Here is a free lesson on flexibility. Now, bend over and touch your toes...Ha-ha...us old printers do like a laugh! No, what I want to talk about is being flexible with your printer. We often have people stop by and want prices for printing on some odd sizes, colors,and papers. Some times a printer will suggest a discount on a job if they can run the job on some odd stock they have laying around. What can then happen is the job is always run on a wierd stock or color etc... If you can be Flexible, tell your printer and ask for ideas.
Every print shop has certain sizes and stocks that work well with their machinery. Most quick print shops get nervous with anything over eleven by seventeen inches. In contrast, some shops will run a twenty by twenty-six in sheet, or twenty-eight by forty, or twenty-five by thirty-eight. Now heres the interesting part. A print buyer will understand the best size sheet to run a job on and will learn which shops run that size. However, most businesses now days have eliminated the print buyer position, and have given this fine job to the first person that said yes. This new buyer goes for a drive to find a printer. Usually one can be found next door to a Pizza shop or the Dry Cleaners etc... When they walk in the door and show the printer behind the counter what they need printed, you will see a smile spread across their face. They know just the printer for the job, and are happy to mark the cost up to pay for the wear and tear of calling and ordering that job done by another print shop. The customer will pay a hefty price for not being trained to buy printing.
A good print shop will explain to their customers what jobs they can't do in house, and will offer to prepare the job for another shop and handle the finishing etc...
NO ONE SHOP CAN DO IT ALL !!!
Forget the stupid adverts that yell--No job to big-No job to small, we do it all!
What that kind of ad should say is "We don't do anything very well"
If you can be flexible, and open to suggestions, you will find a shop that you can work with, and then get out of the way and let them do what they do best. We love to print and bend over backwards for our customers.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Paper has feeling too.
Have you ever felt paper? I mean really felt it? The tactile feel of paper adds an interesting element to every printed job. You can think of it as an easy way to boost the response to every job. A two color newsletter for instance, printed on a pastel colored paper, gives the impression of three or more colors of print. Going from white to colored paper is not a very big jump in cost, yet adds enough of perceived benefit that I think it is worthwhile. Some of the off-white colors available add a sense of age and trust, while the brighter colors add a sense of excitement and energy.
Another option to consider, is the papers finish. You can get paper with many differant types of feel nowdays. One popular finish is called linen, or Irish linen. When you feel this paper it has very fine stripe like ridges that criss-cross the sheet. Most people will hardly even notice it, but will think of it as nicer than plain paper. One sheet not seen much is called oxford and has raised bumps in a grid like pattern. Some sheets have swirl patterns, and even snake skin like design right in the paper. Most of these unusual sheets do cost quite a bit though.
Then there are the heavier textured sheets which have rough finishes on both sides of the sheet. These are mainly used for report covers, business cards, menus etc... Some sheets have glitter or various colored splotches mixed right into the sheet as it is made. Paper can be made with one color on one side and another color on the reverse. These are called duplex papers, and make for really cool business cards.
Whatever paper you choose to dress up your printed project, it should be dicussed early on with your printer. Some of the odd papers involve minimum orders, or several days/weeks to get delivery. By using a textured or colored sheet, you will always add one more element of involvement with the end user.
A lovely brochure in a plain white envelope misses out on getting the end user excited and interested and may result in being tossed in the trash before opening. Get your finger tips on the alert, and see paper by feel. Subconsciously you will discover that how you feel about the paper product, has alot to do with how you percieve the business, or person giving it to you.
Be carefull rubbing a newspaper though, as newsprint ink really never dries! When reading a newspaper and your fingers turn black, just remember, it is recycling old junky ink that would have been dumped in the landfill if the newspaper companies did'nt use it up.
Another option to consider, is the papers finish. You can get paper with many differant types of feel nowdays. One popular finish is called linen, or Irish linen. When you feel this paper it has very fine stripe like ridges that criss-cross the sheet. Most people will hardly even notice it, but will think of it as nicer than plain paper. One sheet not seen much is called oxford and has raised bumps in a grid like pattern. Some sheets have swirl patterns, and even snake skin like design right in the paper. Most of these unusual sheets do cost quite a bit though.
Then there are the heavier textured sheets which have rough finishes on both sides of the sheet. These are mainly used for report covers, business cards, menus etc... Some sheets have glitter or various colored splotches mixed right into the sheet as it is made. Paper can be made with one color on one side and another color on the reverse. These are called duplex papers, and make for really cool business cards.
Whatever paper you choose to dress up your printed project, it should be dicussed early on with your printer. Some of the odd papers involve minimum orders, or several days/weeks to get delivery. By using a textured or colored sheet, you will always add one more element of involvement with the end user.
A lovely brochure in a plain white envelope misses out on getting the end user excited and interested and may result in being tossed in the trash before opening. Get your finger tips on the alert, and see paper by feel. Subconsciously you will discover that how you feel about the paper product, has alot to do with how you percieve the business, or person giving it to you.
Be carefull rubbing a newspaper though, as newsprint ink really never dries! When reading a newspaper and your fingers turn black, just remember, it is recycling old junky ink that would have been dumped in the landfill if the newspaper companies did'nt use it up.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Paper from bear food.
Just like most koala bears, I am looking forward to some eucalyptus tomorrow. As a printer, one sheet I always love to work with is a sheet made from eucalyptus tree fibers. We buy a brand made in Portugal where they are producing a great sheet of paper from these little bush sized trees. Instead of raising pine trees for seven to fifteen years to make paper, eucalyptus is ready in five years. It also is a very long fiber, which makes for great printing and folding. I understand that a few of the big paper mills here in the USA are experimenting with making this kind of paper down south right now. I hope they get going with this project as I prefer to buy a U.S.A. made product when possible.
