In a world of competing messages, many of them electronic, it is still crucial for your printed pieces to stand out.
We approach design as an interactive process that draws upon our decades of experience and your organization’s needs and goals. We’re committed to a collaborative process in which your organization is clearly represented in your product. For a more detailed description of this process, visit How to Work with a Designer.
Visit our print portfolio or download our Identity and Print Design Brochure (pdf).
Collateral and Advertising
These pieces are often handed out to people at conferences, rallies, meetings, seen in high-profile publications, or mailed directly to an audience. This kind of visibility and range of use requires a different approach from other projects because the pieces need to be especially clear, effective, and easy to navigate.
Collateral pieces are fun to create and often address the most pressing issues of an organization. Compelling design communicates the message so that your audiences know at a glance what you’re trying to convey.
When we work with you on a collateral piece, we start out by asking the following:
- Who will be seeing this piece? For example, if an organization wants to create flyers about health care to give to a group of parents, we’d want to be sure the design spoke to these parents and would align with their background, language, and cultural context.
- How will it be used? Here’s the practical side of the project: Will it be distributed by hand, reside in literature holders, be stacked in a pile on a table, mailed, or published as an advertisement in magazines? If a brochure rests in a literature holder, we need to know if the holder is clear or opaque, because if it’s opaque, it will change the entire approach to the brochure’s cover design.
- What does the piece do? Dimensions and finishing touches, such as folding, binding, and trimming are key to expressing a message, and good design works best with thoughtful, meaningful construction.
- What is your timeframe? We’re always happy to help work out a schedule, back-ending a start date from the date you need the piece ready to use.
- How will the piece be printed? The best design in the world can’t hide a poorly planned paper choice. We’ll discuss your options and advise you on how best to showcase rather than hinder it. We’ll ask if you want to use color images, evaluate whether the inks will look better on a gloss or matte paper, and discuss if the paper will be the proper weight for handling, mailing, or full-ink coverage.
- What quantity do you need printed? Quantity often affects how clients print their materials. For instance, we offer small-quantity printing on our excellent color Xerox, but if there is a longer run, a need for complicated folding, or a very heavy-weight paper, it would be best to use a print shop that can better handle those specifications. Print quantity also affects when you receive your piece, as it takes time to order paper, create plates, and print the job, as well as to apply the finishing trimming and binding.
Packaging
At the meat cooler in the co-op or health food store, your label has a split-second to engage a shopper. The same goes for the cover of a DVD on a website, in a catalog or on the shelf at Sam Goody.
Packaging works in two stages — the first impression, followed by the verifying story (assuming the viewer stays with you past the first impression). As with all our graphic design, we focus on creating a package that is a clear, strong extension of the brand identity and voice.
It must be orderly and appropriate — with an impact. Once we’ve grabbed the viewer’s attention, we present the information they need to make a purchase decision, plus any details that may be required by government regulation.
Though the majority of samples in our portfolio are for sustainably raised food products, we also have a history of projects with industrial tools and educational media. In the final analysis, though, the challenges and opportunities have much in common.
Publications
We design and lay out a wide range of publications, from monthly or bimonthly magazines, newspapers, and newsletters, to annual reports and books. We can design your publication’s initial look, or work with one you already have, offering design suggestions as needed.
Triangle Park designers have decades of experience working with nonprofits and co-ops to express their ongoing work and messages through publications.
Printing and Production Management
For clients with minimal experience dealing with offset printers, we offer print management services. This can mean helping you check proofs or get estimates, or it can extend to doing your printing in-house at Triangle Park.
You pick the level of involvement you want us to have. We work with a number of local printers and regularly check pricing to make sure that we are able to offer the highest quality printing at the fairest price.