Beef Up Your Business Cards With These Plug-ins

Standard business cards are typically rectangular, 2 x 3.5 inches on white stock. The only thing that differentiates them from other business cards is the information and graphics. Adding custom finishes to your business cards bring them to life. The combinations are endless, but by using just one finishing option your business cards will be “Slicker than a harpooned hippo on a banana tree” (not entirely sure what that means but it seems to get the point across that your business cards will stand out!).

These Cards Mean Business

Embossing

Embossing your business cards is just awesome. This method has many variations from blind embossing to multi-level embossing to embossing with foil stamping. It gives your business card dimension, it makes you want to look at it from different angles. But best of all, if used correctly, it’s classy.

Foil Stamping

Foil Stamping enhances your business cards by reflecting light in the area where it is foil stamped. This reflection attracts the eye of the viewer. Foil is available in many metallic colors and even holographic patterns…if you want your business card to pop, this is the way to go!

Spot UV Coating

Spot UV coating creates a reflective mirror-like sheen only in areas where it is designated, hence the name “Spot” UV. By using a spot UV layer on your business card, you can intensify the visibility of a certain graphic or even create a graphic out of the spot UV itself on a solid background. The example above have the 7 A.M. logo using this method so that the logo is only visible when angled to a light source. Very creative!

Custom Die Cut

Custom die cut business cards are the epitome of customization! The shape of your business card can be made to just about anything. Match the shape of your logo or product or you can add special folds to really make your business cards unique. Give them something they will never forget!

Pantone (PMS) Colors

If branding is important to your company, making sure your brand is recognizable and memorable can be as easy as selecting a specific Pantone color for consistency This color is used throughout all of your marketing collateral and anywhere your logo/brand is displayed. Many (if not all) of the major brands do this. One of the most used examples is Coca-cola’s red.

A Custom Combination of Finishes

The more of these finishes you use on your business cards, the more they will stand out in a stack. I don’t think there’s any way of overdoing it. When used correctly your business cards will serve as a sales tool and conversational piece that can get the ball rolling on a new sale. Use them to feature a new product or to show prestige that reflects on your business. The variations and possibilities are endless.

Creating Die Lines for Custom Die Cut Printing in Adobe Illustrator

This post is best suited for graphic designers who will be working on a die cutting project and/or those of you who simply like to know how to do stuff.

Creating a die line for die cutting can be pretty simple or can be quite difficult, all depends on your design and some planning beforehand can come in very handy later on.

First, I want to make it clear that die cutting thin lines is not always a good idea. Thin lines in a die create thin cuts in the paper that can easily bend or rip off. Sometimes it’s unavoidable such as die cutting hair or thin fonts but if possible, always try to use thick locks of hair or bold type if your die cut is typography-based.

Custom Die Cut Hang Tags

For this tutorial we are going to create a Die Cut Hang Tag. Many clothing manufacturers use hang tags to brand their merchandise and sometimes include information about the product or the company on the back or inside if it is a folding hang tag.

For this tutorial, we will use a fictitious Clothing Brand called mmprint.

Our goal is to have a finished hang tag where we will die cut the mmprint with the white Stroke around it. Leaving the grey area (which for purposes of this tutorial is simulating the paper) by using a die cutter such as our Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress.

The Right Tools

The die line must be made using a vector design program such as Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. A die maker uses a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine which uses CAD software to send the design commands to the CNC machine.

Since the CNC is computer controlled, it requires vector lines to operate. Raster lines are created using blocks which then create jagged edges along the perimeter of the line.

Preparing the Artwork

Creating the die line for the mmprint hang tag should be rather straight forward and simple. We used Century Gothic Bold for the text and made an offset path to make it thicker, then added a 3pt. Stroke around it. All we really need to do is make a line that goes around the entire perimeter of the white Stroke.

Sure, you can show off your Pen tool skills and trace the whole thing but working efficiently is key for a designer and when you have other projects to move on to, time is important.

At this point in our design, our stroke is an effect applied to the object. When you select the object with the black arrow, you will see that the selection line is located within the stroke. Since we need the die line to be the outside edge of the stroke, we have to make the stroke an object itself.

