Print Design: Re-vamping a direct mailer
by Joey at 3:10 pm
While a logo defines the identity of a business, a direct mailer can help or hurt a company when trying to gather new clients.
This project deals with re-vamping a direct mailer (postcard) that will be sent to customers of a business called Buildwish.
As a home improvement magazine, Buildwish must send out postcards to different companies in order to try and get advertising within their publication. To garner attention from these businesses, we decided to redo the look of their postcards to give it a modern look, and to match their other packets, rate cards and such.
Having done some of their previous work, we already have all the proper images on board to get started. First we will create the document. In our particular case, we will be using InDesign to develop it. However, any image editing programs, such as Photoshop can create the exact same things.
They have called for a 6 inch x 4 inch postcard with a bleed on the edges of 0.1". Once we create the new document, we can see what we started with, and then build on top of it.
First, they want their logo. Using Command + D, we can place the logo on the postcard. Once we adjust it to the specific area where we want it, we can then place other photos around it.
For the background, we have gone with a blue to light blue radial gradient. If you take a look at the image to the right, you can see the particular values of the gradient.
We have chosen to place four images from the other pamphlets on the postcard. We create an upside L-shape. We want to add an image of a house as well. We choose to place that in the bottom left corner, with the logo going above along with the phrase "Everything for your home."
Now we also must take into consideration the back of the card too. So we add the text to it. Because we used a white box behind the phrase on the front, we decide to carry that touch over to the back. We also have added the image of the cover of the magazine.
Because the text is saved within a Word document, you can place and edit the text just as you place a photo (Command + D). From there, we carry the same fonts over to the back of the postcard. In this case, we have branded Buildwish with Gotham Bold for their website name, and Georgia for their body copy (text).
While this is simple and easy to do, it does help a lot when trying to gather new business. The better your branding looks and the higher quality product you send out, the more business you can potential gain. A simple redesign of your marketing materials can work wonders for your growth.