Another advantage to the long fiber is that when the scrap is recycled, it blends in with other shorter fibers to extend the whole recycle cycle. I've never tried eating a sheet because, who wants to look like a Koala?
This paper has been around for a few years now, and is well worth asking your printer about. It is very white (97) and opaque, as well as one of the cheaper sheets around. For anyone out there familiar with such things...this paper compares with Cougar for quality and run ability. For those not familiar with paper...Cougar is not made from cougars! So please bear with me here...the paper from Portugal is not destroying koala food! Any koala bears seen in the bush in Portugal are on vacation! Hopefully they won't drink any port wine while there. Can you imagine a koala with a red nose? Come on now, koala bears have a very funny noses.
Speaking of eating...I got to wondering about McDonalds the other day. I was half way through a number twelve Angus Burger, and lov'en it, when I thought, I wonder when Mc'yD's started. Thanks to Google, I found the original one was started in 1948. No wonder I didn't remember that! They now have over 31,000 stores around the world. A new store opens every 4 hours. Our humble little print shop opened in 1956 and today we have exactly one store world wide. Here is one final thought for this post...in printing do not sacrifice quality for speed. Allowing your printer more time almost always results in a better job. If you ask your printer to print on a eucalyptus paper, you will be pleased with the results. After all 80,000 Koalas can't be wrong!
Another advantage to the long fiber is that when the scrap is recycled, it blends in with other shorter fibers to extend the whole recycle cycle. I've never tried eating a sheet because, who wants to look like a Koala?
This paper has been around for a few years now, and is well worth asking your printer about. It is very white (97) and opaque, as well as one of the cheaper sheets around. For anyone out there familiar with such things...this paper compares with Cougar for quality and run ability. For those not familiar with paper...Cougar is not made from cougars! So please bear with me here...the paper from Portugal is not destroying koala food! Any koala bears seen in the bush in Portugal are on vacation! Hopefully they won't drink any port wine while there. Can you imagine a koala with a red nose? Come on now, koala bears have a very funny noses.
Speaking of eating...I got to wondering about McDonalds the other day. I was half way through a number twelve Angus Burger, and lov'en it, when I thought, I wonder when Mc'yD's started. Thanks to Google, I found the original one was started in 1948. No wonder I didn't remember that! They now have over 31,000 stores around the world. A new store opens every 4 hours. Our humble little print shop opened in 1956 and today we have exactly one store world wide. Here is one final thought for this post...in printing do not sacrifice quality for speed. Allowing your printer more time almost always results in a better job. If you ask your printer to print on a eucalyptus paper, you will be pleased with the results. After all 80,000 Koalas can't be wrong!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
2953 Bytes, no sharks need apply.
Every once and a while something comes along that gives me goose bumps ! No, it is not a Great White cruising up from below, it is the QR code. Now, let me 'splain.
The QR code is a little ( or big ) dot matrix code that you may already have seen in magazines, billboards, or even paintings and dog t-shirts! They look just like the design just to the right of this blog. Apart from being quite cute they are amazing little doodles! They can contain 2,953 Bytes of information. To you math nuts out there, that is 7089 Numeric characters. To you typists out there, that number equals 4,296 characters of information.
These codes are read by any portable type scanner ( I-Phone etc ) and communicates with the person scanning in many ways. It took a friend of mine roughly 5 seconds to search for-download-install the free scanner code for her I-Phone. One more click and she was looking at my web site. Any goose bumps yet? Just think how easy it is to link to a web page or blog etc. with one of these free yet cute little codes.
Now, as a printer, I see these QR codes being used on business cards, brochures, newsletters, envelopes, etc... They could even be used to link to a unique coupon or special web page to test mailing response rates or...?
They were invented by a car parts company in Japan in 1994 and I believe they are about to explode in use in America. Talk to your printer about these neat codes and don't miss the new wave.
As someone once said "Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone". Hope this post makes you wise to a great opportunity.
I would love to hear of other great uses and ideas on these codes. Someone with a bit of time could come up with quite a cool pattern for a Navajo rug for one.
Read comment #1 below...it is very good!
The QR code is a little ( or big ) dot matrix code that you may already have seen in magazines, billboards, or even paintings and dog t-shirts! They look just like the design just to the right of this blog. Apart from being quite cute they are amazing little doodles! They can contain 2,953 Bytes of information. To you math nuts out there, that is 7089 Numeric characters. To you typists out there, that number equals 4,296 characters of information.
These codes are read by any portable type scanner ( I-Phone etc ) and communicates with the person scanning in many ways. It took a friend of mine roughly 5 seconds to search for-download-install the free scanner code for her I-Phone. One more click and she was looking at my web site. Any goose bumps yet? Just think how easy it is to link to a web page or blog etc. with one of these free yet cute little codes.
Now, as a printer, I see these QR codes being used on business cards, brochures, newsletters, envelopes, etc... They could even be used to link to a unique coupon or special web page to test mailing response rates or...?
They were invented by a car parts company in Japan in 1994 and I believe they are about to explode in use in America. Talk to your printer about these neat codes and don't miss the new wave.
As someone once said "Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone". Hope this post makes you wise to a great opportunity.
I would love to hear of other great uses and ideas on these codes. Someone with a bit of time could come up with quite a cool pattern for a Navajo rug for one.
Read comment #1 below...it is very good!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Honey she said...
Sometimes my wife calls me honey. Usually, when I hear this I know it is going to cost me something. Inside, I wonder if actually this is her way of calling me a drip! Did you know there are 29,184 drips of honey in one pound? Can you imagine the poor nut that sat at a table with one pound of honey drip, drip, dripping away all day? I can just hear his wife saying "so honey, how was your day?"
