Tag Archives: design industry

How to Create Higher Ed. Marketing that Works

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Direct Mail Marketing, Ideas & InspirationTag(s): , , , , , , , , , , Posted By:

Statistics show that high school and college-aged students like direct mail. Our direct mail is dimensional, interactive and engaging. With other colleges and universities soliciting the same top-prospect students that you are, direct mail from Red Paper Plane and Structural Graphics will make sure your message gets noticed and stays top-of-mind.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

UC Riverside chose this dimensional folder to send out information about its different colleges to accepted students. The piece starts off as a seemingly flat printed folder, but when you open it up, an intricate pop-up immediately rises from the center. Each corner of the piece featured individual mini folders, each containing step-by-step instructions on how to get started with enrollment.

Our flat-cube is one of our most dynamic and exciting designs because of its ability to immediately make an impact with recipients. This one was used by SUNY Adirondack Community College to send information about its college to prospective students. The cube immediately pops up when you remove it from the mail sleeve.

University of Canterbury used our Flapper to recruit students to its school and to promote its Product Design program. They chose the tablet-sized Flapper and displayed their information in a portrait layout. The inside of the colorful Flapper featured bright graphics that represented the key aspects of its product design program.

This clever Extendo mailer went out to prospective MBA students from the Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business. When you pull on one of the sides, the other sides pops out automatically – revealing a series of business jackets, each detailing one of the 4 MBA programs and 18 specialized master’s programs.

Rutgers School of Business used the Exploding Page design to deliver information about its business program to prospective students. The self-mailer appears to be a standard looking direct mail piece on the outside, but when opened up, it expands to twice its original size. The inside of the mailer contained information about the different programs offered by this prestigious school.

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Enhance Your Marketing with Video in Print

Posted On: Category: Audio / Video Marketing, Custom Design & PrintingTag(s): , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Posted By:

From Facebook and online ads, to YouTube and digital video, businesses have long had to compete with with the waning attention spans of their audience in the marketing arena. However, a newer technology offered by Structural Graphics and its online division, Red Paper Plane, might’ve just found that sweet spot.

Video in Print combines the detail of print with the emotional reach of video creating a one-of-a-kind multi-sensory experience for prospects looking to forge a connection with your brand, service or product.

But, just because your print piece has a video, it doesn’t mean that will guarantee its success. Design, message, packaging and production values contribute to the overall experience your customer or prospect has about your business. Here at Structural Graphics, we craft our Video in Print brochures by way of a high-tech, high-touch production process, allowing you to press proof your piece before shipping from one of our North American facilities.

Considering adding a Video in Print brochure to your marketing campaign? Below we’ve compiled a few suggestions to get you started.

Not all Video in Print players are created equal. Speakers, video screen, battery packs and wiring can vary greatly in quality. Ensure your supplier uses top quality components and has a thorough quality control in place. We proudly have a 10-year relationship with our Video in Print player supplier.

 

The power is in the playback. Make sure you choose the right file formats and the right settings for your video playback. We typically recommend a MP4, MOV, AVI or WMV video file format and a sound level of 75 to 80 dB. Also, double check that your supplier includes a USB cable for recharging the video brochure.

 

Short and sweet can’t be beat. Again, keep your audience’s attention span in mind. Video is a great way to deliver a 30 to 60 second message, but anything longer than that and you might want to consider breaking it into individual video “chapters”. Don’t forget the call to action so you can track responses.

 

Source global, but inspect and ship local. Because Video in Print players are sourced almost exclusively from the far East, they’re often powered down to 30 percent of rated capacity to meet International Air Traffic Association regulations. This can negatively impact playback quality. At Structural Graphics, we fully re-charge our batteries, then ship them to our customers. Our battery configuration is approved by the US Post Office and is CE ROHS certified, which means that our product has met the standards for consumer safety, health and environmental requirements in the U.S. and Europe.

