Does the graphic design of your printed brochures, catalogues, newsletters and direct mail pieces work hard enough to grow your profits as well as looking spectacular?

Every piece of printed corporate marketing literature you use in your business plays a vital role in the sales process for what you sell. From a lead generating mail-shot and sales leaflet to regular informative newsletters, company brochures and product catalogues – all must be presented to show off your business and the products and services you sell at their best so your customers will want to buy from you.

For all your print design — brochure design, catalogue design, newsletter design, leaflet design, direct mail design; whatever sales and marketing material you need, our graphic design team will always focus on understanding your key objectives so the best solution can be realised. If it’s creative graphic design solutions you’re after we can draw on our extensive design experience to propose imaginative concepts that can easily be brought to reality.

Specifying your print design job for production

Print production techniques are getting more and more advanced and whenever you need advice on which method best meets your budget we will recommend the right solution to suit you. If you want the stress taken away for specifying your print job correctly (or you might find dealing with a printer gives you nightmares!) our graphic designers will also manage the print production process for you at no extra cost, when you buy through us. If you are eager to check the quality as your project is being printed, we can even arrange a press–pass.

We’ve developed alliances with trusted suppliers, from those with short run digital presses to larger lithographic printers that have multi-colour, sheet fed print machines with specialist finishing. Also, whenever you need someone to get your print job delivered direct to your customers we can arrange for all the mailing to be taken care of so you’re not stuck stuffing envelopes and sticking on stamps.

Choosing which material to print on

The choice of materials for your print job are a fundamental part of the graphic design process; whether you’re after a high quality feel, something with recycled content or a stock that’s just great value for money – you will always get a choice of what will work best.

For a FREE design consultation please call us today on 01908 662226

This is a question often asked of graphic designers when producing corporate sales and marketing material.

I’m sure you’ve had to make a choice of colour yourself many times in your life. What colour is your car? What colour have you painted your living room? What colour is your front door? What are your favoured colours for clothes? What colour do you paint your nails?

These all come down to personal choices and preferences. But how much are we influenced by society in general? Do we choose a colour simply because we like it? Or because we want to be perceived in a certain way and therefore become associated with a colour because of what it symbolises?

When developing your brand identity throughout brochure and leaflet design, advertising media and web design it is important to understand the psychology of colours, their meaning in different contexts and how they influence our psyche.

When it comes to sales and marketing choosing colours is seen to be more of a science particularly when you consider the behaviour of consumers and their decision making processes. In this case your choice of colours used throughout your corporate communications material should be considered much more carefully.

The psychology of colours and what they represent can greatly influence how and where they are implemented. The representations listed below are associated to perceptions in the western world, however, what these colours symbolise can vary greatly in different parts of the world.

Black
This is a colour of authority and power. It’s also a sombre colour, looked upon as being bad, evil or sinister. It can also portray authority, elegance, seduction and mystery. It’s high contrast against white or light backgrounds is ideal for text legibility. Suitable as a background colour if you want to exude drama, luxury and high class, especially when used in combination with a very high gloss finish.

White
Generally associated with purity, neutrality, cleanliness and also youthfulness. You see white emphasised on healthy food products, additive free foods and skin care products. It’s the best background colour for website pages as it will aid legibility and give the highest contrast possible for the darker spectrum of colours added on top of it.

Red
Red represents energy, strength, excitement and passion. It’s the colour for danger and living life on the edge. It’s often associated with movement and speed. Be careful how much of it you use in your marketing material as it can be overbearing or aggressive. However, if used in moderation it will have the most impact and be more striking. It is best used as an accent colour, when combined with neutral colours.

Orange
A very strong colour associated with flamboyancy, feeling energetic, happy and having fun. It’s the complete opposite to calm and serenity. Used a great deal in connection to organic products, energy drinks, adventure holidays, theme parks as well as a number of fast food chains to tell customers they are getting value for money.

Brown
Can signify being reliable, trustworthy, logical, efficient and characterise stability. It often has positive connotations with earthy, natural or organic products and portray a conscientious, hard working ethic. Works well together with yellow and orange tones.

Yellow
A very bright colour which represents alertness, cheerfulness and warmth. Yellow enhances concentration and appeals to intellectuals. It’s a great colour to use for promoting social activities and events due to its feel-good characteristics. Yellow is also associated to optimism as you do on a sunny day! Just like red it can be overpowering if overused.

Green
The colour green has many positive associations. Nature and fertility. Freedom, freshness and tranquility. Good luck, generosity and peace. Healing and well-being. However, green can also have negative connotations such as envy, escalation and excessive wealth. Use lighter tones when you want to achieve a calming effect and darker shades of green when you want to express a bolder character.

Blue
A cool, calming colour which aids clear thinking, confidence and high productivity. Darker blues represent sensitivity of feeling and can convey harmony, peace and tranquility. Blue also symbolises trust, reliability and dependability.

Purple
The colour most identified with royalty and so it is associated with wealth, prosperity and sophistication. Purple can be used to give a feeling of mystery, wisdom and respect. Works really well with silver and gold.

Pink
A comforting, soft colour suggesting femininity, gentleness and well-being which can suggest the feeling of calmness and relaxation. It also symbolises love and romance. Associated with many cosmetic beauty products.

My name is Toni Palmiero and I run a small graphic design company called Palmiero Design. We offer, pretty much, all the creative services you’d expect from a full service design company.

It’s very difficult to meet with new marketing professionals and business owners. Particularly those who need the support of highly skilled graphic designers that understand the basic principles of marketing. You’re not looking to use a graphic designer for just a one-off project, but on a regular, ongoing basis.

Five proven facts about designing headlines that will work to get the best response possible.

Here are five proven facts about designing headlines, both online and printed, that will work to get the best response possible. Pass these onto your designer next time you’re doing any direct-response marketing.

FACT: Avoid using punctuation in your headlines (question marks on the other hand are OK).
REASON: A full stop or exclamation mark signals the end of a sentence or to “stop reading any further”. This is the last thing you want to happen. Have a look at headlines in newspapers. None have full stops because they’re designed (as well as written) to get your attention and make you want to read more.

FACT: Never use fancy, elaborate script fonts.
REASON: Your headline might look elegant but it just won’t get read so choose your font carefully. Leave elaborate typography styles to fancy wedding invitations and elaborate champagne bottle labels. Your choice of font might be determined by the overall style you’re looking to portray but don’t let it be to the detriment of legibility that will stop readers reading more and taking action.

FACT: Headlines work better in darker colours rather than brighter colours.
REASON: You need to strike a balance between impact and legibility. If your headline is too bright it can be overwhelming and distract the reader from reading any further. The colour blue is known to convey trust and reliability. Green is believed to be calming and increase concentration. For maximum legibility your safest bet is to choose a colour with the highest contrast possible to the background it is appearing on. That said, simply using black on white might be too severe and may influence your font choice and its weight.

FACT: Never use ALL-CAPITAL-LETTERS for your headline.
REASON: ALL-CAPS are difficult to read and tiring on the eyes so your reader will simply give up. Upper and lower case is much more legible. Words with ALL-CAPITAL-LETTERS have no shape. When we read text, especially when we read quickly, we do not read each individual letter. Instead we read whole words and phrases by recognising their familiar shapes. Words are more recognisable using letters with “ascenders” (like the letter b) and “descenders” (like the letter p).

FACT: Your headline has the most important job of getting attention and so must be interesting as well as legible.
REASON: If it doesn’t get attention then the rest of your advert or direct mail is a complete waste of effort.