loveandhumphries

Slow down

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 12:30:50 GMT

Bespoke printing needs a little bit more TLC

We often have people call us up, frantic. Maybe another printer has let them down or they've just left the deadline too tight.

We can do these jobs. We can work in a hurry no problem.

However!

You must remember that bespoke printing takes a bit of time. To get your printed invitation or brochure just the way you want it there's a process.

To make things run a bit more smoothly (perhaps when your deadline is creeping closer more quickly than you'd like), here are some things we think will help.

Remember to use a CMYK workspace. If you aren't familiar with digital printing you should know that if you have work in RBG format these colours cannot be printed. RGB allows you to have wonderful, vibrant colours on a screen but when we print them CMYK the machine will create the closest thing it can - this might not look as you intended.

Think about the intended texture of the stock you would like when designing. We love textured stock and it can give your print character. it's important to remember how colours and text will appear on a bumpy surface. For example, if you use a strong background colour with a very fine typeface, your text might not end up legible.

We will never print something special for you without sending you a draft and getting it approved. This works for both of us! You know exactly what to expect and we know we're doing exactly what you want. If there are several ideas you want to see brought to life that is totally fine. Just remember this will add a day or two to the process!

Sizing is important. Create your file in the size that it is intended to be printed. If you design work at A5 then blow it up to A0 you're taking a risk! If you're savvy about print and have made a vector file it is totally scalable and you're good to go. It's jpegs and any raster file really that will end up one big blur!

This is an insight into our printing process, and how we ensure your outcomes are as wonderful as your ideas.

For our more technical guidelines, hit the button below.

Inspired by

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 16:20:38 GMT

Classic blue, Pantone 19-4052.

How better could we start the New Year than with it's very own colour?

The Gods have spoken, and the colour of 2020 is Classic Blue.

The Pantone Colour Institute said that they recognised the instability and volatile nature of the world just now, and wanted a colour offering some calm and reassurance.

So we've all been recommended to incorporate a bit more blue into our lives.

We really hope you're going to do this with print.

If you know about designing for print, you'll know that your printer might not be too happy about printing Pantone colours, and neither will your bank account. Each of these spot colours require their own plate on the press.

Save yourself some time and effort and work in CMYK, use a range of blues, the depth, tone and contrast you can achieve is unlimited.

It's strong and legible for print, and as Pantone seem to know; comforting too.

Prepping for print

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 14:56:35 GMT

Things to know for more efficient work.

Here's a quick overview of what your printer will be hoping to get from you, it will save you time - and money!

Our preferred format for receiving files is PDF . Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop are fine too, but the files must be packaged properly with the necessary fonts and images!

If we must, we can convert Microsoft Office files to PDFs, however as Microsoft Word etc aren't set up for commercial printing sometimes this kind of conversion can produce unexpected results! We'll always send you a proof to double check that everything is as it should be.

Please remember to supply your files at the size you require them to be printed i.e A4, A5, A6! We are capable of resizing if necessary, but if the proportions aren't similar to your original file, this can produce more unexpected results like bigger margins and warped images.

Please allow 3mm of bleed on all sides of your page! This means that any elements you want to go right to the edge of the page must extend 3mm beyond it. You're ensuring a professional finish by allowing for the tolerances of cutting and trimming.

Heard of a 'quiet border'? Well it's the same idea as bleed but within the page. Try to allow 5mm between any text, images or logos and the edge unless you intend for them to go off the side.

Images are a tricky one! It's best to make sure they are all at least 300dpi at their final size. For example, if your print will be twice the size of the original file you'll want to ensure the resolution is at 600dpi! Also, avoid using images downloaded from the internet as they're just unsuitable for printing.

Remember that your files should also be set to the CMYK colour space . RGB and Pantone colours may not print as expected. It's also important to remember that an uncalibrated monitor or desktop printer are likely to produce slightly different results to a professional printing press!

Finally, just to make our lives a wee bit easier, where possible supply just one file i.e one PDF with your 10 A4 pages. We can accept files from you via email, via the artwork upload on our shop or on a USB if it's better for you to pop in in person.

Hope this helps!

Foiling!

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 14:41:22 GMT

Learn about the process.

We can talk about the value of adding foil to your print 'til the cows come home, but knowing the process will help understand the possibilities, limitations and worth!

Have you heard of dies?

Foiling goes back as far the 5th century, however it doesn't need to be painstakingly done by hand anymore. Using machines has increased precision and speed, allowing a really fine layer of metal foil to be stamped into your design.

In order to do this, a die is required! A die is essentially the metal stamp etched with your design. It's then put onto a hot stamping press and using a whole lot of pressure, applies the foil to your product.

At Love & Humphries we use two different types of dies.

Brass is your top dollar die. It's ideal for multiple uses, it will last a really long time in perfect condition and can be etched with a high level of detail. However, because of this it costs more. This is something worst investing in if you plan on stamping your brand or logo over and over!

The other option is magnesium. This is what we would suggest for a one off print job. It's less expensive, and because of that the die wont hold up as well long term.

The invitations above were printed on Colorplan Fuchsia pink using a magnesium die to apply gold foil.

For any one off print jobs we do our best to reuse at least parts of the dies to reduce waste as much as we can!

Get in touch to see what we can do for you.

Inspired by

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 13:12:26 GMT

Looking local.

We thought it would be perfect for this months Inspired By to look back at what we thought was one of the most exciting events of the year.

On the 2nd November, @maraiddesign and @pavedwithgold curated a wonderful event bringing creatives together from far and wide to The Lighthouse, Glasgow.

The Glasgow Print fair saw over 40 stallholders sharing their passion for print with very excited visitors.

Emer Tumilty was offering two for one prints screen printed live, with one of each pair being donated to Refuweegee .

Jonny Mowat was illustrating all day long too!

Follow The Glasgow Print Fair on social media for a constant source of inspiration and keep your eyes peeled for the 2020 event!

A new skill.

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 15:05:20 GMT

Feel like putting your phone down?

Maybe you want to personalise your Christmas cards, learn a new skill or just do something therapeutic.

Calligraphy!

It's an art that's been appreciated for a very long time. Here are some tips to get you started.

Get yourself a workbook.

Remember those cursive practices in school? it's like that but more fun and you'll be better at it.

Use Instagram to your advantage.

Social media is full to the brim of artists sharing their work, use them for inspiration! You'll be getting tips from the best in the business.

Watch tutorials.

There are endless videos to help, and blogs to read! You can spend one evening de-stressing from the day by writing the tags for your Christmas presents, who knows it might be your new hobby.

Not only is this a way to practise some creativity, it can also save you money. Asking your printer to scan and copy your own hand-crafted work will cost you less than getting their designer to do it!

Happy writing!

A Better Christmas.

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 13:39:31 GMT

Sustainable doesn't equal scrooge.

We LOVE to consume.

We value being able to give gifts and make big meals for our families and turning our houses into winter wonderlands.

And there's nothing wrong with that!

We could just be doing it better.

Here are some tips.

One Big Gift.

Simple!

Forget all the extra bits and pieces you feel you need to buy to buff out a present, one thoughtful 'main' gift is just as appreciated.

Decorations

You really don't need lots of new stuff every year!

Make it a tradition that you go out and buy that one special new bauble from a cute local shop.

Better yet, make some!

Get the kids involved or some pals round for some mulled wine and give that pile of old magazines and newspapers you keep for no reason a new lease of life by making some paper chains or bunting.

Lights

Pick battery powered LEDs!

They are much more energy efficient, better for the planet and your pocket.

Plus you don't need to work miracles making them reach a plug socket...

Wrapping Paper.

Can you image the mountains of wrapping paper that get dumped every year?

Craft paper is totally recyclable.

Personalise it other ways, your efforts will be noticed!

Secret Santa

We aren't saying you and your friends shouldn't exchange gifts.

But do you really care for that £5 tat Jeff from accounting is going to be forced to buy you?

Click the image above and check out Ungifted for more fun, more meaningful ideas!

Inspired by

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 13:33:38 GMT

Neo Tarot by Jerico Mandybur

Whether it's something you're into or not, you can'y deny the beauty in this tarot set.

As if opening the beautifully illustrated book cover wasn't enough, when you get inside you discover it is actually a box. The cards themselves are tucked neatly into a designated compartment on the left, and your guide is slotted on the right.

All images from the Instagram of Jerico Mandybur.

So, you think you're clever?

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 15:26:13 GMT

You can design for digital with your eyes closed. You’ve been asked to design for print, same thing right? No! Here are some tips to give your printer a break.

1. Page numbers

www.flickrgraphics.com

This page numbering style is quirky, interesting, bold.

On screen.

But what about the binding?

Unless the publication is going to be bound so that it lies completely flat, your page numbers are going to be lost into the spine once it's opened.

Plan ahead.

2. UPPERCASE and lowercase

https://practicaltypography.com

Was that enjoyable to read?

