marketing communications

Marketing Communications

•Marketing communications are the “public face” of your organization.

•Viewers form an opinion about you based on the appearance of your print and online communications.

Marketing Communications

• Marketing communications should reinforce your marketing strategy.

• Discovery Channel markets itself as a cutting-edge leader in educational programming. Their print materials reflect that.

Marketing Communications

• Stay consistent with your organization’s visual identity.

• Your publications should use the logo, color scheme and typefaces that make up your organization’s visual identity.

Who Should Design What?

Don’t be penny-wise and pound foolish.

While some projects can be done in-house, other projects should be handled by someone with design expertise.

Let a pro handle the following:

• Projects that will have high visibility

• Projects that will have a long shelf life

• Complex projects such as multiple-page brochures, folders with inserts, etc.

• Projects that contain a lot of content

Keep the following in-house:

• Small projects such as fliers or tri-fold brochures

• Projects that will have a short shelf life

• Projects that are light on copy

1. Bad Typography

• Don’t use more than two different fonts in a publication.

• Don’t use illegible type.

• Don’t stretch type.

• Don’t reverse out lots of copy.

• If you want to use two different typefaces, combine a serif for body copy with a sans serif for headlines.

2. Lack of White Space

• Don’t cram tons of copy into a small space.

• Don’t run copy too close to the edge of the page.

• Do use white space. It helps readability so edit your copy.

3. Web Graphics Aren’t for Print

• Web resolution is 72 d.p.i

• Print resolution is 300 d.p.i.

• Web graphics will not reproduce well for print

4. MS Word and Design Don’t Mix

• Professional print design applications are QuarkXpress and Adobe Indesign.

• Publisher is a page layout application, but some printers don’t accept Publisher files.

• MS Word is limited in its layout capabilities.

5. Don’t Use Bad Pictures

• Good photography will enhance your publication.

• A good source for inexpensive royalty-free photography is www.istockphoto.com.

• Photography and graphics can help break up text and enhance a layout.

Printing Options

Offset Printing

• Reserved for large jobs (over 1,000) that require professional printing

• Very expensive

• Excellent quality

Printing Options

Digital Printing

• Great for small runs(under 1,000).

• Inexpensive

• Good quality

Printing Options

Inkjet Printing

• Great for very small quantities (less than 100).

• Inexpensive

• Good quality

Design is like cooking.

Several different ingredients combine to create an effective print piece.

When in doubt, keep it simple.

Resources

Books

Design Basics for Creative ResultsBy Bryan L. Peterson

The Non-Designer's Design BookBy Robin Williams