Speaking of slow drips...I intend to share a few thoughts on the United States Postal Service. Let me set the table by saying that there are a few hard working individuals there. Let me also say, there are some "workers" there that do nothing!!! I have seen several individuals sitting and chatting while a paying customer waited for TWENTY MINUTES for service. I know because it was me. We mail quite a few mailings at the local sorting center every month, and when you see the chaos that is churning away behind closed doors, you wonder how anything ever gets done. In contrast, go to a UPS, or FEDEX facility and you will see everybody busy with a well organized task working like bees! They produce honey. The USPS produces wax.
On our last mailing, which was a magazine that mails to something like 23 different countries, our dear Post Office called to complain that the weight we had entered on the official form was off by .003 of a pound. I should also say that we had "over paid" by that amount. We had to have someone return to the Post Office (a half hour drive) and re-do the form to the correct weight! The worker bee that called was polite and may I say totally nuts...how he managed to say all of that without laughing I do not know.
If you wonder how the USPS keeps losing money every year, this is partly why. The rate to mail a magazine involves, how many pages or percentage of pages of advertising is in each issue, total weight (to the thousandth of an once) then they must be sorted by zip code etc. banded in groups depending on number mailed per zip code, placed in bags and tagged by zip code destination, many pages of shipping forms filled out and then paid by check. Now imagine that everytime you call with a question, you get someone who gives a different answer than the person who accepts the finished mail bags. Every mailing is different and every person asked a question gives a different answer, every worker bee in the back has a different opinion on how everything needs to be done. Miss one little detail and the whole process grinds to a halt, and you get to start over.
Why won't the USPS just take any package, check the weight-check the zip code-and be done with it. Instead, we have a pink elephant that has slowly but surely, slowed service down with mountains of paper work, slow unenthusiastic staff, endless regulations, volumes of detail that change daily, that will not change because it has grown to big. Drop Saturday delivery of mail, and UPS along with FEDEX etc...have won the game.
I need to stop and get a cup of coffee to steady my nerves. Am I alone in wondering why the Post Office runs like honey in winter?
Speaking of slow drips...I intend to share a few thoughts on the United States Postal Service. Let me set the table by saying that there are a few hard working individuals there. Let me also say, there are some "workers" there that do nothing!!! I have seen several individuals sitting and chatting while a paying customer waited for TWENTY MINUTES for service. I know because it was me. We mail quite a few mailings at the local sorting center every month, and when you see the chaos that is churning away behind closed doors, you wonder how anything ever gets done. In contrast, go to a UPS, or FEDEX facility and you will see everybody busy with a well organized task working like bees! They produce honey. The USPS produces wax.
On our last mailing, which was a magazine that mails to something like 23 different countries, our dear Post Office called to complain that the weight we had entered on the official form was off by .003 of a pound. I should also say that we had "over paid" by that amount. We had to have someone return to the Post Office (a half hour drive) and re-do the form to the correct weight! The worker bee that called was polite and may I say totally nuts...how he managed to say all of that without laughing I do not know.
If you wonder how the USPS keeps losing money every year, this is partly why. The rate to mail a magazine involves, how many pages or percentage of pages of advertising is in each issue, total weight (to the thousandth of an once) then they must be sorted by zip code etc. banded in groups depending on number mailed per zip code, placed in bags and tagged by zip code destination, many pages of shipping forms filled out and then paid by check. Now imagine that everytime you call with a question, you get someone who gives a different answer than the person who accepts the finished mail bags. Every mailing is different and every person asked a question gives a different answer, every worker bee in the back has a different opinion on how everything needs to be done. Miss one little detail and the whole process grinds to a halt, and you get to start over.
Why won't the USPS just take any package, check the weight-check the zip code-and be done with it. Instead, we have a pink elephant that has slowly but surely, slowed service down with mountains of paper work, slow unenthusiastic staff, endless regulations, volumes of detail that change daily, that will not change because it has grown to big. Drop Saturday delivery of mail, and UPS along with FEDEX etc...have won the game.
I need to stop and get a cup of coffee to steady my nerves. Am I alone in wondering why the Post Office runs like honey in winter?
Friday, July 16, 2010
Not so cool paper.
It was so hot today I saw two trees fighting over a dog! No really, it was so hot Chicago Cubs fans took the bags off their heads. If you've ever heard that silly saying from people who live in Arizona, where it never gets humid, they say "yeah it's hot, but it's a dry heat" Here near Chicago it is humid hot today! As my friend Dave says..."it's the differance between a baked potato and a boiled potato". Both are cooked!
Being a printer, I get to work in rather comfortable temp's the year 'round. Do you know why? It's your lucky day...I'll tell you why.
Paper is a very sensitive material. When it gets hot it spreads out and grows larger. Kinda like your Brother in law drinking iced tea all day by the pool. For printers though, this is a bad thing. If you print one side of a sheet of paper, and let it sit all weekend in a hot shop, by monday morning nothing will line up on side two! The opposite happens in the winter. When paper gets cold it shrinks. So next time your printer makes a mess of your job, just remember, they are fighting the weather as well as the designer!
Where I work, we keep the shop around seventy degrees year 'round. If the weather is great (about once per year) we open the doors and enjoy the fresh air. If you've ever walked into a busy print shop, usually the first thing you notice is the smell. That is not the salesperson...it is the chemicals used to clean ink off of the presses. Inside most print shops you will find a variety of chemicals used to make paper "behave". There is even a nasty sounding spray we use on ink cans called "anti-skin spray". Don't ever try to take this with you in your carry-on bags.
Paper can survive extreme cold (Ahhhhh) and temperatures as high as 450 degrees F. A funny thing happens to paper once it reaches 451 degrees - it ignites with a whoosh sound and burns to ashes! I guess this is why frozen (Ahhhh) pizzas cook at 400 degrees. The little cardboard tray they cook on, is.... guess what? BINGO!, you are right. Recycled paper. This is what happens to old cereal boxes and other things nearing the end of recyclable life.
