Promotional stickers have been around in some shape or form since the 1800s, so it’s definitely an old-school type of advertising, especially when compared to digital, TV and other channels available today. But that doesn’t mean they don’t work. In fact, stickers are more effective than ever. Read on to find out why stickers are such a powerful marketing tool.

1) Stickers Help Brands Stand Out

Online marketing is highly effective, without a doubt, but it’s a pretty crowded space and is slowly becoming overly saturated to the point where people are developing ad blindness.
The advantage with promotional stickers is that they help you stand out from the crowd. While everyone is running to grab people’s attention online, you can take advantage of the now less crowded offline space.

2) People Like Stickers

People just like stickers. There are a multitude of reasons. Some of us like to let our inner child out to play, and promotional stickers are the adult version of My Little Pony, Transformers or those always coveted gold star stickers. Some of us want to support causes or make a statement, while others want to let the world know what they’re into.
Regardless of the reasons, the fact is that people really like stickers, and if your stickers are creative and attractive enough, and mesh with what your prospects and customers want, then they’ll be sticking them on anything and everything they own, especially since they have a high perceived value.

3) Stickers Are Like a Personal Recommendation

When someone applies a promotional sticker on something they own, they are, essentially, endorsing that brand. In other words, anyone who sees the sticker will see it as a personal recommendation, turning the sticker into a form of word-of-mouth marketing.

Considering that, according to Nielsen, 82% of Americans rely on recommendations when making a purchase, while the Keller Fay Group reveals that 90% of word-of-mouth takes place offline, you can see why stickers are so powerful.

4) Stickers Make Life Easier for Your Advocates

Those loyal customers who are more than happy to recommend your brand to their friends and family are worth their weight in gold. However, many people don’t go out of their way to “promote” your brand, which is understandable. If someone asks them, they will recommend you, but won’t necessarily be proactive about it.

Stickers, on the other hand, make it much easier for your loyal customers to advocate your brand proactively. All they have to do is apply the sticker onto something they own, and you have a walking, talking advertisement in the shape of word-of-mouth marketing, which is even more powerful.

And the best thing? No one will feel as if they are acting as an advertisement for you, because, as we previously said, people just like stickers.

5) Stickers Have Evolved

If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that stickers have come a long way since the days of those large, white rectangles applied to bumpers that encouraged you to vote for some politician or other.

Nowadays, you can get them in a wide range of shapes and sizes, and they can be applied to pretty much anything, from windows, walls and floors to buses, phones and even people. Want a sticker to cover an entire shop window? Not a problem. Whatever your mind can dream up, it can be made.

The great thing about this is that it’s easier than ever to come up with a memorable and fun sticker design, which people will remember.

6) Stickers Allow for a Lot of Creativity

There aren’t many other mediums that allow for the level of creativity stickers do. It’s so easy nowadays to come up with a design that attracts people’s attention like moths to a flame.

For example, UNICEF created stickers that looked like landmines on the bottom, while the top was self-adhesive and mimicked the floor they were placed on, making them invisible until someone stepped on one. When removing the sticker from their shoe, people found the picture of the landmine with a message explaining that in some countries, they would have ended up really hurt.

Another interesting example comes from Pedigree. They put down stickers on the floor around pet stores and supermarkets that looked exactly like dog food bowls filled with kibble. These stickers had been sprayed with an essence of the food, which meant that every dog ended up licking the sticker, attracting their owner’s attention to the brand.

7) Stickers Are Cost-Effective

Compared to many other promotional mediums, stickers are highly cost-effective. Not only is the investment itself reasonable compared to other advertising tools, but the way they are perceived by customers and prospects makes them even more valuable.

When given a sticker, people see them more as a gift than a promotional tool, which helps to lower their defenses. So, instead of being irritated because they feel they are being sold to aggressively, the psychology changes to wondering where they can apply the sticker, or who they could make happy by passing it on as a gift. It certainly acts as a great reminder of your brand and most people will make a mental note to interact with your business in the near future.

