Design Sprint 4 of 4: 10 Tips for Great Print Design | MP 81

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On this marketing podcast, Sam Carvalho talks about 10 tips for great print design.

Are you needing to revamp your print design processes? Which printing process should you use? In print design, why should you limit your color palette?

In this podcast episode, Sam Carvalho speaks about the dos and don’ts of print design.

In This Podcast

  1. Limit the color palette
  2. Give the piece room to breathe
  3. Avoid borders and keep it spacious
  4. Use high resolution or vector artwork
  5. Consider the color of the paper
  6. Readability
  7. Always keep to the grid
  8. Less is more
  9. Design for the printing process
  10. Be versatile

1. Limit the color palette

The more colors there are to process, the bigger the risk that something is going to clash and that readability will be impacted.

If you think you will be printing in different processes, it will save you money to use fewer colors. Successful print design is all about communication. So, when it doubt, keep it simple.

2. Give the piece room to breathe

Always make sure there is ample space around text and images. If they are cramped, then the border will be uncomfortable to look at.

If these elements are too close to the edge, you also run the risk of having crucial information cut off when the piece is trimmed down from larger sheets.

The rule of thumb is a 1/4 inch text-safe margin for all items to compensate for any shifts in registration during printing and cutting.

3. Avoid borders and keep it spacious

If you are looking for a way to spruce up a simple design, you may think that adding a decorative border around your copy will bring a touch of elegance to it. While you wouldn’t be totally wrong, borders need to be done correctly, or your risk crowding your copy and making the design unappealing. (Sam Carvalho)

Keep your borders within the 1/4 inch bleed. If there are any shifts in registration, an uneven border will stick out like a sore thumb and potentially ruin an otherwise successful design.

Make sure that you are not trying to fit too much copy within the border, include only what is essential. You can always add a web address as a call to action for people to find out more info.

If you are wondering how your piece will look in print format, pay for a printed proof to provide you with a better idea.

4. Use high resolution or vector artwork

Raster Images are made up of tiny pixels. For print production, the standard is 300dpi.

The image should look beautiful at 100% but start to pixelate at 125% and larger. An image that is 72dpi, which is meant for the web, may start to degrade more quickly, and will almost always print badly.

Vector images are made from mathematical calculations and will look as smooth and gorgeous at the size of a business card as they will on the side of a wall. Vector images tend to work best with solid colors and illustrations.

5. Consider the color of the paper

If, for example, you’re wanting to have a design that includes black text on a full-bleed colored background, you may want to reconsider. While this looks beautiful on the screen, it could be challenging to print, depending on the process you’re using. (Sam Carvalho)

Consider printing black text on colored paper. This is a lot easier than attempting to recreate the color. Certain papers will also add a specific texture to the final printed piece that you could never approximate on a computer screen.

6. Readability

In print design, you need to spend a lot of time concentrating on the text. Typography is a vital part of your design process.

As such, aim for eye-catching, but always remember that readability takes precedence.

7. Always keep to the grid

When it comes to good print design it is advised to always work with grids. Make use of composition guidelines and proportional relations to form the foundation of your print design idea.

There are many grid options to choose from, from the standard 3 column grid to 2 column overlaps.

8. Less is more

If you feel like your design is cluttered with text it probably is. Look at what is necessary, ensure the message is reflected, and that the call to action is visible and easily interpreted.

At the end of the day, when it comes to design, less is more. You do not want to overwhelm your audience, because they will not be able to digest your message.

9. Design for the printing process

Common printing processes include:

  • offset
  • letterpress
  • foil stamping

If you work with a full-color business card design that is reprinted often, you will be better off printing digitally in small quantities. If your design is simple and your goal is to present a premium, high-end aesthetic, letterpress will serve you better. (Sam Carvalho)

10. Be versatile

Even if you keep the above nine tips in mind, things happen. Your needs at one point may not reflect those at another.

So, above all, you should be versatile. Consider all the things that could impact your design and how it could be printed.

Useful links mentioned in this episode:

Check out these additional resources:

Meet Sam Carvalho

A photo of Samantha Carvalho is captured. She is the Chief Marketing Officer and Designer at Practice of the Practice. She is the host of the Marketing A Practice Podcast and helps therapists successfully market and brand their private practices.Sam Carvalho is a graphic designer living in Cape Town, South Africa, with over five years of experience in both design and marketing, with a special interest and experience in the start-up environment.

She has been working with Practice of the Practice since 2016 and has helped over 70 therapist entrepreneurs take their practices to the next level by enhancing their visual branding. She loves working with a variety of clients on design-intensive tasks and is always up for a challenge!

Follow Sam on Instagram to see some of her work. To work with Sam, head on over to www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding.

Thanks For Listening!

Feel free to leave a comment below or share this podcast on social media by clicking on one of the social media links below! Alternatively, leave a review on iTunes and subscribe!

Podcast Transcription

[SAM CARVALHO]
Welcome to the Marketing a Practice podcast with me, Sam Carvalho where you’ll discover everything you need to know about marketing and branding your business. To find out more about how I can help you brand new business visit www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. And if you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design.

Hi there. Thanks so much for joining me today on the Marketing a Practice podcast. This is part four of our four-part design sprint. So if you’ve missed the first three, be sure to go back and listen to them. We’ve covered logo, design, web design, digital design, and in today’s episode, we will be covering print design. These are quick fire episodes giving you a few tips around these essential design elements. So if you’re on the move while listening to this, all information will be available in our show notes.

