FEATURED
Textured Papers
Top Three Trends Marketers Expect to Dominate in 2018
FREE RESOURCE INSIDE: 2018 Commercial Postal Rate Sheet
VOL. 8, ISSUE 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 Brought to you by Shawmut Communications Group
According to Neenah Paper, there are four essential elements of print design: Audience, Message, Paper, and Print. When carefully considered and artfully executed, these four elements form the basis for memorable communication. And when you consider that 70% of people prefer reading on paper versus on screens, it becomes critical to select paper that yields a powerful reaction. That’s precisely what we’ve done with this first issue of Tactics magazine in 2018. To grab your attention and to elicit a physical reaction, we’ve used Neenah CLASSIC® Techweave Digital stock for our cover. Inside, you’ll learn more about the changes we’ve made to Tactics this year—but if we didn’t grab your attention from the cover, you might not have noticed. Paper impacts your decision to engage, and it communicates value before you read the first word. That’s why we agree with our partners at Neenah that paper is just as important as your audience, message, and of course the quality of the print.
OUR COVER
Techweave
Managing projects together with
With a unique finish that takes the feel of finely woven fabric and adds a high-tech twist, CLASSIC® Techweave Papers embody Neenah’s superior craftsmanship and ability to stay current with design trends and printing technologies. It is available in multiple colors and weights for perfect image reproduction. Every CLASSIC® Techweave sheet is FSC® Certified and Green-e certified. Ready to see how CLASSIC® Techweave or another specialty substrate can impact your next piece? Talk to your Shawmut rep today!
FEATURED EXPERTS Daniel Dejan Print and Creative Manager, Sappi etc. Jarrett Brimmer Senior Account Executive, CM Access Todd Mitchell Owner, Mitchell Creative Group Fanny Dines Graphic Design Supervisor, Boston Museum of Science
INSIGHT is a powerful online tool that enables marketers, designers, and project managers to track projects from an initial quote to the final destination. It provides real-time access to production data helping to streamline communication and improve collaboration.
GO BEYOND THE SPECS WITH INSIGHT • Upload files and get instant error alerts • View and approve proofs • Track jobs through each phase of production • Get real-time updates and shipping notifications • Access job history, past proofs, and production files
Get Started with Shawmut Insight! Register at www.shawmutdelivers.com/shawmut-insight or call us at 978-762-7500.
WELCOME
A New Tactics for the New Year The new year is a time to set goals, review the milestones you’ve reached, and start building new relationships. It’s a time when our heads are filled with possibilities and we get a blank slate of sorts to connect with people in a new way. And that is exactly what Shawmut is setting out to do in 2018. We are excited to announce that there will be a new Tactics magazine for 2018—one that is focused on you. If you’ve been a loyal subscriber you may recall that we conducted a reader survey early in 2017. The feedback was outstanding and we’ve used that to inform many of the topics we’ll cover this year. Each issue in 2018 will include perspectives from our clients, partners, in-house experts and other industry thought-leaders. It’s our way of bringing together a community of marketers, designers, and print professionals.
we produce is a group effort. The final product is only successful because of the collective efforts of our community. Our first issue is designed to help you get ready for the year. We’ve asked experts about the trends they expect to see in 2018 across marketing, design, and staffing. Plus we’ve included a list of helpful design tools and our new Postal Rate Sheet so you can quickly estimate your postage. We think you’ll love what these experts have to say and hope you’ll be a part of Tactics magazine moving forward. If you have a topic you’d like to share or perspective that our readers need to hear, let us know. Happy New Year,
We are firm believers in the motto: it takes a village. From design and marketing teams, to suppliers, press operators, and customer service, everything
Michael Peluso President
Inside this Issue
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Sappi’s Daniel Dejan and our own Michelle Cardin give insights on the 2018 marketing landscape.
Advice, tools, and practices for speeding up your workflow from in-house and agency designers.
5
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Jarrett Brimmer, a senior account executive with CM Access, reports on the changing future of marketing departments.
Postal rates have changed for 2018! Tear out this handy guide and refer to it all year long.
