Your business card makes us sad.

We're a commercial printshop, so we see a lot of business cards over the course of a year.  Some of them are great...most could be better. Business cards are a personal, immediate reflection of you and your business. Business cards may be small, but they are REALLY important. They are also not expensive, so you really don't have an excuse not to recycle the cards you have and get newer, better cards TODAY.
Our top ten most annoying business card features, in no particular order:

Outdated Photos.  Realtors, we're talking to you.  Your old photo is weird, it doesn't help people remember you, and it sends the message that you aren't organized enough to get updated cards.  We had a client refer to her business card photo as her "plastic surgery picture" ... what she would like to look like after a few thousand dollars in nips and tucks.  We'll remember her, but probably won't want her help selling a home.

Clip Art.  Actually, we have all seen that piece of Microsoft Word clip art somewhere else.  So, now your card looks amateurish and you are sending the message that you are cheap.  Nicely placed text is vastly superior to cute clip art, and sends a more professional message.

Reasons to choose an online-only printer

In addition to local companies in your area, the web is overflowing with printing companies vying for your business.  Here are the top reasons people tend to choose an online printer, and what you can expect if you do...

Online Printers Are Cheaper
The internet can be a great place to find bargains and do price comparisons.   However, when it comes to printing, you may be surprised to learn that working with a local merchant could save you up to 70% off online prices (sometimes even more!).  Online merchants often advertise very low prices, but, once you've chosen the features you want, the online prices are actually much higher.  Don't forget shipping costs as well!

A Designer's Take on Wedding Invitations Part Two: Planning a Budget

First, congratulations on your engagement!  Take a moment to enjoy it, and step away from all the planning periodically so you don't miss out on savoring the moment!

There are a lot of decisions to make all at once, and it can be very frustrating to create and stick to a budget.  Our goal in this post is to help you identify the key factors necessary to create an invitation budget.  To get started, determine the following:

A Designer's Take on Wedding Invitations Part One: Printing At Home

Designing and printing wedding invitations may be one of the most fun projects we get to tackle as designers and printers.  Unlike most couples, we get to do it again and again!  Since we have more experience than most couples will ever have in the wedding invitation department, we wanted to share our experience to make your task a bit easier.  There is a lot to cover, so we'll start with our first post on printing at home.

Follow along for the next week as we cover budgeting, designing, assembly, and then we'll finish with a handy checklist to bring it all together!

Custom Wrapping Paper for $1 - Free Download!

Next time you need to wrap a package, why not make it completely personalized?  It's SO easy to make custom wrapping paper and SO affordable to have it produced!  A good print shop will have a black and white "wide format" machine (that means it can print BIG sheets of paper) and will offer prints from that machine at a very affordable price (ours are $1 for a two foot by three foot sheet).

Awesome Photo Wall of Food for under $30!

A confession from Amy:

I'll admit it...I take pictures of food with my smartphone.  Lots of pictures.  I'll make other people wait to eat so I can stage pictures of their delicious food too.  It's one of my favorite activities, right up there with eating delicious food!  Unfortunately, this means my phone is filled with food photos I never really use for anything.  Fortunately, I own a printing company, so I can create awesome artwork when I get inspired!  With these simple instructions and the help of a friendly, local printshop like mine, you can too!

Without further ado, I give you...The Wall of Food!  An ever-growing display of food pictures in my kitchen!

iPhone Photo Collage

Having a cell phone camera is great...unless you're like a lot of us and suddenly discover you have 821 photos on your phone, all in the same album, sorted only by date.  Texting the photos to friends or posting them on Facebook are both great ways to share, but don't create any lasting memory to give or enjoy at home.  We've got a great way to create something beautiful and longer-lasting to remember those moments while taking advantage of the smaller file size of typical cell phone photos!  Check it out: