or networking meeting and you’re likely to come away with a pocketful of them, all containing the same sort of information. But while it’s true that most business cards are functionally similar, they are definitely not all the same. When done right, a business card can be a palm-sized billboard that draws attention and customers for your business.

To turn your business cards into promotional material, you first have to rethink their purpose. Perhaps instead of merely conveying information, your business card print offers an incentive to customers. You can offer a 10% off discount on your card, or turn it into a punch-out card, where a certain number of punches nets a free item. If your company offers special events, your business card could double as the event ticket. However you choose to do it, the point is to get your potential customer to hold onto your card and remember the information.

The other important step towards making your business cards into promotional materials is varying the design. Just because your card contains the same information as others’, that doesn’t mean it should look the same. Font, layout, and paper quality all contribute to the attractiveness of a business card. Detroit Print Shop can work with you to find a unique and eye-catching layout that grabs attention and fits your budget.

Business card printing is the smallest and least expensive form of print advertising that most companies do. That doesn’t mean they can’t be extremely effective when used properly! Finding new ways to design and use your business cards can pay off in a major way when it comes to drawing new customers and retaining repeat business.

When preparing to buy new printed materials for your business, it’s easy to focus entirely on the design that goes on the page. Layout, lettering and print quality are all very important factors in getting great looking high quality business cards, full color flyers or any printed material, but they are not the only consideration. The strength, durability, and professional appearance of your printed materials depends on having the right paper stock for the job at hand.

Choosing the right paper stock can be difficult. There are so many different kinds, often with qualities that are not easily visible to the untrained eye. Relying on the expertise of a professional print shop can take the guesswork out of choosing your paper stock. Detroit Print Shop relies primarily on a 14-point UV-coated glossy paper stock that is ideal for many different applications. This versatile paper stock can be used for everything from printed postcards to business cards, and provides a great look at a low price. The 100 lb gloss cover is a very popular choice for flyers and brochures.

Detroit Print Shop also offers several other options for high quality business cards. Customers can choose from a 14 point premium uncoated stock or a 16 point Dull Cover with matte finish. Also, we offer a variety of choices for other applications. Brochure printing can be done on 80 lb Gloss Book or Recycled paper with aqueous coating, 100 lb Gloss Book or Gloss Cover with aqueous coating, or 100 lb Recycled Matte Cover with aqueous coating.

All of these choices can seem confusing and obscure at first. Detroit Print Shop’s free print samples make it easy to try several styles and choose what stock looks exactly right for your materials. Our cutting-edge Heidelberg Offset press makes sure that whatever stock you choose, the printing on it will look great.

An effective political campaign needs plenty of promotional material. Even with the spread of internet campaigning, there’s nothing like a postcard in the mail or a brochure that voters can hold in their hands and read. To maximize the effectiveness of your marketing material, you need to be creative, cost-effective, and consumer-savvy. During a contested campaign, voters will be receiving a great deal of information on the candidates and their positions. Printed postcards, full color flyers, and other materials will likely be available for all the candidates. It’s important that yours be eye-catching and professional, projecting the qualities you want voters to see in you and your campaign.

Many campaign teams are surprised at how much printed material is necessary for a campaign. From printed postcards to yard signs, bookmarks to full-sized posters, there’s a lot of material, each with its own design needs. It’s fine to print internal documents on a home printer or at a copy shop, but many campaigns do not have a dedicated layout artist or graphic designer on their team. Add to that the need to make every campaign dollar count, and promotional materials can quickly become a major headache. That doesn’t have to be the case, though.

The best way to achieve the professional look you need without the hassle and expense is by using a professional printing company. Choose a leading online printing company that offers top quality printing. While some print shop prices may be through the roof, it is important to remember there are also many places that are extremely cost-effective. Build a relationship with a print specialist that will work with you and your campaign to find exactly the look you desire. A successful print shop will provide you with a full range of printed materials to suit your needs. From simple things like bookmark printing and brochure printing to more complex orders like banners and yard signs, your campaign needs a unique, unified image that will solidify your identity in the minds of voters.

With summer almost at an end, it’s time to start thinking about printing fall brochures. Designing a great fall brochure doesn’t have to be a trial, it just requires following a few simple tips.