Did you even make it to the end?

Me neither.

3. Typefaces

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/37576978116785086

Appreciating a good typeface is a big part of the job, it can set the entire tone for your final piece.

If the point is not to be haphazard and chaotic- don't overdo it.

4. Images

Be careful with your images.

Yes, that IS a very pixelated screenshot.

Know your file types!

5. Crops and bleed

The best way to give your printer crystal clear instructions. This lets them know exactly where it to be trimmed, and avoids any unwanted white borders.

www.supertuffmenus.com

6. Colour

https://www.pandaqi.com/Design/colour-theory-rgb-cmyk-pantone

Ever wondered why that neon green you chose printed so dull?

There are options here, but you need to speak to your printer- mixing inks is an expense!

Inspired by: Christmas Edition!

Wed, 30 Oct 2019 12:05:33 GMT

This year we've gone for a clean, simple foiled outline with embossed baubles.

We've gone and found some innovative designs to inspire you for this year! Just about every technique you can think of is in this list, get it sorted now and you'll have a stress free December...maybe.

Maligayang Pasko Christmas Cards by Yas Liamco on Behance

Arjowiggins Creative Papers Chrismas Card by Pop & Pac Studio on Behance

SEKIA - Greeting Cards by Annette Soehatmo on Behance

Christmas Cards by Lizzie Morgan on Behance

Greeting Cards by Tricota Agency on Behance

Christmas Cards 2018: Village by James Amend on Dribbble

Stay Toasty Cards by Alanna Munro on Dribbble

Christmas Secret Modern Graphic Set by Graphics Collection on Dribbble

Holidays cards '16 by Tiago Sá on Dribbble

Illustrated Christmas cards by Cristina González on Behance

If you've got something in mind, or just want to know your options- get in touch!

Paper!

Wed, 23 Oct 2019 12:49:20 GMT

The possibilities.

Your creativity doesn't need to stop when it comes down to choosing your paper.

Here are some ideas!

We haven't mentioned anything here that we don't have available to you. We LOVE bespoke projects. Fire us an email or pick up the phone and let's talk about it!

Inspired by

Wed, 16 Oct 2019 12:14:49 GMT

A24's first endeavour in publishing, boy are we glad.

All images sourced from A24

If you haven't heard of A24 , you have- you just don't realise it! A new York based independent entertainment company, responsible for the likes of Hereditary and Lady Bird , they've taken their three most celebrated titles and turned them into publications with Actual Source .

Each book is dedicated to the ins and outs of each film. We're inspired by them this week because of their beautiful structure. Heavy amounts of dialogue had to be broken into visually stimulating content on a static page, you get to see glimpses of early sketches and bits and pieces of production.

The highlight for us is the photographic section titled '24 frames', presenting 24 of each directors favourite snapshots of the finished piece.

You can purchase the books to see for yourself!

All images sourced from A24

What's cool.

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 12:03:03 GMT

Have you caught any of these printing trends in 2019?

As 2020 closes in, we thought we would take a look at Ricoh 's predictions for printing trends from the start of this year. We think they were pretty dead on, do you?

In the printing industry it's important to keep up with the next biggest thing (even if it has our printers tearing their hair out about spot colours...)

Here are 5 trends that Simon Isaacs of Ricoh's Insights saw coming.

Metallic inks

Metallic inks and foiling add that extra shine. We've not stopped recommending this all year at Love & Humphries.

Neon / Fluorescent inks

Bright colours were a huge trend this year, across print and especially fashion. You couldn't go to a music festival without being surrounded by a sea of neon tshirts!

White inks

It gives a really special effect. In particular with printing stickers we suggest a white ink underneath instead of transparency- it really helps a sticker stand out against wherever it ends up.

3D Effects

We love this effect, especially with book covers. This isn't requested very often, if you have some ideas let's chat.

Gamut extension / spot colour inks

Designers essentially have unlimited colours available to them, and it takes some extra magic for printers to be able to keep these colours as intended!

Trend credit and all images belong to Ricoh

One tree at a time

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:22:47 GMT

Are you doing your bit?

As a printing company it's easy to imagine we aren't at the forefront of helping give back to the environment. Print is an inherently wasteful industry, so it's important for us to do as much as we can.

Did you know that we use a waterless UV litho printing technique? Saving water is definitely a priority!

Then the obvious one; recycling. We recycle as much as we can. We are careful not to waste, use or create more than we need. We also encourage anyone we work with to think about how something can be made a bit more long lasting! For example; waterproof stickers. Our sister company SuperTuffMenus® was born to reduce the endless printing of fragile menus in the hospitality industry!

We ensure that all of our paper stocks are FSC approved. This means we know that our paper is coming from sustainable and well managed forests. In addition to this, we love experimenting with new stocks and recently ordered some exciting recycled and seeded papers from Frogmore Mill.

However, this is on our minds this week because we have taken a leaf out of our sister company's book and have partnered with B1G1 . This relationship means we can integrate giving back into our daily business routine. Our mission is to plant trees! We'd love feedback on how best you think we can integrate, how would you like to be involved?

We could plant a tree when you place an order?

We could plant another when you pick up your print?

Get in touch if you would like a say!

Inspired by

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:14:09 GMT

Inktober! It's that time of year!

It's time to get inspired!

If you haven't taken part in Inktober before, now is your chance to get your creative juices flowing and by the end of the month have a beautiful collection of work.

Every day in October, you take part by following a prompt and making a drawing in ink. This has become a bit of a social media phenomenon but if you wanted to keep it all to yourself that is totally fine. Make it your own!

Here are this years prompts to get those cogs turning...

Check out the official website for the rules here.

Super seeds.

marketing@SuperTuffMenus.com (Marketing .) — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 11:12:13 GMT

The remedy for paper waste.

We have new paper stocks in from the beautiful Frogmore PaperMill ! Seeing and feeling these textured papers made from grass, petals, seeds and even reindeer droppings got us thinking about the environmental benefits or this form of recycling. So we found someone who can tell you more about it than we can!

"The amount of paper filling up your local landfill is staggering and increasing every day. Wasted paper and paper products make up over a third of landfill waste these days. Individuals and companies are becoming more eco-friendly with paper use by sending emails instead of paper memos, recycling paper products regularly, printing on both sides of a sheet of paper and of course paying bills online rather than through the mail. However, human consumption of trees and paper products is still incredibly high. There’s obviously still a high demand and need for paper products. A remedy for this is to use seed paper. This is a biodegradable handmade type of paper that is not only made from recycled paper, but is embedded with plant and flower seeds. The purpose of this astounding paper is not only to recycle, but to have a safe alternative when discarding your used paper. This type of paper isn’t for the trash can, but it can be planted in a flower pot or in your garden for growing. This miraculous green paper can add beauty and charm to your home or even your office flower pots. "

Custom Earth Promos , August 2013.

If you'd like to see how you can use any of our dreamy new seeded papers in your next project get in touch and we'll have a chat about it!

Power of packaging.

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 12:04:55 GMT

Whether you're creating a brand or just gifting something super special, it's all in the details.

For some #mondaymotivation we're sharing our favourite branding and packaging blogs with you. We hope this inspires you to design something amazing!

(We'll be here to help you print it once you have...)

World Brand Design Society

"The World Brand Design Society (WBDS) is an internationally focused community,founded in 2008 with the mission of highlighting exceptional consumer (packaging) and corporate brand design while bringing knowledge and a community closer together. Our aims at the WBDS is to promote the practices of the industry and actively support design students, professionals and agencies by encouraging further dialogue, celebrating their creativity and bringing people to the forefront and presenting their work on a global stage."

` See More!

Best of Packaging

Curated by Mat Buckets , this instagram focusses heavily on food and drink packaging, look forward to incredible illustrations and innovative design.

See more!

We Love Branding

"Branding Inspiration

Our goal is to get you inspired.

Daily branding & identity inspiration."

They even let you submit your work!

See more!

Packaging Design Inspo

They do what it says on the tin really. Packaging inspiration from all across the spectrum of products.

See more!

Studio A/C

"Showcasing the best in #packaging, #brandidentity and #print design."

Curated by Cristie Stevens .

See More!

Now that your creative juices are flowing, check out our instagram to see how we can bring your ideas to life.

Love & Humphries

Inspired by

marketing@SuperTuffMenus.com (Marketing .) — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 10:22:27 GMT

The Monograph of Polish Dance Theatre

This week we have taken some major inspiration from graphic designer Ryszard Bienert. Bienert runs 3group graphic studio in Poznań, Poland and has been brought to our attention through the dazzling Monograph of Polish Dance Theatre 1973-2018.

This photographic book documents the history and evolution of the art and uses style and character in the book itself to reflect the emotion in the photographs. Printed with offset printing, the book has six additional Pantone colours including fluorescents and metallics. It features a hardback cover which is made from canvas as well as two types of PVC fake leather which was then embellished with a hot stamping technique in gold and silver foil.

Overall the book features 20 different types of paper and is a culmination of the efforts of a great designer, great photographers and great authors to create an elegant and playful publication.

This is the kind of work that gets us excited here as Love & Humphries, if you dream of mixing stocks and creating something really special, get in touch.

Photographs: Images © Andrzej Grabowski Article credit: designandpaper.com

In a bind.

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 12:45:09 GMT

It’s easy to feel that once you have all the content finalised for your publication you’re off the hook, but there is one last decision that can really change the quality of your finished product. How you choose to bind can greatly affect your production costs, durability and the overall character of your publication. Let’s break down the main contenders.

Saddle Stitched Binding

This is probably the most economical choice of binding. Wire is pierced through the outer spine of the book and is bent inside the centre pages to grip the rest down. Although not quite the same this will achieve a similar finished look to staple binding ; which works best for leaflets or brochures of relatively few pages.

Perfect Binding

This is most commonly seen in books or publications that have a higher volume of pages. The pages are grouped, with the edges being roughened up to create a better texture to fix the groups to a cardboard spine with glue. This cover will then be scored in two places so opening and closing is nice and easy. Perfect binding can be done pretty quickly and reasonably inexpensively.

Coil Binding

Coil binding can be super speedy, and allows the publication to lie good and flat. This is practical for diaries or calendars or sketchbooks; things that will be written or drawn in. It’s important to take into consideration the aesthetics of coil binding, it’s not exactly subtle. However, choosing the right colour can help reinforce brand colours or make your cover page pop. Wire is the most popular material used for coil binding, however at L & H we would recommend plastic. It won’t get misshapen or squashed in someone’s bag and there is a better choice of colour. Don’t worry- they’re recyclable too.

Sewn Binding

This type of binding is the dream really, it’s high quality and feels very professional. Sewn binding starts similarly to perfect in that pages are grouped together. Before they are glued to the cover they are sewn through the centre. Choosing sewn over perfect binding ensures that your publication will be more hardy and have a longer lifespan! This method is typically used for fine books, comics and artsy books.

We hope this helps you get your ahead around things. We are always more than happy to help so give us a buzz if you want to see what we can offer or just need some good advice.

Falling for Foil.

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 12:17:15 GMT

In this climate of emails, newsletters, social media and just about anything digital it can be hard to be spotted amongst the crowd. Your demand for attention need not come down to gifs or any other song and dance, print is back in the spotlight. Printed materials of high quality; something that is tangible, can bring joy through colour and texture and they are more valuable than ever.

At Love & Humphries we like to specialise in the bespoke. A surefire method of adding personality and value to your design is through foiling. Not only does foiling give your finished product an element of luxury; it’s memorable. There’s a habitual glimmer of the eye when we run our hands over something with varying textures, and we can’t help but feel that spark of joy when the light catches it and we play with the reflections.

Beautiful gold foiled business cards for Braeburn Whisky.

This elevation to your product can add worth to your business card, it can provide that special-event sparkle to your wedding invitations or it can bring entertainment for the wee ones getting their hands on that illustrated book.

Love & Humphries use only the finest materials from Foilco, and can help to completely customise your design. If you would like the opportunity to see what we’re talking about, our friends at Foilco are hosting workshops at the Graphic Design Festival Scotland this year and we would very much encourage you to go along and get creative! Hit the button below for more information.

Feedback welcomed!

marketing@SuperTuffMenus.com (Marketing .) — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 10:36:56 GMT

Thanks to all that fill out our surveys, we're always keen to hear feedback.

Recent kind words from J.McKay arrived in our inbox this morning and left us beaming from ear to ear. It is always a delight to hear of a happy customer! Whether you want to share your experience, or perhaps have some helpful pointers that you think could improve our service - we'd love to hear it. Our team is small but our capabilities are big, so there is still a very personal touch with our work and it's important to us that we get it right every time.

Thank you again for all those choosing Love & Humphries!

The Restaurant Show shall feature SuperTuffMenus®

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 13:53:36 GMT

We're delighted to announce we'll have a stand at The Restaurant show (30th September until 2nd October 2019) in London at Olympia.

Already looking to 2020, we've got another exhibition booked in to our diaries already.
Want to meet the inventor of the SuperTuffMenus® material and learn more about it? Join us at The Restaurant Show (2019) and we'll be discussing how our SuperTuffMenus® can save £££ by making menus reusable, durable, waterproof - they really do last the test of time.

We're also going to be at Pub20 (4th-5th February) also at Olympia and HRC - Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (3rd - 5th March 2020) at ExCel.

Three London trade shows to find us at, don't be a stranger!

Don't come a-knockin' - Door hangers work wonders.

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 13:53:18 GMT

The classic use for a door hanger is to ask hotel staff to kindly not interrupt you, or to flip them over (the door hangers not the staff) and ask for your room to be cleaned. Have you ever thought about what other uses they could have for your business? We have...

When you open a door, do you look at the handle before you grab it? Have you ever thought about it?
After giving it a try and (probably) realising that it makes sense to look before you grab, let's consider the benefit; You have a captive audience on every door handle. Use your opportunity by using door handles and promoting a message that may work well with the location and timing. Here are some examples...

1. Food for thought.

A well timed advert for a pizzeria can get you hankering for cheesy goodness for the rest of the day. Instead of putting a flyer through the door, and it blending in with all the other usual advertising, hand it on the customers door handle! Or perhaps if it's in an office, you could have it on a cupboard handle in the kitchen area.

2. Reminding instructions.

Hey! Did you wash your hands?
A little note in your staff areas could remind workers the importance of basic sanitary practises - throw in some shocking statistics to deter them ignoring it and keep your high standards maintained.

Maybe you need to remind folk to be more eco-conscious, reminding them to turn off lights or unused electronics. Catching them on the way out the door is a great time to do it!

3. Warnings.

Perhaps your video conference a lot, or maybe you need silence in a room for productivity / exam like conditions. A simple door hanger asking people not to disturb, or be conscious of sound levels can help avoid unnecessary interruptions.

4. And finally...

When your customer leaves, there may be a particular topic or issue you want to bring to the front of their mind. Your exit can be equipped with a door hanger to ensure it's the last thing they see. Maybe you want to promote a charitable cause not otherwise visible throughout your business, or thank them for visiting - either way it's a great opportunity to make one final communication.

Further thoughts

This quick, cheerful summary is by no means a comprehensive or exhaustive list of ideas. We know that any creative could spend 20 minutes and find some pretty fun ideas for door hangers, and encourage you to consider the various advertising, informative and innovative usages this printed hanger could have.

We're able to print various shapes and sizes, and would love to discuss any print jobs/ideas you may have!

We're hiring - so let's discuss CVs

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:36:56 GMT

We're on the look out for a Marketing Executive to join our team part time. We've opened the floodgates and CVs are flowing in. So what makes a good CV?

Here for the job? Read this paragraph.

Find our full job description, and apply, via Indeed here: https://www.indeedjobs.com/love--humphries/jobs/5d711f8ac3644aa8f22d

Here's what we're looking for, is this you?

We're looking for a talented marketing executive with a flare for digital and social communications. Being organised will be key to your success as our small team will bounce ideas regularly and we look for your ability to take 'mind dumps' of ideas and turn them into quality content.

We'd like a presence of relevant content on our social media platforms (primarily Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn), whilst keeping our blogs up to date with engaging content.

Newsletters via Mailchimp and also a quarterly printed version will be handled by the Marketing Executive and having the confidence to suggest new ways to improve our presence is always welcomed/encouraged.

Our websites are easy to edit with an intuitive CMS available, and Shopify experience also advantageous for our poster printing store.

Aside from the above, as a marketing enthusiast you can expect to utilise all your planning, analyse, brainstorming, communication and general core marketing skills.

Here for the discussion? Let's crack on...

Your dream job pops up, and you're confident you've got the skills and attitude to succeed in the role. Unfortunately getting a job isn't like buying a new outfit, and if it was, you'd be the outfit not the buyer. So how do you, the personified everyday functional outfit, get lifted off the shelve and taken home (to the office)?

Before even touching your CV/Resume ( or résumé to be properly fancy ), there are steps well worth taken to help you succeed.

1. Read the job advert. All of it.

Skimming by and getting the gist simply isn't the best tactic. Many job descriptions have 'hidden' requirements or questions within the body of the advert, or often at the end. In our Marketing Executive advert (linked above) we asked applicants to let us know why the part-time role appeals to them because we understand it's the ideal flexibility for some but others would see it as a stepping stone towards a full time similar position. Unsurprisingly, the majority of candidates simply haven't answered their question in their cover letter - if indeed giving us a cover letter at all! Don't fall down at the first hurdle, read the advert before you start your application. Give yourself the maximum opportunity to meet the advertised role.

