Kickshout Blog

Direct Mail: EDDM, Saturation and Targeted List Mailings — Let's review the various options you have to mail to your customers and prospects, and the requirements and limitations of each solution.
in the mail

The Ultimate Envelope Guide — Find specifications on over 100 sizes in 12 categories, with a downloadable die file available for each envelope.
envelope options

Infographic: A Smooth Order in Four Easy Steps — Follow these four steps when placing an order with us from a quote we've supplied.
view infographic

Basics of Direct Mail — Direct mail remains a highly effective way for you to grow your organization. How do you maximize this marketing investment?
read more

Job Release Guidelines — You've worked so hard on your job. Here's a quick overview of what to do when you're ready to send it off.
ultimate checklist

File Set-Up: Easy Ways to Get Documents to Print Correctly — If you use a non-Adobe program to create your files, saving your job so it prints successfully is as easy as 1-2-3.
see how

File Set-Up: Packaging with InDesign — If you use InDesign, here are step-by-step instructions on packaging your job files.
collect those files

How Many Pages Is My Project? — When describing your project to us for quotation purposes, it is important that we're both on the same page in terms of pages.
here's how to count pages

The Ultimate Color Guide — Need a guide to color as it relates to printing? You can find it here, along with links to related articles.
the eyes have it

Amazon Turns to Print to Market Toys This Holiday Season — The latest validator of the value of print? Why, it’s the largest online retailer — Amazon!
print to click

Annual appeal letters: dos and do nots — Remember, your annual appeal is a totally different kind of direct mail. Here are some simple rules to achieve peak performance.
do's and don'ts

Adobe products to drop support for Pantone color libraries — New Pantone Connect plug-in, which replaces Adobe's built-in functionality, leaves many users frustrated.
read more

Recent Adobe Guidance on Type 1 Fonts — We've quoted directly from Adobe's latest guidance on Type 1 fonts and responded with our thoughts.
read our thoughts

Mark This: 15 Important Logo Design Trends — Lines! Curves! Colors! Shade! We feature 15 trends and 60 logos from the LogoLounge Trend Report.
the best new logos

New Logo Design Trends — Logo Lounge has released its Logo Trends Report, a fascinating take on key trends in brand and identity creation.
see 60 logos

Disturbing Implications: PostScript Fonts Discontinued — Support for the font format will be discontinued in 2021 for Photoshop, 2023 for most other Adobe programs including Acrobat.
read more

Color Challenges: How to Choose the Right Color for Your Project — We've all seen the challenge: what you thought you were choosing doesn't match what ends up on the printed page.
seeing is believing

Identify a Font by Uploading a Photo of It — MyFonts.com lets you upload an image of text to identify the typeface. We tested it with 40 randomly selected fonts to see how well it works.
font face-off

Setting Up Folders in InDesign — Setting up jobs that require die cuts such as folders and packaging is easy if you follow these simple guidelines.
setting up a die-cut job

Font Files and Formats — Postscript! TrueType! OpenType! Learn all about these font formats and much, much more!
everything fonts

12 Easy-to-Understand Examples of How Posters Work — Review 12 posters from the Cooper Hewitt/Smithsonian Museum How Posters Work Exhibit and see an example of each.
see some posters

Acrobat Document Review Helps Creatives Streamline Approvals — The traditional creative process can be challenging to manage especially when there's multiple reviewers. Now there's a better way.
review and approve

Animations Reveal How Logos Evolve — These awesome gifs that tell the story of how the logos of 12 big companies have evolved through each's history.
watch them change

Cost Savings Checklist — Check out our cost savings checklist to keep your marketing costs down.
read the list

Return on investment in design — Firms that won design awards saw an immediate increase in stock price, according to a study of 264 firms over 13 years.
read more

Type Terms, Tips and Tweaks — Kerning vs. tracking. Descenders, ascenders and baselines. Sixteen type classifications. Master this and be a type guru!
typography bold

