Archive for the ‘Design Tips’ Category

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Below-the-Line Advertising (BTL)

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Are you a new business start up needing to find more ways to publicize yourselves? Or a well-established institute whose promotional methods have not been working for you? Regardless of the trade or industry your company is in, it is a definite that marketing and/or advertising techniques will be necessary – sooner, if not later.

Design Workz would like to take this opportunity to share more on three specific advertising techniques available, namely: Below-the-Line Advertising (BTL), Above-the-Line Advertising (ATL), and Through-the-Line Advertising (TTL). We hope that the brief explanations will shed some light, as well as aid in decision making as to which method to use.

BTL refers to advertising methods that are more conventional, but no less effective. Common examples include mailers, flyers, and brochures. This form of advertising has higher likelihood of obtaining a sale as compared to ATL. As BTL advertising has a very specific target group, it is best used when you know that your product or service is relevant to this group of consumers to maximize response rate. BTL is also beneficial if you are working with a fixed budget, as payment for this form of advertising is usually transparent and upfront.

ATL advertising utilizes mass media, targeting the general population and mass markets. Timeslots will be purchased by the advertiser, and air time for said advertisements will be published on television, radio, newspapers, or even at public locations. Unlike BTL advertising, ATL advertising usually does not translate to a direct sale. Instead, it will help establish and increase brand identity. Hence, this form of advertising is particularly useful for larger enterprises, companies trying to distinguish themselves from competitors, or start ups trying to build brand awareness. ATL advertising is more intangible as compared to BTL, and hence also harder to measure.

TTL advertising employs a mix of both BTL and ATL, aiming to integrate both methods to optimize returns from either market. Hence, a company may publish television ads for a new food item, then give out coupons at a physical location to reinforce their advertisement. This is also the most commonly used method.

Design Workz hopes that this brief introduction will be useful to one and all, as well as help provide an insight into the advertising industry. Should you wish to learn more, feel free to get in touch.

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Fonts – OTF / TTF / PS

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

In typography, fonts are best defined as a complete assortment of type in varying styles and sizes.

Fonts may not be a specification that is as prominent as other major components in printing and design, but it is nonetheless essential and highly relevant especially towards the overall aesthetic appeal of projects.

Design Workz elaborates on three types of fonts as follows:

Created by Adobe and Microsoft, the current standard in fonts are OpenType fonts (denoted as *.otf), which is also the newest font format to be introduced. Its fonts contain both screen and printer font in a single component, and can allow for an extremely large character set. Hence, one single file can can contain additional characters, languages and figures that may previously have been separately filed. An OpenType font file is good for use in both Mac and Windows, which make this font type particularly easy to manage and popular.

TrueType Fonts (denoted as *.ttf) was created by Apple and licensed to Microsoft, making them the industry standard. Created before the OpenType font, TrueType fonts are highly manageable due to the single files. Utilizing TrueType fonts will also allow for higher quality font display regardless of size, as there is the availability of a process which is able to determine which pixels are to be displayed. A Truetype font consists of a single file that contains both the printer and screen versions in a single file. They are also the majority in fonts, are usually come pre-installed on Mac and Windows operating systems.

Developed by Adobe, Postscript font, also known as Type 1 Font, is made up of two parts. One part contains the information to display the font on screen and the other part is for printing. In order to be printed, both print and screen versions are necessary to aid the process. While it allows for high-quality and high-resolution printing, it has slowly been replaced by TrueType and then OpenType fonts, as PostScript font files may not be compatible across different platforms, as different system versions exist on both Mac and Windows.

Design Workz hopes this brief introduction to fonts will provide one and all with better understanding of the simple, yet complex font. Feel free to approach us should you wish to know more!

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Matt / Gloss Lamination

Friday, February 11th, 2011

Lamination refers to the process of coating the printed sheet with a extremely thin layer of plastic film, giving it a additional dimension. In general, lamination offers enhanced imaging and enhanced protection for your documents, preventing tearing and creasing. Lamination also seals in the print completely; hence areas of large solid ink are less liable to cause marking (set-off).