So without further ado, let’s get started into print design. The cliché is true. You only get one chance to make a good first impression. The best thing you can do when networking is start printing assets that are clean and professional. So here are 10 tips on how to create great print designs. Number one, limit the color palette, the more colors they are to process the bigger the rest that something is going to cash. You also run a bigger risk of making the text hard to read. Additionally, if you think you’ll be printing in different processes, it will save you money to use fewer colors. Successful print design is all of about communication. So when in doubt, keep it simple.

Number two, give the peace room to breathe. Always make sure there’s ample space around texts and images. Having them cramped at the border will feel uncomfortable. If these elements are too close to the edge, you also run the risk of having crucial information cut off when the piece is trimmed down from larger sheets. The rule of thumb is a quarter inch text-safe margin or bleed for all items to compensate for any shifts in registration, during printing and cutting.

Number three, avoid borders when possible and keep it spacious when not. If you’re looking for a way to spruce up a simple design, you may think that adding a decorative border around your copy or bring a touch of elegance to it. While you wouldn’t be totally wrong, borders need to be done correctly, or you risk crowding your copy and making the design kind of unappealing. Just like other elements in your design. You want them to stay within the quarter inch feet. If there are any shifts in registration an uneven border will stick out like a sore thumb and potentially ruin otherwise a successful design. Additionally, make sure that you’re trying to put too much copy within the board. Include only what is essential. You can always add a web address as a call to action for people to find out more info.

Another thing to consider is this. When working on a computer screen, people tend to think this design is pretty good, but it would look especially nice if a copy were framed in some way. Again, they’re not wrong, but what people forget is that the piece will have a natural frame when it’s cut down to size. If you’re wondering how your piece will look in print format, pay for a printed print to provide you with a better idea.

Number four use higher resolution or vector artwork. High resolution assets are critical to a successful print design. Raster images are made up of tiny pixels. The more than that they all put in the smoother the image will look. For print production the standard is 300 DPI, The image should look beautiful at a hundred percent, but start to pixelate at 125% and larger. An image that is 72 DPI, which was made for web may start to degrade more quickly than that and almost always print baggy. Vector images on the other hand are made from mathematical calculations. So that image will look smooth and gorgeous at the size of a business card, as it will on the side of a wall. Vector images tend to work best with solid colors and illustrations.

Number five, consider the color of the paper. If for example, you’re wanting to have a design that includes black text on a full bleed colored background, you may want to reconsider. While this looks beautiful on the screen, it could be challenging to print depending on the process you’re using. There is however, another option available to you, printing black text on colored paper. This is a lot easier than attempting to recreate the color. Not only that, but certain papers will also add a specific texture to the final printed piece that you could never approximate on a computer screen.

Number six is readability. In print design you need to spend a lot of time concentrating on the text. As they say, content is king. Typography is a vital part of your design process. As such aim for eye-catching but always remember that readability takes precedence.

Number seven, always keep to the grid. When it comes to good print design, always work with grids, make use of composition guidelines and proportional relations to form the foundation of your print design idea. There are many good options to choose from, from the standard three column grade to two kind of overlaps. Pair on with your design to see what works best for you.

Number eight is less, is more. If you feel like your design is cluttered with text, it probably is. Take a look at what is necessary, ensure the message is reflected and that the call to action is visible and easily interpreted. At the end of the day, when it comes to design less is more. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience. If you do they aren’t going to read your content or digest your message.

Number nine design for the printing process. Common printing processes include offset, letterpress, foil stamping and digital. None of these is better than the other. They each have their strengths, but knowing these strengths will help you design a better printed piece. For example, if you work with a full color business card design that is reprinted often, you will be better off printing digitally in small quantities. If your design is simple and your goal is to present it premium high-end aesthetic, letterpress will serve you better. Looking to produce a large run of something that will never change. Go offset and call it a day.

And finally, number, 10 be versatile. Let’s be honest, even if you keep the about nine tips in mind, things happen. Your needs at one point may not reflect those of another. So above all, you should be versatile. Consider all the things that could impact your design and all the ways in which it could be printed. For example, avoid making your primary brand and color metallic. Why? As a general rule metallic can only print it either offset, letterpress or foil stamp. This means that at any time you need a quick digital print, you won’t be on brand. So in this case, you’d want your primary brand color to be something recognizable, but reproducible in a variety of contexts.

So in summary, the 10 tips for great print design are number one, limit the color palette. Number two, give the peace room to breathe. Number three, avoid borders when possible and keep it spacious when not. Number four, use high resolution vector artwork. Number five, consider the color of the paper. Number six, readability. Number seven always keeps it in the grid. Number eight less is more. Number nine, design for the printing process. And number 10, be versatile.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the design sprint. Again, if you missed the three episodes before this, be sure to head back. We’ve essentially covered the basics of logo design, web design, digital design, and print design. Thanks so much for joining me today and I will see you soon.

Just a heads-up that I will be going on maternity leave from November, 2021 to February, 2022 and will therefore be taking a break from podcasting. I’ll most actually begin producing episodes again from March, 2022. Thank you for your understanding and keep well.

Thanks for listening to the Marketing a Practice podcast. If you need help with branding your business, whether it be a new logo, rebrand, or you simply want some print flyer designed head on over to www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. And if you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design.

Finally, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on iTunes if you like what you’ve heard. Talk to you soon.

Marketing a Practice podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice podcast network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like Beta Male Revolution, Empowered and Unapologetic, Imperfect Thriving, or Faith in Practice, go to practiceofthepractice.com/network.

This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.