Did you know that blue is the coolest colour in web design? No pun intended.
Check out this neat infographic and find out why.
Category Archives: Web & Graphic Design
Blue Website Design: Why Twitter and Intel use it?
Ultimate Guide To Business Cards
Looking to glam up your current business cards or creating your first custom business cards?
Take a look at this neat infographic – it's a great guide for designing or redesigning your own cards. With advice on choosing the right font, shape, getting the right colours and choosing the perfect materials, this guide will definitely come in handy for you.
As Long As We Have Mailboxes, Technology Will Never Outpace The Printed Piece
If you've had the chance to try out the latest version of Adobe Design Suite, you'll find the new "Interactive PDF" function that comes along with InDesign.
It's awesomesauce.
You can add video, interactive buttons, animations and more to your PDF.
Sounds fancy?
Yes, very fancy. If everyone had the same configurations, software version and operating system, of course. The video portion of the PDF might not even work on someone else's computer. And forget about getting the Interactive PDF to work on the iPad – Apple hates Flash.
Our point is – it doesn't matter if you have a Mac, a PC, an Android or an iPad. A direct mail piece looks the same no matter who views it. It's fail-proof between addresses, and can be variably printed by spoken language, finance criteria or a million other options.
So, in short, direct mail is not going anywhere, as long as it is a part of a multichannel solution. As long as we still have mailboxes, technology will never outpace the printed piece.
Check out these direct mail samples!
What Your Brand Colours Say About Your Business
The most prominent brands in the world are defined by their colours. Think of McDonald’s golden arches, the name Jet Blue, and UPS’ slogan, “What can Brown do for you?” These companies, and many others, strategically use colours in their logo, website, and product to appeal to customers. It’s important to think about how you utilize colours and what the colours you choose say about your business.
Research has found that different colours provoke very different reactions in people. Integrating your brand colours in your logo, landing pages, product, and more will help you achieve the highest impact. We put the rainbow under a microscope to find out how each colour can help you connect with your consumers. Check out the infographic below!
View the original article here.
6 Typography Dos and Don’ts Everyone Should Know
There's a reason why we're not all graphic designers – "nice fonts" can be subjective, however, there are a lot of basics that we all can – and should – know. For any designer, setting type is a common and very important task. While honouring the text we're setting, we need to also determine its legibility and readability. In doing so, we provide the text with a range of qualities encouraging and empowering a reader to either skim quickly to a specific snippet of information or comfortably digest larger sections of the text.
While there aren't any hard rules for selecting fonts, here are a few guidelines that may help you on your way.
1. Follow the rule of 3
The only quantitative rule for design is the “Rule of 3”. When you start tweaking the fonts of your document, be sure to apply no more than three typefaces per design (or page). That’s not to say that you can’t use multiple styles within a font family (i.e. Helvetica Bold for headlines and Helvetica Light for photo credits), just be mindful of not mixing too many typefaces and styles – fight the temptation to blend Impact, Courier and Trebuchet in the same document. While there might be a few exceptions to this rule, it’s a good sanity check, to ensure that you don’t go overboard and over-complicate your design. And as a good rule of thumb, you should probably just avoid Papyrus and Comic Sans. Always. Just take our word for it.
33 Creative Business Card Designs
To wind up another week, here are some refreshing samples of very unique business cards for your viewing pleasure.
If any of these cards give you some inspiration for your next design – don't forget to to drop by or give us a call so we can help you get started. 
Colour Palettes To Inspire You
The colour palette is an incredibly important aspect of any design – it has the power to shape the entire personality of whatever it is you’re creating. For a graphic designer, finding the right colour palette is as important as good code is to a web developer. Some people just “have it in them”, while some can find it rather challenging. With an overwhelming number of choices available, it can be very difficult to decide on a colour scheme.
So if you don’t know where to begin or are simply looking for some inspiration – here’s a little “picker upper” we’ve put together to help you get started.
To download a free PDF version of the palettes featured above, click here – Colour Palettes by Colour Time
6 Tips for Designing an Effective Banner Stand
At Colour Time, we have a large selection of banner materials and stands available for a wide range of applications. This includes (but is not limited to) roll-up stands, sandwich boards, trade show signage, point of purchase, table top display, outdoor stands, literature racks and pop up displays.
Any trade show exhibitor knows that a professional and eye-catching banner stand is critical in drawing visitors to their booth. At Colour Time, our most popular roll-up banner stand is 33″ x 79″ and is specially-priced this summer at $199.00 (regular $249.00). This includes the print, hardware stand, installation and a handy carrying bag.
Photo courtesy of TKO.
That being said, today we would like to talk about some tips that will help you design an effective banner stand.
1. Use a “catch phrase”.
In order to catch a visitor’s attention, use a catch phrase that is short and large enough for people to quickly read. Make sure it states something that will make the visitor want to learn more about your product or service.
23 Inspirational Print Brochures
Today we feature a marketing piece that everyone on the face of this earth has heard of – BROCHURES. At Colour Time, we have the great pleasure of printing hundreds of these every single day.
Why do people print brochures?
As you would know, brochures are used in all sorts of promotions. They're a great sales or marketing tool and are easy to give away outdoors or keep on rack displays indoors. For those who have a ton of information to share, a brochure conveniently allows you to segregate data into different categories in different panels. They can also be relatively inexpensive and there are several finishes you can choose from. Brochures are a useful and cost-effective means of promotion for any organization or individual in any industry.
How do I stand out?
Ask us about having unique folds, die-cut shapes or using eye-popping colours that will help you stand out from the boring norm. Try to avoid getting too crazy or you might forget the marketing basics of designing and printing brochures – make sure they're still a portable size and not too bulky to keep. Gone are the days of appalling clip art and overwhelming bodies of text. Clean typography and design are the name of the game, and an added flair of creativity can certainly go a long way and make an enormous impression.
So before you start your next brochure project, why don't you give us a call or visit us – our experienced team can help give you some creative ideas to get you started.
In the meantime, here's some inspiration!
Disclaimer: The images on this page are not owned by Colour Time and are used solely as design examples. Please click on the images to see their original sources.
20 Letterhead Designs You’ll Love
A letterhead is one of the most important printing collaterals in any business. More than just a means of correspondence, it is also a physical representation of your company. It can say a great deal about your brand image and is an essential part of any organization's sales and marketing communications strategy. In addition, a well-designed letterhead lends to credibility and is a great means of displaying professionalism.
Having been in the printing industry for the last 35 years, we at Colour Time are definitely no strangers to letterheads. We've printed and designed everything from the simplest, one-colour designs on lightweight paper to CMYK with embossing, foiling, die cutting and beyond. So today, we've put together a collection of eye-catching letterhead designs that will get you thinking about how you can design your letterhead to show your creativity and communicate your brand effectively.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The images on this page are not owned by Colour Time and are used solely as design examples. Please click on the images to see their original sources.
