Touch is Everything: Choosing the Perfect Paper for Printing

There’s nothing better than the feel of a well-constructed catalog, brochure, or invite.

After all, no one wants to be handed a pamphlet that crumples because the paper quality is not up to par. This is why choosing the right paper for your print marketing projects is more important than you might think.

Choosing Your Paper Type

There are many different kinds of paper to choose from for your print projects. These vary in composition, design, weight, and thickness.

Gloss vs. Matte

Choosing whether to use gloss or matte paper is one of the most common choices when picking out paper.

Gloss paper has an incredibly high shine that enhances color. Matte, on the other hand, has a muted surface that refracts light and reduces glare. It has a textured, soft feel compared to a gloss, which has a sleek and almost sticky feel.

Uncoated vs. Coated

If you’re looking to achieve enhanced colors and a matte or glossy finish, coated paper would be a paper choice for you.

Coated paper is also more resistant to everyday wear and tear, such as dirt and water that may come in contact with it. Uncoated paper is not as durable but is the perfect choice for items that may need to be written on. Some examples of projects that should use uncoated paper are brochures, envelopes, and letterheads.

Silk Coated

When thinking of silk paper, think more of a fabric feel rather than your traditional paper.

It’s more of a luxurious feel to touch. It’s somewhat between a matte and glossy finish. The colors will remain vibrant yet reduce shininess. Magazines and catalogs are the most common projects to use silk-coated paper for the inside text pages. These items are regularly picked up by individuals and quickly flipped through. These hands-on projects will be best suited with silk-coated paper.

Paper Weights

Paper comes in all types of weights that can seem like another language when deciding which is best to use for your printing project.

The weight of paper is determined by the weight of 500 sheets of a paper size in its uncut form. For example, an uncut sheet of bond paper is 17 x 22 inches before it’s cut to letter size. If a stack of 500 of these sheets weighs 20 lbs, then the paper is labeled “20 lb.” 

Traditionally, paper weights are split into categories, including bond, book, cover, index, tag, and text paper. In each of these categories, there are varying weights that are available. If you’re looking for a heavier cover for a catalog, you might want to choose a 100-lb. cover rather than a 60-lb cover. Along with that, you may prefer lighter inside pages, so you may want to choose a 60-lb. text paper rather than 100-lb. text paper. 

If you'd like to get a better idea of the touch and feel of the paper for your next printing project, ask us for paper samples today. 

6 Winning Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail offers results that other channels just can't match.

According to a recent study, direct mail has a response rate as high as 9%. However, there are always ways to engage your audience better and improve your mailers' effectiveness. These methods below catch your recipents' attention and increase the chances that they'll read and respond to your direct mail piece. 

6 Winning Direct Mail Campaigns

1. Instill Curiosity with a Quiz

Do you worry your direct mail envelopes are going in the trash unread?

Take a page from Harvard Medical School's playbook. In a recent mailing to woo subscribers for their Harvard Heart Letter newsletter, they put a heart health quiz on the front. The answers to the three-question quiz were inside the mailer, giving recipients a reason to open.

2. Benefits, Not Features

As marketers, it's so easy to get caught up in promoting all the neat features of your product.

Your readers, however, don't care about that. They care about how your product can be of benefit to them.

HelloFresh hit the mark with a February 2020 mailer that highlighted three big benefits to ordering their kits. At a glance, readers could see that the service could save them time, save them money, and offer more variety.

3. Leverage Testimonials

Research shows that a recommendation, whether from a friend or a stranger, has a lot of sway on reader opinions.

In fact, 70% of people will trust a recommendation even when it comes from someone who they don't know. 

Florida Gulf Coast University used the power of testimonials by putting recommendations from past students right on their mailing postcard. Having names, faces, and a glowing recommendation from current students helped convince potential attendees that the school is a good choice. 

4. Use the Magic Word

No, not "please." The powerful word that gets your mailer a second look instead of a quick trip to the recycle bin is "free." 

A March 2020 mailer from Estee Lauder catches attention with bright coloration and a prominent offer for a free gift when people visit their counter inside Macy's. Offering a gift is a way to get people inside your brick-and-mortar location, where there is an increased chance that they'll take the opportunity to buy.

5. Catch the Eye with Familiar Forms and Images

When Nestle was promoting their Kit Kat Chunky bar in the UK, they used a familiar image -- a Royal Mail card about an undeliverable package.

However, instead of the normal reasons for failure to deliver, recipients learn that the free chocolate bar Nestle intended to send them was "too chunky" to fit through their mail slot. The mailer served as a coupon to get a free bar to try from the store.

6. Invite Recipients to Interact with Your Mail Piece

To raise awareness for World Water Day in Belgium, the organization demonstrated the importance of water in an innovative way.

They sent a postcard that could only be read after the reader held it under running water. This tactile trick increased engagement and also got the group a viral bump on social media.

No matter what your business, it's possible to catch readers' eyes and attention with your direct mail pieces. Think about how to evoke your recipient's curiosity, which can lead to engagement and conversion.

Thrive Over Time by Making Self-Care a Priority

One day, a hare was making fun of the tortoise for being so slow.

“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.

“Yes,” replied the tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race to prove it.”