2. Take notes.

Note-taking is generally a good practise to get in to.
As you read through the advert (see advice point 1...), take notes of things you need to address or stuff you might want to highlight.
Everyone's different, so we're just going to imagine a scenario and how someone would tackle it with useful notes.

Advert : Meticulous individual required.
Note: Run a spell check through application, then proof read, then pass over to a highly educated individual to give a second proof.
Note 2: Give a proven example of this skill from a previous role, e.g. working as an editor for an online news company and the editors course you completed to aid it - with attention to detail at the heart of the work.

Advert: We're looking for someone as passionate about the environment as we are.
Note: Be sure to mention the CSR functions of my last position and my active engagement in various eco-rallies in recent years.

3. Research the company.

Many will wait until they hopefully get an interview to do their homework - but the research phase can strengthen your application. The better you understand the company, the easier it'll be to tailor your application effectively and grab their attention.
Check out their website, their social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and beyond) and any news stories based on them to gain a rounded view on the company.

Top tip: On LinkedIn you may be able to find employees either in the same role, or having previously held the role you're applying for. Why is this helpful? You can see what qualifications and experience they had and perhaps learn something about what the company looks for in applicants. This is a useful practise in general, to help plan your route to your dream job.

OK, CV time. Let's do this.

We could spend much longer thinking of prep tips, but let's be fair to the article title - it's all about the CVs today. So, let's start looking at the actual design and content of your lovely resume.

1. Size matters. Pick your pages wisely.

Sending someone a 6 page CV is unlikely to grip their attention, but rather put them off reading it. Perhaps imagine your CV is you standing up in a circle of applicants to give a 2 minute introduction to you and why you're so great. 2 minutes is fine, it should be enough time to sell yourself without waffling on but also it's short enough that you'll have to carefully select what to mention - you want the best content shared.

Generally, 2 page CVs are recommended. These are ideal if you have a fair amount of experience and education, it gives you the space to properly explain your relevance and excellence without missing anything out or droning on.

1 page CVs are brilliant if you're good at being concise. These can be very digestible and visually appealing. Again, let's imagine a coworker saying 'Sorry mate, can you spare 30 seconds to check this for me?' compared with 'Hey mate, got 10 minutes?', the former is almost impossible to ignore, the latter might seem a chore. Your interview is where you'll be going into proper depth and making lasting impressions - think of the CV as a punchy appetiser to get the mouth-watering at your skill set.

Top tip: Don't base your content around a template, base the template around the content!
This works both ways, if you find it difficult to condense all your experience into a one page style, then you should be looking at a 2 page design. Don't take away quality content for the sake of a pretty design. Similarly, padding out a page of content with fluff doesn't do you any favour.
In summary, write out all the content you are confident you want to include in your CV before you consider design. Having all the information ready to copy paste into the right format is better than designing something not suitable for purpose!

B. Consistency is key.

Notice that we've switched from numbering our points (1. 2. 3.) to letting (A. B. C.)?
This is just us being painfully hilarious. Don't do this.
Keep it consistent, otherwise your work looks sloppy and your attention to detail appears poor.

There are a number of things to check, here are just a few to be aware of:

Are your fonts the same?
Don't introduce a random font without reason. Follow a sensible, consistent pattern.
Are font sizes the same?
Using 12pt body text for one section but 10pt text elsewhere might help you squeeze more information in, but it makes the design untidy and the overall feel unprofessional. If you're adjusting body text, follow the format for the full documents. All header sizes should be the same, all body the same, all subheaders the same - etc.
Are your bullet points consistent?
If you use rounded bullet points in one place, do it elsewhere. Much like fonts, it'll look untidy if you use arrow heads somewhere but rounded dots elsewhere.
Allignment?
Using programs like Microsoft Word enables you to quickly centre titles/text, or perhaps change the spacing - but be careful! One example we'd mention is a recent application that let a bullet point slip into the title, causing the text to appear off-centre. Proofing is important, not just for spelling but for style.
Displaying sections - Are they uniform?
Commonly we'll see someone list a bunch of jobs they've done, but for whatever reason they mix up the format as they do so. Keep it clear and consistent and follow your own rule!

Here's an example of a bad display:
McTakeaways - Marketing Coordinator
April 2018 - May 2019
Description of job...

Takeaway King
Marketing advisor
2015- 2016
Description of job...

Takeaway Hut
2003 - 2009
Description of job...

If the job title is in bold, it needs to be in bold for them all. If the job title gets it's own line, give it it's own line each time. It just looks tidier and shows consistency and care in your work.

3. Colours and Themes

As a good rule of thumb, less is more for CVs.
Too many fonts or too many colours can make a CV look busy and uncomfortable.
Pick a font for headings, and a font for body (or use the same for both). If you really want to highlight something a third font could be useful but only use it if necessary.

Following a colour scheme can be a good idea and there are many blogs on colours that work well together - and also what the colours represent. For example, green is a good colour to promote the idea of eco-friendly and would be ideal for headers/impact in a CV geared towards showing you're an individual that cares for the environment.

Top tip: Find out what colour scheme the company your applying for uses, theme your CV to their colours to subliminally make you feel an instant comfortable fit.

4. Use a template unless you're a designer.

We appreciate it's exciting to create your own design, and we're confident that a lot of non-designers can make something brilliant.
However, this is just recommending caution - there are lots of common mistakes to worry about when putting something together. With thousands of free high quality templates available online, save yourself some time by picking something out and tweaking it.

Professional designers study fonts, spacing, sizing, arrangement, highlights, etc etc. Trust in them.

Throughout this, we keep getting reminded of 'Menu Engineering', a study we look at often for our SuperTuffMenus® brand. In a nutshell, it's a way of tweaking a menu to increase profits and although a CV is clearly different we can definitely draw a lot of useful tips from it. However, that's for another day, we'll update this article with a link to 'How to use Menu Engineering principles on your CV' when we write it...

Top tip: Remember the most important part of the template isn't the aesthetics! You need to ensure your content fits with the template, don't pick the prettiest design if it won't fit in all your information or will have too much blank space at your lack of lengthy/relevant content. We've seen cool templates with a map of the world used to display the languages people can speak, that's great and fun... but if you only speak English and basic French then don't bother with a chunky map to show how non-linguistic you are.

Now... it's Friday and clocking off time... but after a glorious weekend we expect many more applications and likely an extension of this article with more CV tips!

Happy applying!

Print presents for the football fanatic

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 11:08:21 GMT

Sport is a hobby, a passion, a commitment - and the fans often are so committed to it that it becomes their biggest addiction. Perhaps you want to cause some joy with a special gift, we've figured out some fun ones to consider...

Short of buying a ticket to the match, the teams newest shirt or whatever branded memorabilia exists in the club store - we're huge advocates of the personal touch. We believe that some of the best gifts are unique to the recipient and luckily as printers that puts us in a great position to create many wonderful things.

The eternal moment

Maybe there's an iconic game that they attended, or simply from the club's history. Perhaps there is that one photograph that really captures the ambition, the excitement and the passion of the club. It's simple enough, get that iconic moment turned into a large poster.

It could be the team holding up the trophy, or a snapshot of the moment the ball left the strikers foot and headed goal-wards to win the game.

We'd recommend Glasgow Poster Printing for this service.

The player card

Watching the game, playing the game... there's another huge aspect. Fifa. The popular computer game is a phenomenon, allowing players to build a team through player cards and compete online. The superstars have special cards and here presents two great opportunities.

1. Find their favourite player (present or past) and print out a large foamex card of it as a gift. Foamex is a lightweight, fairly thick card, often used for props and placards.

2. Customise a card to create a personalised player card for your recipient.
We quickly grabbed a card example and showed that you could quite easily add the head of whomever to it. We hid the original nationality (Spanish, can you guess who it is yet?) and added a space to insert the player name. You could even go on to editing the stats to reflect their style of play. Maybe they're a big defensive dribbler... that almost sounds like an insult.

The custom shirt

Printing a name on the back of a shirt is a nice touch. You can make the recipient feel part of their team, or put their favourite superstar on their shirt for them. Today we're suggesting to up the ante. You could get creative, and fabricate your own custom football team based on them and their interests/life. You'd be able to pick the colours, design the crest and even pick a suitable sponsor.

Let's demonstrate this idea with a fictitious example.

Say we have this person to buy for,
Name: S Holmes
Hometown: York
Occupation: Lawyer (I know, you're shocked it's not a detective...)
Favourite Colour: Orange
Favourite Treat: Yorkshire Tea

We've all the information there to start a creative print project.
We know we'll place 'Holmes' on the back of the top, and we've decided to put the Yorkshire Tea logo on the shirt as the sponsor*.
*Always seek permission when using the work of others, if it's for personal usage you should be fine, but it's always right to ask.
Now when picking the name of the team, we could base it off the real team of York City, but in this case we'll be more creative and base it primarily on the individual. Maybe they're working as a Lawyer for the York Centre for Human Rights (YCHR) - so we'd use create a crest for this.
What colour is the shirt to be? Obviously orange or dark green! (Bonus points for both if it doesn't look ghastly!)