TOP THREE TRENDS MARKETERS EXPECT TO DOMINATE IN 2018
CREATING A DATA-CENTRIC MARKETING TEAM
GAINING EFFICIENCIES THROUGHOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS
FREE RESOURCE: 2018 COMMERCIAL POSTAL RATE SHEET
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From the driver’s seat of his Lexus, Daniel Dejan talks about the year to come. For him, 2018 brings more than 150 days of travel—as he crisscrosses the U.S. for Sappi Fine Paper—it offers opportunities to educate marketers and designers about the power of print. His GPS chirps instructions as he makes his way to Chicago for a presentation, but his train of thought isn’t broken as he’s used to multitasking while traveling. “Customer expectations will be higher than ever this year,” he says as a robotic voice suggests an upcoming turn. “It’s up to marketers to exceed their expectations.” Dejan believes his role as an educator can help companies do just that. By showing clients what’s possible in the world of print, companies can embrace an all-inclusive marketing strategy that satisfies the customer’s appetite for new, appealing marketing material. Michelle Cardin, marketing director at Shawmut, also sees education as a primary focus for her 2018 marketing strategy.
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PERSONALIZATION BECOMES A NECESSITY
In the New Year, marketers have to get personal with their audience. “’Broad strokes marketing’ won’t work anymore,” Dejan says. “Customers want a 1:1 experience and won’t settle for anything less.” Cardin agrees and believes personalization helps a brand connect with customers. “Each interaction is a chance to further connect with your customer and deepen the relationship. You may start out by personalizing materials with their first name, which is pretty common, but the options go well beyond that,” Cardin says.
“You can use variable images and content across print and digital channels to personalize communications based on things “We’re working to educate such as a favorite color, hometown, our clients, create a sense of or even products the recipient is community and help companies reach customers in innovative ways.” interested in.” Beyond education, Dejan and Cardin believe these three trends will dominate the marketing industry in 2018:
Personalization options are endless, but are they effective on everyone? The short answer is yes, but it’s particularly important for the younger generations, Dejan says.
“Millennials and Generation Z are used to a more personalized touch. They expect their name on every piece of advertising—with the proper spelling—and images that reflect their lifestyle.” It’s a challenge for marketers to meet these expectations, Dejan says, and it can be damaging if mistakes are made. “If you send a catalog to a millennial with their name misspelled, it sets off a series of problems. The catalog will be ignored, but that’s the least of your problems,” he says. “Now you’ve lost their trust. That customer assumes you know nothing about them, and now you have to work even harder to regain their trust before you can even think about selling them something.” THE TAKEAWAY: Personalization is effective, but not without attention to detail.
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AUTOMATION IS CRUCIAL TO CREATE RELEVANT CONTENT
Personalization at-scale is hard to do. In response, marketers will rely on automation to help them create personalized content in 2018. Of course, the term automation means different things to different marketers. For email marketers, it provides the opportunity to send premade emails based on a specific time or a customer’s behavior. To social media marketers, automation
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means creating and scheduling posts across multiple platforms. At its core, automation uses technology to streamline a process. And more marketers are looking for automated solutions to time-heavy problems like data collection or personalizing individual print materials. “Using automation you can collect data to identify subgroups that you can create personalized content for,” Dejan says. “Automation and personalization really go hand-in-hand.” Cardin predicts similar actions. “At Shawmut, we’ve seen an increase in clients using variable data printing which gives marketers the ability to change elements like text or graphics from one piece to the next without slowing the printing process down.” While automation can be a real time saver, both Dejan and Cardin caution against relying on automation too much. “Used improperly, automation can de-humanize your brand so it’s something you have to use strategically,” Dejan says. THE TAKEAWAY: Use automation to expand reach and engagement, but don’t relinquish all control.
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CAMPAIGNS MUST EMBRACE DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL TACTICS
Digital marketing took the industry by storm in recent years.
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Companies devoted money and resources to explore the digital frontier, and it has taken significant time to learn best practices and calculate ROI.
The idea of utilizing multiple platforms to reach more customers isn’t necessarily new, Cardin says, but marketers are just now realizing the value of joining both digital and print marketing.
What many have realized, Dejan says, is that they can’t rely on digital “Print takes some additional marketing alone. It needs support. effort, but it’s the channel that drives engagement,” she says. “A digital campaign is great, but “In 2018, I think we’ll see more when you add a traditional companies return to print and element like print, your marketing marry digital campaigns with capabilities reach new heights,” he more traditional tactics.” says. “Companies can use print as a conduit for digital media.” THE TAKEAWAY: When used together, digital and traditional In other words, draw your marketing methods can give customers in with a personalized you the best ROI. postcard, for example, and direct them to your website to learn more These three trends will push details about a special offer. marketers to create campaigns that speak to individual customers this “Everyone has their smartphone year, and both Dejan and Cardin with them at all times, so print can are prepared to help clients, even if serve as a trigger point to engage it means Dejan has to use his GPS with your online presence,” he says. to provide help in person.
