Extraordinary Print from 2021: Ideas for Your Marketing Strategy – Part 2

New year, new print marketing strategy? We think so! In Part 1, we showcased some of our favorite extraordinary print projects from customers, and in this Part 2, we’re going even further. Check out how customers made the regular remarkable and turned the usual into the unexpected with these custom print ideas – and then add them to your own repertoire.

A surefire way to add interest to your items? If you’re photographer Cass Cleave, it’s all about hemp. Printing her custom Cards on our eco-friendly hemp paper stock, Cleave added eye-catching white ink to the natural texture, ensuring her sand and surf imagery made a splash.

“I love that I can see the slightest speckles of nature and feel like I’m not depleting the Earth from toxic materials,” said Cleave. “The combination of white ink on the hemp stock adds a bit of brightness back to the naturally muted paper. It’s the perfect contrast for the style of my photography.”

Hint: Complete your card printing with matching envelopes, then add variable data printing and let us do the addressing for you.

Getting your message across and making it memorable is always the challenge with creative direct mail or advertising brochures. It’s one Chris Watson of Grace Community Church’s Fight Club 414 ministry was up for. By designing Circle Locked Gates to educate clients and provide access to the club’s digital assets, Watson landed a spiritual punch.

“We wanted something that not only allowed us to provide clients with information, but also a piece they would hold onto and share with others,” said Watson, noting the designer fold’s interlocking format “was the perfect fit for our logo – it was a no-brainer.”

Hint: Curious about other custom invitations and direct mail ideas? Look no further: Unveil the Unexpected: Marketing with Designer Folds

When it comes to label printing, you might immediately think shipping labels. But with an online printer like Smartpress, you can customize and print your own Labels and Stickers for food packaging, too. For jars and containers of all kinds, product labels let your branding shine while also including product information or nutrition facts.

With permanent and removable stocks, custom labels are a must if you really want to boost your shelf appeal. Make homemade candles? Maybe gourmet food baskets? How about lotion or cosmetics? Design your labels in any shape and size with digital laser cutting and complete your packaging on all of them.

Perfect Bound Booklets often mean product catalogs, training manuals and portfolios. In other words, traditional business collateral. Adrian Koenigsberg, editor of Quell Skateboarding, went her own way and explored magazine printing instead. It’s a strategy that suits her publication and her company.

“Quell Skateboarding is a media company that focuses on women, trans and non-binary skateboarders,” said Koenigsberg. “Skateboarding has a more gritty and counter culture background, so creating this artistic and highly-produced magazine elevates the subject matter of ‘non-traditional’ skateboarders.”

And the only way to land the trick and complete her custom book printing? With our velvety Soft Touch laminate, of course. “The Soft Touch covers elevate every copy of our magazine and leave lasting impressions on our customers. It’s become our signature.”

Let’s be honest, brochures can be a bit… predictable. However, thanks to our Designer Folds collection, they’re anything but. That was the impetus behind Laura Tedeschi’s Wrapped Stepped Accordion. As the owner of T2 Creative, Tedeschi needed something that would reach and intrigue local designers.

“Considering the audience, we felt the piece needed to look different from a standard folding brochure,” Tedeschi said. “The fold captures the attention and offers different ways for the reader to ‘unfold’ the story. The opportunity to have a custom print look but with low quantities that could actually fit in the client’s budget was fantastic.”

Brochure printing with Smartpress meant online printing services that Tedeschi could rely on to make the right impression. “The range of stock and print options, plus real customer service, puts Smartpress at the top of our online print ordering,” she said.

For many resellers and small business owners, the product sweet spot is one that has both form and function. As the owner of Texture Design Co., Emily Kirby knows all about that. And with options like full-color ink, perforation and drilling, Smartpress’ notepad printing more than suited her stationery strategy.

“The custom Notepads are a great product because people can use them on a daily basis,” Kirby said. “They’re cute, colorful and practical [and] have been a big hit in our online store. People give them as gifts and buy one for themselves!”

Hint: As your local online printing shop, we ensure notepads are truly customizable, down to the padding. Print your own stationery with pages glued to the chipboard on the traditional top or design your pads like a notebook with pages secured on the left.

When does a deck of playing cards become custom marketing? When artist David Armentor gets his hands on them. Along with graphic designer Tammy Mercure, Armentor revved up Collated Printing to create the “52 Card Pickup” deck. With ultra gloss UV coating and classic rounded corners, the cards switch gears seamlessly from art piece to marketing tool.

“52 Card Pickup is from the art collection that was commissioned by Wisznia for a mixed-use development in downtown New Orleans called The Garage,” said Armentor. “[It’s] an exploration of the architecture and atmosphere of the ubiquitous roadside casino.”

For Armentor, online printing with Smartpress meant getting under the hood with “one of the Smartpress Account Executives for advice on the physicality of the product. It was very important that the cards felt authentic when holding [and] we’re extremely happy with the final product.”

Just when you think you’ve got Styrene Signs all figured out, they go and turn into restaurant menus. With their lightweight, waterproof design, these custom signs pull double-duty with branding and artwork on your walls, tables or both.

Have multiple messages or services? Versions lets you print multiple custom signs (or menus!) with different content in the same order. Want to be eco-friendly? We’ve got two sustainable substrates to choose from for your Styrene Sign. Wondering about installation? Take your pick of easels, foam or magnet tape or hook and loop options.