From the Archive: How Lord Nuffield Helped Holywell Survive the War

This year is the 50th anniversary of the death of William Morris, founder of Oxford based Morris Motors. Lord Nuffield as he later became, was the most famous industrialist of his age, and a generous philanthropist who donated much of his personal fortune to charitable causes; a lesser known fact perhaps, is that he is also someone to whom Holywell will always owe a debt of gratitude…

A contemporary of Harry Burrows, founder of the Holywell Press, Morris engaged Holywell to produce much of the advertising material promoting the early Morris cars. As a result of their business dealings, the two men became great personal friends, and during the second World War, this friendship, and the direct intervention of Morris played a key role in the story of Holywell; in fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that if it were not for William Morris, it’s possible Holywell would not be here today.

In 1942, at the height of the war, the Board of Trade wrote to Harry Burrows notifying him of their intention to requisition the Holywell factory in Alfred Street, Oxford, where our printing presses were located in those days. The letter, received in May of that year, stated simply, “I regret it will be necessary to take over the premises occupied by you for work of national importance.” We can’t be sure for what purpose exactly the Board wanted to requisition our factory, but it was well known that Hitler did not want to bomb the city - some sources even said that he was intending to use Oxford as his capital if he conquered England - and so for this reason, factory space in the city would have been much sought after by the War Office.

But in fact, Holywell was already doing its bit for the war effort – including working for no less than 33 units of the services, as well as for William Morris who was himself putting many of his resources at the disposal of his country. Harry asked his friend to step in and make this point to the Board which he duly did, explaining in a face-to-face meeting and in subsequent correspondence, the importance of the contribution Holywell was already making to the war. As a result of Morris’s appeal, the Board withdrew its requisition notice saying, “it appears that as the Holywell Press is doing a considerable amount of work for so many of your interests which are engaged on essential war work, it would be advisable to arrange for the Holywell Press to continue in operation.”

And so, thanks to Lord Nuffield, we lived to fight another day – and another 71 years!

The communications between Morris, Harry Burrows and the Board of Trade are in the Holywell archives, and we recently made them available to the National Trust - guardians of Nuffield Place, Lord Nuffield’s Oxfordshire home. Located between Henley on Thames and Wallingford, the house ̶ which the National Trust calls ‘The home of one of the most remarkable men of the 20th century’ - is open to visitors and well worth seeing.  For information on Nuffield Place, please click here!

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Giving Wings to a New Brand

Our design studio is an integral part of our business, providing a highly creative resource for many of our clients. While much of the work we undertake involves designing specifically for print, we are also experienced in developing brand identities, as demonstrated by a project we’ve been working on recently for our customer, Volare Aviation.

Volare is a new company, a corporate aviation sales and brokerage organisation with global business activities. Briefing us to create a brand identity for them, Volare asked us to design a logo that would capture the essence of what the business does, clearly referencing its links with the aviation sector, while reflecting core brand attributes encapsulated in words such as, ‘established’, ‘exclusive’, ‘prestigious’, ‘professional’ and ‘global’.  In addition to all of these considerations, our customer also wanted their new logo design to have a ‘retro’ look to it.

Our designers set about creating initial concepts which took all these elements into account, and the visual theme of ‘wings’ quickly emerged as a strong directional route. With feedback on these first stage design treatments, we were able to refine the preferred option and prepare a final concept.

The finished logo is simple and bold; the stylised wing motif makes a nostalgic reference to an earlier age – evoking the glamour and romance of a time when air travel was a luxury enjoyed by a privileged few. The use of only two colours has the effect of giving the design an understated, classic feel; it also makes it very easy (and cost-effective) to replicate across all online and offline sales and marketing materials.

With the identity signed off by Volare, we progressed to printing business cards, and the end result is striking, with the logo printed white out of blue on one side and black and grey on white on the reverse.

We wish Volare Aviation all the best with their new business, and we’re looking forward to working with them further in the future. For more information on Volare Aviation go to www.volareaviation.co.uk.