Psychology-Based Color Palettes — For a wacky take, visit this site that purports to use pyschology to build your palette.
psycho rainbow

Six Cutting Edge Logo/Identity Design Trends — Check out these six logo trends, from flat designs to monolines, for cutting edge identity design.
see the trends

Creating Logos and Other Design Marks — If you are considering a new or redesigned logo and/or corporate identity, here are some ideas to keep in mind.
corporate identity considerations

The Ultimate CMYK Duotone Guide — We selected 25 portraits and applied different CMYK duotone to each image. You can even download the curves we used.
view the duotone guide

Pocket Folder Inspiration — Explore some great pocket folder links, each with free die outlines available for download.
folder inspiration

Envato Market: A Creative Resource Like No Other — Envato features over 4.5 million digital products created by designers, developers, photographers, illustrators and producers.
visit the marketplace

28 Design Terms Every Marketer Should Know — Check out this great infographic of 28 design terms that every marketer should know.
know your terms

Pantone and the Value of Great Identity Design — A brand so strong its target audience pays a premium to see it on a mug? Impossible? Not for Pantone.
mug shots

Digital Printing Production Tips — Review our quick list of considerations when you plan to print your project digitally.
review the tips

Conditional Logic and Variable Data — With all of today's advance personalization and versioning options, writing a letter can be as tricky as writing computer code!
here's why

Digital Printing Data Strategies — If you are looking for a practical guide to what's possible with variable data, here it is.
variable primer

On Demand, Jim Rockford Style — Digital printing used to be hard. Now it's much easier. See just how hard with these two examples from history.
pre-digital visions

Case Study: Personalize Your Conference — 1:1 personalization is a lot more than names. Here is an example of what you can do.
read the case study

The Art and Science of De-Duping a List — The decisions that go into deduping can be complex, and should be driven by your marketing goals.
it's all in a name

Nordstrom and J.Jill See Sharp Decline in Profits After Abandoning Direct Mail — These retailers recently learned the hard way that shaving expenses by eliminating direct mail can be disastrous.
lessons learned

Writing Direct Mail Copy: 10 Point Checklist — Like the fisherman's lures, good direct mail copy is critical to a mailer's success. Here's some pointers on how to write it.
call to action

Design with Mail in Mind — Here are some strategies to keep costs down when designing direct mail.
direct mail design tips

After a Long Hiatus, JCPenney Is Again Mailing a Catalog — The retailer discontinued its iconic Big Book in 2009. Here's why they've decided they need mailings after all.
read more

Seven Tips to Direct Mail Design — Creative plays a big role in the effectiveness of your mailer.
mail design tips

Direct Mail Delivers Best B2C ROI — Target Marketing Magazine readers indicated B2B delivers the best ROI for B2C among all types of approaches.
our review and link

Newsletters... Reeling in the Readers — Identify the eight type of stories that get the best readership, design strategies and much more.
get more readers

17 Ways to Increase Response Rates — With successful direct response campaigns, three critical elements converge to entice your readers to take action. Those three elements are the list, the offer and the creative.
response rates

Postcards Outside the Box — These postcard design tips focus on print options that add value by increasing response rate.
postcard strategies

Postcard + Newsletter = Perfect Match? — The postcard newsletter is a great concept, allowing you to provide valuable information in a condensed format that is more likely to get read.
see some samples

Photoshop Variables Tutorial — Want to create variable image objects using Photoshop? Here's how.
variablicious

List Acquisition — Read all about list acquisition, consumer and business lists, and the secret sauce of great campaigns.
more on lists

We Do Direct Mail! — When it comes to direct mail, we've got all the services you need under one roof. Your campaign will proceed smoothly and effectively.
direct mail services

Four Subject + Headline Strategies to Get More Opens — An email has a subject, a direct mail piece has a headline, but really they function the same: Open it and read on! Here are four strategies to get more readers to do just that.
opening salvos