1. Showcase What’s New
Many customers who receive brochures from a company are already familiar with the company’s general offerings. They may only glance for a few moments at a new brochure, so it’s important to catch their eye immediately. Graphics, larger fonts, and attention-grabbing placement are all ways to ensure that the fall specials don’t go unnoticed.

2. Emphasize the Season
Seasonal brochures are great because they allow companies to showcase their newest offerings, but also because they reassure customers that the information on them is timely. An all-seasons brochure may have been created at the beginning of the year and have gone out of date, but in late summer and autumn, a seasonal fall brochure looks fresh and relevant. Use autumn colors and themes, especially on the cover, and make sure the season and year are prominently displayed to take full advantage of this effect.

3. Use A Professional Printing Service
With the powerful graphic design tools and versatile printers and copiers available to businesses today, it can be tempting to try the do-it-yourself publishing method for a seasonal brochure. It’s important to remember, though, that having a hammer and level does not make someone a carpenter, and the seasonal brochure is an important public relations and advertising tool. Using a dependable print shop with a great reputation will make for better brochures with greater drawing power.

Detroit Print Shop offers only the highest quality brochure printing and competitive pricing nationwide. Brochures are printed on 100 lb Gloss Book with Aqueous Coating. With cutting edge technology and years of experience, the specialists at Detroit Print Shop have helped customers nationwide create brochures that are customized for each client’s needs at a cost-effective price.

While this may not come as a shock to many people, not everything on the internet is accurate, and that goes double when talking about things advertised as “free”. Free can mean different things to different people, so while some font foundries release their fonts as “free”, there may be limitations on what can and can’t be done with them. Even worse, some commercial fonts are listed as “free” on some sites when in fact, they are being, either intentionally or unintentionally, pirated.

What are the true costs of “free” fonts?

Font designers may place a number of conditions and licensing restrictions on their fonts. In some instances, the conditions are relatively easy to comply with, such as paying a small fee, or crediting the font when used. Some designers attach moral values to their list of conditions, granting free use for charitable and personal uses, but requesting a fee when used by corporations, or for certain types of industries.

Font “piracy” is another problem. It’s quite easy to download a collection of fonts with a commercial font, one that should not be redistributed without paying an additional license, and it’s even easier to unintentionally forward that font to others. Licensing terms and conditions that may have been originally included in a read-me file, or as part of the original software collection may have been lost along the way, resulting in unintentional piracy.

What’s wrong with using a less-than-free font?

You may unintentionally open yourself up to lawsuits, or worse, bad publicity. Even an unintentional infringement can earn the wrath of a font designer that has discovered someone using their font without permission. These misunderstandings can, at best, result in brief online commotion, however if you have used this font as part of a logo, promotional materials, or an advertising campaign, then the costs of redesigning these materials using a new font can be staggering.

Resources for free fonts.

There are several resources for free fonts available. http://www.dafont.com/ has an archive of free fonts, and explains whether the font is for personal or commercial use. http://www.fontspace.com/popular/fonts boasts over 15,000 free fonts, over 7,000 of which are available for commercial use.

Fundraising events can be a real test of marketing; it can sap your energies, challenge your expectations, and stretch your capabilities to the utmost. Effective promotion and effective management of your communication and message is the key to achieving success. Printed marketing collaterals can help you considerably by alleviating a lot of your pains.

Flyers and brochures are effective and fast in spreading the word. They are handy, easy to distribute, and an effective medium to help catch the reader’s attention. A properly designed flyer with enticing images, catchy content, and intelligent taglines are very effective in communicating with your audience. Moreover flyers and brochures can be printed easily these days and bulk orders can be processed fast, even with specific customizations that you may require. You can rely on Detroit Print Shop to act as a one-stop shop for all your printing and design needs.

On most occasions when your foundation is dealing with large corporations or even small privately owned businesses, it is very likely that the busy owner or key decision maker may not have all the time to shift through pages of content. Therefore, when creating informative content, it is prudent to get straight to the point. You could possibly use fact sheets that clearly state your program objectives and the impact that you seek to achieve. If you have any plans to recognize donors for their contributions, spell that out clearly. Show readers how their contributions can help the community. Make sure you include succinct information about your organization and if feasible, share aspects of your financial information that gives the reader the confidence of dealing with an efficient organization.