8) Stickers Increase the Effectiveness of Other Marketing Campaigns

Stickers significantly increase the effectiveness of other marketing campaigns. For example, if you want to build an online subscriber list, offer people free stickers for their email addresses. Want to increase the open rate of your direct mail? Include a sticker (and let people know about it beforehand, of course.) Add QR codes to your stickers to increase awareness of online campaigns and improve conversion rates for your online store. These are just some of the ways you can use stickers to enhance your other marketing efforts. With a little creativity, you can do so much more.

Stickers continue to be a powerful marketing tool that brings together more traditional advertising methods with highly effective word-of-mouth marketing, all while being non-intrusive. Due to the general perception that stickers are something fun rather than an ad or sales tool, they promote a high level of engagement while minimizing the automatic defenses that go up in customers when faced with a more traditional advertisement. Combined with their cost-effectiveness, stickers are a powerful promotional tool every business should be taking advantage of.

Credit: https://stickerbeat.com/why-big-companies-use-stickers-in-their-marketing-and-why-you-should-too/ 

Get your graphic design game-face on with these inspiring tips.

Whether you’re a creating graphics for social media or designing an invitation for an upcoming event, the application of graphic design is vast and versatile. From font pairing and scale, to alignment and white space, the facets of the design world are complex. Let these 26 epic design tips help you through the pits and the peaks of the creative process.

01. For font’s sake, limit your typefaces

When selecting a typeface or font for headings, subtitles and body text, use easy to read fonts for simple and effective graphic design. The eye finds it hard to scan multiple typefaces, so stick to a simple collection of fonts.

02. Don’t be scared of scale

Apply scale to type, shapes or compositional features that need proportionate emphasis. Use appropriate colors to enhance this technique while making sure suitable typefaces that look good when increased in size. 

03. Respect the space of other elements

Use letter spacing to fill dead space, aligning text, or condense words that take up too much space. However, be careful not to reduce letter spacing so much it can’t be read, or increase it so much the letters become detached from one another. 

04. Be clever with your colors

Choose a color scheme that has 1-3 primary colors and an additional 1-3 secondary colors that contrast and complement each other. Use different tones of the same color for consistency by adjusting brightness for contrast. Finer typefaces will need stronger distinction against a colored background. 

05. Clean, crisp, clear

Pump up contrast by adjusting the brightness of the background image so that it offsets the text color, making the design clear and easy to read. This is a great way to apply white or black text over an image to create a strong ‘cut-out’ effect.

06. Fonts have feelings too

Chose a typeface that sings the song of your content. Typefaces with rounded edges are usually friendlier note, Quicksand is used here); hard-edged geometric fonts (sans serifs) are solid and strong; while serifs convey an elegant and sophisticated look.

07. Create order with alignment

Apply a line or an embellishment to for design balance and composition. 

08. Keep it simple

Keep it simple, but don’t forget your basics. Make sure every element has a reason to be in the design and keep the number of fonts, colors, shapes and frames to a minimum. Use contrasting tonal color combinations to text is sharp and easy to read. Applying a solid frame to contain your copy will enhance the compositional structure of adesign.

09. Multi-page magic

The easiest way to ensure aesthetic unity across a document or presentation is by duplicating pages then editing text and replacing images.

10. Creativity and originality

Push your creative abilities and graphic design skills to achieve original graphics. Be inventive and experimental and choose and combine different typefaces and filters. Avoid trends and create designs that correspond with your own unique style, leaving a personal stamp on your work.

11. Use hierarchy to order your content

The most visually dominant feature in a design should be the most important part of the message. Apply color or scale to a graphic to see how it changes the hierarchy of elements and what grabs attention first.

12. Play with symmetry

Use horizontal and vertical lines to correspond with other design elements. For balance and proportion, ensure the thickness of the elements match the weight of the fonts.

13. Relax your eyes every now and then

Recharge your creative batteries by taking a break. Relaxation boosts energy and productivity so take a walk, grab a bit to eat, sit in the park to refresh the brain and revitalize the vision.

