Projects

Genuine Laughter

This is the time of year where client requests are always fast and furious. As we work steadily, we also take this time of year to get in the holiday spirit, where we unwind for the holiday season. Our annual holiday party brings us together outside of the office setting, where we partake in a fun gift exchange and an elegant dining experience.

Our gift exchange typically turns into an eventful showing of gag gifts and alcohol, but for all those tech lovers out there, Time magazine has the Buyer’s Guide for you. But perhaps you aren’t looking for the typical, tangible gift but more of a getaway.

Yellow Springs is a place like no other, and we at Bing are proud of our village! Approached by the Chamber of Commerce, we were pleased to design and produce an electronic GetawaYS Guide to spotlight the rich and rare collection of unusual shops and galleries where one-of-a-kind gifts abound. Highlighting for others what we see daily, brought new appreciation for the art galleries and unique boutiques, bookstores, wine stores, eateries, a gourmet grocer and the most unusual and creative toy store anywhere!

Produced in just days, it’s a beautiful guide to accompany a walk-through visit of the village of Yellow Springs and all it has to offer! Shop, Eat, Play and Stay in the Springs.

Getty Stockphoto for Web & Mobile

While one tends to think of Getty Images as a provider of expensive, high-end imagery, the firm has broadened its range in recent years with the acquisition of iStockphoto. But Getty has targeted another set of image buyers who are developing web and mobile content, and often need hundreds of images at smaller file sizes with the Getty Web & Mobile Images products.

The release of the new Web & Mobile image products featuring very small file sizes designed specifically for online and mobile use. As an extension of the firm’s $49 web-resolution offering, the new product features very small sizes – 170 pixels and 280 pixels. The huge selection of high-quality imagery and illustrations are appropriately priced – starting around $5 – and in ready-to-use formats that are ideal for use in mobile, website, email marketing, banner ads, widgets and other web application environments.

One of our printers recently sent us these poll results:

Due to the economy, how much has your print spend decreased for 2009?

a) There has been a tremendous decrease in our print spend    35%

b) There has been a marginal decrease in our print spend    33%

c) There has been a slight decrease in our print spend    20%

d) There has been no decrease in our print spend    13%

How about you? Are you printing less these days? Or are you printing differently? What media are you using instead – or are you just doing without?

Let’s have a conversation!

Bing’s been buzzing with publication work, as we just wrapped up three significant print projects at the same time:

• Wittenberg Magazine for Wittenberg University and its alumni
  
• Dayton Children’s Growing Together newsletter
• Graceworks Lutheran Services’ 2008 Annual Report

What does it take get three projects out the door all at once? Team work.

We’re lucky to have people who are willing to work hard, do things outside their normal scope, and still keep up with projects for other clients.

Because we’re a small agency, this means that everyone wears multiple hats and learns to become a master juggler. For example, some of the things the team did (outside their normal job “scope”):

• Picked-up and dropped-off proofs
• Re-arranged personal appointments
• Designed pages and reviewed proofs while holding a brand new baby

Working for a small agency with a busy workload requires all of our staff to have patience and flexibility – one day I reassigned a job four times.

In the end, I am happy to say, all projects were completed on-time and to the satisfaction of our clients.

It’s that time of year again. That’s right, the time for Annual Reports. In working with a client on plans for their annual report recently, of course the subject of costs came up – real and perceived. And in the world of paper stock, looks can be everything!

Our client requested that we price out two scenarios: using a less expensive stock than previous years throughout the whole piece, and using a coated stock for the main pages with an uncoated stock for the donor pages. The general idea being that coated stock is more expensive, so using less of it would save money.

This combination is used frequently, and most have the perception that the company saved money by not using a coated stock throughout. But that’s probably not the case. It’s the illusion of cheaper paper, but the reality is that combining ANY two stocks, will generally cost more than one stock due to a more complicated production method.

It also reflects being frugal with the print budget. But in reality using various papers can cause the cost to be more for several reasons:

• Two separate press runs because of how ink is applied to and absorbed by the different finishes.
• Folding may also need to be handled separately. If the paper was all the same, it may be possible to run and fold all as one sheet.
• It may also add to your finishing cost in the stitching process.

Additionally, when designing an annual report or a fundraising piece, the common perception is that a good grade of uncoated paper has a cost saving to the customer as opposed to a sufficient grade of coated paper.

So remember, the old convention of using an uncoated sheet vs. a coated sheet to save money is not necessarily the case any more, states Bill Thompson from 3G Graphic Solutions.