So what makes a good business card?

You have just come back from an important business meeting and you take another glance at the business card handed to you. Clean, sophisticated, simple. Thick card and strikingly-placed logo with a great colour combination. You can’t stop staring at it. You think back to your last self-made online business cards and wonder why the final impression of your critical business meeting didn’t leave the strong lasting impact you wanted. Why don’t they call?

It is time you got a professional "business-winning" business card for your company! You can search the Internet and find many cheap business card solutions, but it is not advisable to use such services for your company card. If these designs are available on the Internet, you will not be the only bargain hunter who has downloaded and used the same design for a company’s business cards.

Your best solution is to hire a professional to create your card. Remember, professional graphic designers have been in this business for many years and know how to design and print a great business card that complements your company perfectly. A professional in this area will be the best person to discuss your options for card type, colour and maybe extra processes such as silver or gold foiling to make your card really stand out.

Of course there are business-card-maker programmess which can be helpful when you need to print a limited number of business cards immediately. However, the initial cost of using the software and being able to print multiple copies on one A4 sheet using other programmes can sometimes outweigh the cost of printing professionally a larger amount that will have much better results and quality.

So what makes a good business card?
Take a sample of great business cards that have caught your attention and lay them out in front of you. Can you see what makes them work?
They will have simple designs and good use of minimal colour combinations; not just the colour combination of the text and logo, but also the colour that is used in the background of the card. Remember that the specific design used on these cards you are looking at will not be appropriate for your business, but the design concept is what is important. You will also notice that leading companies NEVER clutter up the card with too much text or information.
A lot of people are inclined to fill their business card with all the information it can hold. REMEMBER, a business card is a business card and not sales literature.
All that additional information should be saved for your promotional material; let the business card speak for itself. This will ensure that the information needed is available immediately.
You do not want the potential client you have just met to have to scroll through your business card just to find your contact details. The necessary information should always be easy to find.

Multi-fold cards are a big NO. Your potential client will almost certainly throw it away without a glance. A business card's purpose is not to promote your products or services. Your business card is there to reflect your true image and provide contact information; this why it is highly recommended to have it designed by a professional.

Let's face it, if you need to spend a little extra on a business card that makes an important prospective client pick up the phone and place an order, do it - you will almost certainly get your money back!

If you are looking for business cards, we offer a complete package from design to print, so we can be there for every step of the process here at Imprenta Pronto

Keep creative,

James

IP + MySpace = WOW!

IP are live and active on MySpace, don't forget to check out our new Myspace look HERE!

Keep Creative,

James

RGB aint CMYK

It's been another busy week at IP, but we have now finally got the time to add another exciting installment to our blog!
It occurred to me the other day, how confusing colour can be! Then I came across a fantastic article that explains RGB and CMYK extremely well. So if you were ever confused about what the printer is talking about when he is huffing and puffing that you have got your artwork in RGB, not CMYK, or you don't actually quite understand what the different processes are all about, then read on!

Colour is colour, right? Wrong! Depending on your application and use, there are two main colour referencing formats you will come across: RGB and CMYK. These two colour formats are for completely different uses, but the result of the two formats is the same to our eyes.

How do you know when each is being used? How does this influence your colour printing projects? These issues and others are the point of this discussion as we delve into the finer points of colour printing.

RGB: the primary colours of light
RGB is an acronym for Red, Green and Blue: the primary colours of light. When your computer monitor or television screen reproduces images, the three primary colours are mixed together in varying shades and strengths. The important distinction here is that light, rather than ink, is used to reproduce an image. Just because a picture looks one way on a monitor or television screen does not mean that it will be reproduced accurately on paper.

CMYK: the primary colours of ink
CMYK is an acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black: the primary colours of ink. When your printer reproduces images, the four primary colours of ink are mixed together in varying shades and strengths.

You are probably noticing the pattern about now, in that RGB and CMYK do the same thing but in different ways. What you have to understand is that RGB references light and CMYK is ink.