Select the mmprint object then click Edit>Copy then click Edit>Paste in Front

With the new object selected, click Object>Expand

While still selected, click the Unite button in the PathFinder tab (Window>Pathfinder)

Now you should have the outline of the object that is completely white, which notably is the shape that will remain in the sheet of paper once the mmprint is die cut out…

Now just 2 more steps.

While our new white object selected, all we need to do is give it a 1pt. stroke (I chose orange so it stands out) and remove the fill color.

Here is the result:

The orange line is the area where the die cut will be made

Cleaning Up

The final step is to convert the orange color we selected into a PMS color that we will call “Die Line”.

The purpose of making the die line its own PMS color is so that it separates correctly when making plates. The CMYK parts separate accordingly for printing and our “Die Line” PMS will separate as one separate plate for the die.

Here is how it’s done:

With the Die Line Layer selected, Double click the Orange color in your Swatches Panel.

Change the Swatch Name to “Die Line”, change Type to “Spot Color” and click OK

Notice the Orange color swatch has a White corner with a Black dot in it…this means it has been converted to a PMS color

Tips and Tricks

It’s always a good idea to consult with the printer/die cutter before you spend a lot of time on your design. Discuss and if possible, show a sketch or basic artwork of your die cut to get feedback on what may or may not work.

As a graphic designer/consultant, you are hired to be efficient and work within budgets.

To save on die charges, you can always use a pre-made Die Cut shapes and customize only the printing.

We offer a nice selection of pre-made die cut shapes:

Take the Design Even Further

When budget is not an obstacle, take your creativity to the next level with Foil Stamping and Embossing.

At this point you can design a hang tag with all the bells and whistles that people may possibly keep. Hang tags create an amazing opportunity to spread your branding with the very merchandise that you sell. Make your hang tag reflect the quality of your company and your product.

So how do you prepare the design for foil stamping and embossing?

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Complementing Innovation: Taking a Step Back to Take a Step Forward

These days it’s hard to keep up with the advancement of technology, whether in our personal lives or in business. Seems that before we even become accustomed to a new product or system there is another that replaces it.

At The Marsid-M&M Group we are always trying to stay on the cutting edge of technology, but recently we decided to take a different approach…

We decided that in order to move forward we had to take a step back in time, to our roots one might say.

-Barry Caputo, Co-owner

The evolution of print has brought upon us a new age where digital printing, short runs and variable data have become a large part of our everyday business. We realized that these customers were in need of more finishing options than we previously offered while keeping costs down and still manage to deliver a quality product.

So we hired Heidi and gave her an office:

Heidi is a Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress. She's hardworking, precise and classy; she's tough. Been around the block, but still in great shape. Our BizHub Digital Presses say she's quite the cougar.

Heidi Finds a New Home

The Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress made it’s first public appearance in 1913.

The beauty before you in the image above was manufactured 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.

Right after her 15^th 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… Read the full story written by very proud owner, Sid Halpern.

A Windmill of Opportunity

Die Cutting and Foil Stamping are only a few of Heidi’s traits. With a few add-ons she can also print color, emboss, score, perforate and number.

At this time we use her for Die Cutting, Foil Stamping and Scoring:

Card Stock Scoring

Custom Die Cutting

Custom Foil Stamping / Die Cut

Vision Becomes Reality

Our goal was to offer more custom finishing options to our customers with low minimums and make it available for digitally printed materials. We also envisioned a whole new line of products that we could offer in addition to our standard printed materials.

Well, we’re the type of company that doesn’t let good ideas go by the wayside so we went gung-ho, full speed ahead and there was no stopping us.

Over the next few months we will be adding a slew of new products to our website that provide a foundation for your own new ideas that are only limited by creativity.

The Benefit is Clear: Stand Out from the Rest

Die Cut Business Cards

We all know in business it’s very important to make a great first impression. Most first business meetings begin with a handshake and an exchange of business cards.

A well crafted business card is as firm a statement as is a firm handshake.

We currently offer these standard die-cut business cards that you can pick from and you can always request a quote for custom die cutting to your specific shape:

Feel free to download our Die Cut Business Card Templates.

Die Cut Desk Calendars

Calendars offer 365 days of steady promotion and you only pay for them once!

Standard calendars are made to be hung on a wall but Die Cut Desk Calendars are made to stand on a desk which makes them more accessible.

Your company name and contact information will be displayed at all times at arm’s length.