I need to stop for some ice cream. One of my next blogs is going to be about our lovely Post Office, and the fun little games we play with them over .001 of and ounce.
Keep up the comments everyone. I don't post them all, but it makes me feel important to get them.
Being a printer, I get to work in rather comfortable temp's the year 'round. Do you know why? It's your lucky day...I'll tell you why.
Paper is a very sensitive material. When it gets hot it spreads out and grows larger. Kinda like your Brother in law drinking iced tea all day by the pool. For printers though, this is a bad thing. If you print one side of a sheet of paper, and let it sit all weekend in a hot shop, by monday morning nothing will line up on side two! The opposite happens in the winter. When paper gets cold it shrinks. So next time your printer makes a mess of your job, just remember, they are fighting the weather as well as the designer!
Where I work, we keep the shop around seventy degrees year 'round. If the weather is great (about once per year) we open the doors and enjoy the fresh air. If you've ever walked into a busy print shop, usually the first thing you notice is the smell. That is not the salesperson...it is the chemicals used to clean ink off of the presses. Inside most print shops you will find a variety of chemicals used to make paper "behave". There is even a nasty sounding spray we use on ink cans called "anti-skin spray". Don't ever try to take this with you in your carry-on bags.
Paper can survive extreme cold (Ahhhhh) and temperatures as high as 450 degrees F. A funny thing happens to paper once it reaches 451 degrees - it ignites with a whoosh sound and burns to ashes! I guess this is why frozen (Ahhhh) pizzas cook at 400 degrees. The little cardboard tray they cook on, is.... guess what? BINGO!, you are right. Recycled paper. This is what happens to old cereal boxes and other things nearing the end of recyclable life.
I need to stop for some ice cream. One of my next blogs is going to be about our lovely Post Office, and the fun little games we play with them over .001 of and ounce.
Keep up the comments everyone. I don't post them all, but it makes me feel important to get them.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Plunge into graphic design.
Well...to make a long story short...we had to have a toilet replaced at home. I thought to myself, this reminds me of printing. Why is it that everything relates to printing? What I thought about is this...
I could rip the little thingy out of the tank and replace it with a new thingy from the hardware store. Who knows, it might even work! But instead, my wife called a plumber, who came over and installed a new thingy and adjusted the little doo-dad, and only charged us one months tuition for his daughter in college. (joke)
Now the point is...if I had "fixed" it, would that make me a plumber? The answer is NO! In order to be a plumber, you must learn the trade and then roll up your sleeves, (drop yer pants about two inches) and learn some more. A real plumber knows how to install, fix, or remove plumbing stuff. I suppose I should put in a plug here for my plumber Ed at All Suburban Plumbing.
The same applies to printing. Most people have access to a computer and think that now they are graphic designers. However, most don't know the problems and tricks of good design. A computer is great for rough draft ideas, but get your printer involved early on in the design process, so they can give some tips that will help avoid problems in production, and produce a finished product that looks best.
Everyday enough paper is recycled to fill the boxcars on a train fourteen miles long. Having worked in printing for thirty one years now, I can assure you that some of those cars contain jobs that were not designed right.
People who know such things, say that the human eye can detect ten million colors. That is the average human being. Print buyers, like the kind I know, can dectect roughly ten times that many! Good design work helps the production department with colors that run the best on press, and avoid scuffing problems in the finishing process. Digital presses are only as good as the operator who adjusts the colors on the computer.
We cannot all be good at everything! Let your printer do what they are good at. If you do the work all by yourself, you'd best be prepared for leaks. Don't plunge in over your head...just sit down and relax, and let your printer print.
I could rip the little thingy out of the tank and replace it with a new thingy from the hardware store. Who knows, it might even work! But instead, my wife called a plumber, who came over and installed a new thingy and adjusted the little doo-dad, and only charged us one months tuition for his daughter in college. (joke)
Now the point is...if I had "fixed" it, would that make me a plumber? The answer is NO! In order to be a plumber, you must learn the trade and then roll up your sleeves, (drop yer pants about two inches) and learn some more. A real plumber knows how to install, fix, or remove plumbing stuff. I suppose I should put in a plug here for my plumber Ed at All Suburban Plumbing.
The same applies to printing. Most people have access to a computer and think that now they are graphic designers. However, most don't know the problems and tricks of good design. A computer is great for rough draft ideas, but get your printer involved early on in the design process, so they can give some tips that will help avoid problems in production, and produce a finished product that looks best.
Everyday enough paper is recycled to fill the boxcars on a train fourteen miles long. Having worked in printing for thirty one years now, I can assure you that some of those cars contain jobs that were not designed right.
People who know such things, say that the human eye can detect ten million colors. That is the average human being. Print buyers, like the kind I know, can dectect roughly ten times that many! Good design work helps the production department with colors that run the best on press, and avoid scuffing problems in the finishing process. Digital presses are only as good as the operator who adjusts the colors on the computer.
We cannot all be good at everything! Let your printer do what they are good at. If you do the work all by yourself, you'd best be prepared for leaks. Don't plunge in over your head...just sit down and relax, and let your printer print.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Pinocchio, and other Toothpicks.
7,499,999 Toothpicks can be made from a single (not married) fifteen year old tree. In answer to the obvious question...NO, I did not actually count them. The statistic actually said 7,500,000 toothpicks, but I found that hard to believe! Maine is the Toothpick capitol of America, so if you have any questions I suggest you look there.
Pinocchio was made of pine, however, I have been unable to find out exactly how many trees it took. If anybody out there knows I would be glad to hear.