14. Keep it in the family

Create visual uniformity by applying one typeface or font family to text. Use a typeface or font family that has a selection of variants, such as italic, bold, condensed, to keep options open. This image combines Libre Baskerville Bold, Light and Italic.

15. Wonderful white space

Create a fluid design by surrounding words with white space to let elements breathe. The application of space around text boxes, images and other graphic elements makes a design easier to read. It’s also more likely to attract attention than a cluttered composition.

16. Research before you dive in

Have all the details needed before you begin to write or create. Study, read, research, resource. Whether it’s materials and objects or information and facts, the research process will guarantee a more thought-out result.

17. Create a mood board

Use a grid for a simple and easy mood boards to contain a collection of images, color swatches and other visual pieces. This practice will help you to find a common color palette or theme that can then be applied to a project.

18. Imitate and create

Use your Canva social stream or inspiration websites to find designs you love. Replicate the type treatment, the photo filters or the general layout in your own content.

19. Be current event conscious

Keep your mind fresh with current events to inspire and influence both your work and the way you work. Follow relevant news pages on social networks get vital and relevant information and keep general knowledge up to date.

20. Think outside the box

The most creative people think outside the box. Don’t use the typical icons and symbols you see everywhere to represent your topic. Research, sketch and print to find new and original icons to visually communicate with your audience.

21. Contrast is key

Contrast is one of the most imperative parts of design for mood, legibility and to make it stand out. Use a contrasting color palette background, fonts and graphics. Use photo filters to enhance the positive/negative space in an image and apply black or white to copy to create optimum contrast against a background image. A good rule of thumb is if you have a light colored background then you should use a dark font (and vice versa).

22. Brighten up your graphics

Create drama and impact with attention grabbing graphics. Ensure your colors don’t bleed together by choosing hues that contrast against one another.

23. Keep a notebook

Whether on the train, at work or about to fall asleep, inspiration can come at any time so it’s important to be prepared. Keep a notebook to draw or scribble down notes and ideas and refer back to them when it comes time to create.

24. Trial & error

Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes they are the most important part of the learning experience. Design is all about trial and error so push your designs to the limit because the creative process is often never complete. Don’t like what you see? The ‘undo’ button is always a great friend.

25. No naked images

We’re not talking image content here, we’re talking layout. Aligning images with grids or frames makes a design look more professional.
​
26. Finesse. But not too much.

Make sure elements are correctly aligned, text is legible, contrast is enough, and space gives design features room to breathe.

YOUR TURNRemember: be creative, break the rules and push your design skills by coming up with new and innovative ideas. At the end of the day, graphic design is about exploration and experimentation.

Credit: https://www.canva.com/learn/graphic-design-tips-non-designers/

If you’re in the market for brochures, business cards, posters or other marketing materials, you already know that you’re going to need to come up with the perfect design, colour scheme, copy and layout. However, even after you’ve checked off all of those boxes, there’s another very important decision to make: choosing between digital vs. offset printing.
In this post, we’ll cover the differences between the two printing techniques and show what their benefits and drawbacks look like. We’ll also list the factors that should go into your decision as you choose the best process for your project. And naturally, we’ll look at some examples so you can get the best sense of both digital and offset printing in action.

Offset printing: going old school

Offset printing, also called lithography, is the most common kind of printing for high volume commercial jobs. Ever seen videos of newspapers running through big rolls? That’s offset printing.
Here’s how it works: First, the printer burns the design onto metal plates—one for each color. Typically, four colors are used (cyan, magenta, yellow and black (key), abbreviated CMYK), but offset printing also allows for custom ink colors (most notably Pantone colors) to be used instead.
Next, the design is transferred from the plates onto rubber rolls. The different colors of ink are spread onto the rubber and then the paper is run between them. The paper goes through all of the rolls, layering on the color, to get the final image.

