Final Project--Alumni Trip Direct Mail

For my final project, I decided to create a high-quality direct mail piece advertising a theoretical PSU alumni trip to Europe. I had seen Emporia State University send out similar direct mail pieces, and I always found them very interesting. However, since I didn't have a limited budget on my project, I decided to do something a bit more elaborate than the other documents I had seen. I added a nifty die cut and some creative artwork to make the direct mail printed piece look like a postcard.

Thumbs/Demographics

The intention of this piece was to influence people to take the trip and be willing to spend the money to attend a PSU-sponsored trip, which would theoretically earn a bit of money for the university. The target audience for the project was very specific. Since most people aren't out of college and ready to travel until they are at least 25, the age range for this target audience was 25-65, and the education level of every participant would be at least a Bachelors degree, since the advertisement would go out only to PSU graduates.

Rough (Outside)

Rough (Inside)

Folding dummy

 


To mass produce this project, it would cost $0.48 to print, die cut and score each piece. Considering that the die is not a standard size, this price is very reasonable. To print 500 of these direct mail postcards, it would cost $240. This price includes 4 color printing, double sided printing, die cut and scoring. Pretty decent, I'd say!

Finished product! (Outside, Front)

The die cut is centered directly over a picture of Neuchwanstien castle in Germany. This makes it very interesting to print because the box that will be die cut in front has to line up exactly with the picture inside the printed piece. An extra issue is that the double-sided printing requires some calibration (image shift) to print accurately front-to-back.

Finished Product! (Inside)

Finished Product! (Outside, back)

Overall, this project was a wonderful learning experience. I learned the most about working with printers and how the elements I create in a design often, in turn, create problem-solving for them to do.

Direct Mail Project

For the direct mail project, I chose to design notifications for veterinary vaccinations. Because the variable data class graciously agreed to print our projects, I wanted to make sure that my directions were very clear so that the variable data class could read the Excel "database" that explained exactly which items went in which specific location on the direct mail piece. Since we couldn't easily communicate face-to-face with the students who would be printing our work, I wanted to make certain that my directions wouldn't confuse anyone (easily, at least). Besides, being a tech writing major, writing directions is something at which I am supposed to be skilled. = )

Demographic information

Direct Mail Thumbnail Sketches

In my design, I wanted specifically to keep things balanced, especially on the back side of the design. I chose to use asymmetrical balance in order to lend interest to what otherwise might a rather dull combination of elements. I ended up using a color matched specifically from the four-color raster images on each variable front side of the card, which I managed by using the eyedropper tool to sample a color from each image. This unified the front and back sides of each card. Also, the class suggested that I add a bit of panache to the "Animal Care Center" logo on the reverse side of the card, which I did. Miss Benson suggested that I incorporate a "paw print" graphic as the small "a" in each word, which I did.

Large Animal Rough (front side)

Small Animal Rough (front side)

Rough (back side)

In my design, I had three instances of variable data. One was that, for a certain audience owning large animals, the four-color raster image on the front of the card showed a picture of three horses (quite large animals, especially if you've been stepped on by one)  = ). For the audience of small animal owners (indicated in my Excel database), the image was of a cat.

The other two instances of variable date were (1) the name of the pet's owner and (2) the name of the pet due for vaccinations. The lists of both categories of names were also listed in my Excel document.

Finshed Large Animal (front side)

Finished Back Side

Finished Small Animal (front side)

This project really taught me a lot about how direct mail is printed. I found it fascinating that so much information could be personalized through using a database with information linked to an InDesign file!