Archive for the ‘Online Graphic Design’ Category

Communication is vital for businesses and the material you use for communications can have a massive impact on the overall image of your business. This is why it is so important to get your business stationery design including your letterhead, business cards and compliment slips absolutely right. Sometimes our clients are a little unsure of exactly what to include on their letterhead, so we’ve put together this guide to take you through the key components to an effective letterhead design.

Contact Details

It probably goes without saying, but all business stationery should give people the information they need to be able to get in touch with you. A letterhead should include your contact address (if you have a different registered address, your contact address should be the one you use here) as well as your main phone number. You could also include an email address and the address of your website as people are increasingly using the internet as a preferred method to get in touch.

Logo

Your logo is vital to your brand and it helps people to identify your company. It also builds confidence as it lends legitimacy to your letterhead, as well as adding one of the key points of interest. Traditionally, the logo was always at the top left of a letterhead but with many of our clients looking for something more innovative we have previously placed logos in many different locations, including as a ‘watermark’ across the main part of the page.

Tagline

A lot of businesses like to include a brief tagline on their letterhead design to let people know instantly about what they do. This could be a short mission statement or something which describes the business. For example, Add Design uses ‘The online graphic designers.’ This lets people know what we are (graphic designers) and what makes us unique (we work online). A Tagline is especially important if you are using the letterhead to engage with new customers, as they many be unfamilar with the brand and what it is that you offer them.

Company Number

You are legally required to include your company number somewhere in the design of all business stationery, so you should definitely include this somewhere on your letterhead.

Registered Company Address

Again, you have a legal requirement to include your registered company address on your business stationery. Often, this will be different from your main contact address so we often include the registered address in the footer so it is not confused with the preferred address for communications. Alongside the registered company address should be the full registered name of the company, or if it is a trading name then you should include the registered company it belongs to.

VAT Number

Depending on what you are using your letterhead for, you might or might not have to include your VAT number. If you are using the stationery to send out invoices or credit notes, then you will definitely need to include it. If, however, you are using your letterhead for correspondence only then it will be up to you whether you choose to include your VAT number or not.

Accreditation Logos

Many of our customers include the logos for accreditations and professional memberships which they have. This adds significant weight to the company presentation and is one of the key ways of instantly showing your quality of service to customers. If you do include accreditation logos then ensure that you will be accredited by each organisation throughout the period you expect to use the letterhead (otherwise you will have to reprint if the accreditation changes). You might also need to check the rules on usage for each logo as many accrediting organisations have strict rules on how their logos can be used.

Business Stationery Design – Add Design are UK graphic designers offering a full range of graphic design services to clients in the UK and internationally. Our business stationery design packages include professional business card design, logo design, letterhead design and compliment slip design.

Flyer Graphic Design – when people think about creating a business flyer, they always think A5 flyer size. In fact, we design more A5 flyers than any other product. However, despite its diminutive size, there are many advantages to downsizing to a standard A6 postcard for your promotion. Sure, the promotional postcard gives you less space for your message. But what it lacks in space – it can make up for in impact and, designed correctly, can make your promotion that much more effective. Here’s how.

Friendly

Maybe because it is less intrusive, or perhaps because it has those associations of being sent out from holiday – but there is something more friendly about the postcard over the flyer. Depending on the product being advertised, this can immediately help set the right tone for the promotion. In this example for Happi Days Dog Day Care, the bright colours, paw prints and funky design create a light and playful design which really suits a postcard size – much better than an A5 flyer!

Keepable

People are used to keeping postcards stuck to the fridge or pinned to a noticeboard. With an A5 flyer the impact needs to be made instantaneously, yet with a postcard the chances of it being kept around the home or office as a reminder for action is higher. This works particularly well in combination with an offer or discount. If a potential customer thinks that they will use the service at some point in the future, then a postcard is more likely to be kept for a later date.

Passable

As well as being more likely to be kept, a postcard is also more likely to be passed around. While passing a larger flyer to a friend may be a little odd, handing over a small promotional postcard with something they may be interested in seems fine.

Useable

Let us not forget that a postcard is also useable as a postcard – as long as it is designed correctly. With the right design on the front, and appropriate space on the back your promotional postcard can be used to write notes and reminders to keep or to send to others. The more creative and interesting the design, the more likely your postcard is to live beyond its initial promotional purpose.

These postcards for Adele Design are more than usable, they are collectable. 4 different designs connect together to create a single image of Adele’s iconic chair design.

Creative graphic design – here is an idea.

Alternatively you can have the best of both worlds. Our A5 Reply Mailer starts as an A5 business flyer, but has a perforation across the middle allowing a postcard sized part to be removed. This can be used as a return postcard, but it can also be used for a discount voucher, reminder or promotional postcard to pass on to a friend or stick to the fridge. For more information – visit our flyer graphic design section.

Add Design offer a wide range of flyer design and printing options for small, medium and large businesses. All of our flyer design packages come with bespoke graphic design, high quality printing and free UK delivery. We work with clients both in the UK and internationally.

