Advertising Agencies, Start Here

Are you looking for an original product for a client campaign? Happy Worker can help.

Happy Worker is a boutique production house, with a singular focus on creating products. They develop and manufacture original ad specialties and promotional items, from inventive premiums to playful big kid toys and one-off art pieces.

Regrettably, many companies say they offer custom promotional products, when they simply throw a logo on an existing item and call it unique. They don't!

Original items turn heads. They're exciting. They stand out from the crowded clutter. And they have a habit of staying in your client's hands, on their desks and in their minds.

Don't just be remembered... get a reaction. Being remembered and grabbing eyeballs is important. But great marketing to provoke a reaction. And ultimately, real results for your business. For more info contact: heidi.bedore@happyworker.com

USPS Setting Green Examples for Businesses

The U.S. Postal Service is leading the charge in going green as a business and is being smart about its future by testing a number of energy-efficient technologies. NPR took a look at some of the USPS' environmental efforts this weekend.

It was interesting to learn from the article that the Postal Service has the largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in the nation: 43,000 in all and it's using solar cells to power some buildings. It's also using eco-friendly packaging, among other efforts they're employing to reduce carbon emissions and waste. Hey USPS, keep up the great work! Now to get Canada Post on board!

Web to Print to Mouth

Here's a cool personalized web to print application.......have fun!

http://www.myfruitrollups.com/Customization.aspx#altered

What is the average percentage to expect for overs in print projects?

Answer: That’s a great question. However, there isn’t an easy answer. The average percentage of overs could be between 0-10% depending on many factors, such as the:

print technology or process used – Typically the percentage of overs is higher for some types of print processes such as web printing, in which you might commonly see 3% over. Compare this to a well-executed variable-data print job which might result in no overs, as digital printing allows for a print run of one piece.

print quantity – In general smaller quantity print projects usually have a higher percentage of overs, then larger quantity jobs. So if your print quantity is 1,000 – a print supplier might deliver 10% overs and those 100 pieces might be highly valued. If your print quantity is 1 million, 10% overs – or 100,000 pieces - would certainly not be acceptable.

buying company’s standards – If a buying company communicates to their print suppliers upfront the percentage of overs that they consider acceptable and that they’ll pay for, universally solutions providers adapt to those requests.

and the print supplier – Every print solution provider is different. There are printers who still try to maximize their profitability by delivering and billing for a large percentage of overs that were not explicitly ordered by the buying company. That tactic is much less tolerated by today’s professional print buyers. Moreover, almost all printers have responded to the customers’ increased sensitivity to waste. In addition, many solution providers have streamlined there workflow for less waste.

PMS Color Doesn't Match the Swatch

Have you ever specified a match color (PMS) only to be disappointed when your print job arrives because the printed color doesn't match the color swatch? There are a few things to consider when choosing a match color to avoid disappointment.

First of all, consider the paper. If you are printing a match green on a bright white sheet, it will look a certain way. If you print the same green on an off-white sheet, it will look completely different. To make sure you are not surprised by the appearance of a particular ink on a particular paper, you can ask your printer for an "ink drawdown." The printer produces a drawdown by mixing your chosen ink and spreading a little on your chosen paper using a putty knife. While this thin film of ink won't show you how text or screens of the color will look, it will at least give you a general idea of the final appearance of your printed piece. This can be particularly helpful when you consider that many printing inks are transparent and are therefore dramatically altered by the paper color.

Second, consider the use of the color. If you print a solid green (as a background, for instance), it will match your color swatch. However, if you print a column of text (particularly one set in a small point size) in the same green, it will appear lighter than the color swatch. This is because you are printing a little green surrounded by a lot of white. Therefore, your eye sees a lighter green.

Finally, remember that the colors in your PMS book change over time and with exposure to light. Replace your color book periodically (the expiration date should be noted on the book).

When in doubt -- and this actually is always a good practice -- send the color chip to your printer along with the job. Even if the color has changed over time, you can ask your printer specifically to match the color on the supplied chip.

Does Your Print Provider Subcontract Out Work?

When your job goes to press, does your printer do all the work in house? You may be surprised by the answer.