What all of this means.
You cannot print in RGB and you cannot view pictures on a monitor in CMYK. So, to answer our first question of how to know when you are using which colour format, monitors display in RGB and printers display in CMYK.

A conversion process has to take place to go from viewing pictures on a monitor to view the same pictures in print. What's more, the conversion is not always perfect or accurate. In response to the question about how this impacts colour printing: there may be differences between what you see on the monitor and what you get back from the print shop. You can compensate for this by calibrating your monitor and through printing proofs to make sure your work is translating properly.

RGB and CMYK are fundamentally different. RGB is how monitors display light. CMYK is how printers reproduce images in ink. You can make sure your colour printing turns out as expected by using a calibrated monitor and by printing proofs to check for any colour variations.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kaye_Marks

Keep creative,

James

Getting Animated!

Firstly, my apologies for not uploading a blog entry last week. Sometimes work just gets too much! But this week we are back with an extra pep in our step as the new intro for our website is up and running! Therefore, as the title might suggest, our blog this week is about the wonderful world of animation!

As technology expands and becomes far more accessible, the possibilities for using alternative ways to capture people’s attention become greater than ever before. If you are sitting at your computer reading this blog and wondering how you can dramatically direct more traffic to your website and capture a greater audience for your advertisements, then animation could be the key.
There are so many fun, quick and "to the point" animations out there that often we lose site of how effective it is - it's almost subliminal!

I will be concentrating mainly on the ways in which to captivate your web market.
Firstly, and most importantly, keep it short! If you haven't grabbed the attention of your target audience within the first 8-10 seconds, you never will!

Make it rememberable! The key to a successful animation is to get your audience talking about it... "Have you seen...?", "Look at this cool site..." etc. This works as viral marketing, it keeps people talking and reflects creativity and forward thinking.

Establish one message or key point. Don't over-complicate things. As soon as you try and cram all your ideas into one, you confuse your audience and lose their attention; you will create a greater impact with simplicity!

Always have an "opt out" option, let people skip the intro; sometimes people just can't wait, even for 8 seconds! You don't want to annoy your customers and turn away potential clients.

If you stick to these key points, you will be successful in guiding more people to your site, through the strongest form of advertising - word of mouth!

Here is a preview of the intro of our web site.
Go to imprentapronto.com to see it in all its glory!



The animation shows the blast of creativity that comes from IP. We used the printing colours CMYK to reflect our printing and design services.
The ink is made through a system of particles combined with a ‘blob mesh’ which makes the particles turn into ‘drops’ which, when they detect the others closest to them, join together as regards volume, imitating more or less the way mercury behaves.

Imprenta Pronto would like to give special thanks to Gabriel Martinez Rodriguez for his exceptional work!

Don't forget your Solutions for Success™

and keep creative!

James

Great Free Desktop Wallpapers

Ok, ladies and gentlemen, this week we have a treat for you! It's all about spreading the love.
Ever been trawling the Internet for hours to find a decent desktop wallpaper? Fed up of finding advertisement-heavy websites with nothing but cheesey celeb wallpapers and poorly-designed cartoons? Want to make your computer look beautiful? Well here at Imprenta Pronto we have done the hard graft for you! We have carefully and painstakingly searched and searched for free desktop wallpapers that you all can enjoy.
There's something for everyone - we have put them all on one site!
To download click on your screen size of choice, then drag the loaded image to your selected desktop file.

Mac Wallpapers

screen size (in pixels)
1024x640


screen size (in pixels)
1024x640


screen size (in pixels)
1920x1499


screen size (in pixels)
1280x1024

Cartoon Wallpapers

screen size (in pixels)

1280x800 1280x1024 1680x1050

screen size (in pixels)
1024x786 1600x1200 1680x1050


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768 1600x1200 1920x1200


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768 1600x1200 1680x1050

Nature/Foliage Wallpapers

screen size (in pixels)
1024x768 1280x1024 1600x1200


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768 1280x960 1600x1200


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768 1280x960 1600x1200


screen size (in pixels)
1280x1024 1600x1200 1680x1050

Misc Wallpapers

screen size (in pixels)
1920x1200


screen size (in pixels)
1600x1200


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768


screen size (in pixels)
1024x768

Please enjoy the wallpapers as much as we have!
Credits to:

desktopography.net
endeffect.com
555design.org
deviantart.com
iunewind.com
customize.org
flickr.com/photos/benadamson
hicksdesign.co.uk

Don't forget to go to imprentapronto.com for some great design ideas
(hopefully wallpaper designs coming soon!)

