Print Fellas Podcast and Blog Print Fellas Podcast and Blog

This is episode 4 of the Print Fellas Podcast, in this episode we discuss the television show Shark Tank, we go through recommended design practices for flyers, brochures, catalogs and sales sheets (one sheets). We also discuss QR Codes one more time and announce the new back design in the Print Fellas design gallery featuring a QR Code, and if you do not currently have a QR Code we will create one for you. As always, we start with this week's customer callout.

Customer Callout

This week wee callout a long tim customer who is starting a new hand crafted jewelry business. Joan Abend has been a customer for a very long time, her main expertise is marketing and website management which she has excelled - now she is using her talents to market and manage her own product, Style Cuff. We are very excited about the future of her product and we were very happy to design her logo and business cards. Congratulations Joan!

Entertainment: Shark Tank

In this week's entertainment report we discuss the show Shark Tank. Shark Tank is a show that features a board of wealthy businessmen that compete to invest in startup companies. The information you can take from this show to your business can be crucial to your success. Some of the points to note are the brutal honesty about the product or pitch, the quick thinking to take products to the next level, how much aesthetics and marketing are valued to the investors, and how you can find honest and reliable feedback for your business.

5 Great Tips For Designing Flyers, Sell Sheets, Catalogs and Brochures

While designing a new sell sheet for an online product, I decided I want to give away my design methods of how I create an effective flyer, brochure, catalog or sell sheet. My method is all about leading the reader through the sheet so that they completely understand the product, and how to take action to purchase the product. Here are the rules I follow when designing a brochure or sell sheet:

The design should only sell one specific product
Prominently feature your product name and a detailed and concise tagline
Focus the readers attention on the product
Maker sure the attention area tells the reader what your product is immediately
There has to be a call to action in order to actually sell the product to the reader
Focus the branding on the product, umbrella companies and sub brands should be less prominent

QR Code Business Card Template Now Available In the Business Card Gallery

We have launched a new QR Code product in the business card design gallery. It features a large QR Code that can provide several options when the audience scan it:

Reveal a text message
Send the audience to a website
Call a phone number
Send a text message
Save a vCard to the audience phone

These are all very useful business functions that can give you a design advantage on your next set of business cards. Please visit the Print Fellas Business Card Design Gallery to create your own QR code business card.

Conclusion

Thank you for listening, if you have any questions about the show, want to submit questions to the show, have comments or just want to say his, please leave us a note in the comment box below and we will be happy to hear from you. If you want to be featured on the next customer callout, just call or send us a message below and we will be happy to mention you on the show. Thank you!

Welcome to the Print Fellas podcast episode number three. To start off I want to admit this episode was published late - I want to deliver a 30 minute episode once per week on Tuesday night for consumption on Wednesday. This week, only after 2 episodes, I couldn't fit it in... 

Customer Callout

This week we callout Michael Torrence in Bastrop, Texas. We are finishing a custom designed business card for him and it looks like we will have the order approved soon and get it into production. Thank you Michael for your order and we look forward to continuing to serve you.

White Collar

This week in entertainment I talk about a television show called White Collar. In the episode I discuss the main character, who is a con man, is hired to counterfeit money. The scene of the old press reminded me of how printing has evolved, and the convenience of modern technology that makes printing today easier and more affordable.

Design Direction

I discuss design direction and how it effects what the appropriate outcome of the design will be. My process for design involves understanding the target audience to produce an effective brand marketing design. In this episode I talk about two projects and how the combination of the clients direction and my design process produced an effective result.

QR Code Expriment Update

The QR Code Experiment is a little off track. While designing the landing page we decided to move forward with a redesign of the website. The website redesign is long overdue, we have had a new logo for a few months now and wanted to implement it for a long time. We are using the QR Code Experiment as a good excuse to get the new look launched. Next week I will give our podcast audience an update on the progress so we can launch a new design as well as get the ball rolling on our QR code project.

Jeff here, this is our second episode of the Print Fellas podcast and we are very happy to have you listening. As a reminder you can subscribe to the Print Fellas Podcast through iTunes, or through your preferred podcast subscription service. In this episode we start with our customer callout, and have a telephone conversation with Eric Rustigian from Glen Oaks Escrow in Glendale, California about his new custom business card design. We also remind you about our current special, 20% off and free ground shipping on all business cards through April 30, 2012.

Our episode begins with an announcement about new business cards available in our business card gallery. Photography business cards have been added to our gallery to provide a new dimension of products for anyone in the visual arts industry. These designs are all new and focus on imagery and art. The contact information is minimal, but they leave plenty of room for branding. Check them out at www.printfellas.com/gallery/business-cards/photography/

We now want to review how our print gallery works. We created this gallery to streamline the process of selecting a product design and requesting modification to your specific needs. We talk about the following steps in detail:

Selecting your product
Browsing designs
Selecting your design
Entering the information you want on your design
Modifying your design with special instructions
Receiving your proofs from our designers
Reviewing your proofs through your project page
Making changes
Approval
Checkout process including address, product options, shipping and coupons
Logging in to view your progress

A new feature we added to the podcast is an entertainment discussion. In this episode we talk about the show Mad Men and how the advertising industry executives give smart tips for real world advertising efforts.

Finally, we review how subscribing to our podcast and newsletter will give you instant access to our best promotions and coupon codes that are not available anywhere else.

If you have any questions or comments please post in the comments below and we will make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Want to be our next customer callout? Let us know by sending us a message.

Thank you!

This is the first Print Fellas podcast episode, and appropriately, we are focussing on business cards. In this episode we break down everything you need to know about acquiring your business cards from design, content, paper, coating and finishing opti...