New Print Products to Make your Merchandise Stand out

When it comes to marketing a product, standing out among your competitors can be an important way to attract new customers. Almost every company will have some sort of marketing materials, whether it be a brochure, website or promotional item. In this situation, creating a printed material that is a little different from the norm may be a beneficial way to highlight your product or company. Here are some new products that can get your creative marketing side flowing:

Pocket Menus

Pocket menu printing for
Mini pocket menus are an incredibly versatile type of brochure for restaurants and retail food companies. Instead of using a traditional take out menu, these can have up to 12 panels which can be used to highlight each section of the menu.
Additionally, we have seen pocket menus used as ways to present stunning pictures, easy to follow recipes, or details about where and how the product is produced. Many consumers are interested in knowing the ingredients and materials that go into the food they enjoy, and a detailed pocket menu can provide extensive information about their contents.

Uneven Fold Header Cards

Header Cards are an easy, affordable and attractive way to market your product. They are simple to assemble and have the flexibility to package several different products simply by switching the content in the polybag. 
uneven fold header cards | mmprint.com
 
Most commonly, header cards are scored in the middle to create an even fold on both sides of the card. Sometimes though, it could be useful to create a card that has an uneven fold so that one side is longer than the other. The card can still be stapled to seal in the product, but this offers a flap that can be used to reinforce the product or provide extra space for information, directions, ingredients or materials used.

Another popular use for Uneven Header Cards is as a swatch card that can be used to show off different types of fabrics. These are used by fashion companies when it is not easy enough to send full samples of a product. A swatch of the material can still give your distributors a feel for the product that you will be selling.

Die Cut Hangtags

custom shape merchandise tags for products | mmprint.com
Hang Tags are an essential way to market your clothing, jewelry or fashion accessories. Make sure you compliment your unique fashion item with a hang tag that is equally special. Die cut printing allows you to make custom shapes and sizes for your product tags.

Having a custom shape can make a big difference on the presentation of your product. With your hang tag, you can include your company logo, information about the product, and what materials are used in the product.


At The Marsid M&M Group, we’re all about innovation and helping our customers grow their business with the best marketing and print materials. Contact us today with any questions or ideas you may have for new projects.

5 Interesting Ideas for your Custom 2016 Calendar

With the new year creeping up fast, it’s about that time to start thinking about your new calendar for 2016. With so many different options out there, it’s hard to narrow down exactly what kind of calendar to go with. Sometimes if you are ordering a large quantity, it may be worth it to go with a custom designed calendar for your office, team, organization or school. Everyone will love having a personalized calendar, and you have the freedom to make yours look and say whatever fits your project best.

The next tricky part is to pick the type and layout of your calendar. The standard size is 11″ x 8.5″ but there are plenty of other options you can choose to customize your calendar. Take a look at some of the following examples to spark your creativity for your 2016 calendar!

12″ x 12″ Square Calendars

These prominent wall calendars are perfect to display in conference rooms, large offices or anywhere that could use extra large pages. These look really nice wire-bound which is also a plus because they can lay flat if notes need to be made or events added.

12x12-calendars

Small 8″ x 8″ Calendars

We recently had a customer print their watercolor artwork on a smaller version of a wall calendar. These are perfect for cubicles or small desks that don’t have a ton of space to hang full sized calendars.

8x8calendar

Die-Cut Calendars

If you want something that really stands out, consider what Land Rover did with this custom die-cut design. They created a topographic map that could be peeled off day by day, mimicking layers of the earth. A calendar like this is so successful because it pairs functionality with brand accentuation. A calendar like this would be different for every company, but could serve as a great marketing tool.

MTI5MDAzOTUzNjUxNDYwNzM5

MTI5MDAzOTUyMzA5MTE1MzU4

 

Visualized Calendars

There is nothing says that says the days of the year have to be printed on paper. Visualized Calendars are a creative concept that can take on many different shapes and forms. Look for other media that can represent your calendar – it will attract more attention than a traditional day counter and can draw more notice to your brand. The calendar below uses a rack-and-pinion-like system that can easily be rolled to represent each day of the month.

visualized calendar

 

Full Spread Calendars

Most monthly spreads are set up to have a large picture at the top, and then a grid at the bottom representing all of the days of that month. This is used to write notes and add events to certain dates. In the digital age however, less people use physical calendars to schedule their lives. Instead, they will use their smartphones to plan their days and keep them better connected.

full page calendar

This doesn’t make the calendar obsolete though. The example above is a repurposed calendar that puts the focus on the artwork. Instead of splitting each page spread into two sections, they extended their artwork the length of the page and incorporated the calendar into the artwork. This design does not leave much room for someone to write on the display, but that is not always necessary. Instead, this layout plays to the aesthetic strength of the design.