Posters are another attractive medium that can be placed in strategic spots to garner audience attention. They are effective in helping your fundraising events get publicity and visibility immediately. Experienced professionals can help you out with a range of themes, styles and graphics that are extremely attractive, educational and can hit the right note with the audience.

Fundraisers can also use other little printed material like bookmarks and postcards to promote their events and activities. Bookmarks are especially useful as they are endearing to readers, long lasting, and a well-designed one has a great recall factor that can be useful for referrals. Attractively designed postcards can stand out in the crowd and are cheap to print and convenient to mail to recipients.

Once you have decided on the type of collateral, the design and layout, the next step is to choose the best materials for printing. Choice of materials greatly affects the look and feel of your marketing collateral. Choose a good professional printer to get their expertise on colors and materials that are damage resistant, enquire about coatings that are appropriate for your material, and check on the ink and the finish that your printer can provide. At Detroit Print Shop, we can assist you with our expertise and experience to help you achieve the best materials for your organization.

In these days of cut-throat competition among agencies providing travel services, especially in the Detroit area, it is imperative to rise above the pack, to differentiate yourself. Your sales and marketing materials are the key to your success. Although most other agencies will also be using printed materials like postcards, flyers and brochures, it is the way you present and what you present that can bring in the customers.

A properly designed postcard can come out with flying colors when you consider your return on investment. First, they are cheap to print and also to mail therefore fit your requirements to a tee when you are considering mass mailers. Second, a distinctively designed postcard can stand out in the crowd of envelopes in the mail. One thing that you should consider is printing an oversized postcard such as a 6×9. The distinguishing size itself will make it stand out.

Options for using your postcards:

• When you launch a new service / product line
• You could use them as inserts in packages or letters that you mail out
• Use them at display tables at conferences or events
• Distribute your postcards at public events

Flyers are another effective way to stand out among multitude suppliers. They ensure high visibility, and are actively sought out by customers who see them often as a valuable source of product and service information. An appropriate flyer program should focus on integrating with the rest of your marketing initiative. Unless you are having an in-house design team, it would make sense for you to hire the services of professionals. At Detroit Print Shop, we provide you the best graphic designers that understand your business and help you effectively conduct flyer campaigns.

Detroit Print Shop can help you choose the best marketing materials for your business. Over the years we have created collaterals that stand out from the competition. We use the best products and technology in the industry, and we are sure we can provide you a great product at a very low price!

Any business small or big requires visibility with potential customers. While big businesses have the wherewithal to invest in huge promotional activities, for small businesses there may be budgetary constraints in terms of the amount that can be invested in advertising. Glossy color postcards can be one effective medium for such businesses; with the initial investments being very low the potential impact can be huge. Detroit Print Shop has unique solutions that can be customized for your business.

Full color postcards are one of the most sensible ways to invest for your marketing campaigns or promotional activities. With the advanced printing technology available today, it is easy to add a new dimension to your promotions through the use of glossy, full color postcards. To get the best possible effects and to make them stand out, use good content, photographs and images that are attractive and catch the eye easily. When you use glossy prints, it enhances the quality, finish and feel of the material, which would leave a favorable impression with the reader. With Detroit Print Shop’s online designer, it is easy for anyone these days to create great postcard designs on his or her own. If you have limited time, you can easily take the help of professional artists and designers who can do the job for you.

One of the main advantages of using glossy full color postcards is in the details that you can achieve in the printing and the low price. If you have access to a professional printer, they would be able to guide you on the quality you will receive. A good printer can guide you on the type of material, the job format, and the sizes that are apt for the type of promotion you have planned. Since a postcard would be sent through the mail, you need to ensure that it arrives to the recipient in tiptop shape. When printing your materials, make sure you choose nice thick and heavy paper stock. Make your postcard stand out in the crowd, choose an unconventional size, print it in a format that’s bigger than the standard postcard size, and you can be sure that your message will get noticed.

These days you can take advantage of online access to professional printers.  It is simply a matter of visiting their website, choosing a template that suits your requirements, view samples in their gallery, choose the appropriate material, pay online and your order will be processed, printed and delivered to you. At Detroit Print Shop, we can offer you the convenience of all these items at very affordable rates.  Also, you have access to a team of professionals, if you require their help for any aspect of your order.