Experience, there’s no substitute for it. For more than 40 years, Structural Graphics has designed, produced and engineered unique, interactive print communications for some of the top companies in the world. Simply put, we know print.

 

Take a look at our Video in Print portfolio and contact us for more information. We’ll show you how to be distinctively different with Video in Print advertising.

What it Means to Say I’m A Creative: Isabel Uria

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Dimensional Print Marketing, Inside Structural Graphics, Meet the CreativesTag(s): , , , , , , , , Posted By:

This is the second installment in our “What it Means to Say I’m a Creative” series, meant to focus on the inspiration and drive behind each one of our paper engineers. To read Part 1 of the series, click here.

  1. How did you know you wanted to create (in a professional sense)?
    I think at an unconscious level I always knew I was going to work in the arts. I played piano for five years, and was involved in the school choir, theater, musicals and extracurricular art classes since middle school. Back then, I loved colors and painting, primarily.However, my journey with paper probably goes back to when I was 6 or 7 years old. My older brother had been given origami books for Christmas. I saw how he would make all these little creatures out of paper and neatly display them on his shelf. As any little sister, I idolized my brother. I wanted to be just like him! But he wouldn’t lend me his origami books!So one day, when he wasn’t looking or wasn’t around, I snuck into his room, took the books and started to try to follow the instructions on how to make all these little creatures through increasingly difficult pleats and folds. I succeeded on the beginner’s book but I failed miserably on all the more advanced ones. It took a while before I would understand and successfully accomplish complex paper folding like that. But if I have to look back at where I began with paper, I think that might have been my first experience with this amazing material.
  2. What advice would you give to others who want to work in a creative industry/ position? 
    Work Hard. Work smart. Be true to your passions.

    Be consistent.

    Be persistent (without being stubborn).

    Be confident, but not cocky.

    Dream big, but also keep your feet grounded in reality (or at least keep a toe or two on the ground).

    Stay confident, even when you think you’re wavering at every turn. (We often think we’re not doing well enough, but sometimes that’s a good thing; it keeps us humble.)

    Go forth doing your thing (whatever that may be) with constancy and fortitude!

    I guess much of this “advice” can really apply to any profession. At the end of the day, whatever you do, practice your craft passionately. Wouldn’t that make for a happier you?

  3. What does creativity mean to you?
    Being creative is inside all of us. Creativity is looking at a world of possibilities and acknowledging all the ways a problem can be brought to light and all the ways it could be solved. Creativity opens your mind. It is a path to visualize the past, the present and the future. Creativity is the opposite of war. It is the future. Evolution has happened because human beings have been curious to know and understand how things work and take that understanding to CREATE new developments and innovative things that serve our needs and help us. Creativity makes the world go around!
  4. How do you feel when you tell others you’re a paper engineer?
    It’s always fun to explain what I do. Unless you’re “in” the industry or closely linked to it, people don’t automatically know what a “paper engineer” is.First of all, we have not necessarily studied engineering in school, yet we work with paper as our material of choice in the same way an engineer does. We use the material —cut, fold, and paste it—to create an entirely new construct. The thing about paper engineers is that we can toggle that blurry line between being an artist and being a designer. We can be both! And sometimes, some of us are.Personally, I feel that’s awesome! I also feel very fortunate to be one of the people who makes a living in this profession. There are only so many people that do, and I think we all know each other! Or at least we know of each other.
  5. What does it mean to say that you’re a “creative”?
    There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with being a designer because you’re the one that has to visualize the results, and make sure it works for the purpose that it is needed. As a creative I have to come up with a compelling, grand, aesthetically pleasing solution to the problem at hand. I have to design an eloquent way to express a message in 3D paper shapes and forms. I have to make things unique and innovative. Sometimes that comes easy, but sometimes it doesn’t. And criticism will always be there. Those are the struggles you deal with on a regular basis as a designer, as an artist and as a creative.

To learn more about Isabel, please click here.