Postcards...5 Tips for Better Results — A simple checklist to make sure you are getting the best results from your postcard mailings.
go to the 5 postcard tips article

Niches: Big Data Comes to Print List Sourcing — Niches is a proprietary segmentation tool that uses demographic elements to group a household into one of 26 specific clusters.
see all 26

Powerful List Profiling Solution for Direct Marketers — Now there's an easy-to-use tool to statistically profile your best B2B or B2C customers.
read more

Using Print to Build Your Email List — Would you like to see your email newsletter list grow more quickly? Here's how you can build your email list using print.
see how you can use print

Most Important Landing Page Feature — What is the single most important feature of any landing page? It's the laser focus on getting the reader to take the next step in your marketing effort.
learn more about landing page strategies

Apple and The Conservation Fund Partner on Forests — Apple is working to promote sustainable forestry to protect working forests in Maine and North Carolina.
growth stock

Print Sustainability by the Numbers — Get the real story on environmental sustainability.
true green

Recycled Calculator: Environmental Impact — Review the details as to the impact of your recycled stock choices.
recycled by the numbers

Eco-Friendly Brainstorm — Looking for ways to become an even greener mailer? Check out these suggestions.
greener mail

Greener Mail — Looking for ways to become an even greener mailer? Check out these suggestions from the USPS and the Direct Mail Association.
greener mail

Going Green — Get the skinny on reducing your carbon footprint.
green by the numbers

Green Your Mind. The Rest Will Follow. — Switch your bulbs, why choose the tap tap and other tips on how a little green can make a big difference.
environmentality

Creating Color Harmonies — Creating beautiful color schemes is easy if you rely on any of the tried and true visual harmonies, regardless of whether it's print or web.
here's how

GRACol and G7: Standardizing Color Appearance — Holland Litho has been certified by a third party in GRACoL 7, allowing us to produce consistent color across all devices.
learn more

16-Bit Images: Better than JPGs — We opened an image as both 8-and 16-bit. Compare the two after a few adjustments and you'll see why.
see for yourself

Converting Drop Shadows from CMYK to Black Only — CMYK drop shadows can be problematic: Here's how to convert them to black only.
oh-k do-k

Stock Photo Demand Letters — How you can avoid getting a stock agency demand letter for copyright infringement.
avoid trouble

Digital Photography... Take Your Best Shot — Tips for taking great digital photographs!
start your studio

Image Scaling Limitations — How much can you scale an original photograph? This article provides the answers.
image tips

Eight Great, Really Free Stock Image Websites — We set out this month to find really great, truly free (even for commercial use) stock photo web sites.
see our picks

RGB To CMYK... What You Need to Know — For a quick but thorough review of color theory and how it applies to creative, production and printing, look no further than this article.
good space

New Thoughts on RGB and CMYK — To convert to CMYK or not convert.With new technologies come new options.
convert or not. you decide!

Images: Resize, then Import — With image-intensive projects, you should always resize images before importing them into your layouts.
here's why

Take the Color IQ Test — This unique test gives you a grade beyond pass or fail.
test your perception

Amazing 100-year-old Images from the Ill-Fated Endurance Voyage to Antarctica — These early color photographs of Antarctica were taken by Frank Hurley in 1915 at the age of 30.
view the photos

Pixabay: 520,000 Free Images — Here's a free stock image resource for you to check out to keep your image costs down.
see some images

Key Concepts: Photography Basics — Learn about f-stop, ISO and other key concepts with sample images referenced.
more on clicking

Improving Web JPGs for Print — Need to print an image graphic from the Web? Here's how to reduce the JPG artifacts in your original.
how to fix jpgs

People Prefer Paper Packaging — Two Sides North America announces results Of Packaging Preferences 2020 Survey.
what they like

Crafting Your Unique Selling Proposition — While others may sell products or services that compete with yours, chances are pretty good you have a unique story to tell.
identify what they are

Comprehensive Guide to Surveys — Learn the fundamentals of creating, deploying and optimizing customer surveys.
all about surveys

Five Great Videos on the Art of Storytelling — Take a look at these videos to see how storytelling can make you a more interesting and effective communicator.
watch now

Data Mining for the Rest of Us — Small businesses can use simple data collection methods to gain insight into opportunities, design promotions, and ultimately sell more.
read the case study

CNBC: Why Millennials Love Catalogs — CNBC is yet another example of a major media outlet profiling the value to marketers of catalogs.
cnb-see!

