Here in the last week of the year, many of our customers who visit the showroom at Black Duck are raring to get an order underway so it can count as a purchase made on the [...]]]>

Coordinating shirts now come in a range of styles, colors, and fits - perfect for your logo and staff.

Here in the last week of the year, many of our customers who visit the showroom at Black Duck are raring to get an order underway so it can count as a purchase made on the current year’s budget. While we’re not here to debate the merits of fixed-budget spending, we are here to help you make your purchase more than just a way to round out your figures. Here are three ways that you can make that last bit of budget surplus money work for your department in the coming year.

1. Start the new year with a new professional look. Nothing says ‘team spirit’ like coordinated, custom logowear. Buy your key staff new embroidered button-up and polo shirts, complete with your logo, and they’ll start the new year looking and feeling ready for business. Black Duck has selections that combine professional unisex choices with coordinating and flattering women’s styles to make every day a perfect day to wear your logo (and there are at least 3 good reasons why).

2. Stock up on some essentials, with a promotional twist. You know you’ll need office supplies in the coming year- everyone wants new pencils and pens, notepads, and even incidentals like coffee mugs and flash drives, but rather than simply buying up blank goods from your office supply warehouse, why not turn every one of those frequently used and often seen items into a promotional opportunity by adding a custom print with your logo and company information?  Not only is it a great corporate identity builder for your staff, each of these items can be used as a promotional giveaway for customers and friends of your company. Useful, quality items tend to stay around, meaning that every time your customer picks up that favorite pen, they’ll have your logo and info at hand, and on the top of their mind.

The classic Bic Click-Stick is dependable and can easily produced with your company colors and logos

3. Plan for early for your next event. You know that there’s that one tradeshow, that big meeting, that presentation that you always end up scrambling to get ready at the last minute. Why not get your promotional products set up now? Logo-printed tablecloths, banners, and feather flags, giveaway items like t-shirts, hats, water bottles and the like, printed goody bags, and even business cards can all be created and coordinated here at Black Duck! Why scramble at the last minute and pay rush fees for production? Get those things that you won’t have to change up for every event done now, and have them in reserve all year long.

Three short tips aren’t all we have in store for you when it comes to making the most of your budget, but we know that you’ve got no time to waste if you’re looking to place that order- so stop reading and start calling or coming in to our showroom! We’re here to help you get the best value out of your every expenditure. Whether you need company uniforms, custom promotional products, or even a company identity plan built from scratch, we’re ready to help you put your best foot forward. Contact us, and we’ll make it easy.

What is a visual style guide?

A mock-up of how our visual style guide might look.

Simply put, a visual style guide is a document that contains the details you need to give anyone who will be decorating anything with your logo/brand in order to create a consistent rendition of your [...]]]>

What is a visual style guide?

A mock-up of how our visual style guide might look.

Simply put, a visual style guide is a document that contains the details you need to give anyone who will be decorating anything with your logo/brand in order to create a consistent rendition of your art. It lays out the look of your logo, the fonts that you’ve selected, and the colors you use in a way that’s easy for printers and art departments to understand so that no matter what you are having made, your logo looks the way you want it to look, every time. They can be as simple a single page containing only an image of your logo with some approved color numbers from a standard system like Pantone and a list of the font names used. If you are producing more complicated items, you may want a more detailed style guide, with several color examples made to show the proper way to render your logo when it appears on different backgrounds, multiple versions of your logo for larger and smaller areas to be decorated, or for horizontal and vertical decoration areas, even spacing to be used when adding other logos and text to your logo, font choices for documents on which your logo appears, and sample layouts of documents, apparel, or promotional products.

Why do I need one?