Die Cut HangTags

Boost the value of your product with custom Die Cut Hang Tags. A great way to include your branding and a description of the product or instructions on how to use it.

Many standard shapes are available or you can always go a little further and customize the shape for a truly unique finish!

Feel free to download our Die Cut Hang Tag Templates.

Die Cut Bookmarks

Still a very popular product, die cut bookmarks make effective and simple promo products that everyone likes. Add a custom shape and a tassel to make it even more attractive.

Lamination, UV coating, Aqueous coating also available.

Die Cut Gift Card Holders

Retail establishments can really benefit from our custom printed die cut gift card holders. Make your gift cards more presentable by providing a safe and secure holder that can be customized with your artwork.

Great for branding and promotions.

What Die Cut products would you like to recommend we offer in the future?

Printing Terms Infographic – Color Quick Guide

We strongly believe that an informed customer can make all the difference in print jobs going smoothly and without misunderstandings. I’m sure it goes for any industry.

We strive to offer a unique and pleasant experience when working with us. By providing our customers with informative collateral we not only educate our customer, but we also ease the lines of communication which instills confidence in our customer that what they are ordering is exactly what they want. It’s logical, it makes sense.

With the recent popularity and practicality found in infographics, we decided to release a series of Quick Guides of printing terms and print related infographics to offer to our customers and anyone else who can use them. Please feel free to share this!

For a more in-depth look at color, visit our Colorful Guide to Understanding Color.

PANTONE® PLUS Digital Libraries for Adobe Creative Suite®

Pantone® has released a Quick and Easy installer for their Pantone Plus+® Digital Libraries for the Adobe® Creative Suite® (CS). This installer copies the necessary swatch files into the correct folders and replaces the original Pantone swatches included with your Adobe CS suite.

The installer includes the following PANTONE PLUS Color Libraries:

PANTONE+ Solid Coated
PANTONE+ Solid Uncoated
PANTONE+ Color Bridge Coated
PANTONE+ Color Bridge Uncoated
PANTONE+ Premium Metallics Coated
PANTONE+ Pastels & Neons Coated
PANTONE+ Pastels & Neons Uncoated
PANTONE+ CMYK Coated
PANTONE+ CMYK Uncoated

System Requirements
Microsoft® operating systems: Windows® XP, Windows Vista™ and Windows 7
Apple operating systems: Mac OS X 10.4 or later

Download your Free Pantone Plus+ Color Library for PC or Mac

Pantone Plus Series Digital Swatch Giveaway

The Influence of Color – Color Psychology and the Subconscious

We live in a world of Color.

Everywhere you look color is influencing us consciously and subconsciously; naturally and synthetically: The blue sky, the green forests, the red stop sign, the green light. Color stimulates our emotions and motivates our decisions.

In this article we will investigate what some colors represent and how they can be used in your design.

Marketing and advertising employs the knowledge and practice of color psychology in its work to drive results. The main purpose of an ad is to motivate the viewer to take a course of action designated by the advertiser. Whether the call to action is to purchase a product, sign up for a contest or simply to modify the perception or mood towards a product or brand, color scheme is key to a successful campaign.

Color is applied to the shape of a logo to represent an emotion, objective, a meaning, as well as to increase brand recognition.

Colors can be presented and visualized as to signify verbs, circumstances, feelings, conditions, environments and objects to name a few.

Make sure to use color to assist in getting your message across whether you are designing a sell sheet or a logo. Remember to keep in mind the perspective of potential viewers can make a difference in their perception of the design in its entirety. Not every color will affect every individual in the same fashion. It is possible that an individual experienced something involving a particular color and may react very differently from everyone else. It is important to investigate the potential hazardous impact that a color may cause when researching and choosing color schemes. This includes cultures and countries which may have a different meaning of colors.

Red

Love, Warning, Energetic, Leadership, Ambition, Heat, Courage, Passion, Intensity, Aggression, Vibrant, Attention

Black

Power, Authority, Discipline, Confidence, Elegance, Secrecy, Sophisticated, Evil, Depth, Mystery

Blue

Peace, Cold, Water, Loyalty, Corporate, Seriousness, Sky, Authority, Security, Calmness, Productivity, Freedom, Cool

Green

Nature, fertility, Vigor, Inexperience, Patience, Growth, Money, Harmony, Refreshing, Health

Yellow

In what way do colors affect you? Have you used color in your workspace to help you be more productive?