Do you need to create a brand identity for a new business? Is your existing identity in need of a refresh? Our design studio at Holywell is brimming with creativity, so talk to us about how we can give your brand wings!

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Holywell Helps Opendoors Unlock Hidden Oxford

Every year, around 9.5 million visitors from all over the world come to Oxford. They come to see the ancient colleges and iconic buildings, to enjoy the museums and theatres, and to immerse themselves in the culture of this unique city. For those of us who are lucky enough to live or work here, it’s easy to take the city for granted, and feel that we know it almost as well as the tour guides who, umbrellas held aloft, chaperone their groups through the busy streets.

But while there is plenty to keep the tourists busy – and a photo opportunity around every corner, some of the most interesting aspects of Oxford are out of bounds to the general public – except that is for two days each year when Oxford Preservation Trust holds the Opendoors weekend. Now in its 6th year, Opendoors aims to give people – especially locals, the opportunity to discover more about their world famous city.  The event was established by Oxford Preservation Trust, an organisation committed to preserving and enhancing the City's historic character. From small beginnings, the event is getting bigger each year, now encompassing some 180 venues and events, and attracting over 60,000 visitors.

This year, Opendoors will be held over the weekend of 14th – 15th September, and it’s a great way to discover a side of the city you would never normally see.  There are dozens of events and venues to select from, and access is free – though you will need to book for some of them. This is your chance to (among other things) go behind the scenes at the Ashmolean Museum and see works of art not normally displayed; to visit the original cells in the old city prison; look around parts of the colleges that are usually out of bounds; take guided tours with experts ̶ and generally have exclusive access to some of the hidden gems of Oxford.

Holywell has been closely involved with the Opendoors project since it first started, producing the free guide which highlights all the venues and events. In line with the success and scale of Opendoors, the guide has gradually evolved from a simple leaflet into a full colour, 40 page booklet that has a print run of 50,000. We’ve worked with the Trust  ̶  a non profit making organisation - to help them keep production costs to a minimum, and the current guide format (185mm x 140mm) is optimised for cost-effectiveness. It’s the same pocket-friendly size as another guide we produce for our customer Artweeks. The format is ideal for visitors to carry with them and use for reference as they enjoy the weekend – and it means we’re able to print it in 32 page sections, providing the most economic solution.

You might think you already know the city well, but don’t miss your opportunity to discover another side to Oxford; go to, www.oxfordopendoors.org.uk for more information on Opendoors ̶  and if you want to produce high quality materials to support your own event, make sure you talk to us first!

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What’s Your Type? A Guide to Typefaces

Typefaces are the unsung heroes of design; they have the power to grab attention, engage a reader and enhance a message just as much as any image can. Although they may not always be consciously noticed, typefaces have the power to carry subtle undertones, in fact, they can be just as expressive as the words they create, communicating concepts like ‘traditional’, ‘classic’, ‘contemporary’, ‘modern’, ‘chic’, ‘stylish’, ‘serious’, ‘fun’, ‘bold’, ‘understated’ –  and many more besides. 

Choosing a typeface that complements the message and creative approach is only part of the story, the size, spacing and weight of each letter must be carefully balanced by the designer to achieve a perfect end result.

For this week’s blog post, the Holywell studio have put together a brief guide to typefaces, tips on using them and things to consider when selecting them - Click here to download the guide in PDF format. 

Made in Oxford: Holywell helps CTSU with Oxford-China Fellowship conference

At Holywell, we love a challenge, and some projects test our skills on a number of different levels. A recent project for our customer, the Clinical TrialsServices Unit (CTSU) is a great example, calling for a range of competences, and requiring us to coordinate and deliver a range of disparate elements.

Part of the Nuffield Department of Population Health, a major section within the Medical Sciences Division of Oxford University, CTSU’s work chiefly involves studies of the causes and treatment of “chronic” diseases such as cancer, heart attack or stroke, as well as studies of other major conditions in developed and developing countries.

