I once had a client show me some work I had done that they requested to print on their own.  Being a designer, I have developed quite a few relationships with multiple printers in the area and on-line.  This client was trying to “cut costs.”  A VERY common idea among business owners who don’t really understand the difference in printing qualities.

When she got her letterhead paper printed and shipped to her, she called me right away.  The shade of purple that I designed the logo in and the shade they printed in were not even close!  One was blue and the other was purple.  Then she pulled out the business cards she received.  Thankfully they looked much more rich in color and true to what we were desiring, although not to my perfection.  The bigger problem for me was the inconsistent branding look that she now had to work with.  That is like printing Target’s logo in a lighter shade of red than what we see on EVERY piece of collateral they have.  You see that shade of red anywhere and you think of Target!  I even see random people wearing that color of shirt and khaki pants at the mall and I assume they just came from working at Target.  That specific shade of red symbolizes that store to me.  Same goes for UPS’ brown.  Always the same shade of brown, never anything different.

The printing company they used is one of those, very common, cheap companies on-line offering so many free items if you just place an order with them.  It is so enticing as a new business owner, but I want to caution you!  Don’t invest in the designing fees for your marketing materials to only have them come across as very poor once printed.  That will only reflect your business to your customer and probably not do you any good, a bad investment.