Please share your comments!

A Colorful Guide to Understanding Color

– Vision gives us the ability to see color, but how many of us can truly explain or describe what color is or where it comes from?

This quick guide gives you a brief understanding of color, how it works, its application and how it affects your design and printing outcome.

Q. What is the definition of a color?

A. Color is the sensation produced in response to selective absorption of wavelengths from visible light. It possesses the attributes of Brightness, Colorfulness and Hue. – www.Color.org

Light is emitted by a source such as the Sun or a light bulb. Only the colors that cannot be absorbed by an object are reflected. When the light is reflected into our eyes by the object, color is the result of receptors in the eye reacting to the specific wavelength of light.

So basically, the surface properties of the object actually reflect the colors that it does not absorb. The object itself does not emit the color.

Color Application

Color plays an extremely big roll in design. For those not already aware, color is a tool that goes beyond aesthetics and delves into the subconscious; besides our visual response, we also have an emotional response to color.

If you have a black muscle car that has 550hp under the hood and one day you decide to paint the whole thing purple, do you think the perception of the car – even though it still pushes 550hp – will remain the same? Would the viewer be more interested in the color of the car than the seconds it takes to get down the quarter-mile? With color you can control perception.

Our emotions also change the perception of an object based on its color. Our age, experiences with certain colors and other triggers all affect the perception of a color at the time of viewing.

Color Communication

Color is defined by various properties and for the sake of communication, it has been given a name or number. Pink is a variation of red but it is distinctively a color in itself so a name was given to it. But how do we communicate the darkness or lightness of that pink? So can a yellow be referred to as Lemon Yellow or Canary Yellow, but to replicate it there must be a standard.

A system for coding color hues was developed in the 1900’s although today we have standards such as the Pantone Matching System® (PMS) which is widely used in the print and design industry and is the default matching system for popular graphic design software like Adobe® Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. With Pantone, a designer can designate a specific PMS color in his artwork and the printer all the way on the other side of the world can replicate the color exactly as the designer expected it to be via a Pantone swatch.

Color Vocabulary

Here you can find the definition of the most important properties of color. These will help you manipulate color and communicate efficiently.

Hue: a gradation or variety of a color. – dictionary.com

Chroma: the purity of a hue at its furthest from gray.

Saturation: the purity of a hue at is furthest from white.

Intensity: the strength or sharpness of a hue

Luminance: the amount of light reflected by the hue

Shade: a hue created by adding black

Tint: a hue created by adding white

Color Models

Color output is affected by the media it is applied to or displayed through. For web and print purposes I will only mention the Additive and Subtractive color models.

Additive: The colors that you see now on your monitor are created by adding white (light) to black. As more color is added to the black screen, the closer it is to white. Red, Green and Blue (RGB) are the additive primary colors and combined together produce 100% white. The RGB model is used for web graphics.

Subtractive: This color model is typically used for printing. By applying ink, the amount of white from the paper is reduced or subtracted. Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are the subtractive color primaries. Combining these three colors produces a muddy brownish black. To achieve a better blacks and to save ink, black (K) was added to the mix. The CMYK model is used for print.

Color Types

A color wheel is used to show the relationship between Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Complementary colors.

Primary Colors are pure colors that cannot be made by mixing any combination of colors. The are in their purest form.

Secondary Colors are created by combining two primary colors.

Tertiary Colors are made by mixing primary and secondary colors.

Complementary Colors are those positioned directly across from each other in the color wheel.

Using a color wheel can clean up your color choices specially when using complementary colors. These are basically colors that complement each other and go well together. Many designs have beautiful structure but the chosen color combinations crash and take away from its beauty.

Both web and print designs can benefit greatly from understanding color and using a color wheel. Subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter to stay tuned for the next post about Color and the Subconscious.

How would you explain color to someone who cannot see color?

Brand Identity Built for Success

In all successful brands you will find fundamental characteristics that create recognition and assimilation. Comparable with that of seeing a familiar face, “Brand Identity” strengthens trust and confidence.

