by Myra Stacey | Nov 20, 2017 | Entrepreneurship, Print Design, Web Design
When creating a design for your website or print materials, you might encounter a few terms about colors. But what are these words, why are they different, and why do you need to know? A lot of business owners don’t know these answers, so here is your guide to navigating the color world for print and web design.
CMYK
CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This is the coloring process used in commercial printing and in inkjet and laser printers you use at work. CMYK developed because of the way printers used to work (and still do, somewhat). A printer has four plates, one for each color. The color combinations are what gives you the color you want in the final image. In CMYK, colors start with white, the paper, and the different color inks are added. Your CMYK is a series of four numbers, each indicating how much of a particular color is needed.
RGB
RGB stands for red, green, and blue. This is the color model we use on monitors and screens. With this approach, all colors start with black, or darkness, and then different lights — colors — are added to show the color. Like with CMYK, RGB codes are numbers, each displaying the amount of the color shown.
Printing and Design
Graphic designers use monitors and software to create an image in RGB, but it will print a little differently because it prints in CMYK. Your graphic designer should understand the difference and convert digital files to CMYK before sending them to the printer.
When you plan to print something such as your business logo, it’s important to keep your colors consistent. The color you see on the screen may not print exactly the same way. Plus, your designer’s monitor and yours may differ as well as the printer’s. By using a specific CMYK code, you know what color to expect on your brochure or letterhead, and you can use that code to print it anywhere far into the future to attain the same consistency.
PMS
PMS stands for Pantone® Matching System. This is a way of using swatches to confirm you’re all on the same page about color, and it’s often used for printing fabrics or other textiles. CMYK may not be able to produce exactly the unique colors seen in RGB, so you might use PMS to bridge the two, accurately matching colors.
What about Hex?
Meanwhile, your website designer might ask you about your hex color codes. This is a set of six letters and numbers that indicate precisely what color will display. The code starts with a hashtag or pound sign (#). The different letters and numbers correspond to specific shades of the various colors. Knowing your hex code will ensure consistency in your brand coloring across websites. Once your graphic designer creates a logo for you, he or she can convert that into hex code for the website designer to use.
Questions about your colors? Ask us about it for your next print or web design project.
![[RECENT PROJECTS] Magazine Layout for On a Mission Magazine](https://printandwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/b2ap3_large_2017_09-1-600x675.jpg)
by Myra Stacey | Nov 16, 2017 | Inbound Marketing, Print Design
When you read a magazine, you probably don’t spend much time thinking about the design. You flip from one page to the next, enjoying the articles and the photos. That’s what good design does — makes it easy for the reader just to keep going and focus on the content.
We recently worked with a new magazine publication, organizing the layout for On a Mission. While creating a design for a magazine may sound simple to some, a publication like this takes enormous work. Each page requires consideration of the content — words and images — and what presentation will create a positive experience for the consumer.
Challenges: Magazines are also a business venture. When the On a Mission Team got started, they had a vision of creating a publication that provided spiritual and uplifting content. But for it to succeed and continue serving people, it would have to pay for itself. The team knew they needed to sell advertising, but how much? Plus, a magazine needs photographs, but they did not know you cannot pull any images from the Internet.
Solutions: We helped On a Mission organize its magazine layout, determining the number of pages based on the paid advertisements to give the publication balance between the two while still covering costs. Magazine photographs must be very large with a high resolution of at least 300 dpi. Otherwise, they print poorly and appear blurry or pixelated. We helped the team find and take images that would give the magazine a professional appearance without subjecting them to copyright lawsuits.
We first met Carolyn through another publication called Pets Uniting People Society (PUPS Digest). We are thrilled we could help with the On a Mission project, and we’re pleased to share this review from them:
“Myra was wonderful to work with! She was so professional, and her ideas for a few of our pages were excellent! Those pages ‘pop’ with color! I would highly recommend her services! On behalf of all of us at Pets Uniting People Society (PUPS Digest), thanks for a job well done! We will be back!” ~ Carolyn Hayes, director, PUPS Digest / Pets Uniting People Society
We look forward to helping more magazine teams with layout and design. Contact us for guidance on your next print project.
by Myra Stacey | Feb 2, 2017 | Print Design
For many small business owners, the way to get new business is to meet new contacts. Networking can be one of the cheapest ways to pick up new business. Networking is a great way to interact with your target audience, (provided that you are attending the right networking functions) exchange information and develop relationships.
There are two things you need in order to make your networking more effective. The first is a great 30 second elevator pitch that not only says what you do but also says who you do it for. For example: instead of saying “I am a print and web designer.” I could say something like, “I help small to medium sized businesses get noticed both online and offline using marketing strategies.”
The second thing you need to make your networking more effective is to have a stellar business card. If you think about it, your business card is usually the first thing your prospect gets from you. So why not make a good impression?
That’s why hiring a good designer is a wise investment. Yes, it is an investment. Yes, I know you can do it yourself and go to one of those places that will let you do your own design and send you business cards cheap.
Online Business Card Printing Company?
The problem with using those do-it-yourself online business card printing companies is that you can almost always tell that the business card came from there and that you chose to use the cheap method. What kind of message does that send to your potential client that you just spent time with trying to get to know better?
Those cheap business cards that you design yourself say that you aren’t really serious about your business and you may not be in business for long. Whereas a stellar business card shows that you are a professional that cares and knows what you are doing.
The best business cards designs always follow these tips:
Keep it simple – your business card is only so big, so try to fit everything about your business on it. You want your name on it of course and your contact information but don’t clutter things up too much. Oh, and make sure that the information is legible. You want the font size large enough so that it is comfortable to read.
Get help from a professional designer – not only will you have a stellar business card but ideally your designer is also tasked with designing your other business materials so it will be easy to keep your brand image going across everything.
Think about how you look at other people’s business cards when you are making the decision concerning yours. When you get a cheap business card, do you think less of the person and their company?
Do yourself and your business a favor and make sure that your business card reflects positively on you and your business. Print and Web Design would be happy to help customize business cards for you.