A Super Cool Type of Table Tent — Table tents are a proven way to increase per-customer revenue. Here's an alternate table tent design that is really easy and super cool!
see for yourself

Comprehensive Testing Primer — This mini-whitepaper provides a primer on testing strategies, concepts and options.
test case scenarios

List Rental: Great for Print, but not Email — List rental has been a standard practice in the direct mail industry for years. Email marketing, not so much.
learn why

The Psychology of Social Timing — Use a little psychology to determine the best time of the day to send your email campaigns!
when to send what

Determining Your Pricing — Some considerations to keep in mind when determining your pricing.
pricing strategies

Return-On-Investment (ROI) — Some thoughts on creating and communicating an effective ROI message.
read more on roi

Why Print? — The catalyst for this story is a fantastic brochure produced by The Print Council simply titled Why Print?
go to why print article

Experiential Marketing and the Role of Direct Mail — Experiential marketing is a strategy to engage consumers and invites and encourages them to become a participant in a brand.
read more

1:1 Marketing and Variable Data Printing — This article delves into the concepts driving one-to-marketing and digital printing, touching on databases.
read now

Creating Great Buttons: Cues from 10 Great Websites — See the button styles of ten great websites, with four expert tips from a renowned designer.
see some buttons

SMS/Mobile Best Practices — Considering a mobile campaign? Follow these six SMS best practices to avoid the dreaded STOP.
read more

9 Tips to Creating Great Content for Boring Industries — Even if you are in an industry that some might not find exciting, you can still create thoughtful, engaging content your target audience will read.
spice it up

Free, ALL CAPS now OK for Email — Return Path sees no negative impact of using in email, but it may make you feel a bit queasy.
read this, it's free

B2B Survey: 64% rely on direct mail — B2B respondents listed direct mail as a critical component of their marketing mix.
best practices

Often-Overlooked Rules of Grammar — Review the finer points of grammar, the little things that can make all the difference, to see if your writing complies.
dot-dot-dot

Kindra Hall: Great Ideas on Storytelling — A storytelling expert, with a huge dose of passion, she advocates a process to construct your unique story.
storytelling

Copy: Penny Pinchers vs. Spendthrifts — How you should change your approach to copy for both spendthrifts and penny pinchers.
who's the customer?

Six Tips to Writing Better Copy — Make your headlines and paragraphs more effective by following these six easy copywriting tips.
make it sing

How To Write Headlines That Surprise The Brain — Research shows how substituting a word in a familiar expression causes the brain of a reader to snap to attention.
word play

Two Great Infographics to Evaluate Your Website — Check out these two infographics to help you evaluate your website's elements and review key stats.
view now

Infographic: Connecting with Millennials — Is your content successfully reaching millennials? Compare your strategies to these surefire tips and get more shares from your content.
reach out

Sponsored Content Trends — Sponsored content is emerging as the newest form of scalable online advertising.
read more

Fantastic SEO Infographic — Brafton infographic shows how content is the future of SEO.
see the graphic

SEO: Important Google Keyword Changes — New Google policies make it harder to find the keywords you need to optimize for search engines.
keyword chaos

How to Optimize Your Landing Pages — Customized landing pages can improve campaign results up to a 70%.
click through

10 Ways to Fill Your Story Pipeline — Trying to come up with story ideas for your newsletter or blog? Here are ten ways to jumpstart your effort.
copy concepts