Paper is mostly made from pine trees. Five pine trees are planted for every pine tree cut down to make paper. Paper mills also use the scrap products from sawmills and lumber companies. Cotton and other plant fibers along with clay are added together in the process of papermaking. Since paper can be recycled five to seven times (depending on who you ask) you can see it is very sustainable. When the cycle reaches the last usable cycle, the pulp is used to enrich farming soil, and in making toilet paper. When you use a toilet paper that has recycled paper content, you not only use fibers that are at the end of the useful cycle, but you get to brag to friends and family that you use recycled toilet paper!
As one anonymous 18-th century poet wrote...
RAGS make paper.
PAPER makes money.
MONEY makes banks.
BANKS make loans.
LOANS make beggars.
BEGGARS make rags.
Around and around we go! Paper is really very "green" when you remember that the forests that grow the raw material, produce oxygen etc over the growing years, before being cutdown for harvest. Paper is here to stay. Can you image going into a Doctors office and seeing no diplomas on the wall? If you don't see any, you may wish to find another doctor!
Please have a safe 4-th of July, if you celebrate in U.S.A. And to my friends in Great Britain...Ha-ha-ha!
Pinocchio was made of pine, however, I have been unable to find out exactly how many trees it took. If anybody out there knows I would be glad to hear.
Paper is mostly made from pine trees. Five pine trees are planted for every pine tree cut down to make paper. Paper mills also use the scrap products from sawmills and lumber companies. Cotton and other plant fibers along with clay are added together in the process of papermaking. Since paper can be recycled five to seven times (depending on who you ask) you can see it is very sustainable. When the cycle reaches the last usable cycle, the pulp is used to enrich farming soil, and in making toilet paper. When you use a toilet paper that has recycled paper content, you not only use fibers that are at the end of the useful cycle, but you get to brag to friends and family that you use recycled toilet paper!
As one anonymous 18-th century poet wrote...
RAGS make paper.
PAPER makes money.
MONEY makes banks.
BANKS make loans.
LOANS make beggars.
BEGGARS make rags.
Around and around we go! Paper is really very "green" when you remember that the forests that grow the raw material, produce oxygen etc over the growing years, before being cutdown for harvest. Paper is here to stay. Can you image going into a Doctors office and seeing no diplomas on the wall? If you don't see any, you may wish to find another doctor!
Please have a safe 4-th of July, if you celebrate in U.S.A. And to my friends in Great Britain...Ha-ha-ha!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Elephant poop, Wheat, or Bamboo?
Have you seen the new Elephant Poop paper yet? It weighs about twenty pounds a page! Just kidding. There is a team of people in India that are making paper from yesterdays hay. Just click here if you don't believe me!
The recycling program in the United States is getting behind.
Since your average elephant drops about 500 pounds a day of what we will call, paper starter, you can see that this paper is 100% recycled and sustainable.
If, however, you don't live near the zoo or a circus, you may wish to look into making paper from wheat. Way up north in Canada they are producing paper made largely from wheat straw that is left over from growing wheat. Currently almost all of this "waste" is either plowed under or burned. I think we will be seeing more of this product as it seems a "win-win" situation. Just think...read your newspaper in the morning and then sprinkle sugar on it and eat it on your way to work.
I know, I know, this is all exciting and you are nearing your limits of paper thrills, but just one more item needs to be talked about. Ah, you guessed it (must have read the title line) Bamboo paper.
Paper has been made from bamboo for a long time in Asia. There are concerns about making paper from bamboo and I suggest you look at this personal account of a tour of a bamboo paper mill in China. It is an interesting viewpoint.
Needless to say, you can make paper from almost anything. The real skill is in making something with that paper. When you look at these crazy papers and actually feel them you will see just how much people love paper. Paper is here to stay. When an ad piece or business card etc is printed, keep in mind the importance of the paper used. It adds another layer or element to the whole communication process in a sometimes very subtle way.
Just think...if you printed your business card on elephant poo, you would really be making a statement when you leave your calling card behind!
The recycling program in the United States is getting behind.
Since your average elephant drops about 500 pounds a day of what we will call, paper starter, you can see that this paper is 100% recycled and sustainable.
If, however, you don't live near the zoo or a circus, you may wish to look into making paper from wheat. Way up north in Canada they are producing paper made largely from wheat straw that is left over from growing wheat. Currently almost all of this "waste" is either plowed under or burned. I think we will be seeing more of this product as it seems a "win-win" situation. Just think...read your newspaper in the morning and then sprinkle sugar on it and eat it on your way to work.
I know, I know, this is all exciting and you are nearing your limits of paper thrills, but just one more item needs to be talked about. Ah, you guessed it (must have read the title line) Bamboo paper.
Paper has been made from bamboo for a long time in Asia. There are concerns about making paper from bamboo and I suggest you look at this personal account of a tour of a bamboo paper mill in China. It is an interesting viewpoint.
Needless to say, you can make paper from almost anything. The real skill is in making something with that paper. When you look at these crazy papers and actually feel them you will see just how much people love paper. Paper is here to stay. When an ad piece or business card etc is printed, keep in mind the importance of the paper used. It adds another layer or element to the whole communication process in a sometimes very subtle way.
Just think...if you printed your business card on elephant poo, you would really be making a statement when you leave your calling card behind!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
A leaf, a page, a sheet, or a folio?
Finally! Have you been having trouble sleeping, wondering just what the differance is between a leaf and a sheet? Well, here is the cure.
A leaf is a small sheet of paper having,obviously, two sides. Each of those two sides, is called a page. Now, here is the exciting part...a sheet is a large flat piece of paper, either printed or blank. Once this sheet is folded it becomes a folio. A single sheet, folded once or many times, becomes a signature. A signature has at least 4 pages and on a really large folding machine can have up to 128 pages! On this size equipment, a 128 page book can be printed on one sheet of paper.