While professional flyer design is vitally important, the way that you distribute your flyer to target customers is also key to a successful promotion. On a month to month basis, we will be looking at how to get the most out of flyer design, marketing and the various distribution methods on offer. Last month, it was using a mailing list. This month, how to successfully distribute your business flyer through a magazine or newspaper.

Choosing the publication

Most publications offer to take flyers as inserts. To them, it is an easy way to bulk advertising revenue without filling vital page space. Choosing which publication you should use for your flyer distribution will be important in maximising your response rates – so choose carefully.

Firstly, consider the likely readers of the publication. Are they likely to be the same people who will be interested in your product or service? Ask the publication for details on the socio-economic profile of their readers and see how it matches up to your target market. But don’t just consider them socially, also think geographically. Where are the readers located, and how suitable is this for your marketing? If some of the magazines are going out of area, then ask the publication if they can split the distribution down into smaller regions so your flyer is only included in those areas where you will get the best impact

Secondly, consider the way that the publication is delivered. Many publications will bulk out their distribution figures by dropping large numbers of magazines in a single location, such as a hotel or tourist information centre where they may be less or more effective. So don’t just ask for distribution figures, ask for the distribution methods and how many copies are allocated for each. Again, depending on size, the publication may let you choose which copies of the magazine you would like to include your promotion.

Inside or outside

Just as important as which publication you choose, is how your flyer will be included. It may be placed within the magazine, could be delivered alongside the magazine (i.e. put through the letterbox at the same time but otherwise unconnected) or may be included within the wrap of the magazine. There is a key difference here and how your flyer is included will make a big difference on the likelihood of success. Think about any magazines you get. Which inserts do you get to see (probably the ones within the pages) and which do you throw out without further thought (the ones left in the plastic sleeve once you have pulled the magazine out).

Competition for attention

When you are being included in a publication you don’t want to be competing for attention, and you certainly don’t want to be included alongside your competitor. It is perfectly acceptable to ask the publication how many other inserts are likely to be included, and whether they have a maximum number. If you are going a large scale distribution you can also ask for exclusivity (i.e. you ask that no competing or related inserts are included alongside yours). However, even if you are doing a smaller distribution you can politely ask the publication to let you know if a competing flyer is set to be included so you can reschedule for another month.

Sample testing

As with any methodology, it pays to experiment first. Rather than putting all your money in to a single distribution, try a sample test first by targeting just a single area or single publication. Make sure that you have a way of monitoring the response rates either through a discount code or specific offer, so you can measure the response. Whereas normal magazine advertising is something you need to stick with over a period of time, the success or failure of your distribution can be measured within two weeks of distribution.

How can we help? Alongside designing your flyer to maximise your response rate, we can advise on the best distribution methods to get the most from your marketing budget.

Professional Flyer Design – Add Design offer a wide range of flyer design and print packages for small, medium and large businesses. All packages include bespoke graphic design work, high quality printing and free UK delivery.

Add Design are a flyer design company. Although based in the UK, we have customers across the world. Our online design and print service attracts a number of international clients looking for high quality promotional material to distribute in the UK, or across their counties of operation.

Previously we have worked for companies based across Europe, in the US, South Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Here is how our flyer design and online design and print service works for international clients.

Enquiry & Quotation

 

E-mail us your enquiry and we can provide a quotation. We will need to know the type of promotional material you are looking for, whether that is flyers, leaflets, brochures, catalogues, corporate folders and so on, as well as information on how you would like the final product supplied. Here are the options.

1. We can design your flyer or brochure and send print-ready files to be printed by a printer in your own country.
2. We can design your flyer or brochure as an electronic brochure, to be sent to clients via email.
3. We can design and print your flyer or brochure, and deliver it directly to your UK contact or distribution house.
4. We can design and print your flyer or brochure, and deliver it to any global address (additional delivery costs apply).

We can send samples of our previous design and print work by email or by post to any international address.

The Design Process

Our design process is no different for international clients. We start with the design brief questionnaire which we can send via e-mail for you to complete. Each of the drafting stages is sent as PDF via email for you to approve and provide feedback on. Once the final design is complete, you can sign-off the work by completing our online confirmation form.

Our design and print process was created to work online, so international clients can expect the same level of service and attention as any other clients.

Language

The vast majority of our work is in English, or is bilingual (English and one other language). If you would like your work in any language other than English then we simply need the text provided as a Word document.

On larger projects, we may be able to provide translation services – either into English, or from English into an alternative language. This is especially useful for UK companies looking to promote abroad, or for international clients which have existing material in another language.

Payment

 

All payment must be made in British Pounds. You can pay us via bank transfer or pay online by VISA or Mastercard. You can also pay us using PayPal. Paypal does not charge currency conversion fees so this will allow you to pay in your native currency with no additional charges.

 

Delivery

If you just need artwork, then we can send it directly to you via email. Alternatively, we can print your design and send it to any address in the UK or abroad. For International deliveries we will choose the most cost effective carrier available and can provide tracking numbers so you can track your print work as it travels.

How can we help? If you are looking for a UK-based designer, then please contact us. Our online design and print service is perfect for international clients – providing outstanding designs and quality print work directly to any country in the world.

Add Design are a flyer design company, specialising in high quality, innovate graphic design. Click here for more information on our graphic design services.