The easy answer is that it allows you to be in control of the way your logo is presented, but there are more benefits than the obvious control over your image. Having a prepared style guide saves you time and money on art preparation. One of the most time-consuming processes undertaken by most artists is the search for fonts used in a logotype. A style guide not only eliminates this search, it can provide a host of answers about proper color usage and sizing that would otherwise cost you more preparation time and might require an artist or decorator to contact you repeatedly. Having a style guide means never having to repeat yourself when describing the look you want to achieve.  Moreover, you will likely find that your entire production time is reduced, seeing that many printers and apparel decorators will favor by necessity a job with complete information over one that requires several rounds of interaction with a customer to set up. The decorator has to keep machines moving to insure profitability, and if you have your designs in order, you may end up with your design approved and slotted into an empty production line while an artist waits for details from a less prepared customer.

How do I create a style guide?

Generally, you would have this created by the artist that designed your logo. If you designed the logo yourself, you may find that your printer or apparel decorator’s art department can help you not only to redraw clean, vector-based art that you will be able to use for all your printing and decorating needs, but to create a professional-looking and information-packed style guide. Most decorators will have access to professional color-matching systems and can help you to pick out the proper color codes to include in the guide. Moreover, if they have already done the work of searching out your fonts and redrawing your logo, they’ll be armed with all of the font names and measurements they need to produce the sample images and font lists.  Common simple logo style guide sheets include at a minimum the full color version of a logo with color numbers, a single-color version of the logo for simple promotional products and paper goods, versions for dark and light backgrounds and/or backgrounds that share a color with the logo, and a list of fonts used. All you’ll have to do is sit down with your decorator’s art department to establish any other information or logo versions you’d like to include. Make sure to get yourself a PDF file, the Adobe document standard for which nearly all computers have a pre-installed viewer, and you’ll be set to send it to anyone who will be reproducing your logo.

What if I don’t think I need a style guide or can’t afford to create one?

No matter if you have a style guide or not, be aware of the basic needs of any printer or decorator, and you’ll still come out ahead. Know your fonts, have a good idea about the colors you want to use, and be prepared to answer questions about what you want. Check out my previous post on saving art and setup costs, and you’ll be prepared.

So, there you have it. Visual style guides are useful tools for keeping your logo’s look consistent and your printing and decorating worry-free. If you need a style guide, the art department at Black Duck is ready to help- either as an additional service on your next decorated apparel or promotional products order, or any time you want to create this logo life-saver, we’ve got the staff to help you tell the world how to handle your brand.

Whenever we try to illustrate the power of promotional products, car flags always come up in the conversation. These unassuming little flags that temporarily mount in the rolled-up window of your car seem like such small canvases to show a logo, but their action-packed movement and prominent [...]]]>

Proudly fly your logo everywhere you go!

Whenever we try to illustrate the power of promotional products, car flags always come up in the conversation. These unassuming little flags that temporarily mount in the rolled-up window of your car seem like such small canvases to show a logo, but their action-packed movement and prominent position above the car’s roof make car flags very effective attention-getters!

We first discovered the awesome benefits of car flags when we were contacted by a large real-estate company looking for a promotional product that would maximize the advertising impact of their weekly house tours. It seemed simple to us, if the Realtors wanted a semi-permanent solution, we could make vinyl window graphics, and failing that, we could go to the old standard of magnetic signs for the doors. Project completed, right?

Wrong! The Realtors not only didn’t want anything adhered to their window, but many of them (several driving rather expensive luxury automobiles) had no desire to find out if a magnetic sign would scuff their paint job. So, what did we suggest? Car flags! Car flags are completely temporary and don’t come into contact with the paint whatsoever! As it turns out there are further benefits to car flags for this specific use.

Imagine this scene; fifteen shining cars pull into your neighborhood, flying brightly colored flags like a presidential motorcade, pulling up to that house that just so recently went on the market. Out step twenty sharply-dressed Realtors with clipboards in hand, ready to inspect the residence. Now, what is your estimation of that house? Looks more important, doesn’t it? Even better, what would you think of the real estate company’s service? I’d certainly like to think I had 20 Realtors at the ready to move my house on the market. Suddenly the neighborhood is abuzz with talk of the house and the Realtors’ visit. Sounds like a dream, right? It’s entirely true! By our customer’s report, this happens once a week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We made it happen for them, and now offices around the country use the self-same car flags for their home tours, courtesy of Black Duck Embroidery and Screen Printing.