This is not a problem if the process that is subcontracted out is a specialty task, such as die-cutting, thermography, or perfect binding. Most printers do not own all equipment needed for every specialty process, particularly if this equipment would be used infrequently. It’s not good business sense to have equipment stand idle. In cases like this, it can be to your benefit to have the outsourcing take place, particularly since the printer is then responsible for the quality of work the subcontractor provides.

In addition, your printer might subcontract out a complete, self-contained component of a larger job. For example, if you are producing a magazine at a web-offset printer, and you ask the printer to produce cover wraps or inserts for the magazine, this smaller job might fit better (more economically) on a sheet-fed press. Therefore, your printer might broker out this portion of the job.

The time to worry is if your printer subcontracts major portions of your job or the entire job, particularly if it is a high-profile piece that has to be perfect. Perhaps in this case you should look more closely at the kind of work in which this printer specializes to make sure this is a proper fit.

In general, consider the following:

Do you thoroughly trust your printer?
How long have you worked with this printer?
Are you comfortable with your printer’s coordinating the activities of other supplier(s)?
How much of the job will your printer farm out?
Is your schedule so tight that outsourcing could put your schedule at risk?
And is your printer willing to take full responsibility for the quality of the entire job?

If you can answer yes to all these questions, then your printer’s subcontracting elements of a job should not be a problem, as long as the total price of the job is acceptable.

Printing Friendly

Our environment should always be taken into consideration in both our personal and professional lives. Something that is constantly overlooked by businesses is the materials they use for printing. The paper and ink they’re using might be hurting the environment.Using post-consumer waste paper (PCW) is so much more environmentally friendly - it uses only recycled products in production. This prevents the unnecessary destruction of virgin tree fiber and helps preserve forestland and biodiversity. In the United States, currently 90% of our paper comes from virgin tree fiber, meaning that 90% of our paper is destroyed forest. Using PCW paper can help decrease the number of trees being cut down. The paper that most people are using is bleached with chlorine or chlorine derivatives. These chemicals can cause toxins and pollutants in several conditions, instead try to use paper that is Process Chlorine Free.

The ink you use can also be hurting the environment. Petroleum-based ink has VOCs, harmful toxins that can cause cancer and birth defects. VOCs are released when the ink dries on printed paper can even filter into the soil when printed paper is disposed of in a landfill. A healthier choice would be to use soy ink. It contains much less VOCs than petroleum-based inks and many people are already using it for magazines and other companies. Using eco-friendly printing is good for the environment and good for business. Customers will take preference in your business when they know you are putting an effort into helping the environment.

Printing Prices

It is typical for there to be quite a range of prices on any given print job. There are a lot of legitimate reasons for this variation in prices. Some of these reasons are technical and predictable, others are not.

This wide variation in prices is why many print buyers get two to four competitive bids on every job they handle. Competitive bidding among qualified printers is a best practice for buying print and widely used throughout the industry. You should not feel shy about asking a couple of suppliers to quote prices for jobs you are working on.

I noted that bidding among "Qualified" suppliers is typical. Pre-qualifying your suppliers is very important. Price is only part of the decision making process, service and quality are also important. Only suppliers that you believe can meet your quality and service expectations should be invited to quote on a job. That avoids wasting your time and the suppliers’ time too.

The reasons that Printing prices vary are many, but here's my top 10 list:

10 - Equipment configurations (press and bindery equipment dimensions)

9 - Hourly rate structures (how different processes are priced)

8 - Paper cost, brand, markup, etc. (n.b. specify paper brand clearly otherwise you get apples and oranges)

7 - Estimating competence/creativity

6 - Sales Rep Skill

5 - Quality considerations in estimating (e.g. adding ghosting blocks)

4 - Printer’s experience with client (press checks, quality expectations, changes, artwork quality, volume, work flow)

3 - Your quality/service/schedule expectations

2 - THE BIG ONE, Printer’s workload: Short-term only 40-60% of cost is variable, the rest is fixed. So there is great pricing latitude.

BUT the #1 most important factor, which by the way you have control of, is:

1 - Consistent, accurate, comprehensive specifications