If you already own the shirt, the printer can add your logos - if not, they may sell or source such materials. Some places specialise in sportswear.

The photo-shopped masterpiece

With a little bit of technical prowess, you can transform an image of footballing heroes with the face of your intended recipient. Getting this printed high quality (or extra large!) and framed could be a humorously fun gift. Of course, it doesn't need to be printed simply as a photo, you could put it on a greetings card, a pillow case, a mug, whatever you fancy!

Below is an example where this lad's dissertation photo was used to transform him in to an England international player.
...Although he is Irish, and perhaps it'd be less appreciated as a gift and more as a troll...

Hopefully now your creative juices are flowing.
There are so many more things you could create, so many more ideas to explore.

It's also super easy to customise items with a football club crest - have a look at the wide range of products available via the Glasgow PDC online store (ships worldwide!) to see if anything may appeal!

Clever little places to showcase your brand

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 11:51:21 GMT

Getting your brand in front of a potential customer is the aim, doing it subtly is the game. Consumers are switching off to aggressive sales tactics but marketing can find new avenues to keep you on their mind. We've been musing some clever little ideas...

Into the office - practical gifts/items.

Giving someone a flyer or a business card might work wonders. Sometimes people switch off to sales. Rather than cold calling, maybe you can influence people to call you. The art of staying relevant, and remembered, could give you that edge over your competitors. For the purpose of this blog, we'll imagine we run some trendy little pizza delivery company. The first problem is that there are already some well established giants in the pizza delivery market, so we're brainstorming how we can get our fictitious brand out there.

The first tactic we'll discuss, is getting into the office.
Take a typical worker, 9am - 5pm at their desk behind a computer. Sure, you could try and reach them digitally via adverts - but as they're in work they likely aren't looking to deviate from their tasks to read about pizzas. If you're at your desk now, look around - if you're not, picture an office environment and the usual desk set ups. Where could our pizza brand make impact? We're not going to unveil a big poster banner on their wall (as they'd likely not let us) but here are some ways we'd get in front of the potential customers.

Notepads and pens.
A friendly gift of useful stationary.
Pens are very affordable in mass quantities, and always appreciated. A notepad gives you even more 'advertising real estate' due to bigger size available. The thought process here is that firstly the potential customer feels appreciation for your brand as you've given them a freebie of something genuinely useful to them and secondly, your brand will now be present on their desk for an extended period of time. Whilst picking up their branded pen might not inspire immediate hunger, they're subconsciously being reminded of your brand every day so that *hopefully* when they think 'Hey let's get a pizza!' they'll be reminded of your brand.

Added tip: sneak in a small piece of advertising to the footer of the notepad. Maybe a discount as a further 'gift'. "10% off your order when delivered to your office, we'll get you through the day!"

Mugs and coasters.

Another useful item (or two). We're not even entirely sure how, but a large Sports Direct mug often finds its way into the cupboards of the many, perhaps the extra large size makes it useful and earns it a place amongst the more aesthetic vessel choices. What a treat for Sports Direct to have their brand seen every day by so many - this could be your brand too.

The coaster is an extra thought, we have a special waterproof, durable material known as SuperTuffMenus® that has often been used for coasters too due to it being washable (no stains, no tears, no sogging). Our coaster flyers both advertise, and are usable! Continuing with the Pizzeria, imagine a tiny pizza design printed on the circular coaster, with the phone number and details on the back. Having a photo of a tasty pizza on the clients desk will inspire them and perhaps motivate hunger every time they lift their cup - and if it's your product making them salivate, you're on to a winner!

Mousemats.

Not too dissimilar from the thought process on coasters, mouse mats have an important use in offices with computers - you could capitalise on this by providing a bunch of quirky mouse mats. We'd advise not to go too heavy on the advertising side here, as the goal isn't to push a certain deal or sale, it's to put your branding on their desk and keep it there. Put a stylish design together that you think won't go out of favour too easily, or perhaps even keep it very simple, having your logo small but readable will keep you remembered!

Out and about. Guerrilla campaign.

We could recommend a whole host of other ideas for office stationary and supplies, but let's move on. The following idea is something we've seen fairly regularly and therefore want to discuss why it works, however please note that we can't encourage anything seen as littering, flyposting or vandalism, so proceed with caution!

Stickering. (Stickers)

Stickers are great, you can quickly place them anywhere. You can simply give them away and see where they end up. Maybe you have a quirky idea of how to encourage their usage - or maybe they're just pretty.
What we'll focus on here is the clever places we've seen companies place their stickers, and why that works for effective branding.

Traffic light buttons
You're about to cross the road, you're a good citizen and go to press the pedestrian crossing button and you look down and see a stick placed above it. An unexpected place for a pizza advertisement, but it's got your attention - a place where thousands of people will be directing their attention for a moment in time each day. Again, the traffic light isn't your property so you'd really need some sort of local council permission but we have seen many brands doing this in the past. Cheeky!

ATM machines.
Again, it's an area where you have someones undivided attention. They'll be standing there for at least 30 seconds, likely more, and a cheeky sticker (not obscuring the screen) might grab their attention. As above, although we've spotted this a few times, we've always wondered if the banks or council have ever slapped a brand with a fine for doing it!

Elevators.
Now we're indoors, so this is an easier one to get permission for from the premise owner. People are stuck in a metal box for a period of time, and if there isn't even a mirror in there then they'll have nothing to focus on. Give them something to read, give them something to see! Your brand has the opportunity to grab attention in an uncontested area for advertising.

So where do we come in?

We're not here to run your marketing, although we love to help develop your ideas and inspire some great results. At Love & Humphries, we're able to actualise your printing needs with care and flare. Get in touch to discuss your next print job and we'll give our expertise on all the clever printing options you can make use of!

Nordstrom & J.Jill admit a printing blunder that cost them millions.

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 14:58:25 GMT

Embrace print, embrace profits and engagement. The digital era does not eradicate traditional direct mail marketing, be sure to use all the effective tools available to succeed.

It's oh-so-tempting to whack your advertising budget on a Facebook, Instagram or Google advert. Whilst sat on the train, a quick glance around shows the majority of the carriage burying their nose into their phone as the new habitual pastime. It makes sense that more and more marketing focus is aimed at mobile, and indeed, digital platforms.

We'd muse that your marketing efforts need to be more like a balanced set of scales. Indeed digital efforts offer up high reach from the ease of your chair, with low to nil labour costs, but is it wise to cut your print?

Nordstrom & J.Jill recently moved their loyalty program off direct mail and set it all up online.
According to Nordstrom: "We elimated paper notes, but later discovered that a segment of our customer base relies on receiving these notes by mail. As a result, we saw a reduction in traffic."

Can we put a value on that reduction caused by no print?

$3'440'000'000 lost. Yep. $3.4 BILLION

The eye-watering loss by Nordstrom was mirrored, albeit to a lesser extent, by J.Jill. Shifting their budget away from direct mail caused a decrease of roughly $5'000'000. It's odd that $5 million doesn't sound so much at the moment... we're still recovering from the Nordstrom figure!

J.Jill President and CEO Linda Heasley: “We plan some shift from direct mail to alternative media options primarily digital. In hindsight we moved too much too soon. We made adjustments quickly when we saw the results and we were able to add back some direct mail touch point[s] along some changes in digital to better support our promotional activities. That restored traffic to planned levels albeit belatedly.”

What can be learned?

Quite simply, traditional marketing methods are so tried and tested that it would be foolish to abandon them.
By all means, expand and embrace the new. Nurture the digital, conquer the mobile but be very careful to test the water before making drastic marketing changes!

It has been found that millennial consumers consistently rank among the highest to engage with direct mail, as well as it being a preferred touching point for older age-groups. Holding an item in your hand allows a moment of pure attention, there's no swiping away or diverting your attention. Even if your mailed communications end up in the bin, there's still the journey from the doormat to the bin. Any chance at direct, undivided attention is golden. Make use of it. Be clever with it.

Much of the battle will still be about producing quality content, whether that's online or off - we've seen some brilliant examples of clever printing and design that steal the show. Inspired by wonderful campaigns, we got quirky and ran a SuperTuffMenus® press release to nearby businesses. We sent out our press release on our waterproof, durable material (to show off how sturdy and reusable it is!) and attached some free ketchup sachets. Any documents with a ketchup sachet is bound to raise an eyebrow, and whilst we hope people enjoyed it with their lunch, the point was to test our claim - mess up our press release, smear sauce all over it, and then see how easily cleaned it is. Back to perfection, good as new.

We had lots of little videos, pictures, testimonials and blogs already existing on SuperTuffMenus® but seeing is believing. Giving the customer a chance to experience the brand, understand the product, test it, be sold by it. Invaluable.

