Among some of the most creative and impressive marketing moves of all time, chances are you will hear tales of early Starbucks. While trying to increase brand awareness, they hired people to drive around with a Starbucks cup glued to the top of their car just above the driver’s door where it would be found if the driver had inadvertently sat it down while getting into the car.

Brilliant? Not yet, it gets better. As other drivers and those considerate enough to marvel at how he had gotten this far, and motion or speak to him regarding the cup, they were given a coupon for a free coffee at their local Starbucks. Now, it’s brilliant. Not only did it raise brand awareness but also drove new potential customers to the store who had the potential of being turned into loyal customers.

Recently I read a similiar story of brilliant marketing in Deliver magazine. After reading the article, I searched for a more information on Prospera Credit Union, what I found was a small chain in Wisconsin that I thought were behind the marketing expenditure. Fortunately a reader (see the comment below) was kind enough to let me know that the Credit Unioin that was actually responsible for this marketing is actually a much larger bank with 21 branches actually in Canada.

Whether large or small, the company was still faced with a problem. They were assigned the task of making their new equity shares sound exciting. How can this be accomplished?

See for yourself!

As Deliver put it, few things say freezing your taxes like a freezer pack.  In case you can’t read the text, in addition to the the logo of the credit union, the pack boasts, "Paying taxes is a big headache. That’s why we’re freezing them for 10 years."

Was the campaign successful? You better believe it. In a short 7 weeks they had surpassed their revenue goal!

Simply Brilliant!

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Following up an earlier article where we discussed some magazine layout principles, let’s take a look at continuity in design.

Design continuity for a specialized marketing piece, specifically one that only makes an appearance quarterly or annually is incredibly important. Because the piece will only be in the viewers hand a few times a year, it’s important to make a visual impact that the reader can easily remember.

How is this accomplished? When creating such a piece, it’s important to keep some "theme" of consistency throughout the magazine. The theme will usually consist of similar graphic elements that appear on each spread, every page or at regular intervals within.

Here is a great example of how this is applied in a semi-annual magazine for the Alumni of the Communications Department at ORU. Knowing the advisor/designer personally I can clearly see her thought process as she carries the visual theme throughout the magazine.

Notice the "recording" lines around the dominant photo. These are repeated symbolically on the opposing page that begins the profile article. Later on, as we continue through the magazine, we again see the same elements repeat. The story is different and even the layout is different but the theme is the same.

To keep the magazine fresh and changing, we don’t want to simply repeat the exact same layout over and over. Between these main stories the magazine is filled with shorter articles, sidebars and photos. But once we come back to such a spread, there is an immediate visual connection to what we’ve already seen.

Ways this can be accomplished:

1. Repeat. Simply pull a previously used element such as a drop cap, a rule line, background graphics, etc.

2. Duplicate a photo effect. Add crop marks, frames, distress or elegant filter effects to dominate photos to create a unified effect.

3. Mirror. To mirror a spread simply re-arrange the elements in your layout to appear as if they would if you literally printed it out and held it up to a mirror. (If you can’t visualize the effect–print it out!) This is what has been done in the above example.

4. Reflect. What would your layout look like if reflected upside down? Please realize we’re not referring to the text or headline, but rather the arrangement of the elements on the page. If your dominant photo is a square on the bottom left, another layout within the piece could have it placed in the top left instead.

5. Rotate. If your original design is solid, you can rotate your layout of elements in a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion to retain the ‘feel’ of the other spreads.

Keeping these tricks in mind with assist you in creating a unified magazine piece.  To download the entire magazine to see the visual impact of repeating elements click here.

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What does it take to design a breath-taking magazine? We all know a magazine generally consists of certain "standards" that will be seen in each issue. For instance, chances are you will have some type of table of contents, main articles, advertisements and editorials.

Throughout the years I’ve had the opportunity to learn some great guidelines (some by example and some by trial and error) to creating a magazine spread that really "pops."

Column layout: Articles/Features should not be strictly subject to a standard "template" spread with set column widths and layouts.  Each issue should feel fresh even in the typeset design. By breaking free of those columns and creating interest with our typeset, we will deliver our message more effectively as readers will be drawn into an article that appears to be above the standard.

