As much as possible the use of recycled paper and ink for printing should be strictly followed. Although recycled paper may not be always available in all the possible sizes, renewable inks are readily available in the market.
Millions of trees are cut every year to make paper. Deforestation poses a threat to the environment in several ways. Rise in temperature, increase in levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and soil erosion are some of the more evident effects.
Frequent flooding due to the lack of trees to absorb excess rain water is also a real possibility. We cannot stop using paper despite the usage of electronic tools and devices having become popular but we can surely work towards minimizing the damage. You can contribute by using recycled paper. In addition, you also have the option of using FSC certified paper when not using the recycled one.
Logos are the expression of a complex idea in simple terms which immediately strike the attention of the onlooker. There are many logos that we associate with immediately; however, many such logos have presently undergone redesigning to give it a modern touch while keeping intact the original design. Here are ten such top redesigns of logos in 2012
Political campaigns utilize a variety of printed sources to spread their message.
The idea is to introduce and popularize the candidate across the mass audience. Political printing is extensively used in campaign promotions. It includes direct mails, pamphlets, stickers, door hangers, T-shirts and other merchandises. Many companies specialize in printing campaign material, which get more and more active falling elections. Predicting the trends for 2012, political printing is likely to be used more extensively this year.
The world the internet has ushered in has brought with it plenty of ways to make our lives easier.
Whether that's doing our grocery shopping or discovering our new favorite band, it's quite amazing what we've been able to achieve. But it's not all good news. Thanks to the sheer number of advertising methods the web offers, it's actually making certain promotional methods less effective, simply due to over-saturation. When everyone is advertising with web banners, everybody starts to ignore them: it's simple common sense.
One designers take on the current state of graphic design and the common shortcomings of many new designers.
I’m going to start this by giving the definition of Fundamentals:
Forming or serving as an essential component of a system or structure
Notice, if you will, the word ESSENTIAL. In relation to the design and print world, you can not achieve a printed piece without the essentials... unless of course you just get lucky.
One designers take on the current state of graphic design and the common shortcomings of many new designers.
I’m going to start this by giving the definition of Fundamentals:
Forming or serving as an essential component of a system or structure
Notice, if you will, the word ESSENTIAL. In relation to the design and print world, you can not achieve a printed piece without the essentials... unless of course you just get lucky.
Actually, M-Bossed put together a whole week of Hotcards!
Recently, our excellent friend Ryan McAbee over at M-Bossed asked me if I’d be interested in talking to him about how Hotcards uses social media to promote our printing services. He had some great questions, which I responded to with many a noble sentiment on the ability of social media to connect us and create online communities that parallel the communities we develop in our own neighborhoods and cities.
Actually, M-Bossed put together a whole week of Hotcards!
Recently, our excellent friend Ryan McAbee over at M-Bossed asked me if I’d be interested in talking to him about how Hotcards uses social media to promote our printing services. He had some great questions, which I responded to with many a noble sentiment on the ability of social media to connect us and create online communities that parallel the communities we develop in our own neighborhoods and cities.
And yup, we're still a printing company.
At a time when printers are supposed to be packing up their things quietly and going home, we got some pretty amazing news. Last week, ICIC (Initiative for a Competitive Inner City) and Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked Hotcards as 38th on a list of the 100 Fastest-Growing Inner City Businesses in America. They threw a big party for us in Boston, we got to mix it up with other winners from all over the country, and listen to some pretty amazing speakers.
"Business must find a way to engage positively in society, but this will not happen as long as it sees its social agenda as separate from its core business agenda."
- Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School
Some cool facts on the Inner City 100:
"Collectively, the top 100 inner city businesses employ 10,700 employees and have created more than 6,300 new jobs between 2004 and 2008. Individually, the median Inner City 100 Company's revenues were $6.6 million. This year's winners have a median employee turnover rate of less than 8 percent and 96 percent of them provide health insurance to their workers."
Those are some nice figures, particularly if you're in the printing industry, and particularly, particularly, if you're from Cleveland. These days, all we hear are the stories about how the recession is crushing our industry and our city. But the truth is much more complex, and positive, than that.
Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the other winners fell into the IT, green business, or green technology categories. However, there were a few other printers on the list, proving, if nothing else, that…hmm…printers and inner cities go hand in hand? Simply by default, a lot of printing houses are located in "inner city areas." For a young person starting a print and design business, the space is there, and the price is right.
But in the end, success or failure comes down to a question of community. A printer can't survive, and a city can't survive, unless other small businesses, organizations, and social services survive along with it. Community creates commerce, and vice-versa. So while it's great to get our names on a list, we're not exactly surprised that our industry, or our city, is capable of great things. In fact, we like to think of ourselves as a sign of the times, and a sign of things to come.
As ICIC President and CEO, Mary Kay Leonard, put it, "We are delighted to celebrate businesses like Hotcards that are playing a critical role in revitalizing America's urban communities. Through their achievements, the Inner City 100 winning companies exemplify America's remarkable potential and the road to future economic recovery. These extraordinary companies demonstrate the market possibilities that exist within our inner cities. If we can leverage these possibilities, we can create jobs, income, and wealth for local residents and produce the next chapter of American innovation and opportunity."
So here's to Cleveland! And to the next chapter, available, let's hope, online and in print.