Keep Creative,

James

Top 5 TV Ads of the 21st Century.

Ok, well, as we are getting into the slow part of our business year I thought I would highlight Imprenta Pronto's TOP 5!
While I was casually surfing YouTube I came across the Cadbury's Gorilla Ad. Being based in Spain, some of my colleagues hadn't seen the ad, so after showing it to them and when we got our breath back after laughing so hard, we started to talk about some of our favourite TV ads. Hence this week's entry!
Working our way up...

No.5 Guinness. Evolution. AMV BBDO.

There are so many great beer advertisements these days, but one of our favorites has to be Guinness' "Good things come to those who wait". Unexpected, fun and puts Guinness at the top of evolution. Fantastic!

No.4 Sony Bravia. Bouncy Balls. Fallon London

It was hard to choose which Sony Bravia advert to use, but in the end we decided to choose the bouncy ball ad! Purely for its simplicity and calming wonder, which engages the audience brilliantly. We'll let the ad speak for itself.

No.3 Honda. Cog "everything works".
Wieden+Kennedy. London

This ad hits the number 3 spot because of its captivating filmography, beautifully told.
It is important that you know there are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film. Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it.
The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes something, usually very minor, didn't work. They would then have to set the whole thing up again.
The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete including a full engineering of the Cog sequence.
When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation — including the costs. When it was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics had got. They couldn't believe it was for real.

No.2 PlayStation. Mental Wealth. TBWA London
This ad has always been a personal favorite of mine. It captivates the audience while at the same time leaving them with so many questions.

Making an alien reality frighteningly believable, this ad was shot on a Sony DV (that's Digital Video, not film) camera. It grabs us, sits us down in an interrogation room and has us watch this charming, pig-tailed girl with eerily human/inhuman facial features advise us about our own destiny.
The girl is thrust upon you by what's around her: a glaring, overhead fluorescent light, white walls with exposed electric piping, and again, the realism of video.
Mental Wealth actually had eight different versions for different countries.
Copy
Let me tell you what bugs me of the human endeavor
I've never been a human in question, have you?
Mankind went to the moon
I don't even know where Grimsby is
Forget progress by proxy
Land on your own moon
It's no longer about what they can achieve, out there on your behalf
But what we can experience
Up here and of our own time
And it's called mental wealth
(Laughter)

Tagline
Do not underestimate the power of Playstation

And if you wondered what she actually looked like...

No.1 Cadbury's Gorrilla Ad. Fallon London

Put simply, this is fantastic! This ad is a great example of utilising today's means of viral communication, with the likes of YouTube and other forums. The ad has spread contagiously, evoking many reactions which people can't help showing. The advert has made the brand awareness grow on a massive level! And for that reason, and the fact that it can't help but make you smile, it's our number one.
The advert has its own dedicated site which is a 'must see'. http://www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com/
The site also shows the advert's best "re-mixes" that people have done and sent in.

Well, we hope you enjoyed the adverts as much as we did. Don't forget to check out imprentapronto.com for all your design, web and print needs.

Keep Creative,

James

Helvetica

"A vehicle for social conformity through consumerism"

Or universal clarity and enduring beauty for the modern business?

I was originally going to discuss SEO for websites as a follow-on from my previous blog, but as I can already sense the yawns and the mouse approaching the "next" button I decided to divert after a discussion with fellow colleagues regarding the Helvetica font. I was surprised at the passion that this simple font can evoke and therefore it had to be mentioned in our blog!

