I want clients to get the most for their marketing dollar. At the same time, I want to present them in a high-end, professional manner. How to solve this? Many times, the solution is…CHEAP PRINTING.
The trick is to design pieces that fit into existing, standard products like business cards, postcards, 8.5 X 11 fliers, pocket folders, standard envelopes, and so on. There are fine printers that bundle jobs together and print everything 4-color (full color). Check out ammericasprinter.com and vistaprint.com. Look at those prices! I’ve gotten quotes that were triple those prices for a “custom” job. You can get the same quality stock and 4-color look that can be pretty pricey. Do you can that you job is printed in California if it is 1/3 the cost?
Working within an existing size, paper stock, and finish, you can still push the envelope with graphic design. You can get a 4-color brochure in high-quantity for a fraction of the price of a local printer. You don’t have to look cheap because you paid less for the printing…Sometimes you can look even higher end because you’re not limited to 2-color, digital printing, or flimsy stock.
Some things to avoid when going to one of these online guys…
Custom spot color. If you are really picky about your logo color, you have to realize that the color will be converted to CMYK and not your spot PMS color. Of course, you never get the same color due to difference in paper stock printing processes anyway. If you need 5 or 6-color printing every time, saving money is not your cup of tea in the first place.
Custom sizes. If you really want that 9X14 brochure, you may have a hard time ordering that online for a standard, flat fee. You can always call those guys and see what they charge for custom sizes because you will still get a cost savings since they run several jobs together.
Designs with solid blocks of color. Of course, I don’t totally avoid doing this. It’s a general concern with 4-color printing. When you print in 4-color, the blue, for instance is converted to tiny dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, so it’s not at solid as a spot color.
Your printing could be affected by the other random job it is run with on the same sheet. Maybe there’s a job with heavy red that causes you colors to shift. You could get weird streaks or inconsistencies due to other jobs. That might make solid areas of color something to be avoided.
Other downsides…
You can’t press check a job and see a real proof. Really important jobs should be overseen by the designer and the client at the printer to see that they are done to your satisfaction. You get what you get from the online guy.
It’s good to support your local vendors. There are some great printers here in Chicago and we consider them creative partners. They can not only help the production of the job but help the design of the job with printing options.
Having said that…
You get a lot of bang for the buck with good design and cheap printing. Just don’t skimp on the design please.
I was going to say low quantities and full-bleed envelopes, but recently we’ve worked with online suppliers that offer those things and saved us a lot of money from the local suppliers.
