Business Strategies Etc.

Third Place Press – On Demand Books

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:11:53 +0000

Third Place Books is one of the few owners of the Espresso Book Machine® from On Demand Books; it is a fully integrated system that prints, binds and trims books with full color covers. The Espresso Book Machine can produce paperbacks in variable combinations of trim sizes between 4.5″ x 5.0″ and 8.25″ x 10.5″ ... Keep reading here » Third Place Press – On Demand Books

The Environment Report: Fixing the Organic Label

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Wed, 05 May 2010 02:45:57 +0000

They cost more, but sales of organic foods are rising. Even in this down economy, organic food sales are going up 3-times faster than other foods.

That’s happening as the government is working to make sure everything that’s labeled organic actually is organic.

... Keep reading here » The Environment Report: Fixing the Organic Label

PUMA’s “Clever Little Bag (Box?)”

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:44:36 +0000

PUMA has designed the ultimate "flat box!"

The bag/box is made of a single folded sheet of cardboard in a resuable, recyclable PET bag, designed to protect shoes from the time they leave the factory until the customer gets them home.

... Keep reading here » PUMA’s “Clever Little Bag (Box?)”

Choose Not to Use

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 02:43:32 +0000

To print or not to print, that is the question.

Suddenly print-on-demand is a green strategy! Produce what you need, when you need it. Does that sound familiar? Actually sounds like the advice my mother used to give us when we were kids: "Take only what you can eat."

... Keep reading here » Choose Not to Use

Labels – Not Just a Pretty Face

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:05:09 +0000

Rolls and rolls of labels come pouring out of John Shanley’s plant, Labels West. Located in Woodinville, the heart of Washington “wine country,” Labels West produces labels for some of the best names among the nearly 300 wineries gaining national and international recognition in the wine industry. Traditionally labels like those that appear on consumer ... Keep reading here » Labels – Not Just a Pretty Face

This is the End of Publishing/This is NOT the End of Publishing

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:40:51 +0000

Take a close look at this from a marketing perspective. What happens when you flip everything you thought you saw and heard on its head?

... Keep reading here » This is the End of Publishing/This is NOT the End of Publishing

Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:36:10 +0000

Sometimes you just have to show people to help them get the idea! And what a great way to put banners, posters, and window graphics to work! One town in England is taking a novel approach to the scores of closed-up shops on its main street: they’re putting up fake business fronts to make the ... Keep reading here » Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Exploring the Packaging Eco-System

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:01:45 +0000

Packaging is more than just a pretty box that sits on a retail shelf. Packaging is an entire eco-system consisting of science, art, and technology to contain, protect, preserve, transport, inform and sell products. AllpakTrojan is a remarkable company that combines corrugated converting, package manufacturing, and commercial print to deliver sophisticated and attractive packaging ... Keep reading here » Exploring the Packaging Eco-System

Historic Book Binding Techniques

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:32:01 +0000

I'm a fan of books in any form - including edible - and have always wanted to learn how to bind a book. Now I have my chance. Seattle Center for Book Arts (SCBA), formed to promote education in hand book binding and related art forms, has some fascinating classes coming up for anyone in - or coming to - the Seattle area. ... Keep reading here » Historic Book Binding Techniques

Wide-Format Printing – Just About Any Substrate

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:57:21 +0000

Walk into Stella Color, Seattle WA, and you are faced with a “forest” of items printed on substrates ranging from Plexiglas to wood. With an eye to being more environmentally friendly, Stella Color produces a huge variety of items including: posters, fine art prints, textiles, wallpaper, trade show displays, banners, point-of-sale items, and vehicle ... Keep reading here » Wide-Format Printing – Just About Any Substrate

Here it is! A roll-up laptop/tablet/display!

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:30:32 +0000

We've been inundated with netbooks, notebooks, tablets, and e-books for the last few months. All of them are but variations on old designs and technology. HERE is someone who has taken a new look at the whole bunch and come up with something new! ... Keep reading here » Here it is! A roll-up laptop/tablet/display!

OptiscanApp Logo in the Wild – Tully’s Actually…

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:27:45 +0000

Sometimes art and life do really seem to resemble each other - in this case, it is logo and donut... Maybe it was the coffee, maybe it was the Seattle rain, but I had to laugh when I saw the donut selection the other morning in Tully's. ... Keep reading here » OptiscanApp Logo in the Wild – Tully’s Actually…

Graceful designs that don’t require electricity – we need more like this!

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 03:25:31 +0000

Living in a home heated by a forced air furnace turns your dining room into a desert.

Rather than buy an over-engineered mechanical device that gulps electricity and can harbor harmful mildew and bacteria, you could strategically place a few passive wood humidifiers. ... Keep reading here » Graceful designs that don’t require electricity – we need more like this!

Print – I Thought You Were Dead!

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:53:54 +0000

In a parody on the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads, the American Advertising Federation of Greenville SC (AAF Greenville) as put together a great little promo for the ADDY® Awards.

Listen carefully for the punch line! ... Keep reading here » Print – I Thought You Were Dead!

This “plastic” bag dissolves in water!

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:31:59 +0000

Cyberpac, a UK packaging company that describes themselves as "a science-driven, design-led" packaging company, has come up with a biodegradable, compostable, water soluble polymer for clear bags like those used to deliver magazines through the mail. ... Keep reading here » This “plastic” bag dissolves in water!

P-books, a-books, e-books, v-books – an entire alphabet of books

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:32:57 +0000

Books… they’ve been around in their current form for hundreds of years, and we’ve been reasonably happy with them.

