3 Best Print Product Ideas

I work with these products all the time and I’m often being told by our customers how they’ve used our print products in new and interesting ways. After discussing this subject with some of our customers, I was given a “top 3” list of their favorite “alternative” uses for our print products.

1) MAKING A COOL LOOKING CENTERPIECE OUT OF POSTCARDS

HERE’S OUR YOU TUBE VIDEO THAT SHOWS YOU EXACTLY HOW TO MAKE THIS POSTCARD CENTERPIECE:

This is a really sweet idea for distributing flyers or postcards in nightclubs, bars, fast food places, or anywhere else where there are tables, shelves, or other flat surfaces.

Not only is it a novel way of distributing your promotional message, but it is also very practical. It can be viewed from all-sides; it won’t fall on the floor as easily as a regular postcard; and it has a very pleasing curved shape.

And you won’t believe how easy it is to make! It takes less than a minute.

All you need are:
• Three postcards – any size (you can also use rack cards, posters, or even business cards to make a “mini-version”)
• A stapler (the smaller the better)

Making your Centerpiece in 5 Easy steps

1) Take two of your postcards and place them back-to-back

2) Join the longest edges of the postcard together with three staples:
• One at the top
• One in the center
• One at the bottom

3) Once you have two of the postcards secured at one edge, line up the third postcard, parallel to the edge of one of the two connected postcards

4) Repeat step 1 and 2 to secure the 2nd edge of your centerpiece

5) Secure the final edge of your centerpiece with the same three staple process

I think the end result is pretty cool! (note: if you’re not keen on the super-quick “stapling” method of creating your centerpiece, you could also glue the edges to get a nice clean edge, or hole punch the edges and thread a fancy ribbon through!)

I can foresee this centerpiece being really useful if you are planning to distribute flyers to people in clubs, restaurants or bars. All too often, your promotions end up in the on the floor, in the trash, or even used as a beer coaster! This table tent technique creates a “stand-up” feature of your postcards that won’t fall off the table and get ignored so easily! By creating a “novelty” out of your flyers and it may convince someone to take a look at your promotion.

This table tent is great as a menu too. Put a small vase with a flower in the middle and it can make a table look super-elegant. In fact, I can envisage many uses for this neat little trick with print products. It would be a perfect feature at conferences, events, parties, etc.

3) FANCY BOOKMARKS

It can be quite lucrative to sell your own bookmarks. You could establish your own online bookmark business, or sell them at craft fairs. Maybe you just want to create an extra-special bookmark gift, or a fancy bookmark as a business promotion to hand out to clients and customers. This certainly won’t be the kind of promotional product that someone just throws away! Who throws away a really useful and nice-looking bookmark?

Here’s how easy it is to make the kind of bookmarks that you see in the stores:

1. Create a custom bookmark design using one of our online bookmark start files. This template will give you the standard bookmark size and design guides.

2. Design using your template guides. Once your design is completed, upload your design and checkout your design for printing.

3. Buy some fancy rope or ribbon from Michaels, Joannes, or another arts and crafts store

4. Once you have received your bookmarks, use a 1-hole puncher (they’re a dollar from Office Max) to make a hole in the top of your bookmark. Thread a fancy ribbon through using a square knot (push loop through the hole- then pull two ends through the loop)

3) USING BOOKMARKS TO MAKE FOLDED BUSINESS CARDS

Really easy to do and they look great! Typically, folded business cards fold from the top to the bottom like a landscape greeting card. By using a bookmark to make your folded business card, you can create a side-folding card. In my opinion, this fold looks miles better – like opening a tiny book!

How to create your folded business card in Photoshop (It would take too long to explain how to do this in multiple programs, but I’m sure you will be able to apply similar rules to your choice of design application):

1) Download the start file Download .EPS file for Illustrator/Photoshop below (or go to download page for regular bookmark template)

2) Create a Front and back design (upload as front)
• Create two abutting design spaces 459px wide (drag guide to separate the two spaces or create two separate 459px layers or shapes to split the two design areas) this will be your front and back
• Design your front and back design in these spaces (see below)

3) Create the inside left and right design (upload as back)
• Repeat (2) for your inside business card design

4) Upload your designs and checkout

5) When you receive your cards you will need to fold them all – this is a pain but it’s worth the effort! You can either:
• Use a blade to score your designs in the centre (7½ cm to the center) for a really fancy fold
• Or, fold them top to bottom and use a smooth, rounded object to make a neat fold (I use the smooth end of a Sharpie)

If you have any of your own ideas for great print products, we would love to hear from you!