The Printed Rambler: What’s in a name?

Another article from the Gateway Printing newsletter; my column, The Printed Rambler.

When you open up a new storefront, what do you want prominently displayed? A complex list of what you do? A long history of your business? A lot of people tend to overload spaces, such as business cards and ads; with way more information than is needed. Too much information could overwhelm a potential customer, as the phrase goes, “Keep It Simple Stupid.”

When designing a business card, or any small advertisement for your business, you should look at the space you have, which isn’t much, and allocate to it what is the most important. But what is the most important? Again, simplify; your name and contact information are probably two of the most important items that you can put on a business card. Your Contact information is obvious, how else is your contact supposed to get a hold of you? The name of your business can say a lot about your business and give the customer an idea of what you do. Our name “Gateway Printing” for example, just by looking at the name, you can tell what we do.

Simplicity is a good start, but then comes how you position it on your card or ad. When we read a book, we start at the top of the page and read down and across from left to right. That should be how a business card is set, your most information on the top and everything else below. But you also want to format it in such a way that customers read the most important information first. Your name should be large and bold, again your name can say a lot about what you do. However you don’t want it so big that it overpowers everything else on the page, your contact information should be large enough to see, but not so much that customers know how to contact you and don’t know who you are. Our eyes are always attracted to the largest object on a page.

Business cards, signs, ads, and storefronts all tell who you are and what you do. There is a balance to what you display on these items, as humans, we lose our attention when there is to little to hold it, or too much that it overwhelms us. Simplicity is always the best policy, remember “Keep It Simple Stupid” and customers will be more apt to come see what you have to offer.

The Gateway Printing Co.

174 Main Street, Wareham, MA

http://www.gatewayprinting.org/