With great amusement, the hare agreed. The hare took off like a shot and was soon out of sight. Meanwhile, the tortoise plugged away diligently. Soon, the hare grew distracted with the race and lay down for a nap. While he slept, the tortoise slowly passed him and plodded on. The hare woke with a start and ran swiftly to the finish line, but he could not overtake the tortoise in time.

The moral of the story? “Plain plodding people, we often shall find, will leave hasty confident people behind.”

The Strain of 2020

The nature of many people is to go fast and hard for as long as possible.

But this approach to life can (quite literally!) be a killer. As Aesop’s fable reminds us, enduring over the long haul brings fruitful, sometimes unexpected results. But approaching life as a distance race takes intentional self-care, often a busy person’s lowest priority.

The time to change this trend couldn’t be more important. Gallup recently found that 2020 was officially the most stressful year in recent history, with a record-high 40% of adults worldwide saying they experienced a lot of stress the previous day. This five-percentage-point jump from 2019 represents 190 million more people globally who experienced a lot of stress. Over 75% of U.S. adults report physical or emotional stress symptoms (such as headaches, tiredness, and changed sleeping patterns). And work-related stress costs $190 billion in annual U.S. healthcare costs!

Where Stress Meets Rest

Do you need to make time for “me” time?

Initially, this involves focused thought to define what you need. Do you desire more quality relationships? Better sleep? More time for worship or outdoor exercise? Perhaps music or meaningful hobbies need more space in your life.

Next, you must consciously push back on stressors and make time for self-care. Here are some practical examples:

-- Combine a workout and soul-care by setting up regular walks with a friend

-- Set a “get ready for bed alarm” to remind yourself sleep is a priority

-- Book tangible times for prayer, family, and stillness

-- Plan “paper plate days” or easy “mental health” meals to grab a break from kitchen duty

-- Detox frequently in the tub or sauna

-- Block one day each month to plan and reflect on your personal life and calendar

-- Next time you go out with friends, plan an experience (like a cooking class) to give yourself a shot of creativity and growth

The Blessing of Boundaries

One of the best ways to fight stress is to say NO.

Set boundaries on your time, on overspending, and even your commitments at work. If you continually receive last-minute work orders from co-workers and clients, outline your expectations for better communication. Re-negotiate deadlines when unforeseen circumstances make Plan A seem impossible. And when people make requests that set off an internal alarm signal, ask for time to think about the situation before responding. This can give you the wisdom to say no, rearrange your schedule, or possibly find a more workable solution.

Remember, every time you say yes to one thing, you say no to something else. Refuse to cheat on the things that matter most! Your health, your relationships, and your joy are things you should fight to protect; they’ll help you triumph against all odds.

Slow and steady wins the race!

Add Order and Finesse with Versatile Binding Solutions

Your home wouldn’t be complete without the paint, and print projects also come alive when you add beautiful finishes.

Binding is a necessary step for compiling multi-page documents, and you have many options to work with. Here is a quick reference guide of several formats that might be a good fit for your project.

Case Binding

Case binding attaches a hardboard book cover to a bound set of pages.

Case binding is timeless, classy, and typically requires around 60 pages (approximately 1/8 inch) of content. Since the hardcover makes the binding so sturdy, case binding is ideal for documents that will be handled frequently and need to hold up over time. While this method offers immense durability, it is usually the most time-consuming and expensive process.

In case binding, using an adhesively bound – or hinged – cover with a flexible joint can allow your book to open without breaking the spine. (Hinged covers are scored 1/8 inch from the spine, so books can open more easily.) 

Coil Binding

Coil binding uses a piece of spiraled plastic or wire (looped through a series of punched holes) to hold the finished book together.

Also called spiral binding, this format allows a book to be laid flat when opened or even folded over onto itself. This is a wonderful binding option for reports, instruction manuals, cookbooks, calendars, and other items that need both flexibility and the ability to stay open. Spiraled binding comes in over 60 different colors that can be matched to your cover art or brand colors, so the project really pops.

Alternatives include wire-o binding (which uses a double set of wire loops instead of a single spiral) or even several gorgeous fabric options, like those used in Japanese ribbon binding.

Perfect Binding

Perfect binds secure papers together at the spine using glue that attaches them to a wraparound cover.

This is the preferred binding method for most paperback books because perfect binding is a lightweight, cost-effective option for large volume booklets. A variation is lay-flat binding, which allows publications to open completely flat across a centerfold, so images can run across both halves of the spread with minimal disruption.

Plastic Comb Binding

Plastic comb binding is the most common of the punch and bind styles.

Comb-bound documents are cost-efficient and easy to edit and can be reused as many times as you need. Combs come in many different colors and are capable of binding even very thick documents. And they can be customized! Add your document title, company name, or quick reference handle to the comb spine to make your binding more professional.

If resilience is a priority, remember the teeth of a plastic comb tend to break over time.

Post Binding

This mechanical binding process inserts metal or plastic posts through punched or drilled holes in pages to hold them together.

One advantage of post binding is it allows pages to be added (and the post extended) as the size of a publication increases. And the screws or spikes used bring a sleek, polished feel to your piece. 

An alternative to post binding is Velo binding, which applies heat to two plastic binding strips, so the spine cannot be opened and re-closed without a Velobind machine. Velo binding cannot be tampered with or easily photocopied, so this is an excellent option for sensitive legal or financial documents.

Binding methods vary and can be uniquely tailored to the design specifications of your project. Add order and finesse with this beautiful finishing touch.