Response Rates and Gender — Does your marketing subtly appeal to one gender more than the other? What can you do about it?
read the research

Ultimate Guide to Text Abbreviations — It may be mind-boggling but we easily compiled more than 1,600 abbreviations and acronyms used in texting.
txt abbrev

Holiday Marketing — What's your marketing plan for the holidays? Here are some great ideas to consider.
read more

Situation Analysis — You can use a 5C framework to evaluate your marketing situation. Learn more.
creating a 5c analysis

Why invest in preprinted letterhead? — Author Eddy Hagen shows us why quality preprinted letterhead and envelopes are a great idea.
see why

Take the Printing Terms Quiz — Our printing terms quiz is a test of 20 questions. See how many you can get right!
go to the printing terms quiz

Quiz Answers — Here are the answers to our printing terms quiz. Hope you did well!
passing grade?

Heavy Coverage... 10 Job-Saving Tips — 10 tips to keep in mind when your print job has heavy ink coverage.
heavy coverage design

Rich Black Ink — Make your black backgrounds deeper and richer by adding some color to the 100% black ink.
here's how to create rich black

Product Focus: UV Coating — Did you know UV coating looks great and can protect your print jobs from automation damage and even normal wear?
learn more

Varnish, Coatings and Other Effects — Want to know more about varnish? This tutorial says it all!
visualize varnish

Five Great Packaging Resources — Whether you are launching a new product or redesigning the packaging of an existing one, sometimes it helps to be inspired by great work.
discover 5 great sites

Video: How Paper Is Made — Choose from both an article and a video on the process of manufacturing paper from start to finish.
paper in the making

Paper Thickness and Weight — How thick is a given weight of paper? It all depends on the type of paper it is. Confused? Read this and you won't be.
more on paper thickness

The Right Paper — Ever wonder which stock you should specify for which type of project? Wonder no more; they are all listed here!
go to paper uses article

Video: The Importance of Sustainable Forestry — Know the truth about recycling, where paper comes from and the importance of sustainable forestry.
watch now

Paper Glossary — Here's the key to keeping up when inundated with paper jargon. This one's a keeper!
go to glossary article

Understanding Paper Brightness — Brightness not only determines how vibrant an image is but also determines a paper's color cast. Explained.
paper brightness

Scientific American: Brains Prefer Reading Paper — SA cites 200+ studies showing human brains prefer reading text on paper rather than screens.
smart read

Video: Two Sides - Busting more Myths about Print and Paper — Two Sides North America has a great video busting the myth that print may not be environmentally friendly.
watch the video

When Do You Need a Paper Merchant? — If you require assistance frequently with exotic stocks or paper research issues, we can introduce you to a specialist known as a paper merchant.
learn more about paper merchants

Product Focus: Loop Stitching — Loop stitching is a great bindery option for brochures or catalogs that need to be included in a three-ring binder. They lie flat while opened, unlike materials that rely on drilled holes.
learn more loop stitching

Folding Options: Pluses and Minuses — We lay out typical folding options and their relative advantages!

Folding: Common Terms and Diagrams — Wouldn't know a French fold if you were engulfed in one? Read this and you'll never be flat on folding.
folding terms unfolded

Getting Started with QR Codes — QR codes explained and suggested actions to take to get QR savvy.
learn how

5 Great Videos Explain Augmented Reality — Five videos chosen to demonstrate augmented reality, the process of superimposing digital content onto real-world items.
see it augmented

Updating Your Print for QR Codes — We discuss four areas of your print footprint that need to be updated in the age of QR codes and smart phones.
what you need to update

Update on QR Codes — What is a QR code? How are they being used? Who invented it?
get the skinny on qr codes

Moving Beyond Static QR Codes — Drill down into your marketing ROI with the details derived from 1:1 QR codes!
qr gets personal

Ten Reasons to Include a QR Code — Read 10 great reasons why you should consider integrating a QR code into your next print campaign.
reasons one to ten

Best Day and Time to Send Emails? — The research is in on the best days and times of days to send your emails.
is it conclusive?