Got a print job to discuss?
Get in touch with us and we'll be glad to contribute ideas and logistics to ensure your requirements are brought to life!

Upgrade your menus by printing with SuperTuffMenus® - waterproof, durable, premium menus!

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 14:44:04 GMT

It's new, it's innovative, and it's exclusive! Love and Humphries can offer you the hottest new menu trend to save money through long-term durability and quality. Get tuff, get SuperTuff.

Made in Scotland on the bonnie banks of the river Clyde, just west of Glasgow.

Philip, previously a waiter, that found himself running a printing business, could never quite let go of his hospitality roots He came up with this new menu style after being on receiving end of menus that got tatty quickly and on being on the receiving end of restaurateurs frustration of tatty expensive menus.

Our first SuperTuffMenus® were sold in December 2015...40 copies of the Yes Bar ‘s large square LP sized menu when they didn't come back to replace any until a year later, we knew we were on to something!

What are Super Tuff Menus?

High quality menus that are so durable you can wash them every day in hot, soapy water and they will look great for months, even a year!

Once you touch them, you’ll understand!

SuperTuffMenus® don't fray or peel like their laminated counterparts and are completely waterproof. You can wipe them, wash them and even pop them through your glasswasher ensuring that each customer is given a clean, fresh menu, every day.

The special matt effect coating makes them feel luxurious and will show your brand at its best every day of the year!

Your menu is the only piece of marketing that goes through the hands of every customer. It’s got to look good!

Don't give your customers tatty, ripped and stained menus. Our menus don’t fray or absorb moisture, they don't rip and they can be wiped and washed clean every day!

More than just Menus

Whilst this innovation is focused on Menus - we've already found some alternative uses for our material.

Coasters, mousemats, stickers, business cards and beyond - we're always excited by clever ideas and projects.

Learn more via SuperTuffMenus.com

White ink - when to use and why

Thu, 30 May 2019 13:21:13 GMT

We love white ink, it keeps colours vibrant and opens up lots of smart little printing opportunities.

Let's start with an example of useful white ink usage.

The entire surface area of this sticker is given a layer of white ink, with coloured ink then layered on top to form the design.
The reason for this, is to ensure that the colours are bold, bright and as intended - no matter what surface the sticker is stuck to*.

*On this occasion this sticker is designed to be placed on windows, so the potential for strong light shining on the sticker could have made it mildly transparent if not for the white ink.

Lovely eh?
But let's go a bit further into depth about why the White Ink was so important here:

Peely wally designs don't cut the mustard

peely-wally

/ˌpiːlɪˈwali,ˈpiːlɪwɒli/

adjective

SCOTTISH

pale and sickly in appearance.

"his face assumes a peely-wally hue"

Great designs can meet unexpected pitfalls when it comes to the printing process. Whilst the lovely yellow and blue tones may look great on the computer screen, printing them on to a non-white surface often led to the colours looking washed away, or as us Scots say peely-wally . You don't want an unexpectedly translucent finished product, so thankfully White Ink can save the day. After all, you wouldn't want your design to come out poorly because of printing technology setbacks, and we wouldn't want to take on a job that we didn't think we could do efficiently and to the highest standard.

How does White Ink conquer printing challenges?

The most common usage for white ink, is to act as a base coat - much like painting a wall white before adding your new colour.
Printing a blue on to cardboard goes from a poor, dull result, to being as vibrant as intended once the white ink base coat is layered underneath.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key) is the most popular way to print nowadays, and this is intended to be used on a white surface. Colour on white - perfect, bright, bold, lovely.
However, possibilities and ambitions have grown. We get all sorts of exciting and clever print jobs passed our way, when white surfaces are left behind and the all important white ink needs to step in to ensure perfect colouring.

We always bang on about consistency, especially when it comes to branding. It's important that the colours used to represent a brand stay consistent, so white ink becomes crucial to ensure that no logos/themes become washed out.

Further thoughts on White Ink usages

A backing layer makes sense, right?
But White Ink can be more useful than a simple layer. Instead of providing a full layer to the design (like in the sticker example at the beginning of this post), we could instead only put white ink behind certain elements of the design such as text. This would make certain aspects of the design 'pop' and really jump out at the viewer.

Also, sometimes white ink is just used as expected. White ink prints a lovely white on non-white surfaces.
It's also a nice technique to print a white layer around a surface with certain parts left clear, to form the design in negative space.

Love (The Earth) and Print! No VOC's with us!

Thu, 30 May 2019 11:10:30 GMT

Climate change debates are hot topics worldwide, the fear of damaging our environment beyond repair looms on many a mind. Many technologies were built practically but simply had no foresight into the damage they'd contribute long-term, and the Print Industry has concerns to address.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature.

Traditionally, printers will use 'Offset Powder in conventional litho offset printing. The VOCs in the ink evaporate and leave behind a colour and takes a mild amount of time to do so. There is a danger that the ink could bleed through each sheet of paper so it is common practise to use offset powder to spray a fine layer of air between the paper for protection.

Whilst it is a process that seems to work, it is layered with problematic issues.

The powder itself, gets everywhere . A print shop often gets covered with it, all over the machines, the floors and being breathed in by any on-site personnel.

Have we got a solution? Yes! UV Curing Inks!

We switched to the greener option years ago. UV curing inks don't have any harmful VOCs and don't dry by the conventional oxidation processes. Removing those harmful solvents from our print shop is undoubtedly better for everyone and it even has positive business benefits too.

Whilst most printers are still using the offset powders, dirtying water in the process - we're using UV light to cook/dry our inks and we're able to use a water-less press. This process works much, much faster meaning that ink is instantly dried when coming off the press - thus removing the waiting/drying stage and need for offset powder.

How far have we come?

"According to EPA's National Emissions Inventories (NEI), the domestic printing industry ranks fifth in volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) emissions among major industries. To put this ranking in perspective, consider that the automobile industry ranks sixth, behind printing."
- Printing Inks and the Environment, J. Miller, 2008

The white paper published by J.Miller in 2008 had many worrying statistics regarding the print industry and hopefully opened the eyes of many, to viable solutions. UV printing is considered a green technology, safe for the environment and leaving an almost zero carbon footprint .

Stationary or Stationery?

Wed, 29 May 2019 15:37:11 GMT

Why are the spellings so similar, when is it the 'e' or the 'a'. We love to progress stationery jobs with great expertise, and thought it'd be worth knowing the difference in the spelling... (and why!)

First things first: Stationary.

When spelt with an 'a', Station a ry means to be still. This comes from the latin word meaning: motionless.

late 14c., "having no apparent motion" (in reference to planets), from Middle French stationnaire "motionless" and directly from Latin stationarius , from the stem of statio "a standing, post, job, position" (see station (n.)). Meaning "unmovable" is from 1620s. In classical Latin, stationarius is recorded only in the sense "of a military station;" the word for "stationary, steady" being statarius .

Now the one we do: Stationery

It turns out, Stationery comes from Stationary. Isn't that confusing?
Basically, back in the middle ages traders would visit villages and towns to sell their wares. However, books and various paper products in bulk can be pretty heavy - you wouldn't expect a travelling library by horse and cart going far! Due to this weight, many paper sellers would setup a more permanent location. Their shop was stationary, so these sellers became known as "stationers". Slowly over time, the products sold by stationers became known as stationery.

By definition, any item sold in a permanent shop could technically be called stationery... but wouldn't that be absolutely confusing?
' I bought you some lovely stationery for your new job ' . . . *hands over cans of beer*.

Oh well! Another fun fact that may come up one day in a distant pub quiz!

Duplexing, Triplexing and Multiplexing. Sound perplexing? It needn't be!

Tue, 28 May 2019 14:34:00 GMT

What we're talking about: The bonding together of two, three or even more sheets to create high quality results.

From business cards to invitations and document covers, if you want that extra ‘touch’ of quality then start here!

Take it a step further and combine with foiling, die cutting or laser-cutting e.g. you could die-cut the front board allowing the colour of the second board to show through. The possibilities are endless!

Duplexing – two sheets bonded. The seam is barely visible if the same material is used and this method is great for a thicker quality product. Very popular for two tone business cards.

Triplexing – three sheets bonded. We love using a different colour sheet sandwiched between two sheets to create a nice effect.

Multiplexing – more than three sheets bonded. Using the above techniques, there may be an occasion for something that requires even more layering and the result will be truly unique. Not very common, so if you want to stand out... Be warned that this can also seem a bit overkill at times!

Side notes:

If combining materials, the weight of each sheet being bonded should evenly balance as to minimise any 'curling' effects as the bonding adhesive drys. Generally speaking, the minimum weight for bonding will be 175gsm and thicker is usually even better.

After the sheets are bonded, it is recommended that they're left 2 to 3 days, this is to minimise any potential curling.