The benefits of offset printing

• Superior image quality that is reliable. Count on offset printing for clean, distinct type and images without streaks or spots
• Better color fidelity, which refers to both the accuracy of the colors and their balance in the design. Because offset printing can mix custom color inks for each job, it’s naturally going to get the colors spot-on.
• Works equally well on almost any kind of material.
• For large volume jobs, you get more for your money. It costs a lot to start an offset job. You have to invest money into creating the plates, which takes time. However, once you’ve invested it, all of the materials are ready to go, and you’ll actually spend less on big offset jobs than a digital print, which is about same per piece no matter how big the job gets.

The drawbacks of offset printing

• High cost of low-volume jobs
• Longer timetable since plates need to be created
• Worse fallout in case there’s an error. If you don’t catch a typo on a plate and ruin a batch it’s harder to fix and the process starts all over again

Digital printing: the new kid in townWhen digital printing came onto the scene, it saw how much work offset printing was doing and the mechanical steps it required, and said, “nah.” This technique skips the proofs, plates and rubber bed and applies a design directly to the printing surface, either with liquid ink or powdered toner.
The inkjet or laserjet you hook up to your computer at home? That’s a digital printer. Large printing companies have ones that are bigger, faster and more precise, but it’s the same concept.
The benefits of digital printing:

• Faster turnaround time
• Each print is identical. You risk fewer odd variations caused by imbalances in water and ink.
• Cheaper for low volume jobs. The price per unit drops for offset printing, so at some point they criss-cross.
• Changing information within a single print job. For example, say you were printing out postcards advertising a concert. You could dactually change the dates and locations for part of the batch to create two sets of cards for two shows.

The drawbacks of digital printing:

• Fewer options in materials you can print on
• Less color fidelity is possible with digital printing because digital jobs use standard inks that cannot exactly match all colors. Offset jobs use specially mixed inks, which will always be a closer match. Digital is improving and getting closer with blended inks, but those inks still do not match as well as a custom mix.
• Higher cost for large-volume jobs
• Slightly lower quality, sharpness and crispness

Decisions, decisions: how to decide between digital vs. offset printing
If you’re still not sure whether to use digital vs. offset printing for your next project, run down this list to focus in on the right choice:

Volume: how big is the project?
If your project is big enough to overcome the front-end costs—and by that we’re typically talking over 500 pieces—offset printing will give you an advantage. You’ll get a great looking print that will likely cost less at a high enough volume.
Time: are you in a hurry?
Digital runs away with the prize. Offset printing just can’t be done last minute.

Material: what are you printing on?
Are you hoping for some unique business cards on metal or plastic? Or an unusual marketing handout on some other surface? Digital options are more flexible than ever before, but offset printing still has a leg up.
Colour: how much, what kind, and how true?Does this job need color? If it’s black and white or just one or two colors (and the volume is high enough), offset printing may be the right choice. If you need basic four-color printing, digital may be the best, most cost-effective solution.


However, if perfect color is absolutely essential (for example, if you need to use the Pantone® Matching System), use offset printing. The offset process uses actual Pantone® ink for a perfect match, whereas digital just gives you its best approximation of the color.
Custom work: Do you need something special?
How unique are you getting here? There’s no doubt that digital printing is the easiest, cheapest way to customize your projects, even within the same printing.
Proofs: will you need to see a sample first?
If you need to see a printed sample before taking the plunge, digital holds the advantage. To get a color proof for an offset project, you’ll need to execute the hardest parts of the project (plates and ink), which gets very expensive.
Type: what are you printing?
Business cards, thank you notes, cards or invitations?Black and white or just one or two colors? If yes, and you need more than 500, choose offset.
If yes, but you just need a few, choose digital. Same goes for full color. Digital is the way to go…

. . .unless you have a very specific need to match a Pantone® color exactly. Then, choose offset.

Posters or book jackets?
​If so, you’ll need higher quality printing to make the images look perfect. Go with offset if you can.

High-volume newspapers or newsletters?

Offset printing is the way to go.