Matt Lamination gives off a subtle, tactile effect, but offers less protection when compared to Gloss Lamination, rendering it more susceptible to fingerprints and scratches from fingernails. Hence, Matt Lamination is primarily used for brochures, leaflets, and postcards, amongst many others.

Gloss Lamination adds a high gloss sheen to the print, providing a distinctively more luxurious touch and feel, and is the option to choose if the print in question is constantly exposed to wear and tear. That said, Gloss Lamination is generally used for menus, brochure covers, magazine covers and even folders.

Regardless of B2B or B2C, lamination of your printed documents is highly advantageous. The choice of matt or gloss however, lies in who is your target audience. B2B generally prefers Matt Lamination for its palpable outlook, and B2C will opt for Gloss Lamination for its hardy yet intricate exterior. Should you need further clarification regarding which option to choose, Design Workz will be pleased to acquiesce.

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B2B / B2C

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

B2B refers to Business-to-Business, or also known as the transactions between businesses – from a manufacturer to a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. When marketing is done for B2B, focus is primarily on understanding what would attract organizational buyers to purchase, and how they operate. The B2B market is thirsty for information, and effective marketing material would be those that convey messages on why and how the product or service saves time, money, and/or resources.

B2C refers to Business-to-Consumer, describing businesses or activities serving end consumers with products and/or services. When marketing for the consumer, there needs to be a focus on the benefits of the product or service. Consumers generally prefer succinct, to-the-point messages instead of lengthy but logical tactics. They also prefer convenient, aesthetically pleasing and easy to use methods.

The volume of B2B transactions is usually much higher than the number of B2C transactions due to the various processes necessary before the final product is achieved. There has also been claims that B2B transactions are based more on logic, while B2C transactions are centred around emotion.

Let Design Workz help you better understand both markets, and choose the most effective advertising style!

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Colour – CMYK / RGB / Pantone

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Most of us can see our world in vivid colours; of black, white, and all colours of the rainbow. To the naked eye, they are but mere shades varying in hues and saturations. To the initiated, it is exactly these distinctions that helps differentiate the good, from the better in the printing line of work.

CMYK refers to the four inks used in colour printing – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. CMYK is a colour mixing system that depends on chemical pigments to achieve the desired hues. CMYK, while it cannot produce all the colours in the world, can produce quite a number. CMYK is also a standard colour model used in Offset Printing for full colour documents, but is unfortunately limited by factors such as quality of paper, halftone dot size, and the integrity of the ink.

RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. The RGB colour model varies light, instead of pigment, to achieve the visible spectrum.  RGB model is largely used for the representation and display of images in electronic devices, though it has also been used for conventional photography. It is important to note that due to the difference in lighting, colour matching; or properly converting RGB colours into CMYK is virtually impossible, and what is seen on the digital screen will never match what is printed.

Pantone refers to a standardized colour reproduction system. Each page contains a colour swatch of varying tints, accompanied by an allocated number code for easy reference. The guide has been specially designed to allow designers to accurately colour match specific colours at each stage of the production process. It is important to note that in the Pantone colour system, it is the paper – not the ink – that makes the difference.

The colours designed for uncoated paper have a ”U” behind its allocated number, and a “C” for colours to be used on coated paper. The different types of paper react differently to ink, resulting in dramatically different visuals when it is essentially the same ink. To ensure accurate selection AND representation, choice of paper should complement the colours chosen.

Colours are crucial in printing for us here at Design Workz, hence this article. We hope that we have cleared the air regarding how the colours differ and how they work across various mediums. Should you need any further advice, Design Workz would be pleased to provide you with more colourful suggestions.

