Here at PMG Print Management, we care about your print projects. We want to help you maximise your profits by supporting you every step of the way, advising on where to cut costs, how you can save paper and why you should always plan ahead. Those companies who choose not to have a clever print management team on their side are more at risk of creating designs that aren’t particularly successful or that are riddled with mistakes. By getting to know you and your company, we can ensure that with our print management expertise you’ll implement print projects that you can be proud of and create designs that will be remembered long into the future. Take a look at these four common print design mistakes – are you making any of these costly, avoidable errors with your print projects?
Choosing the wrong font
The text is often one of the most important features of a print design, and although you might have chosen a great image, it is ultimately the text that will provide your audience with the information they need as well as often being the first thing to catch their eye. It stands to reason, then, that you should choose your font wisely. When choosing the right typeface you must consider the message you are trying to send and the image you wish to portray. If your message is of extreme importance or needs to appeal specifically to adults, then you won’t want to use a font that comes across as childish. You will also need to ensure the font you choose is legible when sizes and colours are taken into consideration.
Forgetting about k e r n i n g
Companies who fail to evaluate and adjust the spacing between the lettering in their prints are often the subjects of scrutiny. We regularly see unfortunate businesses ridiculed in articles highlighting their design faults that have resulted in posters unintentionally reading inappropriate words or phrases, all because they did not consider the process of kerning. When you choose a font that you like you must always check how it looks on the finished piece after you have fiddled around with sizing and colours to ensure that it is still legible and has the desired effect. When letters are spaced too far apart a gap is created that can take away from the overall design, while when letters are too close together you can end up including words in your print that put a different message across entirely!
Failing to proofraed
Proofreading your work before handing it over to your editor, manager or print designer goes without saying. You’ll save a lot of time handing drafts back and forth if you simply proofread your work before declaring it finished. While others might be responsible for giving a print the okay before sending it off, it is ultimately down to you to ensure that everything is spelt correctly and that your commas are in the right place! It is obvious when companies simply rely on the spellcheck on their computers because they fail to pick up correctly spelt words that are used in the wrong context…
Choosing the wrong colours
You might think some colours work well together on the computer screen, but how well do they work when they are printed, blown up, viewed in sunlight or on a cloudy day? When bright colours are intensified under sunlight they can appear to vibrate and become unattractive or striking for the wrong reasons. Similarly, when colours appear dull on a dark day, they can fail to make your print stand out. You should always be aware of your colour settings when designing, because just when you think you’ve found the perfect match you’ll realise the contrast was set too high and the colour is completely wrong!
Here at PMG Print Management we know our stuff, so you can trust us to avoid making any of the above mistakes. We will manage every bit of your printing from drawer to door, so you don’t have to worry about missing the tiniest of details or whether or not your print project will be a success. If you’d like to learn more about the print management services we can offer, contact a member of the team today.
