South African distributor Kemtek, a Johannesburg-based advertising agency with no previous printing experience, increased its annual turnover by 25% by expanding its lithographic production. This was achieved by installing a Screen Truepress 344 direct imaging press.

The House of Advertising operates as a below the line advertising agency and specializes in the design of magazine advertisements, the creation of brochures and newsletters, and produces short run outdoor signage and poster printing for both trade and corporate customers. They used to use image B2 plates on a Screen platesetter and then sent it out to a third party supplier to be printed and finished. Then, they installed the Truepress 344 with an Epson proofer, folder, guillotine, and stitcher. They were able to cut costs and increased business while also bringing the processes in-house. A usual print run for The House of Advertising is between 1,000 and 10,000 and so they decided to purchase an offset press. But after trying out some traditional lithographic presses, they were put off by the size and design of even the smallest makes and models.

A. Treat the designer you brief as a professional.

B. Make sure you explain every aspect as designers are not mind
readers.

C. Have your business model ready and make sure your plan has
been well thought out.

D. Fully understand your business brand, goals and target audience.

E. Have a sound understanding of your product.

F. Remember, nothing is for free!

G. Keep in close communications with the designers - voice all your
concerns and remember to listen to what they have to say.

H. Don’t try to design for the designer, they have been hired by you
to do the job so let them get on with it. The designer should also
take on board your opinions and listen to you.

I. it is important for the designer to listen to the client as not all
Industries are the same.

J. Make sure you set expectations for materials and deadlines.
All these must be communicated well. Meet on a regular basis and
keep in contact at all times.

A new vision of pre-press management known as virtual repro allows for the ability to access digital artwork from any computer in the world at any time via an Internet connection. Through this portal, there is also the ability to upload, download, create and approve new or existing projects. This eliminates the need to send a courier back and forth with discs and hard copy proofs, arranging time-consuming meetings and costly expenditures on travel and accommodations in order to proof projects. All links in the repro supply chain are accessible in one place at the click of a mouse.

Scottish start-up Reprobrand leads the way in this new technology and offers brand owners and designers the ability to manage all stages of their repro online. However, all repro houses and printers can offer some aspect of online repro, either with electronic file submission or the ability to approve proofs remotely. The Internet and certain software systems allows companies to set up offshore repro facilities and this allows customers to outsource their pre-press requirements. One criticism associated with online repro is a lack of personal relationship but companies maintain that they still interact with the customer.

Most people do not pay attention to the typeface they use in their email, composing Word documents and creating PowerPoint presentations. However, fonts are starting to increase their profile with the documentary Helvetica, examining the appeal of this font, getting good notices. There are online sites where one can buy more than 58,000 fonts and there is even an online campaign to ban the silly typeface Comic Sans. Researchers at Wichita State University in Kansas have written a series of studies examining what the font of your choice says about you.

There are two main groups of typefaces: Serif and Sans Serif. Serif are letters with tiny horizontal lines added to the top and bottom of letters. Sans Serif do not have these horizontal lines. A research study polled 561 subjects in 2005 and 2006 on 20 popular fonts using 15 adjective pairs. The results can be found that those who wanted to create a good impression used Sans Serif fonts like Verdana and Arial. Typefaces that should be avoided were Impact, Gigi, and Courier New. Authors tend to fixate on fonts with one editor apologizing to writers for removing their unique font.

Matthew Carter is one of the most prominent typeface designers in the world responsible for the omnipresent, Microsoft-commissioned fonts, Georgia and Verdana. He also designed a font for Yale University and called it, rather appropriately Yale. Carter was influenced by the style of the 15th century while also making it contemporary because of its wide usage, from student papers to official publications. He made sure that the font wasn’t too unusual but unique as well, capturing the spirit of the school. He did not want the letters to look like they belonged on “food packaging”  and yet had a stately feel.

Carter first designed the typeface in 2004 for the blue signs adorning all Yale buildings with readability being the most important criteria. This came about as a result of a 2000 report that identified signage as a weakness on Yale’s campus and an important factor of a welcoming campus. It was important that signs were subtle with a less is more credo. The blue of the signs, known as Yale Blue, was chosen to evoke a shade of the school’s traditional blue graduation robe.

Now, the Yale typeface is omnipresent, from business cards to Yale’s viewbook complete with a Yale Blue cover.