Hosting the Oxford-China Fellowship Conference, an event for Chinese delegates that takes place in Oxford, CTSU briefed us to support them with a package of services which, in addition to producing the conference programme, included printing personalised certificates for delegates, framing them, and providing overprinted jute bags – all while the conference was taking place!

Production of the programmes could not begin until the full itinerary for the Oxford China Fellowship was confirmed, and details were not finalised until immediately before the event was due to take place.  Cue our digital printing press and our perfect binding machine (see lastweek’s blog post for more information) – the perfect solution when we need to create high quality, professionally bound books at very short notice. What made this project a little different for us was that the text supplied for us to create artwork was in Chinese. While the designers in our studio are a very talented bunch, none of them is a fluent Chinese speaker! Not a problem, our customer supplied a Chinese proof reader to sit with our artworker and check our typesetting before we went to press with the full colour, A4, 30 page (26 pages of text and a 4 page cover) programme.

Our next challenge was to produce training certificates for each of the conference attendees, personalised with the delegate’s name and other details. We used high quality, heavyweight (300gsm) paper and printed the certificates digitally. We also sourced wood and glass frames, hand framing each of the certificates individually. Once again, because delegate details were only able to be confirmed last minute, production was carried out while the conference was underway.

The finishing touch for our CTSU project was to supply natural fibre jute ‘goodie bags’ for all delegates. We created artwork featuring the Oxford University crest and the Oxford skyline, and oversaw the screen printing of this image onto both sides of the bags.

By their nature, events are always likely to be subject to late changes, as itineraries, speakers, presentations and attendees can alter right up until the very last moment. Here at Holywell though, our ‘can do’ attitude and our responsive approach to print production means we are used to working under pressure and delivering to extremely tight deadlines.

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Perfect in the short run: Low volume, high quality books printed in hours

How often have you come out of a conference, a seminar or a training meeting clutching a set of stapled handouts run off by the presenter or event organiser?  If you were lucky, they might have even been held together with a plastic spine! Where are they now? The odds are that they stayed in your briefcase or on your desk for a few days or weeks before you filed them in the bin! It’s a sad fact that many excellent events are often let down by the quality of the materials that delegates are given to take away. For one thing, second rate material diminishes the value of the content delivered; for another, it makes it less likely that it will be retained for future reference.

Of course, the reason why handouts are often produced ‘fast and dirty’ is because content – or parts of it at least – may not be known until very close to the event – or perhaps even while it’s still taking place.  But if that’s been your excuse up until now, you can’t use it any longer, because thanks to digital printing and our perfect binding machine, we’re able to create book quality documents in a matter of hours.

The perfect binding process uses hot glue to fix pages together, and the end result is a professionally bound book or booklet that’s almost instantly dry and ready to go out of our door as soon as it comes off the machine.  Creating content pages and covers using our digital press, and then feeding these into our perfect binder, makes it possible for us to be receiving artwork in the morning, and delivering high quality books by lunchtime.

Combining digital print with perfect binding is ideal where a fast turnaround is needed, and using this production method gives us the ability to be incredibly responsive, printing virtually in real-time. But speed is not always the driver – there are plenty of other reasons why you might require low run, high quality print including:

•           Impressive presentation documents for an important meeting.
•               A limited run academic publication.
•               A self-published book, printed on demand.

If you need to produce a professional looking book or document, this process is fast and cost-effective for anything from just one copy - up to a print run of several hundred. Books and booklets are usually printed in A4 or A5 format, as these are the most economic sizes for our digital press, but we can go up to a maximum size of 350mm x 350mm if required. The size of the content should not be an issue either as we can produce books up to 50mm thick.  For a really impressive document, it may be worth considering printing the cover using the lithographic (rather than digital) process. Even if the content is not going to be available to print until the last minute, covers can be litho printed and finished in advance so they are ready to go when the content is finalised. The same principle can be applied to any other elements which might be available in advance, or require special finishing; this might include diagrams, illustrations or photographs for example.