So what comes to mind when you think of Helvetica?
A vehicle for social conformity through consumerism?
Or universal clarity and enduring beauty for the modern business?

Let's start from the beginning!
Helvetica was created by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei (Haas type foundry) of Münchenstein, Switzerland. Haas set out to design a new sans-serif typeface that could compete with Akzidenz-Grotesk in the Swiss market. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk, it was created based on Schelter-Grotesk.
In 1960 the typeface's name was changed by Haas' German parent company Stempel to Helvetica — derived from Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for Switzerland — in order to make it more marketable internationally.

Helvetica is without question a comprehensively diverse font and has undoubtedly helped shaped the landscape of twentieth century graphic design. From a branding point of view Helvetica's message is this: you are going to get to your destination on time; your plane will not crash; your money is safe in our vault; we will not break the package; the paperwork has been filled in; everything is going to be OK. Some might say that this is too safe and welcomes no creativity. But it is sans serif, there are no wiggly bits at the end of the letters. It has smooth, clean lines and an unobtrusive geometry that almost suggests it was designed not to stand out.
I would argue that if your brand is strong enough and design concepts are clear, then Helvetica would merely compliment your individual brand with clarity and enduring beauty.
After all, Helvetica is used by so many modern companies; one of the biggest corporate creative companies, Apple, use Helvetica as their standard font for leopard OSX, and few can argue they are not leaders for design within their many industries? So, really, is it all that bad!?

Lars Mueller, author of "Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface "was quoted as saying, "It has a modern attitude which lines up with the aesthetic premises of the 1950s and 60s".
And Frank Wildenberg, managing director of Linotype, the German firm that owns the font says, "It's durable. It comes from natural design forms. It doesn't have an expression of fashion. It has very clear lines and characters, it looks like a very serious typeface,"

Personally I have to agree with them. I think the font can work well in so many different forms; it is simple and beautifully formed, lending itself to many creative solutions. It is just important to use it right!

Famously, Neville Brody, for all his creativity, would not agree, and did indeed say "When people choose Helvetica they want to fit in and look normal. They use Helvetica because they want to be a member of the efficiency club. They want to be a member of modernism. They want to be a member of no personality. It also says bland, unadventurous, unambitious."

Well...
Last year was the 50th anniversary of Helvetica and in celebration the Helvetica Poster Contest was held. Take a look at our selected favourites from the competition, that we think have some personality!


Hey! and maybe go to our website imprentapronto.com to view what we do with and without Helvetica!

Keep creative,

James

Special Thanks to:
Helvetica NOW Poster Contest
BBC
AisleOne

Welcome

Firstly, Imprenta Pronto would like to welcome the internet nation to our blog. We set this up to allow a creative forum for everyone to enjoy and express themselves, be it designers discovering a new font, advertisers loving (or hating) a new advert, printers bragging about their new machine, or to just find some helpful advice!

At Imprenta Pronto we offer a vast amount of services. Printing, design, branding, marketing and web. Today I thought we'd talk about the web and the exciting new developments.
With social networking reaching a peek and blogging making people's lives, interests and work far more accessible, will we see a downfall of the commercial website?
Could you imagine a world run by Facebook, Myspace and Bebo and the numerous blogging sites out there? An advertising dream no doubt! But what would it all mean for us?
Personally I think that the more viable it becomes, the more we will find people wanting to break free for some individuality. There are many fantastic-looking blogging sites but here are a quick few of our favorite individually-designed sites!

A good website should not only look great but function well and, most of all, be as user-friendly as possible.

Sometimes it's a case of the simpler the better; it all depends on your target audience.

www.elstonhardwoodflooring.com/

This site is a perfect example of a creative but unique looking site. Something different.

www.klassiker-in-acryl.de/

This is a fun and creative site. Well done, guys!

www.themattinator.com

Now for the plug! A great example of a website that is creative but still kept clean and simple, even with a large number of categories, making it very user-friendly.
For web services, hosting and registration please go to http://www.imprentapronto.com/. Oh, and while you're there, please view our other services!

www. imprentapronto.com

Keep creative,

James