3 things to consider for binding a printed brochure or catalogue

There are many options on binding a brochure or catalogue and very often it can be the last thing to give much consideration to: Always ask yourself 3 questions:

1. What binding will work best?
2. Will it look good?
3. How much will cost?

Lets look at 2 examples selling the same type of product - property

The first one is wiro bound.

As you can see, the product lays flat beautifully, allowing the reader to comfortably work their way through the brochure without having to fight with the spine or lose their page.
In addition, although subjective, wiro can look smart, contemporary and exclusive.
Last but not least, wiro can be expensive on longer run lengths so with quantities of 5,000 and above the budget will hurt.

With this example, the perfect bound spine looks very neat, text and imagery can be visible and it is a cost effective method of binding. There is a minimum thickness required for this type of binding to work effectively though.
The main issue is that the contents is always wanting to "close" making a less enjoyable experience for the reader.

Like most things in life, compromises have to be made - just prioritise!

Jewellery Printing - creative product information cards

This is a really novel and dinky little printed product. This clever design allows the jewellery company, based in Kent,  to change the message or their products as they produce new ranges.

As you can see there is a generic printed outer wallet that is die-cut and matt laminated. This outer wallet can then be used across all the different product ranges.

The little product cards can easily and economically produced. Obviously if it's an exclusive range and the thus a short print then these cards can be printed digital - conversely longer runs would be produced litho. The only concern would be to make sure that both the digital and litho presses are calibrated to keep consistent colours across the brand.

The other thing I like about these cards is that having the product cards inside a wallet makes the whole product special - almost becomes like a mini brochure. It means the the recipient will be more inclined to keep the printed item and hence all the benefits related to that.

Effective use of metallic inks for brochure printing

Metallics inks such as gold and silver can enhance the impact of your brochure but you must follow the tips below:

1). Always print onto coated stock. To achieve the desired iridescent effect the metallic ink must sit smoothly onto the paper surface. Uncoated papers and boards will kill the effective and the ink will look very flat.

2). Never cover the metallic inks with a Matt lamination. Printed brochures and catalogues usually have a lamination to the cover. Howver if you have metallic ink on your cover, a matt lamination will kill the iridescent effect. You will find, metallic silver will look grey, and gold will appear to be a standard brown.

3). Use Spot UV: if you do have to have a matt lamination to your brochure or catalogue and you want your metallics to stand out and not look flat then apply a spot UV to the metallic area - you will find that the metallic iridescent effect will return. Gloss lamination enhances the metallic effect so if you need to laminate and spot UV is not in your budget then go this option.

4). Increase metallic coverage area: the larger the printed metallic area, the better the metallic effect. So for example, if the inside of your product catalogue is plain then this is an opportunity to cover with a metallic.

5). There are other metallics other than gold and silver: ther are some great metallic ink colours on the market - choosing one of these can make your marketing brochure stand out out from the rest.

High Quality Digital Printing in London and Kent

There are many companies offering digital printing but the quality variations are huge as are the prices. There are many different presses on the market and they are improving almost on a six monthly cycle.
At Avenue, we fit the press to the job, (as opposed to most printers where the job has to fit on their machinery) thereby ensuring the very best quality and value for each job.
In addition to this, there are digital manufacturers who are better priced for multipage short run  brochures than say flyers or printed stationery.
One of the other benefits to digital printing other than economic is the speed of turn round. Again we find that some of our manufacturers may take a little longer than average but produce a superior job. This is also true of finishing; I have witnessed beautiful print only to be let down down by appalling trimming and binding.
If you find the right digital printer to do your job you will get the perfect job for a lot less than you thought.

Catalogue printing builds customer loyalty

Catalogue printing can appear to be something of a luxury when it's so easy to pop your products up onto your website and wait for the orders to come in.

OK, you've got to make sure you can be found by the search engines or you may have emailed prospective clients a link to your website. This is standard practice but it also means that everyone else is doing the same as you and that when your prospect searches for a product you may not be in the Google top 5 and never get a look in.

A printed catalogue is an invaluable tool to send to customers and prospects. Only last week, Next reported 11.8% increase in their Directory business as opposed to 3.5% fall in profits in the rest of their business. Once someone has your catalogue they are no longer looking at the competition. This helps ensure you not only keep their bsuiness but also helps maintain your margins.

So next time you think "can I afford to produce a printed catalogue"  or invest in brochure printing , the question you maybe should be asking is, "Can I afford not to?"