So next time you need to produce low volume, high quality documents quickly, don’t break your desktop printer or burn out the photocopier, call Holywell and do it properly. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing Holywell!

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Don’t forget to write! Using postcards to stay in touch

Many of us will still send a postcard back to the office or to friends at home when we are away on holiday. Why choose this medium in a digital age? Well it’s effective, it’s inexpensive, and the format allows us to convey as little or as much as we like. From the recipient’s perspective, a postcard is personal, fun to receive, quick to read and demonstrates that the sender is thinking about them. What’s interesting is that all of these same attributes apply in a business context too.

With a little imagination, postcards can make a valuable contribution to your sales and marketing effort, especially when they are used alongside other online or offline communications, as part of a campaign. Over a period of time, postcards can help to build awareness, develop relationships, and ensure your brand stays front of mind.

Postcards are a very versatile communication medium - use them to distribute a series of messages over a period of time, or drip-feed a story in parts to create interest and intrigue - we’ve worked on projects involving both these routes recently:

·         A client offering a high-tech service ran a campaign using postcards designed to look like iPads. We printed a stock of cards, leaving the ‘screen’ area clear to overprint digitally with a series of messages which changed throughout the campaign. Printing all the postcard stock in one go, but overprinting messages digitally was a cost-effective way of enabling our client to tailor messages according to responses as the campaign progressed.

·         Another client made very creative use of postcards by designing a series based around a town centre street scene. While all postcards showed the same view, the scene changed progressively over the course of several mailings with shop fronts changing, lights coming on, cars moving and so on.

Summer is a great time to mail out postcards; here are a few basic things to keep in mind as you plan how to use them in your next campaign:

• Grab attention with an eye-catching image and a strong headline
• Be clear about why you are making contact – don’t just list your services.
• Have a strong call to action – say clearly what you want the recipient to do next!
• Consider using a ‘handwritten’ font to give more personality to your communication.
• Be sure to use other communication channels in conjunction with postcards.

We’re sure you will have plenty of ideas on how you might use postcards to boost your sales and marketing, but if you’d like some help developing creative concepts; our studio is brimming with inspiration!

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Client Spotlight: Holywell helps prepare high spec Hangar8 brochure for take off!

We don’t have a company jet at Holywell, but if we did (well we can dream!), we know who we’d task with looking after it for us. Headquartered at Oxford Airport, just around the corner from our own offices, our client Hangar8 specialises in chartering, managing and maintaining executive jets, and supplying pilots and air crew to a discerning, international customer base.

With more than thirty jet aircraft based around the world, Hangar 8 is the largest aircraft operator in the UK, one of the top five in Europe, and the only publicly listed business jet operator on the London Stock Exchange.

Hangar8 delivers exceptional levels of service to demanding clientele who have high expectations, and the superior quality of their offering is reflected in all of the businesses online and offline marketing collateral. When they needed to create a corporate brochure for use at an international aviation exhibition, it was essential to carry this through and create an outstanding print piece.


When they approached us, our client already had a stylish design - incorporating beautiful full colour photographic imagery, but needed help and advice on the all-important refinements, materials and finishing touches that would make certain the end result would deliver their corporate message with real impact.


To ensure a truly dramatic first impression, and emphasise the premium nature of the brand, we produced the cover of the A5 brochure on a high quality, 350gsm uncoated material called Colorplan black and foil-blocked the Hangar 8 logo onto it in two colours. The visual effect is simple and striking, conveying far more about the brand than words could ever do.

For the main pages of the brochure, we selected a 200gsm silk card, and in order to really show off the iconic images to their full effect, applied a matt varnish throughout.

To complete the elegant look and feel, the brochure was Perfect Bound in-house on our BQ270 binder; this also enabled the text to be 10 pages - a saddle-stitched brochure would have to be multiples, of 4 pages or include a fold-out leaf.