Color

A color scheme can express and communicate different things about a company, product or service. Color psychology plays a big roll in the viewer’s subconscious and reaction to a brand. The employment of color psychology in your brand can change a simple shape into a memorable association with an experience or emotion which may be positive or negative. Color is by far the single most important stimuli to reach the end consumer.

Intel Pentium 4 Trademark and Logo Usage Guidelines

Shape

The shape aspect of a brand also carries a psychological twist to it. Shapes can guide the viewer’s focus, arrange information and express significance. A circle for example, has a natural tendency to lead the eye to its midpoint. This gives a prevalence to the information within the circle.

A circular shape can also be used in the projection of emotions such as love and friendship :

In LG’s own words:

Face – The stylized image of a smiling face is meant to convey company friendliness and approachability.

Circle –The circle represents the globe, symbolizing the world and all of humanity, as well as youth and the future. – LG Brand Identity

Consistency

“Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.” – Norman Vincent Peale

Similar to studying for the vocabulary test at school, associating the word to its meaning and repeat, repeat, repeat until you remember the word an its meaning by reflex. Except, this is easier because what the viewer has to remember is only a shape with color; an image. The meaning is left to the viewer’s interpretation – which if your brand identity scheme was well executed – will have the impact you planned for. Keeping a consistency throughout your marketing materials is key to brand recognition and identification. Shape and color should always remain the same although some shapes are so well designed and unique that they can be in any color and still be recognized. The same can happen with a color scheme, the shape can change and the brand is recognizable just by color.

Here are a few examples:

Color Consistency – Pantone Matching System

In this article I would like to talk about the Pantone Matching System (PMS) and its various uses. For those of you who are not familiar with the CMYK and PMS color processes, please visit our infocenter pages to learn more about the Pantone Matching System (PMS) or our page on CMYK and color separation.

Coca Cola®

Pantone Colors and Branding

Now, just about everyone in the world is familiar with Coca-cola print ads and the use of the color red in its branding. What most people might not realize is that the red is a specific color “tint” that is used consistently throughout Coca-Cola’s advertising, a variation between PMS 484 and 485 although no specific Pantone color is specified (CMYK values can vary as well). This “Coke Red” color is claimed as “a feature of the mark” as written in Coke’s trademark with the USPTO.

In some cases, differences between a logo’s use of color or symbols (including type) as it applies to their memorability do exist and can lead to a hefty discussion. In my opinion and in this case, Coca-cola has made great use of both color and symbol (type) to leverage “Brand Stickiness”.

Color and Purpose

Establishing a color scheme before starting a print project is key to providing the client with the most effective design possible. A logo for example, should be easily printable in either color or black ink only. Budgets and the purpose of the print can vary and will affect how the logo will be printed. When printing an NCR Form, the difference in price between full color (CMYK), PMS colors or black ink only can be quite significant. Most NCR forms are used for record keeping such as receipts, not as a marketing piece. Therefore, having a full color logo printed on an NCR Form might just be a waste of money that could in turn be used for marketing! On the other hand, having a CMYK version of your logo will come in very handy when printing full color brochures or full color postcards. Some clients might have a strict branding plan that demands the use of say a 2 PMS color logo to be printed with a full color brochure which basically renders a costly 6 color job. But hey, some budgets allow for that and as a designer or print buyer, it is your duty to consider these possibilities when establishing a brand.

Converting PMS colors to CMYK in Adobe Illustrator®

Using a Pantone Matching System Conversion Swatch is quite easy. As is using the Adobe Illustrator® swatch panel.

In Adobe Illustrator®, Pantone (PMS) colors are recognizable in the swatches panel by a white triangle in the bottom right corner which also has a black dot in the center.

– In your swatches panel, double click the PMS color and you will find that a dialogue box pops up titled “Swatch Options”.

– To change or view the corresponding CMYK values, simply click on the drop down menu labeled “Color Mode”, select CMYK and the value will be shown.

-Last but not least, click on the “Color Type” dropdown and select “Process Color”. Click the OK button. You will notice that the black dot in your swatch panel has disappeared and only the white triangle remains.

This small but significant Illustrator® function can come in very handy for designers when a PMS swatch is not available.

Have you ever had a customer supply you with artwork in PMS format to be used in a CMYK print project?

Please share your advice on how you would convert the PMS colors into CMYK value by commenting below.