Attention to detail - get Creative with your Wedding!

Thu, 23 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Bridezilla's and TV coverage of OTT Wedding's have become regular viewing across the networks. With extravagant celebrity affairs being televised, our wildest dreams are getting inspired with the decadent celebrations of the wealthy and those with large creative teams behind them.

DIY Wedding Creativity.

We're here to say that you don't need a team of influencers, a huge array of wedding planners, or a colossal budget to create some magic moments and heartfelt touches. We're lucky enough to work with some incredibly skilled wedding planners, and we've seen them go in solo to a project and pull off extraordinary results - and you can too!

Make it personal.

There's limitless options for how to craft your day, with every little detail being up for discussion. It might be convenient to pick out a 'package' or copy someone else's wedding blueprint, but this day is all about you . Your love. Your celebration. Make it personal, make it unique.

So firstly, think about everything that's important to you both as a couple, you both individually, and what embodies your journey/world.

We're not suggesting everyone goes gung-ho with quirky theme weddings, even the smallest of touches can make the big memorable differences. We'll daydream about a few things that might crop up, hopefully it'll inspire some personal moments of genius for you too.

The Invite

Long before the Wedding begins, your first impressions can begin.
It's like a calling card. You're requesting the company of your nearest and dearest, and you can also take this opportunity to start painting your picture, setting your scene, building the excitement for your special day.

As boutique printers we've helped with lots of clever little invites with shining foils and stylish designs, and this classy look whispers 'elegance' without blowing any budgets. If you're looking for something traditional and don't know where to start, just get in touch and we'll be happy to help actualise your project.

Now let's get creative! We're going to make up some totally random oddball scenarios and suggest an idea to make it personal and unique.

1. You met on tinder.
Let's face it, mobile dating has absolutely boomed. The old cliché bio of 'Let's lie about meeting on Tinder' is less applicable these days. Online, and mobile, dating is so commonplace that no one need feel shame or embarrassment about it. We'd suggest having fun with it and designing your invite to look like a tinder profile, with you both in the middle and asking your guests to 'Swipe right!' to your wedding (by RSVPing with their attendance).

2. You have a shared movie/tv fandom.
Great movies and TV can bond people, sometimes igniting the spark or bringing people closer. Using your shared passion for a famous franchise could produce a humorous invite idea, allows us to demonstrate:

- You love Harry Potter.
How about having your own 'Goblet of Fire', and sending invites challenging your guests to attend the Wedding (as if the Tri-Wizard tournament) by entering their names into your own Goblet. You could take all those that have RSVP'd their attendance, and place the cards in a big goblet prop and showcase it at the wedding - maybe even picking out some names as a little fun raffle for a talking point and engagement.

- Game of Thrones daft.
Now don't be recreating the red wedding! Why not embrace the joining of your houses, by designing your own house sigil for your shared name to be. Secondly, you could mock the famous 'Winter is coming...' line with something topically similar. 'Marriage is coming...' *insert picture of you both sat upon the Iron Throne.

3. Shared occupation / met through work or studying.
We spend so much of our lives, on average, working. It's no surprise so many couples end up meeting while in their career bubble. Perhaps you see this as a strong connecting factor, as your shared passion brought you together. So let's celebrate it! You're both architects? How about a CAD styled wedding venue blueprint design. Couple of bartenders? Go on, send your guests a beer with a custom label inviting them to your wedding!

Venue Décor

There are so many traditional features of a wedding to customise, before you even begin looking at new things you could add in. Your flower choices, colour schemes, table dressing, DJ setup, dress-code, menu choices, and beyond are all up for customisation to suit you.

However, to keep this article from becoming a short novel, we're going to focus on a few print-related features.

Photo frame props

This is a fun one!
We're seeing 'photo booths' appearing at a staggeringly high percent of weddings, it almost is becoming a must-have for the modern couple. One such fun feature to include in either the photo booth or as a general prop for guests to use in their own photos, is a photo frame. Create a custom shaped frame in any style, have the middle cut out, and have folk stand behind it - easy! Very often 'foamex' board is a good solution for carryable frames that guests can move round the venue and enjoy against different backdrops.

Backdrops

Weddings encourage folk to look their best. Capture all your guests looking sharp with a photo point at your wedding venue. It's good fun to mock the 'red carpet' backdrops of major famous events, and the photo album will give the memory of your special day that 'fabulous factor'.

Signage

Big and small, chances are there will be some form of signage at every wedding. Whether it's cute little favour cards or names laid out to aid the seating plan's long thought-out algorithm, there's always something to print. It's not uncommon for the reception to be in a certain area of a large venue, so directional signage will save confusion and Grandad getting lost. One big, bold, and affordable solution is to use roller banners - these are lightweight, carryable units that have a banner inside extending over 6 foot tall!

The Menu

The final thing we'll look at, is the menu. This is mainly the last point because discussing a menu will certainly call for lunch.

Once you've decided what your menu will consist of, you may wish to print off copies of it for the guests to browse on arrival. Many venues will do this for you but it's of course another opportunity to customise and stylise your event.

Much like the wedding invite, the options are huge.
Do you want a dainty, thin menu with minimal wording and choice? Stylish fonts with a sleek colour scheme.

Perhaps you want a custom shaped menu to match the cuisine. If you're lucky enough to be somewhere tropical, or the menu is a nice summer market selection then you could have fun with the menu shape and place everything inside the shape of a pineapple.

Do you want to add some extra fun to the meal? Use large A3 placemats, with the menu on one side and perhaps photos from your journey as a couple on the back! Maybe the photos will match up to one of the speeches! We even have a waterproof, washable, durable material for menus so that you can invite guests to take them home if you've printed off any cute, personal content on them. (Check out SuperTuffMenus® for more on this!)

Obviously the amount of factors to plan can be daunting, but you've lots of help waiting. If you've opted for a wedding planner, very often they know a variety of printers, venues, stylists and beyond to help with the project. If you're doing it yourself, your friendly printer should be happy to have a consultation with you to discuss many ideas for the big day - with lots of previous samples to show you for inspiration.

Here at Love & Humphries, we excel at the tricky little print jobs, and love getting the special jobs right. Contact us if you want to discuss any of your printing needs!

Increase traffic to your Blog : Top Tips

Tue, 21 May 2019 13:33:12 GMT

SEO is a minefield of algorithms, social media is densely over-saturated and marketers are all in one big virtual pit fighting for visibility. So what are the secrets behind the success stories?

Blog-more.
It's highly advised.
It does wonders.

We all know it brings traffic to your website, it keeps things current, it is a way to provide meaningful and helpful content that your viewers will appreciate - because pure sales content can be off-putting.
The problem is, too often there's no advice, direction or general planning involved to ensure that the blog content is both relevant and able to perform efficiently.

Whilst we set up our blog at Love & Humphries, we've gathered some of the best advice to help anyone new to the game.

1. Powerful titles - to match search results

How did you arrive here? The majority of readers will have simply googled something similar to ' Blog writing tips '.
This should highlight the first tip, know what people are searching for and answer their questions with insightful content.
If 1/100 people looking for blogging tips wants a bespoke printing job then it'll have been worth the blog alone.
(If not, hey we've hopefully helped someone - and increased our potential to advertise on our website through higher traffic)

Keep it simple, keep it accurate. A great example can be seen by all online newspapers ahead of big sporting fixtures, they know the common questions and address them with a long-winded title reflecting the questions:

' Time, Channel and location for the Reds V the Blues on May 21st '

Be sure to have a description that supports the title, this will help the SEO as search engines like Google want to ensure they're displaying relevant content.

2. Share, share, share

Social media is important, and your content shouldn't be isolated to single platforms.
Be sure to share links to your blog posts in mailshots, on your facebook pages, via instagram uploads and wherever else may be relevant for your business. LinkedIn is a place for sharing wisdom and advice, so perhaps your business should benefit from being seen as helpful and knowledgeable.

The more you share, the more chance you have that others will share your content too. Word of mouth is arguably the most powerful marketing wave out there, so don't be afraid to ask people to share your content to anyone they think might benefit from it.

3. Write about what you know

It might be tempting to jump on bandwagons, and churn out information on whatever hot potato has entered the trending news but keep it relevant!

Find ways to link your content to your sector, your expertise, your business and the daily life of your community. People engage more with authentic content and it's becoming increasingly easier to spot content that might be designed purely to honey-trap customers on your page.

Here are some examples of bad blog posts made good.

Pizza restaurant blogging about the new royal baby = random, odd, no.
What could they have done to make that news relevant to them? Maybe turn it jovial, tribute it with the 'birth' of a special pizza collection such as a princess Margarita!

Printing company blogging about blogging = eh?
Well, it didn't seem intuitive at first but any blog should have blogging as a interest. If you're going to do it, do it right. Address what you do, in all sectors. Anyone can talk about marketing, corporate social responsibility, their own communities, the tools they use, etc etc - don't feel constrained to a niche as even the niche-est niche will call on help from software, professions, and all sorts. It's interesting to hear the story behind the brand - and there are always people looking for help and inspiration on their own journeys.