We also printed business cards for staff representing Hangar8 at the show. In keeping with the understated theme, the business cards also featured a foil-blocked logo, and a selection of the brochure images were reproduced on the reverse.

All in all, this was an Executive Class project if we do say so ourselves!

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A simple card trick to bring you more business!

Even in a world packed with high-tech communication gadgets, the role of the traditional business card remains as important as ever, and no introductory meeting is complete without the ritual exchange of these humble business tools. The history of business cards and the etiquette around them can be traced back to 17th century Europe, where they were used to announce the arrival of prosperous merchants and aristocrats.  As a way of quickly conveying who you are, what you do and how you can be contacted, they are a simple and effective solution which has still not been bettered.

As an investment, your business cards will be a drop in the ocean compared to other sales and marketing tools such as your website or corporate brochure, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that they have the potential to win – or lose you business. Your card will probably be your first opportunity to make an impression and to demonstrate the values of your organisation - and when your face to face meeting is finished, your card will hopefully ensure your business stays front of mind.

So are your cards working as hard as they should to promote your business? If you want to maximise their impact, there are 3 key areas to consider; design, material and functionality:

Design
Within reason, the scope for creativity is limitless, so it makes sense to engage an imaginative designer who will help you to make the most of the space available.  Why confine yourself to just two sides?  Folding business cards can give you loads of extra space to communicate additional information. There are a wide variety of configurations - see Functionality below for ideas of how to use this extra area. You might also like to consider shaping your card to reflect the nature of your business – a light bulb for an electrician, a PC screen for a computer engineer and so on. Whatever design options you choose though, it’s a good idea to stay close to the regular, credit card size – there is nothing more annoying than a business card that doesn’t fit into a standard wallet!

Material
Before reading a card, you have to hold it, and the material you use can help you make a real statement about yourself. Many of the cards we produce at Holywell are printed onto a smooth board, and then laminated both sides for a clean, professional look, but for organisations seeking a more tactile card, there is a wide selection of material to choose from.

An uncoated card can give a sophisticated look and feel – especially where there is little ink coverage, allowing the surface area to be shown off. Using different coloured boards can create a really interesting effect too, with endless options for mixing inks and cards of different colours - and if you choose Duplex – a material made from two boards of different colours fixed together – you double the possibilities!

Functionality
When it comes to additional uses you can put your cards to, your imagination is your only limiting factor. Here are a few ideas for starters:

• Promotions - Promote special offers and discounts. Have your card double up as a loyalty card. Print a QR (Quick Response) code onto your card to take customers straight to a landing page on your website. 
• Appointment cards - Give clients cards with an area for recording appointments so they will never miss a meeting, and will always have your details to hand.
• Price Lists - Listing prices for services will help ensure your card is retained for easy reference.
• Portfolio - Display images of your products, or examples of your work. Create a set of cards with different images.

Have we got you thinking? Next time your business cards are due for a reprint, why not take a little time to consider how you can extend their use and get more business from them? Our studio will be very pleased to work with you and help give you some ideas.

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Client Spotlight: Private, keep out! Combining creativity & confidentiality for Privacy International

Here at Holywell, every now and again we are lucky enough to get to work on a project that is truly original, innovative and tests our craftsmanship to the full. One such job came to us through the global award-winning creative agency, Paul Belford Ltd.

The agency approached us with an initial concept for a direct mail prospectus they were designing for their client, the campaigning organisation, Privacy International. They had a very clear idea of what they were looking to achieve, and wanted to find a print partner that could work with them to help refine their concept and produce a workable, practical print piece.

The purpose of the prospectus is to outline the work and aims of Privacy International, and the creative approach proposed by the designers reinforced the organisation’s goals by having it sealed within an outer cover, so that the contents would be kept completely private until opened by the recipient.  