As an educator, designer, humanist, mentor and lover of all things graphic arts, Daniel Dejan has been an evangelist for the power of paper and print for the span of his career. He is the face of the etc (education-trainingconsulting) group at Sappi North America where he delivers etc services to Sappi’s wide range of clients.
Daniel Dejan has presented at two Shawmut Thinks events. Watch the videos online: www.shawmutdelivers.com/shawmut-thinks
HIRING FOR THE FUTURE:
Creating a Data-Centric Marketing Team
Have you ever tried to drive down a country road at night, while looking out the back window of your car? The late Peter Drucker often called the founder of modern management, said trying to predict the future is akin to that experience. “The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different,” Drucker said. The same could be said about the future of marketing departments, too. Today’s marketing department is evolving rapidly and looks entirely different from company to company. The marketing department of the future will be built around the customer experience which varies by industry, company culture, products and services. The one constant however, is the ever-growing presence of datacentric responsibilities. “Marketing means a lot of different things to a lot of people,” said Jarrett Brimmer, a senior account executive with CM Access, a Boston-based staffing firm for creative, marketing and interactive talent. “Some of the companies we work with are starting to integrate sales into the marketing umbrella while others are expanding roles within their creative teams to include more strategy or data analysis.” Brimmer, who spent ten years working in print and creative companies before transitioning into talent acquisition, says that the hiring landscape has become increasingly digitally focused. While that won’t come as a big surprise, CM Access
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gaps among the current role structure and teams.
In today’s oversaturated world, marketing and creative teams must be able to multitask across marketing disciplines and channels. is beginning to see the second generation of digital marketing roles—ones that leverage data to drive the communications strategy across both online and offline channels. “A few years ago, email marketing manager roles were big, and those individuals rarely interacted with other channels. Now we see the demand for broader digital skills— particularly the ability to gather, analyze and interpret data—in more traditional marketing and creative roles,” adds Brimmer. In fact, CM Access reports that many positions are blended into creative departments, and these departments are then rebranded as “the internal agency.” This structure functions very much like an external agency, with the company serving as the client. And just like an external agency, creative professionals are now tasked with items beyond design and copywriting. The internal agency—which might include traditional roles like creative directors and graphic designers—must be able to
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deliver more than just artwork and campaign concepts. They must be able to gather customer data, analyze it, and create campaigns designed to improve the customer experience. “This is good news for creative staff. In marketing teams of the past, designers relied on marketing managers to set the strategy and deliver the creative brief. Now, they are part of the process and using data to set their strategy,” says Brimmer. In today’s oversaturated world, marketing and creative teams must be able to multitask across marketing disciplines and channels. That means mastering tools in the marketing tech stack, learning new skills, and forming data partnerships with IT or finance departments. As an account executive for CM Access, Brimmer helps organizations optimize their talent search and identify any
“While we see some niche digital roles opening up, it’s always a good idea to make sure that traditional marketers are there as well. That kind of knowledge is very valuable and can only help strengthen the overall effort as new channels are developed.” Legendary thought leader, Peter Drucker is also credited with saying that the “best way to predict the future is to create it.” Brimmer and the rest of the team at CM Access agree. In addition to helping clients find new talent, they advocate for advanced training and bi-directional educational programs wherever possible. That means giving traditional marketers opportunities to interact with data while offering digital natives ample opportunities to learn marketing fundamentals. It’s a give and take. While we can’t predict the future, history tells us that marketing is always in a state of change. Marketing teams of the future will need to adapt or get left behind. And while staffing priorities will likely continue to focus on data and personalization strategies in the coming year, there’s always another trend around the corner.
Jarrett Brimmer is a Senior Account Executive at CM Access, a staffing firm that specializes in creative, marketing and IT roles. His ability to recognize the unique challenges and personalities that comprise the tech, marketing and digital industries has helped hundreds of employers find the right talent for today’s changing marketplace.
Gaining efficiencies throughout the creative process The creative process is often as unique as the creator. The process you go through to craft an engaging story or design a brochure is likely all your own. No matter how you get from concept to completion, one thing is true of every creative process: It’s time consuming.