Cricket company blogging about the UEFA Champions league = Pft.
Huge sporting events gather interest, but a football fan might distrust a cricket website claiming to be an expert. Find ways to link the two by offering similarities or interesting statistics - maybe it's just a short quote from someone in your industry/field that can link to the big event. A famous cricketer being a die-hard football team fan might have the hook into a general story that will attract high volumes.

And remember, if you've no idea what you're talking about then it'll become apparent.
It's better to have high quality content to 100 people, than poor quality content to 1000 people. Your writing will represent the brand, so it's vital to do it justice.

4. Use listicles - (Articles formed from lists)

Many will feel listicles aren't 'premium content', and opt for a more traditionally professional presentation for their work.

Many miss huge audiences.

It's worth remembering that the online culture has conditioned millions to expect instant information. If you need an answer, you can perform a quick search and get a quick answer. If you want to find a recipe, you're unlikely to want to read a 3000 word story on the history of someone's Mac N Cheese journey, so make the information as easy for the reader as possible.

We could have written this blog post in an essay style, discussing various ideas and linking them smoothly. By choosing the listicle approach, our readers can quickly scan down and learn each tip in a short bite-sized section. Listicles hold short attention-spans for longer because of their easy format and lack of daunting HUGE text blocks. It's surprising how many people will see a big paragraph and instantly return back to their google search page in hope that the next result will be a quicker read. This links up with the next tip:

5. Break up the text (Spacing, formatting, breaks)

Use images, headers, spaces and videos to break up large text blocks.

The aim is to make your content as aesthetically inviting as possible.
Look how easy this is to read? Look how pleasantly organised it is.

The same information,
in an awkward format,
would put people off.

Play about with formatting, including the use of bold and italic styles, to keep the readers attention and engagement.

Images are always nice - above we used a photo of 'Space' because we're talking about spacing. We're risking confusing people with a non-related image for comedic effect, but mainly to make the point that relevant imagery is much more powerful and not to post photos just for the sake of it, unless you feel it'll help your content.

6. Proof read! (And ask for extra eyes)

Proof reading should go without saying, but it's all to common for blogs to be rushed or never read back.
Grammar and spelling are important - do u want ur brand rmmbered for good reasons or badder ones ?

Once you're happy with your content try and grab a few friends to look over your work. It's even better if the people you ask meet these criteria:

1. Have an interest in what you wrote about.
No-brainer, you'll find out if it's good content for your market.

2. Are well educated.
They'll help you spot and fix mistakes.

3. Aren't well educated.
Don't tell them you think they aren't well educated - but it is useful to find out how universally readable your content is.
Lot's of interesting theories came out about the way Donald Trump spoke during his original presidential campaign, whilst many were belittling his simple and odd use of language - huge examples emerged pointing to the success of simple speech reaching wide audiences. Whilst we're not advocating to base yourself on any presidents, think about simplifying statements if you have a huge market to cover.

Any further tips for us? Let us know!

Found any of this useful? We'd love to hear your feedback!

Came for the article, stayed for the bespoke printing? You beauty, you're in good hands!

B1G1 - Our Global Giving Partnership

Wed, 08 May 2019 11:24:00 GMT

Love & Humphries delights in making micro-impacts all over the world with 'Buy1Give1'

We're part of the Buy1Give1 network which is a global community of like minded business owners who are working together to give back to various projects around the world.

Through B1G1, we celebrate our milestones and achievements by giving back to worthy projects - whether that’s providing library books for schools in Cambodia, nourishing kids in Africa or providing safe, clean drinking water for families in Malawi, we are helping to make a difference and by simply working with us, you are too!

Each time we we complete a brilliant job, get a Google or Facebook Review, have responses to our quarterly survey(good or bad), and even when our social media followers grow we make a donation.

By being a part of B1G1 it means that our donations will have a greater impact on these projects and we can watch them mount up together! If you’d like to know more about B1G1 visit their website here .

Keep up to date with our impact-map , and follow how our group ( Glasgow PDC , Love & Humphries, SuperTuffMenus and GlasgowPosterPrinting ) endeavour to make a positive difference to the world whilst we run our daily business tasks.

Thoughtful presents, be creative with custom print

Tue, 07 May 2019 15:26:14 GMT

Great presents aren't just about how much money you spent - it's about much thought and effort went in to the process. Give a unique gift that doesn't need to break the bank...

Custom board games - Custom foamex board
Mad about Monopoly? Raving about risk? Making a custom board of someone's favourite game is incredibly creative, thoughtful and will last a lifetime. The best part? Printing on foamex need not be expensive.

The time consuming part of this will be the planning and design. Let's take 'Risk' as an example.
So your friend loves this strategic war game, why not recreate the countries to represent their neighbourhood? Perhaps they're an avid Game of Thrones fan, you could even theme the territories around The North, beyond the wall and such.
Once you've named your territories to match with the game amounts/shape - it's design time. If you're competent with design software, it might be a nice touch for it to be made fully by you - however using a graphic designer will get you the sleek, professional touch to really wow the gift receiver.
(Please note the designer will likely be noticeably more expensive than the print)

Speak to your printer for recommendations on what board to use, one easy solution is printing on a rigid Foamex board.

Cards against yer Auntie
Card games are also a delight, and it may be perfect to customise a normal deck for a poker player, bridge enthusiast or any of the hundreds of card games. We're going to shake it up based on a hilarious creation we once saw - a custom 'Cards against Humanity' styled deck called ' Cards against Nathan '.

If you're unfamiliar with the adult game, a black card is played with a scenario such as ' [YOUR FRIEND] was late to work because of...] and then players will select a white card reply from their hand to try and get the funniest response.
We'd give examples of the potential white card responses... but we want to keep this post PG.

Insta-famous
They may not be an artist, or a successful photographer - but why not turn their favourite Instagram posts into art. Whether it's printed on a cushion, a huge poster, as part of a collage, in a photobook, on a t-shirt or anywhere else - the possibilities are endless for featuring their photos as part of a functional or delightful gift.

Retro trading cards - Pokémon master? Football wizard?
There could be a simple yet effective opportunity here. Is the gift receiver mad about something huge that has collectable cards? (Even better if they collect them!) Obvious examples would be creating a custom pokémon card with them on it, or if they're mad about football you could recreate the football sticker albums hugely popular pre-2000s.

You could always look at the 'Top Trumps' styled model, and pick a discipline or category relevant to them. Perhaps they're a banker, so you want to make them a Top Banker card with high stats for efficiency, friendliness and intelligence - a very thoughtful secret santa gift for a colleague deserving some accolade.

Photoshopped to fame
Simple again - what's their favourite movie? What is their favourite pieces of art? Do they have a celebrity crush?
Once you've picked your scene, you'll be photo-shopping in your gift recipient into the fray. This is becoming increasingly easier to do, but any difficulties and a designer can help.

Get in touch!

Inspired? Got more ideas to share? Let us know!

If you're looking for any help with a project, our skilled team has a huge amount of print experience from all sorts of intricate and tricky jobs - we strive on creating truly beautiful results!

Merry April, our festive hat is on!

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Dropping the festive 'C' bomb this early can have even the most organised planners flustered.

Christmas music playing in November can raise eyebrows, and decorations appearing in the shops before Halloween sends many a scrooge absolutely loopy. However, when it comes to your marketing, how early do you get prepared for the holiday period?

It may be April, but we’re delighted to have finished our first Christmas print job for 2019. The National Piping Centre have set an impressive precedent by efficiently getting their Christmas and New Year menus ready to go whilst competitors are still shaking off their Easter weekend hangovers.

We got out one of our old foldable Christmas cards to show that we're Christmas ready.
Get in touch with us to discuss menus, flyers, booklets, cards, coasters, books - whatever you require!

Poetry Pamphlet Printing

Tue, 02 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT

I gather from the news today that Poetry is enjoying a resurgence, for us it never went away!

At Love & Humphries we are lucky enough to have a number of small poetry publishers as clients as well as a few private individuals…so we get to print poetry too!

We enjoy Poetry Pamphlet printing as it tends to be a fun & interesting print job. Publishers like paper and special print finishes and we are always happy to oblige! We offer a wide range of different papers and can print them in a number of ways. The number of books or pamphlets we print tends to be small but by using specialist cover paper and interesting text paper we get to produce a lovely book.

For a job like this it is difficult to proof well on screen, the beauty of the book is how it feels in your hand as well as how it looks,so we will create a full working proof, on the correct paper stocks whenever we can. As for finishing you can choose whether you want it saddle stitched, perfect bound, thread bound, singer sewn or another finish. It’s up to you but we are always happy to offer recommendations.

Have a look at these examples here…