If you look at our entire blog section, you’ll find that we’ve been a staunch supporter of print design. The simple reason behind that is, despite the raging popularity of digital platforms, print marketing is still very much relevant and important for businesses to flourish.

Whether it is for your business cards, business stationeries, banner ads, brochures, etc. designing for print marketing is as important for a business as any other design segment.

Therefore, today, we are again taking up the matter of print in this blog and will discuss some key Dos and Don’ts of print design.

These print design Dos and Don’ts will help you understand the basic nuances of a successful print design and thecommon print mistakes to avoid at all costs.

Important Print Design Do’s and Don’ts

Do

-Pay attention to every single detail of your design. From grammar to bleeding; everything must be as you intend it to be. Finding a tiny mistake that can be potentially harmful to the brand will lead to discarding the entire batch and redo the printing; adding to your operational cost.

-Follow a proper hierarchy of information on the design. Assign importance to every message printed on the design, with the main message having the top visual priority.  The readers need to know what they should read first without missing any detail at all.

-Ensure that thetypography is in sync with the brand’s identity and, is helpful in communicating the message clearly. Make sure of proper kerning, leading, and tracking throughout.

-Emphasize on creating a unique brand identity through your print design. Your logo, slogan, and contact information need to be displayed clearly for the audience to remember your brand the next time they see it somewhere else. 

-Keep enough white space throughout the design. Your print design doesn’t have to be overwhelmingly covered with graphics and texts. Make sure it has enough empty space with just a few meaningful elements that should be sufficient to impress and to get your message across. 

-Make the tangible experience memorable by using unique print finishing; such as folding, embossing, foiling, etc. This will be your way to create interactive andinclusive designs for print as well; just like it is done for digital designs.

Don’t

-Use low-quality graphics or images in your designs. Remember that the resolution of the images as seen on the digital screen would not be the same as that on the print output. Use high-quality graphics or illustrations only. 

-Keep the text too long or convoluted such that the audience is not even able to get the crux of the message. The messaging should be short and to the point. Nobody will spend more than a couple of seconds trying to decipher your message.

-Use a monotone color palette for the design. Apply contrasting colors for the background and other design elements so as to highlight the important messages for the users to find. 

-Use too many different font types. Restrict your typeface choices to a maximum of 3; that too shall depend upon the quantity of text that has to go on the design. If the amount of text is less, 2 different typeface choices should suffice. 

-Just make one draft of your design for the final print. If you are a designer working for your client, you need to make sure that you have at least 2-3 different print design samples ready to share with your client to finalize one that would go for printing.

To conclude…

So, these were some really important print design Do’s and Don’ts that every designer and business owner must be aware of; and follow religiously. For custom print design services, connect with us today at support@graphicszoo.com