If you think your company could benefit from a little mobile advertising, come see us! We can create a complete promotional products solution to help your business be the talk of your neighborhood!

In times when we are forced to scrutinize every penny we spend for the immediate return it can bring, it is hard not to groan at the upcoming season of gift-giving, holiday parties, and the promotional push that precedes our customers’ busiest shopping months.  Some [...]]]>

Promotional items can have a huge impact on your customers.

In times when we are forced to scrutinize every penny we spend for the immediate return it can bring, it is hard not to groan at the upcoming season of gift-giving, holiday parties, and the promotional push that precedes our customers’ busiest shopping months.  Some business owners look at diminished profits, throw up their hands, and decide to slash promotions, cancel get-togethers, and leave their employees entirely without reward.

We are here to tell you that there is a better way.

First, remember what you’re cutting.  By not giving company gifts or recognition, you cut morale.  What is more important than morale among your employees, especially if you have had to let someone go?  By not giving promotional gifts to your best customers, you cut loyalty, mindspace, and recognition.  What can be more important than cementing relationships with your best customers in a time when they become the backbone of your economic survival?

These self-destructive cuts stem from a problem of perception.  You may feel that previous extravagance renders smaller gifts less palatable. You may think that your smaller budget makes it impossible to purchase a memorable and high-quality gift.  You may simply be unaware of your gift options, believing that gifts don’t make much impact on their receivers or aren’t really easy to make identifiable with your company.  In all of these cases, it is your perception that needs adjusting more than your budget.  Smaller gifts need not lack quality and compared with giving nothing, a small gift becomes much more attractive.  You can use this season to your advantage, no matter your budget.  Remember that even in corporate gift giving, it’s often the thought that counts.

To that end, here are 5 ways to give gifts make an impression no matter your budget.

1. Put your logo on everything - This almost goes without saying. If you do this for your employees, it gives them a sense of belonging and builds company identity and pride.  If you do this for your customers, it keeps your name current in their minds through the continued presence of the gift, especially if the gift is useful or novel.  This doesn’t have to be expensive: there are logoed promotional items that are within almost any budget.

2. Tiered Gift Giving – arrange your best customers according to some useful metric for your company.  You might arrange them by how much they spent with you for the year or how long they’ve been a customer.  Then, set up a hierarchy of how much you will spend on each level, this way your top customers can be afforded a more extravagant gift with the savings on the smaller gifts afforded the lower tiers.  If you are very restricted by your budget, make the bottom rung of this ladder a hand-written, logo-emblazoned thank you card.

3. Keep your gifts novel – Sometimes an inexpensive gift really makes an impression if it is fun, strange, or otherwise noteworthy.  We once did a promotion about “building up business” for which we created a logoed construction-helmet stress ball.  They were universally loved by the customers and, years later, those little helmets still grace many desks, silently keeping our logo and name in view.

4. When you give less, say more – The inclusion of a handwritten note that personally thanks a customer or employee by name and highlights their relationship to you will help any gift mean more.  This is especially true in these times when we pull our companies and their supporters closer together to weather the financial storm. Select a gift that helps to convey this message, and it will become a symbol of that relationship.

5. See an expert - I’m sure you were waiting for the promotion for Black Duck, and here it is.  We sell promotional items and make gifts for people all year round, and moreover, we’ve handled company parties and gifts for decades.  We can help.  Seeing someone who keeps themselves constantly aware of new items and methods of decoration means all you have to have is the desire and a budget in mind to end up with a great gift solution.

Whether you are looking to reward your employees or strengthen bonds with your customers, remember that even a small gift says a lot, especially in these tough times.  Give quality even when you can’t give quantity, and give from the heart.  You will find the reward is more than monetary.

If you are in or around the Albuquerque area, be sure to come to Black Duck’s open house on holiday gift giving this November 3rd from 12 – 6PM. We’ll have samples of all the best promotional products, snacks, door prizes, and the most knowledgeable staff to help you choose the best gifts for your budget.  Please call us at (505) 884-3656 to RSVP.