The bottom line

While personal preference certainly plays a role, the differences between digital vs. offset printing allow you to make some smart decisions when you’re choosing which method will best serve your project. Like anything else, working with a designer can give you a great deal of added insight, so if you’re still not sure which is best for your project, don’t hesitate to get expert help!

Credit: ​https://99designs.com.sg/blog/tips/digital-vs-offset-printing/

• Remember to bleed. The bleed is the part on the side of the document that gives your printer that small amount of space to move around paper and design inconsistencies. No matter what guidelines they have on their site, the printer will use anything you throw at them. A 3mm bleed on all sides is a safe standard for the work.  The settings in InDesign are right there in the new file dialog… but hidden! You need to hit the 'more options' button before they become visible. If you already have a document open you can find them in the file > document setup dialog. Read more in the article What is bleed.
• Overprint is fun. Is your budget limiting you to only 2 Pantone (PMS) colours? No problem. Try to experiment with overprint options to get a look with more depth with a limited colour palette.You can even work with photographs with only 2 Pantone's, just do them in duotone or monotone.
• Think outside the paper. The human mind fills in gaps and will see the bigger picture if you aim for it. Using the border of your paper can be great fun and another tool to work with.
• Obviously, this is not the final solution to all your design problems. It should help you to see that your work doesn't end at the edge of the paper.
• Paper size standards are great, but don't let them hold you back. Square booklets, for instance, make for a more interesting reading experience, while smaller sizes (A5 for example) are much easier to take with you. Fly away from that standard A4 and take some risks.
• People read In conflict with some designers of the last 5 years I still think form follows function. This means in print design: If you're working on something that contains textual content concentrate on the content.
• You should use typography as a element in your design, however you should always aim for optimal readability.
• Amount of content: less is more. If you have some kind of idea that there's too much on your page; there is indeed to much on your page. Define what's really necessary and remove any visual noise. It may sound cliche but it's true: less is more. If the client makes you cram too much content on one page, tell them.
• Stick to the grid. Working with grids is the key to good design. Using its proportional relations, composition guidelines for the base of your design is a good idea.
• Don't always go for the standard 3-column setup. A 7 column setup offers a lot of playful combinations… 2 column overlaps, a 3/3/1 setup with a sidebar and so on…
• Typography is king. If the typographical setup is bad, no amount of lines or other elements will fix it. The fonts you use the most in your project set the voice for its overall feel: don't pick the first font you like; think about what voice it should have and the best way to communicate this to your target audience. You can have a lot of fun with the basic well designed fonts: Helvetica, Swiss or Akzidenz Grotesk will save you from the worst typographic horror-scenario's.
• It takes a while to get to know a font. A good way to get good with a particular font is to pick a list of 5 to 8 fonts you think could work for you and concentrate on those. That's also a good way to find out which fonts mix and which won't.
• Invert. Need to give a bigger impact to a quote or logo? Invert it. White on black (or on any dark colour for that matter) will always give your design or typography more strength.
• Be careful with smaller type sizes (8pt. and lower) as these will be possible problems for your printer as ink always flows around a little when just printed. This effect is called trapping. Of course this all depends on what kind of paper you're printing on, printing speed and other factors. Ask your printer about exceptions.
• Be demanding about photographic content. You should always demand high quality source material to work with. When working with photographic content for example the "trash in, trash out" rule applies. A good photo can take your work to another level, a badly lit low resolution photo will ruin the work. Most clients will send you what they have for grabs… most of the time they don't understand quality or image resolutions. Bug them a bit and they'll magically come up with better material. In need of printing materials? Consider a 247InkToner.com Toner Cartridge and other printing supplies.

Credit: www.printernational.org/10-tips-to-better-print-design.php

Flyer distribution is one of the most affordable and effective methods of advertising.
 
Flyers perform well because they reach someone in their own home, and unlike an intrusive phone call or TV advert, the recipient won’t look at it until they want to, so they are more likely to be in a receptive mood.
 
A flyer also benefits from its physical, tactile nature, which attracts attention and is remembered for longer. ​