 

Feel free to share your 2016 calendar ideas in the comments below, or head over to mmprint.com to get a quote for your calendar printing!

Heidi Finds A New Family at The Marsid M&M Group

 

Heidi was born in August of 1969.  She had lived in San Diego, California for many years where she printed all types of advertisements, brochures and stationery.   She was one of 10 Heidelberg Windmill Letterpresses which were all lined up in a row.  She worked very hard for 10 hours every day and 10 hours every night with very little rest; as did her 9 sisters sitting beside her on the long and narrow concrete floor that she called home.

 

Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress

Tragedy

Right after her 15th birthday in September of 1984, the factory that Heidi worked in was shut down.  People said, “It was because there were newer types of printing presses called Offset Machines that could run faster and produce better and cleaner printed work.”  Heidi then sat idle on that cold concrete floor with no electricity or oil for almost two years.

Rebirth

In July of 1986, Henry Jenkins, a reverend from a small church in Los Angeles, found Heidi listed in a newspaper advertisement.  He journeyed to San Diego with a large moving truck and brought her back to his garage in L.A..  He fed her oil and gave her electricity which made Heidi so happy.  The reverend’s wife came to the garage once a week, always on Wednesday, to clean her and rub her down with a very soft cloth.  Heidi was finally at work again; her new job was to print small prayer books and song sheets for Reverend Jenkins to distribute to his parishioners.  After many years, the good Reverend took ill and was forced to make a change.  On February 17, 2007, Reverend Jenkins and his wife closed their church and moved to a small town in Mexico where they became missionaries.  Heidi now needed a new home.  She still had so much life in her.

Heidi was found by an adoption agency in Jamaica, New York called Crystal Graphics.  The company was owned by a man named Mr. Bally, who knew that although he would probably be keeping Heidi for a while; he was sure he would eventually find her a good home.  He cleaned Heidi from top to bottom and made sure she looked good.  He then covered her with a big green tarp with the words “WINDMILL 13X18” on it.  Trying to find new parents that were qualified was not an easy task.  People would come to look at her, but no one seemed to have the right use for Heidi.  After many months of deliberation, Mr. Bally decided to convert Heidi into a Die Cutter and Foil Stamper.  In November of 2011, after the conversion was complete,  she received a new coat of paint and was ready to go.  Again the green tarp was put back on Heidi to keep her protected and safe, but it now had the words “FOIL STAMPING / DIE CUTTING” added to her description.

A New Home

It was about this time that Sid Halpern, the president of The Marsid M&M Group a very progressive “State of The Art” commercial printer, decided to compliment his offset and digital capabilities and bring “in house” Foil Stamping and Die Cutting to their growing list of clients.  Mr. Halpern found Heidi advertised by Mr. Bally on eBay and decided to make a visit to the Jamaica, New York warehouse to see her.  He lifted the green tarp and was immediately impressed!  Heidi was clean and beautiful, filled with oil and ready to go to work with all her new capabilities.  The deal was made and the adoption finalized!  A few days later, December 10, 2011, Heidi was on Mr. Bally’s delivery truck heading to her new home in Carle Place, New York!

Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress

Wow!  Heidi was amazed when she arrived.  Mr. Halpern had built her a very special private room with an arched doorway!  He installed  new crown moldings and had pictures of Benjamin Franklin and Johannes Guttenberg on the wall above her.  There was a vintage California Job Case to her left and an authentic composing stick to her right!  There were even a few antique hymns engraved in copper on the wall. Heidi thought she remembered printing with those back when she was with Reverend and Mrs. Jenkins in L.A..  Heidi was so proud and now felt so useful in her new home with all of the shiny new offset and digital printers!  Mr. Halpern was very good to her; he treated her as part of his FAMILY.  He bought her all new tools and was so excited to watch her Die Cut and Foil Stamp new jobs every day.  It didn’t take Heidi long to realize she would never again be on a delivery truck!