The first Earth Day was inspired by the student anti-war movement of the late 60’s. It infused that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, and forced environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

Earth Day achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city folks and farmers, business tycoons and labor leaders. It led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

Pledge an Act of Green
As printers, designers and print consumers we can commit to lowering our environmental impact in a number of ways.
• Use paper from trees harvested from sustainable forests.
• Use chlorine free paper.
• Use paper with recycled content.
• Recycle used paper.
• Reduce or eliminate VOCs generated in the printing process.
• Print only what is necessary.
• Print with vegetable-based inks.

Earth Day 2012 gives people the opportunity to unite their voices in a call for a sustainable future. One way to do that is through the Billion Acts of Green® campaign.

Join the world’s largest environmental service movement and commit to help preserve the environment on this 42nd Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd.

Watch our green video or check out our ONPVideos channel on YouTube.

–BR

Is your business card worth $95? $125? $345? Or twenty five thousand dollars?

You may be thinking “Huh? I can print 500 cards for $30!”

But I didn’t ask how much your cards cost—I asked how much they are worth. You don’t have to be a millionaire to be an art collector.

“More Art” 15” x 18” limited edition prints by Hugh MacLeod: $125 each. Gapingvoid “More Art” double-sided business cards: 500 for under $30.

Hugh MacLeod is an artist. His original and limited edition cartoons are a hysterical commentary on the traditional world of business. They sell for hundreds—even tens of thousands—of dollars. But MacLeod’s cartoon art is available on gapingvoid business cards for just pennies each.

You can collect Hugh’s art. Simply choose a favorite cartoon for the front of your card and personalize the back with your personal and business information. You can even customize your cards with rounded corners or free glossy UV coating.

–BR

Customize a presentation folder with a business name, logo, image or all three. Use your business colors or choose a fun color for kid’s projects. You can personalize your folder on the front and back, and the front of the two inside pockets. The inside pockets give this product its alternate name: pocket folder.

Designing pocket folders isn’t hard, but there are some tricks to it.

This Side Up
The biggest design mistake is to forget that content for the pocket fronts must be upside down on the layout. See the template below.

To speed along the design process you can download start files like the one above for both front and back templates.

Save Money
The pocket flaps are folded into place after printing. That means that the front and back covers and the inside pocket facings are all printed as one side. So there’s no need to go to the extra expense of double-sided printing unless you absolutely must. And if you must, remember that the lower third of the inside covers will be obscured by the flaps.

Quality Stock = Quality Impression
It’s important to use a heavy (at least 14 pt.), durable paper stock. Flimsy, easily torn paper stock will leave a poor impression.

A Place for Business Cards
A good presentation folder will have a slot for a business card cut into one of the inside pocket flaps. Make sure you don’t place content within this zone—unless, of course, it’s intentional. For instance, the company address and phone number could be printed here so if the card is removed (which you hope it is) basic contact info remains.

Finishing Touch
A glossy coating can help achieve a classy feel for a high-tech company, but a more unfinished matte look might be better for a landscaper.

Matching Collateral
The brochures, sell sheets and letterhead inside the presentation folder should match. A common design element, color palette or logo placement will help make your custom presentation folder a valuable leave-behind, showcasing the company and demonstrating your attention to detail.

High Quality Pocket Folders
Our presentation folders are the classic 4” deep two-pocket folder with a die cut for a business card. We print with four colors on premium 14pt paper stock. You can choose between satin matte and UV gloss finish.

–BR

The business card is dead, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The March 16 2012 story says that “to many young and Web-savvy people who are accustomed to connecting digitally, the cards are irrelevant, wasteful—and just plain lame.”

I think that, like Mark Twain’s death, the demise of the business card is greatly exaggerated. True, digital alternatives such as smartphones, tablets and social media are helping people connect more quickly and seamlessly than ever.

Critics say business cards are inefficient, time-consuming to organize and not portable. They say Generation Y—people in their 20s and 30s who grew up with the Internet—are rejecting them.