If we do this consistently, we can keep our readers looking forward to our magazine because they will not always know what to expect. As they flip through and look for subjects of interest the “fresh” look will also draw them in. Currently on the market, magazines are boasting a split column design, meaning the columns are not equal in width. This typeset has an interesting effect on the reader giving a feeling of newness as they peruse the article. Similarly it’s like driving down a road with constantly changing scenery. That’s what the reader needs to stay connected with the subject. When the columns are so strict and rigid, it’s easier to “drift” away from the subject and get distracted.

I recently ran across this magazine as a design resource. I loved the way they had tilted the layout just to add a little visual interest to the page.

Graphics/Photos: Big is better? Less is more? We have to find the balance and keep it constantly changing. For some articles a full page photo is the way to go, however, we cannot get stuck in that rut and never change it up. By making the photo horizontally span across the spreads occasionally we can maintain a fresh look. Thin horizontal pictures, wide vertical pictures and combinations of the two will help the reader stay interested in the magazine.
 

Here’s another great example of a spread.

 The better your magazine layout, the more likely your readers are to pick your magazine up again. And that’s the bottom line, we want to produce a piece that will be picked up and read, re-read and passed along to others. Mazda accomplished this with their Winter 2008 magazine. We can accomplish it too!

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A remarkable print process has been released. The 75th anniversary of Esquire magazine boasts a printing first: E-ink.

What is this new phenomenon? It’s literally a digital display that is battery powered and snuggled in the front of the magazine cover. The cover, barely heavier stock than a normal cover is not even noticeably different. That is until the image changes in front of your eyes.

A friend was in a local bookstore and saw that flash of the magazine cover. It captured his attention and immediately he thought of me. As soon as he saw it, he knew it was a must have. There were only 2 issues left. After talking to the clerk, he found out that this "flashing" issue, was a limited edition. 1 of 100,000 made out of the more than 700,000 ran in the regularly subscription issues.

How does is work? Honestly, I’ve read the articles and I still have no idea. But I do know that it’s remarkable and chances are this will be the wave of the future. As designers, we are required to get the information and get on board.

In the meantime, I’ll be holding on to my copy of the magazine! And learning what I can about this new technology. To read the full article on the technology of this cover click here.

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In an interesting article today in Before and After magazine. The discussion was of the price contraints and budget limitations of adding a bleed to your piece.

Just to make sure everyone is up to speed, adding a "bleed" to a page means the ink will run off the edge of the page. This normally means you include anywhere from an 1/8" to 1/4" larger than the actual page. Now, unfortunately this means for most printers that your work will be trimmed down to the crop marks.

Now, let’s suppose you are on a tight budget. How can you achieve a "bleed" feel without a bleed budget?

Before and After had a great alternative. Pull your background in to create a nice white margin. Once this is done, you can arrange one of your elements to expand beyond the image, this not only creates a classic feel to your piece, but also gives you a nice "popping" element.

Try this out on your next budget piece! I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

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Recently in my mailbox I was delighted to find the newest issue of Creativity. Now, sometimes the initial delight can be devasted by a few flips of the pages. This time, however, that was not the case.

I was so excited to see a new page following closely behind the Table of Contents page that contained a dozen printed, colorful and graphic "tabs" that were sticky on one end and could be removed to tag your issue for your favorite articles.

The idea is ingenious! Not only does it allow the magazine to showcase some graphic designers through the designed tabs, it also gives them the opportunity to showcase a print company, while providing a valuable service to the readers (Which are the creative audience) and then it also opens up a new realm of design for the artists.

I’m already trying to come up with a project that I need specialized designed tabs for!

If you don’t subscribe to Creativity, I definitely reccommend it, it’s a great resource to keep your finger on the pulse of design, printing and video.  Best of all, it’s a free resource! You can click here to check them out!

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Believe it or not, the United States Postal Service actually offers a FREE annual publication for those who need information on current standards (mailing rates, gimmick prices, etc.) for sending direct mail pieces through the post. This resource usually comes out in March or April. I just got my copy.

In addition to this, the USPS also publishes a quarterly magazine Deliver which deals with marketing trends and other related direct mail issues. The magazine is available via web or PDF versions or you can sign up for their printed subscription list–but the best part is—-it’s FREE!

Happy reading!

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All my friends give me a hard time about being old-fashioned, but I still LOVE a good PRINTED magazine. I spend all my time on a computer so the last thing I want to do is have to READ my periodicals online!

Below is a collection of some of my favorite design magazines and links to their sites! Some actually are FREE to subscribe to, others have steep subscription prices but are worth every penny!

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