Infographic: Twitter Tips — This infographic from Fusework Studios shows how you can get the most from Twitter.
tweet tweet

Ensuring Email Deliverability — You spend a lot of time creating your email marketing campaigns. Make sure they get delivered.
deliverability tips

USPS: postage rates increase as of July 2022 — The USPS announced a significant increase in postage rates for 2022. Here's a summary; call us for details.
upward bound

Reminder: Donor Receipts Must Be Mailed First Class — Acknowledgments of organizations or individuals who make donations are considered financial documents.
know the rules

See Who Viewed Your Piece Using USPS Informed Delivery — Did you know you can get a snapshot of who viewed your piece online using Informed Delivery, the USPS service that allows consumers to preview what will be in their mailbox?
get informed

New Postage Rates for January 2018 — As has become custom, January is ushering in a new set of postage rates from the USPS. Here's a summary of the changes.
read more

NCOA: National Change of Address — Lean more about NCOA, a secure, licensed service from the USPS to keep your lists up to date.
learn about ncoa

USPS Retail, Commercial Rates Set to Decrease April 10, 2016 — A recession-era surcharge on postal rates is expiring, and the USPS will effectively decrease postage rates.
how much savings?

Bipartisan Support to Tackle USPS Funding Issues — There is bipartisan support in Congress for a bill to reform the USPS and make it more solvent.
where it stands

Alert: USPS Price Increase Approved with Effective Date of May 31, 2015 — Here is a summary of the recently approved USPS price changes. Call us with any questions!
see the new prices

Postal Inspectors Warn of Email Fraud — USPS Postal Inspection Service warns of trojan horse email spam. Beware of what shows up in your inbox!
learn more

USPS Address Panel Updates — A fantastic PDF detailing the new requirements for the address panel for any Standard Mail project, i.e. direct mail.
usps address panel

USPS Mailing Panel Location Change: Important! — The USPS has changed folded mailpiece requirements effective January, 2013. Here is a summary of the changes.
new address panel requirements

Creating a USPS IMb Mailer ID — Follow these simple steps to create your own USPS Mailer ID.
get started

The Eggcorn Is Born — An eggcorn is an unintended pun of sorts. A term only recently coined, it's taken on a life of its own.
eat your corny

99 Ways to Win an Argument — In a perfect world, best ideas win. In the real world, recognize these logical fallacies.
dark arts

iPhones, Androids and Print Production — It may be tempting to edit and send us a file from your smart phone or approve a proof from your iPad. We find the technology is not quite ready.
here's why

How to Quickly Identify Counterfeit Currency — Check out these three simple ways to determine if your larger denomination US currency is authentic.
spot on

Hammered Grammar — These jokes, compiled by a dictionary blog, will have every editor out there laughing.
get it?

A Tale of a Cat Who Killed My Mac — When the cat recently wrecked the Mac, we learned some lessons the hard way that all laptop users should heed.
spilled milk

Video: Very Funny Ikea Catalog TV Commercial — This Ikea television ad highlights the user-friendliness of its print campaign, spoofing a MacBook campaign.
watch it

The Time It Takes — How long does it take to...
fun facts to track time

Lessons Learned from a Young Bassoonist — Why would a gifted musician choose such an obscure instrument?
learn about the bassoon

8 Jokes for the Holiday Season — A good joke can come in handy this time of year. Here are eight bad ones.
laugh a little

How a Printing Error Gave Us a Green Incredible Hulk — Stan Lee, the creator of the Incredible Hulk, originally envisioned a grey-skinned hulk. Lucky for him, it printed green.
green with envy

Guide to Google Advanced Search — This is one of the easiest-to-follow guides on Google searches you will ever find. Case study based, live links to each example.
amp your search