But printed business cards are cheap, great advertising, and they work: for every 2,000 business cards distributed a company’s sales will increase by 2.5%.

Ten billion business cards are printed in the U.S. every year. These cards are distributed, written upon, referred to and, yes, sometimes thrown away. But do they have value? Read on.

A few days later the Times ran a letter from a reader recounting her experience: “Having arrived, as requested, 15 minutes early for a medical appointment, I was told several times that the wait would be ‘just a few more minutes.’ After an hour, I was so angry I couldn’t see straight. (This was unfortunate because I was there for a 10-minute visual field test.)

“I left the building,” she wrote, “but on my heels came the supervisor, who looked me in the eye, apologized and handed me her business card. ‘If it ever happens again,’ she said, ‘please alert me.’

“Along with the faint whiff of pre-digital social grace, she seemed to be offering a bit of hope, and she was somehow willing, with a 2-by-3.5-inch bit of card stock, to stand by her word.” [my emphasis --BR]

A business card is the handshake left behind. Bumping smartphones together can never replace the tactile impression and good intentions conveyed by a well-designed card on quality stock.

Besides, you can’t put a vCard in a restaurant fishbowl for a drawing for a free meal.

Are business cards becoming an anachronism? Let me know your thoughts.

–BR

As a resident of southern California I’m used to living in a virtual desert. Right now, in fact, our rainfall is about 50% below normal. It’s possible this season could be one of our ten driest on record.

So when I heard about World Water Day I wanted to know more.

International World Water Day is held annually on March 22 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Most of the water on the Earth (97%) is salt water. Only three percent is fresh. Two thirds of that is frozen in glaciers and polar ice. The remaining fresh water is underground, on the surface or in the air.

Of that small fraction of a fraction, 69% is put to agricultural use, 22% goes to industrial use, and the remaining 9% is used for domestic purposes.

Every time humans disrupt the natural water cycle there is a consequence. When large quantities of water are diverted or taken out of the natural system this affects the local surface water supply, which, in the long run, affects the ecosystem, plants and animals, as well as the local communities.

It takes 1,000 times more water to feed the human population than it does to satisfy its thirst. With a population that just reached 7 billion that’s a lot of water!

I was surprised to learn that Kentucky, like my southern California home, also experiences drought. The bluegrass state is where our printing operations are based. So I was glad that Overnight Prints uses waterless printing.

As its name suggests, the process uses less water. Printing has historically been a leading industrial consumer of water. According to the Waterless Printing Association, the average printing press utilizes 3175 gallons of fresh water each year. Waterless printing helps conserve this resource.

By consuming less water-intensive products we can deal with population growth and ensure access to nutritious food for everyone.

For more about our green initiatives checkout our video What Makes Us Different.

–BR

That’s when you have from 30 seconds to one minute to pitch your organization, your product or yourself to a policy maker, venture capitalist or potential employer.  It may not occur on an actual elevator.  But savvy CEOs, entrepreneurs and salespeople commonly practice their elevator speeches and use it in business and their personal life.

A business card is like an elevator speech, except you only have about 3 seconds to define yourself and your value proposition.

Three…seconds.  Probably less time than it took you to read the preceding paragraph.

And in those three seconds you have to convey who you are and what you stand for.  A tough assignment.

Most business is still conducted face-to-face.  If you fail at the moment you hand someone your business card, the consequences can be dire.

Most business cards are pretty boring.  They don’t have to be.  How do we communicate something serious in a way that is memorable yet whimsical, makes a point but isn’t frivolous?

Cartoons.

A cartoon is a very effective means of communication.  It makes an instant impression.  Gapingvoid business card cartoon art is designed to open doors and initiate a conversation with people.  Face-to-face.

Use a cartoon to make that first impression.  You might not get a second chance.

Choose a cartoon and add personal details to create your own gapingvoid business card.

–BR