The great thing about all this is that you don't need to worry about it. Leave it to your printer to understand the jargon. If you get a thrill thinking about folding, and would like to learn more tricks of the trade, I would highly recommend checking out my friend at foldfactory.com. She has some great tips and ideas for folding.
One thing to remember when designing a brochure or folder etc... it is best to avoid having ink coverage across the folded edge if possible. When printed on a digital press, the ink basically "sits" on top of the paper, and tends to crack and flake when folded. With offset (conventional) printing, the ink tends to "soak" into the paper fibers and is a bit more flexable.
Printing, like most other businesses, has a lot of jargon that can be confusing. One of the advantages of speaking to your printer early on in the design of a printed piece, is that they can help avoid little problems and possibly suggest ways to save money. Have you ever been disappointed with a printed job? My experience has been that usually when a job isn't quite what it could be, the cause usually goes back to a design issue that could have been avoided.
Well, this has been fun! I am still finding out about the wheat paper project and will keep you up to date with my finding soon. Help me out by doing the little poll below. Now its time to get between the sheets. (or is it pages?)
A leaf is a small sheet of paper having,obviously, two sides. Each of those two sides, is called a page. Now, here is the exciting part...a sheet is a large flat piece of paper, either printed or blank. Once this sheet is folded it becomes a folio. A single sheet, folded once or many times, becomes a signature. A signature has at least 4 pages and on a really large folding machine can have up to 128 pages! On this size equipment, a 128 page book can be printed on one sheet of paper.
The great thing about all this is that you don't need to worry about it. Leave it to your printer to understand the jargon. If you get a thrill thinking about folding, and would like to learn more tricks of the trade, I would highly recommend checking out my friend at foldfactory.com. She has some great tips and ideas for folding.
One thing to remember when designing a brochure or folder etc... it is best to avoid having ink coverage across the folded edge if possible. When printed on a digital press, the ink basically "sits" on top of the paper, and tends to crack and flake when folded. With offset (conventional) printing, the ink tends to "soak" into the paper fibers and is a bit more flexable.
Printing, like most other businesses, has a lot of jargon that can be confusing. One of the advantages of speaking to your printer early on in the design of a printed piece, is that they can help avoid little problems and possibly suggest ways to save money. Have you ever been disappointed with a printed job? My experience has been that usually when a job isn't quite what it could be, the cause usually goes back to a design issue that could have been avoided.
Well, this has been fun! I am still finding out about the wheat paper project and will keep you up to date with my finding soon. Help me out by doing the little poll below. Now its time to get between the sheets. (or is it pages?)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Chicken Eggs and Postcards.
In this post I am going to share some great thoughts and ideas for mailings, and return on investment (R.O.I.). As you may know by now, I spent a fair bit of time reading a whole bunch of boring articles to find out what is going on in the marketing world. Since I have been studying what is the best way to reach peoples eyeballs, I have found some amazing things.
In many recent studies, by a variety of companies, what is looking like the best R.O.I. now is the lowly postcard. I have had my email account hi-jacked recently, and can tell you, it takes a lot of time to contact all your contacts, and let them know that you sell printing and not Viagra! Last week, one of our customers had their company email hi-jacked as well. A free bit of advice here...change your password every few weeks. The result of email overload and spam etc. is, that postcards are moving to the forefront of advertising. There are many advantages to mailing postcards and here are a few I feel are worth while.
One of the best is, even if the reciever throws it away, their eyes still register some of the content. Most people don't even tear open an envelope if they are not interested in the company it came from.
Postcards are cheaper to design, cheaper to mail, reach the eyeballs of the customer and anyone else that may see them lying around.
Another element to keep in mind is that for mailings to prove successful, they need to be repeated over and over again. It is a game of gradual increase, think marathon, not a sprint.
Postcards also can be used like big business cards to share web addresses or phone numbers with potential customers. If you can come up with a clever, colorful front side, many cards are passed along to others, or even stuck up on bulletin boards. There are other things to think about, like planning your mailings to arrive on a Tuesday (lowest mail volume day), and full color front with black and white back side, odd size cards to stick out from normal sizes, and other things like this that a good printing company should be able to help you with from start to finish.
The most important thing to remember when doing advertising is to determine how much it will cost NOT to advertise.
As dear old Mrs Anonymous once wrote...
The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,
the homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles,
to tell you what she's done.
And so we scorn the codfish,
While the humble hen we prize,
which only goes to show you
That it pays to advertise!
Thanks for all the comments everybody. Even suggestions are welcome. I am keeping tabs on the newest idea for paper making in Canada using wheat stubble, and will post about it when able.
In many recent studies, by a variety of companies, what is looking like the best R.O.I. now is the lowly postcard. I have had my email account hi-jacked recently, and can tell you, it takes a lot of time to contact all your contacts, and let them know that you sell printing and not Viagra! Last week, one of our customers had their company email hi-jacked as well. A free bit of advice here...change your password every few weeks. The result of email overload and spam etc. is, that postcards are moving to the forefront of advertising. There are many advantages to mailing postcards and here are a few I feel are worth while.
One of the best is, even if the reciever throws it away, their eyes still register some of the content. Most people don't even tear open an envelope if they are not interested in the company it came from.
Postcards are cheaper to design, cheaper to mail, reach the eyeballs of the customer and anyone else that may see them lying around.
Another element to keep in mind is that for mailings to prove successful, they need to be repeated over and over again. It is a game of gradual increase, think marathon, not a sprint.
Postcards also can be used like big business cards to share web addresses or phone numbers with potential customers. If you can come up with a clever, colorful front side, many cards are passed along to others, or even stuck up on bulletin boards. There are other things to think about, like planning your mailings to arrive on a Tuesday (lowest mail volume day), and full color front with black and white back side, odd size cards to stick out from normal sizes, and other things like this that a good printing company should be able to help you with from start to finish.
