Last week I received an email regarding the Christmas card that we sent to our family and friends. And the question in that email is the perfect example why every business should consider hiring an external consultant to take a look at the company. CONTENTS: The mail | The picture…
A new year has begun. And every new year brings predictions like: “This year, we’ll definitely see the breakthrough of (fill in the buzzword)”, or “This will be the year of (fill in another hype)”. And although it’s interesting to look at future developments: don’t be blinded by them. Miracles…
With the rise of digital information, digital communication, our way of reading, our way of consuming information has changed. And screens are not a 100% exact substitute for paper: our brain sees them differently. Let’s take a look at some scientific, neurological studies from the past few years on both…
It’s annoying, really annoying. Especially when you are on the receiving side. And it’s definitely reflecting on the brand image of the sender: errors in mailing lists. And I know: I see them on a regular basis. Two mailing pieces at the same moment, wrong use of capitals, wrong language,…
Over the last few decades, print has seen a significant increase in quality. Just go to your bookshelf and take a look at an old book with color pictures to see it with your own eyes. And still today efforts are made to increase quality. One of them is certainly…
What is the function, ‘the job to be done’ of packaging? Just think about that for a moment and you will see that packaging has multiple functions. And these functions, these jobs can vary, even for the same product… And that might be an overlooked aspect when selling products online….
As a photographer, you usually want to capture a scene as accurately as possible. Especially when you are into product photography or art reproductions. But most camera sensors have some flaws and are therefor limited. A few cameras these days have implemented an old technique to get the maximum out…
When looking at reports about where marketing is going, it’s very clear: mobile advertising is the rising star. But, let’s be honest, do you – as a consumer – like to get advertising on your smartphone? I recently asked this to a group of people and most were rather negative…
Iconic brands come with an iconic brand color. A color we will never forget. Well, that’s the intention of the designer, of the company. But how good is your color memory? Can you accurately recall that iconic brand color? Let’s do a short test to find out… CONTENTS: Short-term memory…
When looking at the latest developments in inkjet, it becomes clear that inkjet isn’t about jetting ink anymore. And it isn’t about small drops anymore. Inkjet is being used more and more to jet – or maybe better: deposit – all kinds of materials. And drop sizes are growing, significantly….
Your logo, your brand colors are important to you, especially when you’re a designer or a marketer. You care about how it is being reproduced, whether it is on a website, on a printed piece of paper, or any other kind of reproduction. And you should take all those kinds…
Printing on a flat sheet of paper is easy. Printing on a different kind of flat substrate might already require more attention, e.g. special inks might be necessary. But when you are moving into direct container printing, you are in a completely different world. A world that isn’t flat: it…
In case you never bothered about prizes awarded to scientists, this time it is different. The Nobel Prize for Economy 2017 was awarded to one of the founding fathers of ‘behavioral economics’, the father of ‘nudging’. And this is something you should care about. Nudging is something really useful when…
Designers know black. Especially when it comes to fashion. When looking at print, it might be a bit more complicated and sometimes strange things can happen to black, unintentionally. Last week I got two different mail pieces that contained a ‘weird’ black. Let’s take a closer look at black and…
It’s a common theme in about every boardroom: the need to innovate. And not just a bit of sustaining innovation, no: the need for really disruptive innovation. Because that’s where the future is. Or at least that’s what we’ve been told when looking back and seeing disruptions from the past….