Direct Mail Thumbnails and Roughs

Our direct mail project is to be two sided, 7 x 5 inches, have a .25 inch margin, and a .125 inch bleed. We will be using variable data. My target audiences are customers from ages 25-65 of a fictional garden/nursery called Harvest House. The customers will be sorted into two groups: flower lovers and vegetable lovers.

Thumbnails

Roughs

Notepad Project

These are the thumbnails for my notepad assignment.

This is the rough for my notepad.

This is my 5x7 black and white final notepad design. I think it is fairly similar to my rough. The cost to get the proof printed at PSU Printing Services was 5 cents. To print one notepad with 50 sheets on white hammermill with a chipboard back would be $3.34 and to print 100 notepads would be $1.14 per pad, $113.80 total.  

I feel this project went fairly well. There was some confusion with it being the first project though. My file is a 5x7 Indesign file with a quarter inch margin and eighth inch bleed. 2 vector files were placed inside it (the cupcake and black bottom) and the QR code was a Photoshop file. 

QR code was generated at qrcode.kaywa.com. All other images were created by me, Erin Brisbin.

QR Code Research

 

QR codes were created by Denso Wave in 1994 in Japan as an improvement on bar codes, they weren't able to be used by smartphones until 2002. QR codes contain much more information than a bar code and can be scanned more easily.

They could hold data such as url links, text, phone numbers, and coordinates. QR codes have an error correction capacity, so even if they are damaged they may still be able to be scanned.

Generating a QR code is easy. There are many websites that offer to create free ones. For example the QR code pictured at the top of this post was generated at http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and links to my other blog.

QR codes can be scanned using an application on smartphones. There are more than one out there but Kaywa also offers a QR code reader as well as generating them.

QR codes are a way to connect print to digital. They are very beneficial for a business to include in their advertisements and other printed material for customers to connect to the website.

Sources: http://qrcodeguide.org/14/qr-codes-%E2%80%93-history-and-technical-background/ 
http://searchengineland.com/what-is-a-qr-code-and-why-do-you-need-one-27588 
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Self Promotion Note Pad Thumbnails and Rough

This note pad is designed for self promotion, hence the title of the assignment. The audience is potential employers. The note pad is going to be printed black and white and be 5 in. x 7 in.

10 Thumbnails

5 x 7 Rough

As planned right now my note pad will include an eighth inch bleed, a reverse, and vector art (there is a very light cupcake in the middle of my notepad rough).

Butterfly Cake

I made a cake this Friday at work according to a customer's specifications.
They wanted the cake to look as much like the plate pictured below as possible.

And this is the finished product.

The customer loved it!