The most important thing to remember when doing advertising is to determine how much it will cost NOT to advertise.
As dear old Mrs Anonymous once wrote...
The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,
the homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles,
to tell you what she's done.
And so we scorn the codfish,
While the humble hen we prize,
which only goes to show you
That it pays to advertise!
Thanks for all the comments everybody. Even suggestions are welcome. I am keeping tabs on the newest idea for paper making in Canada using wheat stubble, and will post about it when able.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Green Paper or Green Pixels?
Well, I'm glad you are sitting down. I have some very shocking facts to drop on you today, that will surprise you, and hopefully change the way you think about paper. We live in a world where large companies are using the "Green" word to squeeze more profit out of us. Is there room for both pixels and paper in the future? Absolutely! My quiet little voice is just trying to clarify some of the twisted marketing ploys of many companies, and help you and others to think about how paper can be "Green".
First on the list...Did you know that twenty percent less CO2 is used per year by a person reading a daily printed newspaper versus a person reading an online web-based newspaper for only thirty minutes a day?
Another thing to think about...nearly sixty percent of paper is recycled (see earlier blogs on this) versus just over seventeen percent of electronic devices. Way back in 2006 for example 1.84 Million tons of computers and other electronic devices were disposed of in U.S. landfills.
Paper making is rough on the environment, but remember that what it is made from is renewable, and very recyclable. Computers are made from plastics and contain many toxic chemicals and metals which are largely not recycled. Computers also use large amounts of elecrticity over their lifetime.
On average it takes 500 Kilowatt hours of electricity to produce the 440 pounds of paper used by the average American person each year. That much electricity would power one computer running for 5 months continously. Most business computers (ours included) are left running all night wasting $2.8 billion dollars of energy, and also producing 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, or looking at it another way, the same amount of CO2 produced by 4-million cars!
So here is the thing I want to end with. Should you stop reading this Blog and turn off your computer? Please don't. In fact you should subscribe in the box below! What I want you to do though, is to see that printing and paper may not be so bad as we are being told. Paper and pixels are here to stay, and I think they complement each other. Even in business, as many are begining to find out, a printed paper piece is more effective than email or texting in reaching customers. One of my next blogs will cover this in more detail.
Bye for now,
G.
With a special thanks to the links below for data.
International Paper look under Sustainability tab
Environmental Protection Agency
First on the list...Did you know that twenty percent less CO2 is used per year by a person reading a daily printed newspaper versus a person reading an online web-based newspaper for only thirty minutes a day?
Another thing to think about...nearly sixty percent of paper is recycled (see earlier blogs on this) versus just over seventeen percent of electronic devices. Way back in 2006 for example 1.84 Million tons of computers and other electronic devices were disposed of in U.S. landfills.
Paper making is rough on the environment, but remember that what it is made from is renewable, and very recyclable. Computers are made from plastics and contain many toxic chemicals and metals which are largely not recycled. Computers also use large amounts of elecrticity over their lifetime.
On average it takes 500 Kilowatt hours of electricity to produce the 440 pounds of paper used by the average American person each year. That much electricity would power one computer running for 5 months continously. Most business computers (ours included) are left running all night wasting $2.8 billion dollars of energy, and also producing 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, or looking at it another way, the same amount of CO2 produced by 4-million cars!
So here is the thing I want to end with. Should you stop reading this Blog and turn off your computer? Please don't. In fact you should subscribe in the box below! What I want you to do though, is to see that printing and paper may not be so bad as we are being told. Paper and pixels are here to stay, and I think they complement each other. Even in business, as many are begining to find out, a printed paper piece is more effective than email or texting in reaching customers. One of my next blogs will cover this in more detail.
Bye for now,
G.
With a special thanks to the links below for data.
International Paper look under Sustainability tab
Environmental Protection Agency
Monday, May 31, 2010
Paper does grow on trees.
There are many differant ways of making paper, but the most common method uses trees. Trees are one of the best sources of renewable fiber, with several benefits to the environment. As trees grow to size for harvesting to be turned into paper, they reduce greenhouse gases, and give off oxygen. So breathe easy! Everyday the forest products industry plants more than 1.7 Million trees in the U.S.A. Today, there are 12 Million more acres of forests in the U.S.A. than there was in 1987.
By 1992, tree growth outpaced harvest by 34% and the volume of wood in the forest was 360% more than in 1920.
By 2010, the figure for recycling paper has hit 57.4%, which does not figure in the 15% that is taken out of the cycle to be used as toilet tissue and tissue paper. Part of the 15% is also books that are kept and not recycled.
So you see, the old adage goes..."Don't use paper, Save a tree" is really wrong. As paper production goes down, the amount of trees planted also goes down. When you read something like this Blog online, you use electricity which is usually produced by methods not so good for the environment, and use a computer that was produced with many plastics and metals that are not recycled.
I will produce a post soon that shows the comparison of these two methods of communicating. Newspapers are more "green" than reading your news online. Really!
Here are a few links to look at about responsible forestry for you to look at. If you would rather let me read this boring stuff and condense it down for you just check in here often.
International Paper Company pefc.org Life of the Forest Kjellberg Printing
I have included our company web address as well because we have recycled almost all of our scrap paper since 1971 AD. We were on the tip of the green movement.
Talk again soon.
By 1992, tree growth outpaced harvest by 34% and the volume of wood in the forest was 360% more than in 1920.
By 2010, the figure for recycling paper has hit 57.4%, which does not figure in the 15% that is taken out of the cycle to be used as toilet tissue and tissue paper. Part of the 15% is also books that are kept and not recycled.