But now there is an entire alphabet of book formats available. ... Keep reading here » P-books, a-books, e-books, v-books – an entire alphabet of books

UV Technology – Not Only Green, It Delivers Colour and Detail

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:55:42 +0000

A recent visit to 3S Printers, Richmond BC, gave me the opportunity to learn more about UV printing technology and to see first hand what fine work can be produced on uncoated paper. 3S specializes in incorporating processes used by the packaging industry to give projects new sparkle and texture while keeping costs down with ... Keep reading here » UV Technology – Not Only Green, It Delivers Colour and Detail

Nifty things discovered while looking for something else…

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:33:52 +0000

There are days when serendipity turns up some interesting tidbits. I'm sharing today's with you.

From breakfast cereal to cataloging to QR Codes to printing the Internet. Enjoy! ... Keep reading here » Nifty things discovered while looking for something else…

List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:30:43 +0000

Word “czars” at Lake Superior State University (LSSU) “unfriended” 15 words and phrases and declared them “shovel-ready” for inclusion on the university’s 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. ... Keep reading here » List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness

Being a Small Printer Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Green

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:54:53 +0000

Marine Printers, Vancouver BC, delivers on the green mandate to reduce, reuse, recycle and replace. In this case, small is not only beautiful, small is green. “Green printing” is not limited to FSC-certified paper and vegetable-based inks; new technology reduces the waste generated throughout the production cycle. And to top it off, Marine Printers is ... Keep reading here » Being a Small Printer Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Green

What Makes Green Printer a Green Printer?

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:46:12 +0000

Printing green and being a green printer is one thing, but to call your company “Green Printer” is another. Not only are you clearly defining your principles, you are setting some pretty high standards. Green Printer, Burnaby BC, doesn’t just talk the talk, they are walking it – or more likely, running it! Click ... Keep reading here » What Makes Green Printer a Green Printer?

Sign of the times? UK Banks to vote to abolish checks

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:36:20 +0000

When was the last time you wrote a check? Can you even remember?

I used to buy boxes of 250 checks at a time several times a year for my personal account. Now I use one packet of 25 checks in a year. ... Keep reading here » Sign of the times? UK Banks to vote to abolish checks

When Social Media Goes Anti-Social

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:36:58 +0000

Social media campaigns are no different from any other marketing campaign; they can be good, iffy, or bad – or even scary! Social media, however, is so very personal.

Under the “iffy” category, we find campaigns like a recent B2B project that inched toward stalking. ... Keep reading here » When Social Media Goes Anti-Social

It is Better to Be First

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:38:06 +0000

In 1993, Al Ries and Jack Trout published The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. It opens with: "Many people believe that the basic issue in marketing is convincing prospects that you have a better product or service. Not true. The basic issue in marketing is creating a category you can be first in."

Question: Who was the first person to fly the Atlantic solo? Who was the second? ... Keep reading here » It is Better to Be First

New Items in Used Boxes – Columbia Sportswear

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:39:44 +0000

Catalog and online buyers collect lots and lots of boxes and packaging. Just take a look at the “box closet” at our house; we seem to collect Amazon boxes as fast as we collect coat hangers! So what do you do with them? Flatten them and put them in the recycling bin most likely. Columbia ... Keep reading here » New Items in Used Boxes – Columbia Sportswear

Paper – The NEW Material

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:40:35 +0000

The Pacific Northwest is one of the richest sources of fiber - including wood fiber - in North America. As a result, I'm always looking for new and creative ways that paper and pulp are being used.

Unfolded-Paper in Design, Art, Architecture and Industry, by Petra Schmidt and Nicola Stattmann (Birkhäuser 2009), is an amazing book showing how far we can go with cellulose. ... Keep reading here » Paper – The NEW Material

What WERE they thinking?

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:42:52 +0000

The publishers of the 119-year old weekly newspaper, The Budget, almost caused a riot – or at least a strike – when they proposed to move the paper from print to online in 2006.

Earlier this year the publisher reconsidered the plan to go online.

What WERE they thinking? ... Keep reading here » What WERE they thinking?

Paper – now you see it, now you don’t

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:43:45 +0000

Do you get those blue envelopes full of coupons in the mail once a month or so? Valpak, the company distributing local coupons by mail, is now delivering them by iPhone.

A free app from the Apple App Store gives you "instant point of purchase redemption" of coupons. How does it work? ... Keep reading here » Paper – now you see it, now you don’t

A New Look at Pixels vs Paper

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:44:42 +0000

We continue to fight the battle of "Pixels vs Paper" and a closer look at energy sources gives us a new look a detailed breakdown of computer usage and power requirements.

The Energy Information Administration, a source of government statistics regarding energy sources and usage, published June 2009 statistics (the most recent) on September 11. ... Keep reading here » A New Look at Pixels vs Paper

Edible Press Release – Read It and Eat

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:00:23 +0000

As a journalist covering the graphic communications industry, I am very aware that press conferences at trade events that serve breakfast or lunch always get good attendance!

Junior-Senior, a European creative and direct marketing agency, brings the munchies to the journalists' desks. How? ... Keep reading here » Edible Press Release – Read It and Eat

Fabric Graphics Magazine – Read My Niche Markets Article

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:01:38 +0000

Fabric Graphics MagazineThe editor of Fabric Graphics Magazine sent me on a quest to find digital graphics companies that are printing on textiles in niche markets. I couldn't resist!

So what is a niche? Why a niche market? And who are these people? ... