February is here and it is time to save! Right now all the Pearl Plastic stocks are marked down 20% off at www.themorningprint.com. No coupon code is needed the prices have already been slashed and this offer will be gone at the end of the month. So if you are looking for a truly unique stock that will get you noticed then go for the Pearl!
Don’t forget to check out our sample kits, you can check out the stocks before ordering: Click here for a sample kit.
Embossing is a great way to add interest to your business cards. Embossing is a finishing technique where a graphic, text etc. is pressed into the paper using two die. one that is raised and one that is recessed. The dies fit into each other so that when the paper is pressed between them, the raised die forces the stock into the recessed die and creates the embossed impression. A specific level of pressure is applied to the dies in order to squeeze the fibers of the paper, which results in a permanently raised area in the paper (*note the backside of the embossing is indented).
MorningPrint has added 16 new die-cut shapes, just in time to celebrate with the world!
Hello! Here at MorningPrint, we receive many amazing designs, and we really enjoy seeing the creative process the designers go through. We enjoy seeing the results received after we send these designs to print. We would like to share some of these creative designs with you to help inspire you as they have inspired us.
Designer : Jeremy Fuller
Website : www.wolf-studios.com,www.jeremyfuller.net
E-mail : jfuller@wolf-studios.com
Order Details : Clear Plastic + White ink (PET 0.22mm)
Interview:
Q : Briefly tell our readers about you and your company:
A : Wolf Studios is an independent development company focusing on games and apps. It’s just my wife and I. She handles the business side and networking with others, and I do the designing and development. I’ve been doing graphic design, programming, music composition, and writing since a very young age. Most recently, I released a series of word games on iOS called War of Words. I never sit still-right now I’m designing a table-top game and writing a novel.
Q : Looks like this is your first order with MorningPrint. How did you find out about us and did you shop other printers?
A: I found MorningPrint through a Google search, and I did check out a few other printers. I was specifically looking for clear or translucent plastic cards. They varied quite a bit, from very thick and expensive credit-card-style cards to the very thin cards MorningPrint offered. I decided I preferred the thinner stock. MorningPrint was also far more affordable than the alternatives, and that certainly helped!
Q : You selected our clear plastic + white ink. Why did you select this stock? Had you printed on PET plastic before?
A: I wanted to do a card that was very unique. To achieve that, I wanted to play with transparency and plastic. This was my first attempt at any sort of plastic business card. I have experience designing screen printed textiles, so I knew a white plate would be very helpful in this case. I tried designs for the gold and silver plastic cards first, but wasn’t happy with the results in Photoshop, so I decided to go with clear plastic.
Q : What was your design process like for creating your card?
A: Initially, I struggled with it a lot. I tried several radically different approaches. It’s very hard to simulate transparency in Photoshop in a way that the eye can visualize without seeing the finished product. My favorite color is green, and in the end I thought simple was better. I didn’t want to see a lot of obvious rasterization artifacts, so I went with solid colors and a dramatic full-bleed design. The 4.5 degree rotation on the logo was an inspired final touch that really pushed the design to the next level. The white plate helped not only pop the color more (green is hard to achieve using CMYK), but it also added an extra dimension to the transparency effect.
Q : Your design is simple yet effective and draws a lot of interest by playing off the transparency of the card, how did you come up with this?
A: Designing for transparency is a very different approach from traditional designing. I had looked at using translucent plastic, but thought dramatic full transparency combined with a white plate would be a better choice. I wanted people to really notice the transparency, but also be able to easily read the card, so I opted for a large and bold logotype. I’m very picky about wolf illustrations, and I love how this one really owns the side of the card in a dramatic fashion. (I guess drama was my main goal!) If the whole card had been transparent, it wouldn’t have been as noticeable. That’s why I did 30% white along the bottom half of the card-not only does it emphasize the transparency by providing some contrast for the world behind the card, but it also aids in reading the smaller type at the bottom. After struggling so much, the final design ended up happening very quickly. Sometimes inspiration strikes!
Q : For future cards will you stick with the clear plastic or explore any other stocks and options?
A: I’ve had incredible reactions to this card so far, so I might continue with this design for a bit. But I’m always looking for change, so the odds are good that I’ll do a new design soon, and that probably means a different stock. I’d like to play with nonstandard sizes and die cuts, as well as metal. I hate boring, and business cards can be the epitome of boring.
Q :Any tips for our clients to consider when they are creating their business cards?
A: Simple is better. Make sure you use a professional designer who understands the nature of offset printing, including bleeds and the cutting process. And don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
Q : Did you experience any difficulties when using MorningPrint?
A: Nope! The cards arrived exactly as I designed them. I was very happy with the price, speed, and quality of the product.
| Hello! Here at MorningPrint, we receive many amazing designs, and we really enjoy seeing the creative process the designers go through. We enjoy seeing the results received after we send these designs to print. We would like to share some of these creative designs with you to help inspire you as they have inspired us.
Designer : Jacqui Ball
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Do you want your business card to pop? A spot UV on MorningPrint’s Standard Coated 14pt matte can help you achieve something memorable. Spot UV is a clear coat or gloss that is applied over the card stock itself or printed areas. A UV light is used to cure the varnish which dries the card almost instantly, and then you get something remarkable!
Spot UV is one of our favorite finishing options as it is clean and sleek giving cards a very modern and eye catching look.
Tip: Spot UV is not recommended for fully bled background as peeling can occur on the edges.
How to prepare files for Spot UV:
Spot UV is the only finishing option that allows a double side application, should you want spot UV on both sides you will need to include a black printing file and a back spot UV file.
All files should meet the following requirements:
Upload check list:
For spot UV you will need to have 4-6 files
*If you do not need Spot UV on the backside you just need a Back Printing file.
Example of Files 1-6:
Hello! Here at MorningPrint, we receive many amazing designs, and we really enjoy seeing the creative process the designers go through. We enjoy seeing the results received after we send these designs to print. We would like to share some of these creative designs with you to help inspire you as they have inspired us.
Name : Jessica Schott
Website : www.foxfoto.com.au
E-mail : jess@foxfoto.com.au
Designer : Bjorn Schott
Company : Fox Design Corp.
Website : foxdesigncorp.com
E-mail : bjorn@foxdesigncorp.com
Order Details
1. Heavy Nouveau + Raised Ink (single side) + Glossy Silver Foil + Rounded Corners
2. Standard Coated 14pt matte 5 x 7 postcard + Spot UV
3. Uncoated Sticker 90mm x 70mm
4. Uncoated Sticker 90mm x 150mm
Interview:
Q : Jessica, briefly tell us about your business and its history:
A : I have been running a photography business for a few years and recently moved to another state and so decided to rebrand my business to better suit the market
Q : How did you select your designer for this project?
A: Well he is my husband! LOL And he also had just started his own design business so I knew I would get a great design and also a good deal.
Q : Where did the fox theme come from?
A: Our family shield features a fox so the theme runs through into our businesses.
Q : What direction did you give your designer? How did you like the final outcome of the project?
A: I explained that I wanted something simple and yet elegant, something not over the top but that would grab your attention.
Q : Bjorn, please tell us a little about yourself as a designer, and the services you offer:
A: I have been working in partnership with a very talented young designer by the name of Sebastian Pizarro for a while whom is now the other member of Fox Design Corp. We offer services to various niche markets like wedding stationary, greeting cards, and personalized stationary for individuals, along with logo and website design or a whole identity for a company as we have done for Jessica.
Q : Your design inspires us, what inspires you?
A: I think that the things that I admire most are always the simplest and yet convey a strong message with very little, whether it is words or just a few lines. This is mostly because when you start with an idea it is very cluttered and it is taking the time to remove the clutter that leaves you with something poignant and interesting.
Q : This order used a variety of options for this project, Spot UV, Foiling, Raised ink, Rounded Corners. How did you decide on the options?
A: MorningPrint offers many different printing options that I have been wanting to try for quite some time, so when the client said that she was happy to try anything we recommended it was hard not to try all of them LOL. I think that foiling gives things a sense of class along with rounded corners and the cards won’t bend in the corners and maintain a more pristine look. The raised ink and spot UV also add a texture that give the cards a real premium and tactile feel that also shows off the pattern we designed in a subtle way.
Q : When working with your clients, how do you get to the bottom of the style / design / products you will offer them?
A: I think as a designer it is important to understand the clients business, and therefore how the design will help the business stand out and also how they will use their stationary, in order to offer them the best solution. For example if my client is a plumber we might try a simpler design to make them look more upmarket instead of a tacky graphic and slogan and I would steer them more to plastic cards due to their water resistance and ease of cleaning in case they get them dirty. I would not try and steer them to something that may be more premium but that would not be particularly functional or useful for the business.
Q : Any tips for our clients to consider when they are creating their business cards?
A: Given the amount of cards people receive all the time it is worthwhile putting some effort in making something memorable in both design and feel so that you have more chances of potential clients keeping your cards and not throwing them away.
Special Offer from Fox Design Corp : We will offer a 10% discount to anyone that mentions MorningPrint.
Hi guys! The week is almost over! Where did the time go? It has been such a busy week! However we wanted to take a time out to feature one of our most popular & creative stocks. A lot of you have called in and emailed your questions regarding our PET plastic cards, and specifically our clear / transparent stocks. Here at MorningPrint we LOVE our PET products. However we know that everyone has different tastes and preferences so we understand that this stock might not be for everyone. PET plastic is 0.22mm (6-7mil) we list it as ultra-thin / light weight / flexible. So if you are looking for a rigid plastic card this one is not for you.
One of the most common questions is if it comes in a thicker size, which it doesn’t. You can get a MorningPrint sample kit to check these stocks out first hand: You can request a sample kit by visiting us at www.themorningprint.com>scroll down to the bottom > click on “sample request” located under“support” > fill out your information.
Why we love our PET plastic products:
Downside:
Clear + White Ink PET plastic examples:
We have a “clear plastic (no white ink stock)” & a “clear plastic + white ink stock”. The clear plastic + white ink is the stock I wanted to focus on this time. Normally in CMYK offset printing we do not have white ink. CMYK printing is a subtractive method of printing, where the stock you print on becomes the base, so any white areas in your design are left un-printed revealing the stock itself. However the processing we use for the clear + white ink plastic allows for one special spot white color to be applied.
CMYK ink is printed first and the white ink is printed second (behind the CMYK). This gives the ability to back areas of color with white to help increase the visibility of the design. We usually recommend that you back all text and graphics in white.
The cool thing about the white ink is that it can be printed at different opacities or even as a gradient so this can be used to achieve a lot of different effects. Keep in mind as previously mentioned 100% white /100% CMYK colors does not make this area complete solid there still will be some transparency to it.
So how would we accomplish something similar to the“IdeaKind” card seen above?
We would need two files to accomplish this:
The first thing I would want to do is set up my document size correctly. For this project I used Illustrator. As we mention on the website :
For this example I set up 2 art boards, both have a document size of: 2.28” x 3.54”. These dimensions are what is required for all of our plastic products, this is where your design should be fully bled to. The bleed ensures that no un-printed edges occur in the final trimmed document.
I then set up my guidelines, I set one for the trim size:3.39” x 2.28” (this is approximate as there is a 1-2mm margin of error that can occur during cutting), and then another guide for the safe zone which is 3.23”x 1.97”. The safe zone guide is very important as it is the area that you want to keep text and graphics in as it is in ensured to not be cut off as it takes into account the margin of error.
Setting up the artwork then can be a little tricky depending on what you are trying to accomplish. Your first file should be the area for CMYK (any white areas on this side of the card will be left clear). Then your second file will be the area for white.. now this is where it gets tricky.. the area for white should be denoted in 100% black (c0,m0,y0,k100). So I wanted the“morningprint” logo to be white as well as back the whole circle graphic with white. In the white file this will look just like a black circle. Since On the Complete design file the “morningprint” logo was left clear, the white ink thatis printed behind this area will not only show through to make the “morningprint”appear white but back the circle making the results of the print appear more saturated than if we did not back it. Now if I wanted the red not to be so saturated and to appear more transparent then I could always reduce the opacity of the black on the white file or I could remove the black circle all together and allow the red ink to not appear as saturated but you would still want to include the “morningprint” in black on the white file to make it white.
This is the same case with the white stripe at the bottom with the text. On the white file the whole stripe is black, unlike the white “morningprint”logo since the text is black on the complete CMYK file the result will be black on the final product, however on the white file we made the whole area black so that not only does it make the stripe white but it backs the black text with white just as we do with the “example social media” text below the stripe.
By setting up our files this way we will get a result just like the “IdeaKind” example. So in this example we did not use different opacities or gradients with the white but think just of all the possibilities if we did!!!
*please note how ink printed at 100% opacity / areas backed with 100% white ink are not solid, there is still some transparency. This is why this stock only allows for a single side design with only the ability to back areas in white or express areas in white from the backside.
I hope these examples and file set up tutorial has got your creative brains going! A little research and preparation can produce an awesome card that your clients will rave about. Enjoy the rest of your day, and as always.. Print responsibly.
If you are like us, you might be wonder where the holidays went. It all happened so quickly and now we are in a new year! We decided to start this year off with a new product that had been getting a lot of requests, Die-Cut cards!
Shape your business with unique Die-Cut Business Cards! Finding a unique shape specific to your industry could help keep you in
the minds of potential clients. Branding and business cards can be a very effective marketing tool if you use them correctly. The Die-Cut Cards are available on MorningPrint’s Standard Coated 14pt matte stock, and finishing options (Spot UV / Foiling / Embossing) can be added for an added impact.
Die-Cutting was developed in the 19th century. The original purpose was to cut leather for shoes. Over the years it has been developed for other products.it is commonly Today used for products such as envelopes, tags, stickers and business cards.
The process starts first with printing, and then a custom blade is made and then used to cut the designed shape.
Above is a circular shape which was made by a custom circular blade
(Something to consider: The more complicated the shape, the more it will cost to produce. Generally the more angles it has the higher the cost)
After the custom blade has been created it is then installed into the cutting machine.
The cutting methods are automatic, hand manual, flatbed, rotary presses and so on. There are many different kind of processing for cutting.
We select the proper machine depending on the die cut shape and size. It is not very cost effective to use the bigger machines to cut small Die-Cut projects.
After installed, the printed artwork is fed through the machine where the blade will cut each piece, one-by-one.
As seen above, the blade is about to press down onto the printed stock
And then the pieces are collected at the other end of the machine
The Die-Cut cost is calculated by combining three processes: printing, producing a custom shaped blade, plus the cost of running the cutting machine. Generally the quantities available are from 200 to 1,000 pieces.
The most expensive part of Die-Cutting is producing a custom blade. To reduce this cost MorningPrint has created 32 different shapes that seem to be the most popular in the print industry to reduce your overall cost and turnaround time.
We can do just about any custom shape. If you have a custom shape and want to see the possibilities or just get an idea of the costs you can contact us our “Contact Customer Center” in the upper right hand corner of the website with your artwork and specifications (size / quantity / stock etc.).
Designer : Julia Bardelang
Company : Ugly Girl Design
Website : www.uglygirldesign.com
E-mail : uglygirldesign@gmail.com
State & Country : Pompano Beach, FL
Stock : Standard Coated 14pt Matte + Double Side Spot UV
Q : Briefly tell us about you & your company, its history and what kind of services do you offer.
A : I have my BFA in Graphic Design and I am passionate about what I do. I’ve been doing creative hobbies my entire life and enjoy doing things for people, so doing graphic design is a great fit for me. Ugly Girl Design is a funky and hip little design company. I create expressively unique designs for print and the web. I design logos, business cards, websites, posters, flyers, and more. I enjoy doing unique, outside of the box projects and will always choose quality over quantity.
Q : Where did the name “Ugly Girl Design” originates from?
A: It started as a joke but because it’s unique, silly and memorable, it stuck. I think it’s a good representation of my sense of humor and personality that I would name my business like that. The intention is that it shows how much fun I have designing. Clients usually laugh and say “Oh, you’re not ugly.”, but most importantly they like what I do and remember the name, even if they don’t remember mine. Doing what I love and making people smile in the process is what it’s all about.
Q : Your design inspires us, what inspires you?
A: My inspiration comes from whatever makes me happy. It sounds cheesy but it’s true. Life inspires me. Enjoying time with people I love, experiencing new things, and traveling inspire me to think creatively. They motivate me to improve not only my work but myself entirely. Passion also inspires me, when people do things that make them happy it’s obvious. I strive to show that in my work.
Q : MorningPrint has over 30+ stocks & more than 7 finishing options, how did you decided on the Standard Coated 14pt matte with a double sided spot UV?
A: I wanted something minimalistic. Simple but impressionable, and the cards came out exactly as I wanted.
Q : We love the layout of your card! You were able to fit a lot of information without cluttering your card, but if someone were to receive your card it is very clear who you are and what your business is all about. How did you come up with this layout and select what information you would share?
A: It started as a simple design I put together. I really love the contrast of black and white, and think it’s commonly underrated so I went with that concept. I love minimalistic design, because it’s beautifully straight to the point. Communicating effectively with no meaningless fluff is what I strive for. I put the simple design together and ordered some cards. Liked them but didn’t love them, so I built on them. I believe in not always going with your first draft. A good idea is just that, good. Putting it on paper and/or on the computer and critically thinking through the concept and aesthetic is the design process. That’s when you make your idea great.
Q : What are your ideas for your next business card design?
A: I’d really like to do some fun die cut cards next. My previous die cut design I was very pleased with and would really like to expand on that. I’m always up for a chance to challenge myself and critically think. Changing up the parameters a bit will help me do that.
Q : Any tips for our clients to consider when they are creating their business cards?
A: 1. Less is more. Leave the recipient of your card wow’ed but wanting more. 2. Go big or go home. Your business card is your first impression. It is important for the person holding it to be excited about you. Give them a card they will keep and show off. It not only makes you look awesome, but they will tell their friends.
Q : Did you experience any difficulties when using MorningPrint, or find anything to be inconvenient or inefficient?
A: Not at all. I enjoy using MorningPrint all around. I’m happy with the quality of cards and ordering them was no sweat.
Special for MorningPrint customers: Anyone that mentions MorningPrint when ordering an Ugly Girl Design service will receive a 15% discount. You can request a quote or service through email, uglygirldesign@gmail.com
www.TheMorningPrint.com 