So you see, the old adage goes..."Don't use paper, Save a tree" is really wrong. As paper production goes down, the amount of trees planted also goes down. When you read something like this Blog online, you use electricity which is usually produced by methods not so good for the environment, and use a computer that was produced with many plastics and metals that are not recycled.
I will produce a post soon that shows the comparison of these two methods of communicating. Newspapers are more "green" than reading your news online. Really!
Here are a few links to look at about responsible forestry for you to look at. If you would rather let me read this boring stuff and condense it down for you just check in here often.
International Paper Company pefc.org Life of the Forest Kjellberg Printing
I have included our company web address as well because we have recycled almost all of our scrap paper since 1971 AD. We were on the tip of the green movement.
Talk again soon.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Paperless world?
Can you imagine a world without paper? We use it so often we don't even notice it much.
When we are born the hospital hands our parents a sheet of paper saying we are born. Then our little feet are smeared with ink and stamped on our Apple Tablet, oops, stamped on a piece of paper. Right?
Then we go off to school for twelve years to earn 1 sheet of paper which we store in a padded frame. After that we march off to a very expensive school to work like a squirrel to get another piece of paper. Once we earn that one, we can print up a very fancy set of papers that we hope will get us a job. Once we start work we slave away the best years of our life to earn one more piece of paper per week. This is the best sheet of all...we can take it to a bank and trade it for a nice stack of paper we can use to buy more things. If we meet the person of our dreams, we can both sign a piece of paper and enjoy married life together. Life goes on and eventually our family is given one last piece of paper.
So you see paper is a very important part of our life. Yes, some of this is all "electric" now, but it will never feel the same or even be the same as a real piece of paper!
I have not said anything about what we reach for when we sneeze, or dab our eyes with while watching a chick flic! There is also one more paper we use that modesty prevents me from typing...But just think, what would life be without paper.
A special thanks to my crowd of loyal followers...both of 'ya!
When we are born the hospital hands our parents a sheet of paper saying we are born. Then our little feet are smeared with ink and stamped on our Apple Tablet, oops, stamped on a piece of paper. Right?
Then we go off to school for twelve years to earn 1 sheet of paper which we store in a padded frame. After that we march off to a very expensive school to work like a squirrel to get another piece of paper. Once we earn that one, we can print up a very fancy set of papers that we hope will get us a job. Once we start work we slave away the best years of our life to earn one more piece of paper per week. This is the best sheet of all...we can take it to a bank and trade it for a nice stack of paper we can use to buy more things. If we meet the person of our dreams, we can both sign a piece of paper and enjoy married life together. Life goes on and eventually our family is given one last piece of paper.
So you see paper is a very important part of our life. Yes, some of this is all "electric" now, but it will never feel the same or even be the same as a real piece of paper!
I have not said anything about what we reach for when we sneeze, or dab our eyes with while watching a chick flic! There is also one more paper we use that modesty prevents me from typing...But just think, what would life be without paper.
A special thanks to my crowd of loyal followers...both of 'ya!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Money doesn't grow on trees.
Greetings,
I'll bet you've been wondering where money comes from. Sit back and relax, I've done your homework! Money is not printed on paper...it is a blend of linen and cotton fibers. The United States Bureau of Engraving prints 37 million "dollar bills" per day, with a total value of $696 million dollars. Most is used to replace old worn out money like the kind I carry around in my wallet. Speaking of wallets...if you were to try to haul 1-million 1 dollar bills around you will need a serious pair of suspenders because they would weigh 2040.8 pounds. Since you have read this far you must be bored. Why not try to find the 4 cars and 11 lightposts on the back of the (old version) ten dollar bill. Ok, break is over...go earn some money.
I'll bet you've been wondering where money comes from. Sit back and relax, I've done your homework! Money is not printed on paper...it is a blend of linen and cotton fibers. The United States Bureau of Engraving prints 37 million "dollar bills" per day, with a total value of $696 million dollars. Most is used to replace old worn out money like the kind I carry around in my wallet. Speaking of wallets...if you were to try to haul 1-million 1 dollar bills around you will need a serious pair of suspenders because they would weigh 2040.8 pounds. Since you have read this far you must be bored. Why not try to find the 4 cars and 11 lightposts on the back of the (old version) ten dollar bill. Ok, break is over...go earn some money.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Here goes...Paper knowledge you need to know.
Hi everyone,
As this is post number one I thought I'd toss out a few things about paper that you may have been wondering about. My goal is to post goodies like this once a week, so if this is interesting, or you are really bored, please come back again.
Paper was invented in China way back in the year 105 A.D.
I believe it was invented so they could stick something into those fortune cookies!
You may be staying awake nights wondering how much "-----" can be made from one tree.
Here is a list of some facts I found that help me sleep like a baby.
From one cord of wood (approx. one tree) the following can be made...
12 dining room table sets (seating for 8)
30 rocking chairs
250 copies of the New York Times newspaper (Sunday edition)
942 one pound books
1 to 2000 lbs of paper depending on grade
1200 National Geographic Magazines
2700 36 page daily newspapers.
As this is post number one I thought I'd toss out a few things about paper that you may have been wondering about. My goal is to post goodies like this once a week, so if this is interesting, or you are really bored, please come back again.
Paper was invented in China way back in the year 105 A.D.
I believe it was invented so they could stick something into those fortune cookies!
You may be staying awake nights wondering how much "-----" can be made from one tree.
Here is a list of some facts I found that help me sleep like a baby.
From one cord of wood (approx. one tree) the following can be made...
12 dining room table sets (seating for 8)
30 rocking chairs
250 copies of the New York Times newspaper (Sunday edition)
942 one pound books
1 to 2000 lbs of paper depending on grade
1200 National Geographic Magazines
2700 36 page daily newspapers.
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