We were very pleased to have the opportunity to work alongside the creative team at this prestigious London agency, and be able to offer them the benefit of our advice on materials, production and finishing techniques. By collaborating at this crucial stage of the project, we were able to help make sure the finished print piece fully matched the agencies original concept - with no compromises.

The high-spec nature of the project called on a wide range of our skills and required us to undertake a bespoke production process in our Oxford factory. The 32 page prospectus was printed on Cyclus recycled paper, punched with three holes and hand sewn with thread into the oversized outer which was made of heavyweight (300gsm) recycled material called Paperback Loop Jute.  This outer cover which also acted as a protective envelope for mailing was blind embossed, glued shut with the prospectus inside, and perforated on three edges.

Not every job we work on is as complex as this one was, but it is great to meet creatives who see the possibilities of the printed medium and want to push the boundaries to produce something really special.

Credits to:

Creative Direction: Martin Brown and Paul Belford
Design: Martin Brown, Paul Belford and Joseph Carter

Print buying: The basics

Even in this digital age, there are few organisations that do not need to commission print at some point - letterheads, business cards, brochures, flyers, booklets, mailings, the list goes on. Some large companies that consume very high volumes of print will employ professional print buyers, but for most businesses where print is an occasional requirement this luxury will not be available. For those who are relatively new to it, buying print can seem a daunting responsibility, full of technical terms and incomprehensible jargon - if this is the case for you, the odds are that you are not talking to the right printer! 

The following list of things to keep in mind when selecting and briefing a printer is basic and by no means exhaustive, but it should at least give you a place to start from:

• A good print job begins even before you brief a printer - at the pre-production stage. Use the best creative ingredients you can afford. The highest quality design, photography and copywriting will always show through in the finished result.

• If possible, talk with your printer at about your print project when it is still at concept stage. They may be able to suggest adjustments to the design that will save you money, or even propose an alternative solution you may not have considered. Having our own design studioat Holywell enables us to make the process from creative concept to production completely seamless. Because our creatives understand print fully, all designs are optimised for cost-effective, high quality results.

• Do make sure you actually visit your printer’s premises for a tour of their factory and printing presses. A good printer will always be delighted to show off their workplace. Besides being a fascinating experience, it will help give you an understanding of the processes involved, and the capabilities of your printer. Ask to see their library of sample works and you will get a real feel for the quality of work they produce.  A factory visit will also confirm you are not dealing with a ‘print farming’ company – a business that simply acts as an intermediary, buying and selling print, but not actually printing themselves. 

• Expect your printer to explain things to you in plain English and help you with each stage of the production process. If there is something you don’t understand, don’t be embarrassed to ask to have it clarified.

• Be sure to ask your printer for physical samples of the materials (‘stock’ in print-speak) your job is going to be printed on. Material can make a huge difference. You will want to compare options and be able to touch and feel the quality of the paper or card for yourself. 

• It’s not always easy to imagine what a finished print piece will look like, especially if it is unusual or involves complex finishing. Your printer should always be able to provide you with a ‘mock up’ of your job – an unprinted, hand-made sample or ‘dummy’, so you can see how it will look and work. There may be a small charge for this service.

• When you are requesting a price for print, it may be worth asking your printer to supply ‘run on’ costs. When a job is being printed lithographically (rather than digitally), a large element of the print cost is in setting the job up and getting it ready to print. This means that the difference between printing a small run or a larger run is often very little. If it’s something you are likely to need more of in the future and you have facilities for storage, it can make economic sense to opt for a higher print run.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when buying print is that you are not simply buying a commodity, you are purchasing a service to support you with help and advice throughout the print process. Print buying requires an investment of faith and trust, so it’s vital you find the right partner to work with; a partner than not only has the right tools for the job, but one you can genuinely relate to and enjoy working with as well. 