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And yet, clients always want their advertising materials ASAP. To keep up with demand, you’re forced to pick up efficiencies. “You have to train yourself to be sharp, fast and think of the client’s audience first,” Todd Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Creative Group says. “Clients want materials that wow their customers, and they want them quickly.” Fanny Dines, Graphic Design Supervisor for Boston Museum of Science, agrees. “My inbox is full and my team is always busy, but we have an obligation to create materials that will engage our visitors on a regular basis.” Whether you’re working solo or with a creative team, Mitchell and Dines offer these six tips to gain efficiencies throughout your creative process:
Delegate assignments If you have a team of creators like Dines, who has three in-house designers and four freelancers, understanding each person’s strengths is crucial. “I try to be selective with assignments; making sure the right person is on the job.”
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Use your creative license
Brainstorm ideas
Clients trust your creative gut; so don’t waste time doubting yourself, Mitchell says. “Clients want you to pioneer new solutions. If you don’t, the client’s company risks falling behind.”
Dines says team brainstorming plays a big role in producing quality content on a deadline. “We talk through each phase of a project, especially in the initial conception phase. It gets things on the right track from the start.”
Create a collaborative environment Dines says she never wants anyone on her team to feel as though they have to create something alone. “We’re a team. We can help each other move through the process if we all work together.”
Use job management software Stay organized with task management software, Dines suggests. “It’s too hard to keep track of every project and where it is in the process, so using software that allows you to see where different pieces are is imperative.”
Work with trusted vendors Clients trust you to deliver quality materials on time, so if you need outside help with something like printing, for example, you need a trusted company in your corner. “I trust Shawmut Communications Group with all my printing needs,” Mitchell says. “No matter what the project, they find innovative ways to help me exceed client expectations.” By using these six tips, you can improve your creative process. You’ll be able to put valuable time back into your schedule while juggling multiple projects.
Todd Mitchell is the owner of Mitchell Creative Group where he’s led a team of creative innovators for more than 15 years. Together they support clients across the world and pioneer creative solutions across web, print, digital, marketing, packaging, advertising, and more.
FOCUS
Tools and Practices to Help Graphic Designers Be More Efficient When time is tight and deadlines are looming, efficiency is key. For designers, building a collection of useful shortcuts, online tools and resources is crucial to staying on task and keeping work fresh. Our designer shares a few of her favorites:
A SKETCHBOOK Whether you work primarily in print, branding, or web/UX, a paper sketchbook or notepad is the easiest way to keep your ideas organized and thoughts focused. The rapid-fire approval, discarding, and revision of concepts on paper is invaluable to the design process. Grids, lines, plain paper—find what works for you! Try it: us.moleskine.com ADOBE COLOR CC Formerly Adobe Kuler, this tool enables designers to easily build, save, and use color palettes across the Adobe CC suite. Browse user-submitted color palettes or create your own using the color wheel, the Color Rule tool, or the eyedropper tool. Try it: color.adobe.com TINYPNG
Today’s web designers and developers can agree: page loading time due to high-res images is a serious concern. TinyPNG helps alleviate these worries, compressing PNG and JPEG files while retaining their optical quality. It is available as a free online tool, a Photoshop plugin, and even a WordPress plugin. Try it: tinypng.com ADOBE TYPEKIT
Annalise is part of Shawmut’s creative services team and is responsible for turning our clients’ creative vision into reality. She is a versatile and experienced designer who works across print and digital channels to deliver exceptional visual communications. Her work includes direct mail, e-books, infographics, brochures, catalogs, websites, and more.
For designers, font licensing is often one of the trickier parts of the job. It can be hard to find a balance between quality fonts, price, and usage restrictions. Enter: Adobe Typekit, offering thousands of fonts for use in print (and web!) through partnerships with numerous well-known foundries. Typekit is included in a CC subscription so fonts seamlessly sync across Adobe programs and devices. Try it: typekit.com DRIBBBLE When you’re in need of honest peer review and feedback, or are at a loss for where to even begin on a project, turn to the Dribbble community. Marketed as “show and tell for designers,” Dribbble invites designers across disciplines to share screenshots of their in-progress or finished work. Membership is by invitation only, but the whole collection of images is public and easily searchable. Dribbble designers often share free downloads of templates, fonts, or other useful tools. Try it: dribbble.com
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DID YOU KNOW?
Trending Up: Print and Direct Mail It’s no doubt that marketers have a plethora of channels at their disposal. And while we know we need to deliver omnichannel campaigns, it’s important to remember that all channels are not created equal. According to a survey by MarketingSherpa, 82 percent of U.S. Internet users trust print ads when making a purchase decision, more than any other medium.
In 2017, over
$15 billion was spent on flyer printing in the US alone.