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Web Design

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Ask any other person what is Web Design and the immediate apparent answer would be – the design and construction of a website. Going deeper, Web Design is the intricate skill of crafting web content that is not only aesthetically appealling, user-friendly, with the ability to generate traffic and even induce users to purchase. A website is made up of a collection of electronic documents and applications that resides on web servers and consists of content and interactive interfaces.

Web content can be altered using HTML, Cassading Style Sheets (CSS) Languages, Content Management System (CMS) and many other methods. A good website is one which is dynamic and there is full control over website content as and when necessary.

In today’s day and age, effective communication goes far beyond just pen and paper. Media and digital communication has undergone revolutionary changes and is one of the easiest and most convenient way to reach a mass target audience. If your website is dressed for success, that is half the battle won – but it that enough?

Design Workz addresses more fundamental and ground breaking questions which will not only help your website standout, be fun and easy to use, and more importantly; be professional. Not only can we help you increase your website’s search engine rating, dictate your online presence, create a 24/7 available storefront which ensures you do not miss out on opportunites, we also assist in positing your brand right at the top – where you should be.

Many of our clients have gotten the message and enlisted our help in creating their desired website. Have YOU gotten the message?

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Offset / Digital Printing

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Offset Printing, also known as Lithography; is best defined quite literally as writing with stones. The image to be printed will be engraved on a flat plate and then inked when it comes into contact with paper. The plate will then be flushed with water so ink will only be adhered to the engraved areas of the plate, as the lithographic process of the repulsion of oil and water keeps the non-printing areas ink free.

Offset Printing is able to print on sizes larger than A3, and is recommended for larger quantities (more than 1000) to be economical. Sharp and clean high quality print can be ensured and little maintainence is required if this type of print is chosen. As such, Offset Printing is also one of the most common methods of printing today. We recommend Offset Printing if your image contains fine lines, photographs, screens or tints.

Digital Printing refers to high speed laser printing, often utilizing a state-of-the-art digital colour copier using a single source of concentrated light to expose the image on to photosensitive material. Electrically charged toner will then be attracted to the image and the toner particles are then transferred to paper when in contact with heat or pressure. It is a very fast method of printing as the print is dried instantly.

Digital Print is typically for low print run, hence recommended for smaller quantities and can only print up to a maximum of A3 size. It prints directly from digital files and no film is involved at all. Compared to Offset Printing, the content can be more easily changed, translating to lower wastage and personalization. There is also a significantly shorter lead time. Digital Prints work well on paper or canvas.

The aim of this post is not to determine which method of printing is better, but in hopes of giving readers a better insight of the different methods of printing; and which method to choose to suit their needs. We hope that this post has been useful to you and should you need further clarifications or more tips, Design Workz will be pleased to help you out.

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Graphic Design

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

What is Graphic Design?

According to Dictionary.com, ‘graphic design’ is defined as “the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience.”

As stated above, a graphic designer does the layout to relay the intended message across to the audience but also ensuring that it is aesthetically-appealing at the same time. Sounds easy? Think again.

Firstly, more often than not, clients would approach you without proper text or even dull content. Images that they provide may also be in poor quality or in the size of a stamp expecting it to be blown up to A5 or even A4 size. Sounds ridiculous? Well, that’s life. Graphic designers like us are often perceived as like having ‘magic hands’ and thus would be able to churn out wonderful Final Artworks (FA) with those limited resources; without any traces of its humble background. In fact, a successfully well-executed artwork will indeed be able to overcome all these problems, but that is not easy to achieve every time! However, clients are taking those ‘lucky moments’ for granted and are expecting the designers to present marvellous work each and every time, irregardless of what resources they are provided with.

Secondly, by looking at another definition of ‘graphic design’ (as a noun), it refers to a form of visual communication media made possible through the skilful execution of combinating text and images. Doing which requires a professional and experienced graphic designer who is by no means dispensable nor replaceable by any other designers; for every design concept and its originator (the designer) is unique! ;p

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