Ink or pixels? Use both for a really effective campaign

Email is a great way to communicate; it’s instant, it’s cheap and there’s no doubt that it can be very effective. But there is also no denying that as the volume of digital traffic received by each of us every day continues to rise steadily, its value is diminished.  Of course, the irony that as traditional printers, we are using digital media to communicate with you right now will not have escaped your notice – we make no apologies - email does work, but to really engage with your target audience, you need to utilise a range of media. No one communication route works in isolation, which is why the most effective marketing campaigns generally blend online and offline channels.

In parallel with our inboxes filling up faster and faster, the number of hard copy mailings that come through our door or land on our desks has fallen dramatically since the dawn of email – with the result that when we do get an envelope or a package addressed to us personally, we are intrigued, excited and far more inclined to take notice. 

It’s much harder to ignore direct mail than it is an email, which can be consigned to trash with the click of a mouse (assuming it makes it through sophisticated spam filters), so the chances of it being opened are good. When the mailing is well designed, well written and beautifully printed, the odds of it being read and the message successfully delivered increase still further. Keep your eyes peeled for our very own printed newsletter landing with you in July - send us your address if you'd like to receive a copy! Email info@holywellpress.com

There are some wonderful examples of creativity in email marketing campaigns, but the digital medium does present certain limitations for imaginative designers. Whereas an email can only communicate on a screen through pixels, a printed piece can be touched and felt as well as seen. Print makes it possible to deliver a message using a communication that is in effect, a 4 dimensional representation of your brand, employing materials and finishes that tangibly reflect your values.

 

Both email and print communications rely on the same core elements to make them work effectively; stunning, innovative design; persuasive, compelling copy and powerful, impactful imagery. Commissioning these ingredients costs money and you will want to use the results to their full potential - and there is really only one medium that can do that.......print!

When you’re planning your next campaign and you really need to impress, make sure that print is in the mix!

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Think smart. Work smart. Print smart.

Finding ‘smarter’ ways to work is an ongoing quest for anyone in business. Generating revenue is hard enough, so anything that can help you bring down your costs has to be worth taking seriously. With sales and marketing budgets under pressure for many businesses, adopting a smart approach to print buying makes sound sense. 

So what does printing smart actually mean? We are not going to pretend that its rocket science, it’s really just common sense, a case of you and your printer working closely together with one another to make sure the route you take is the best one. Sharing information is vital. Whether the job you are requesting a price for is part of a campaign, a regular project, or a one-off, let your printer know how your brief fits into the ‘bigger picture’ and if there’s a smart way of doing it, they should tell you.

Your printer should be a partner as well as a supplier. Here at Holywell, we understand the challenges our clients face, and we work with them to help them print smart whenever we can. We’ll always consider a print job from every angle to make sure we are recommending the most cost-effective solution. Here are a few recent examples that demonstrate how we can apply print smart thinking to save money for our clients:

• A number of our clients use business cards which feature different full colour images on the reverse. To print these cards in short runs each time a new employee joins the business is expensive. Instead, we print sheets of the cards, coloured side only, and hold these ‘stock blanks’ at our premises. The client can call these off whenever they need to; we simply overprint the personalised side in one or two colours, an inexpensive process. This way each new member of staff gets their cards, complete with images on the reverse for a fraction of the cost of printing afresh each time.

• Applying the same principle, we can print different covers for booklets. One of our clients is a private school, and each term, pupils are given an academic planner.  While the content of the planners is 2 colours, the covers are full colour, and different for each term. By printing the full colour covers together, at the start of the school year, holding them in stock until we print the planner content at the beginning of each new term, we’re able to provide the diaries at a price substantially less expensive than the school’s previous printer.
• When a client asked us to print a 12 page A4 brochure and told us it was going to be used for marketing in the USA, we suggested that producing the brochure in US A4 format rather than European A4 would not only make it more suited to the market, it would also make it cheaper. Because US A4 is smaller than UK A4, we were able to get more pages up on our printing press. Fewer plates and less make-ready time meant we were able to pass on substantial savings.

So, next time you have a print brief, don’t just give your printer the basic specifications, share as much as you can with them and tell them you want to print smart!

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