The highest ranking online format, search ads, clocks in at 61 percent, while only 25 percent of Americans trust pop-ups. That’s why we’ve been seeing a resurgence among print ads, collateral, and direct mail. But don’t just take our word for it, check out these recent growth stats below. You might find them pretty surprising.
2 2 6 new print magazines launched in 2016.
Over 10 billion business cards are printed in the US every year. Growth is predicted to continue well into 2024.
The global print industry is worth $765 billion more than the online advertising industry.
5.3%
2.9%
Print advertising is expected to reach
$24.66
billion U.S. dollars in 2018.
According to the DMA, direct mail response rates average 5.3% for a house list and 2.9% for a prospect list, the highest reported since DMA started tracking in 2013.
FREE RESOURCE
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Postal rates have changed for 2018! Tear out this handy guide and refer to it all year long.
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Commercial Postal Rate Sheet Commercial postal rates can have a big impact on your marketing budget. See how commercial rates are changing in 2018 and ways you can save on postage.
FIRST CLASS MAIL Delivery in 1–3 business days (not guaranteed)
Not sure what these terms mean? Check out our helpful definitions on the next page.
Letter
SERVICE
2017
2018
Automation 5 Digit (1 oz)
.373
.378
Automation AADC
.403
.408
Automation Mixed AADC
.423
.424
Presorted (Machinable)
.453
.458
Presorted (Nonmachinable)
.663
.668
MIN.
MAX.
LENGTH
5"
11 1/2"
HEIGHT
3 1/2" 6 1/8"
THICKNESS
.007"** 1/4"
HEIGHT
Letters: Up to 3.5 oz
Mail Classes Defined
LENGTH
Thickness must be .009" or more if more than 6" long, 4 1/4" high, or both.
**
Max weight for letters is 3.5 oz.
Nonmachinable surcharge: .21
Flat MIN.*
SERVICE
2017
2018
Automation 5 Digit (1 oz)
.446
.474
Automation 3 Digit
.630
.593
Automation AADC
.670
.632
Automation Mixed AADC
.750
.705
Presorted (Non-Automation)
.798
.799
MAX.
LENGTH
11 1/2" 15"
HEIGHT
6 1/8"
12"
THICKNESS
1/4"
3/4"
HEIGHT
Flats: Up to 1 oz
Flats exceed at least one of these dimensions.
*
Max weight for flats is 13 oz.
LENGTH
Flats are subject to flexibility standards. Can not be too flexible or too rigid. Flat-size mail pieces must be uniformly thick so that any bumps, protrusions, or other irregularities do not cause more than 1/4-inch variance in thickness.
Additional ounce: .21
Postcard
SERVICE
2017
2018
Automation 5 Digit (1 oz)
.253
.257
Automation AADC
.266
.268
Automation Mixed AADC
.274
.274
Presorted (Machinable)
.284
.280
Shawmut Communications Group 978.762.7500 | www.shawmutdelivers.com
MIN.*
MAX.
LENGTH
5"
6"
HEIGHT
3 1/2"
4 1/4"
THICKNESS
.007"
.016"
HEIGHT
Postcards: Up to 1 oz
LENGTH
Looking for ways to save on your direct mail programs? Talk with one of our mailing experts today.
Marketing Mail
(Formerly Standard Mail)
Letters: Up to 3.5 oz
Marketing Mail NONPROFIT Letters: Up to 3.5 oz
SERVICE
2017
2018
SERVICE
2017
2018
Automation 5 Digit
.251
.251
Automation 5 Digit
.134
.136
Automation AADC/ADC
.271
.274
Automation AADC/ADC
.154
.159
Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.288
.287
Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.171
.172
Non-Automation AADC/ADC
.284
.287
Non-Automation AADC/ADC
.167
.172
Non-Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.301
.300
Non-Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.184
.185
Flats: 4 oz or less
Flats: 4 oz or less
SERVICE
2017
2018
SERVICE
2017
2018
Automation 5 Digit
.387
.393
Automation 5 Digit
.244
.227
Automation 3 Digit
.478
.500
Automation 3 Digit
.335
.334
Automation AADC/ADC
.533
.567
Automation AADC/ADC
.390
.401
Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.550
.598
Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.407
.432
Non-Automation 5 Digit
.435
.466
Non-Automation 5 Digit
.292
.300
Non-Automation 3 Digit
.504
.550
Non-Automation 3 Digit
.361
.384
Non-Automation AADC/ADC
.555
.602
Non-Automation AADC/ADC
.412
.436
Non-Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.588
.634
Non-Automation Mixed AADC/ADC-Origin
.445
.468
Must have at least 200 pieces or 50 lbs of mail to qualify for Marketing Mail discounts. Delivery in 2–9 business days (not guaranteed). The max weight is 16 oz. Additional discounts may be available based on the mail entry point (DNDC, DSCF, DDU). Please contact us for more information.
Commercial Mailing Services Defined AADC: Automated Area Distribution Center, a presort level in which all pieces are addressed for delivery in the same service area as the AADC. An abbreviation is used on the mail label that identifies the contents as Automated Area Distribution Center mail (i.e., the ZIP Codes on the mail are served by the AADC). ADC: Similar to AADC, a presort level in which all pieces are addressed for delivery in the same service area, however that service area is only served by an Area Distribution Center. The difference between an AADC and ADC is the volume of mail that goes through each center. Automation: Mail that is prepared in such a way that allows the USPS to utilize their equipment to read and distribute mail using a barcode, which includes the delivery ZIP code.
Shawmut Communications Group 978.762.7500 | www.shawmutdelivers.com
Presort: The sorting of outgoing mail by delivery ZIP code in order to take advantage of a cheaper rate of postage. 5 Digit: The delivery address ZIP code on all pieces is the same 5 digit ZIP code. 3 Digit: The delivery address ZIP code on all pieces begins with the same three digits. AADC/ADC: All pieces are addressed for delivery in the service area of the same Automated Area Distribution Center (AADC) or Area Distribution Center (ADC). Presorted (Non-Automation): Mail sorted by ZIP code which meets USPS labeling standards but does not meet postal automation criteria.
ASK AN EXPERT How has the shift to visual content affected your marketing campaigns?
The Rise in Visual Content How do you grab a customer’s attention? It’s getting harder and harder to do. With inboxes full, social media feeds updating constantly and unappealing, text-heavy print promotions filling mailboxes, how can marketers get their product or service noticed?
The answer: Visual content. Research shows 91% of buyers prefer visual content to traditional, text-driven content, according to a Demand Gen Report. More creative professionals, like Graphic Design Supervisor Fanny Dines, are noticing the rise in visual content and finding creative ways to capture their audience’s attention. Is there a specific campaign that’s more visual now than it was a year ago? Yes. We used to produce a 20-page catalog that described our lecture series. It included a thorough description of every lecture, but now we’re heading in a new direction by getting our point across with visuals. We’ve created a map fold poster that provides basic information about the lectures. Because the
poster is interactive and visually appealing, it captures people’s attention and then directs them online to get the full scoop. How do you turn text into visual content? It takes a lot of collaboration. We have to ask ourselves, “What’s most important for the reader to know?” Then we have to finesse that copy into a few, carefully selected words that convey our point. With less text, how do you cater to members who want more information than is given? We let the images draw the audience in, but we make sure that our website has prominent placement so interested members can go online to get more details. That’s the beauty of pairing print marketing with digital marketing.
Fanny Dines Graphic Design Supervisor, Boston Museum of Science
We’re focusing less on long, detail-heavy content and working more on crisp, visual pieces that engage our audience. How big of a role does design play when you’re creating visuals that have to wow an audience instantly? A big role. You need a clear, clutterfree design that’s eye-catching and gives you enough space to deliver just enough information. That’s tough to do, but it’s what separates good visuals from great ones. And I think good design is a big driver of overall campaign performance. Do you think the emphasis on visual content will continue or is it just a fad? It’s not a fad. People are busy and visual elements provide a way for people to digest information quickly. Even though people are pulled in many directions, I believe a welldesigned piece of print material has the ability to slow your audience down and take notice. But that means every piece you create will have to be better than the last.
With 15 years of graphic design work under her belt, Fanny Dines has seen a shift toward more visual content in her day-to-day marketing routine.
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Shawmut Communications Group 33 Cherry Hill Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 www.shawmutdelivers.com
John Q. Sample 123 Any Street Any City, AS 12345-6789
Looking for inspiration? Check out Our Work on our website! This area features some stand-out print and marketing projects and highlights our creative community. It’s a great way to get ideas for your next project and see some of Shawmut’s award-winning production techniques.
www.shawmutdelivers.com/our-work
linkedin.com/company/ shawmut-communications-group
facebook.com/ ShawmutCommunicationsGroup
@ShawmutDelivers
@ShawmutDelivers
youtube.com/ shawmutprinting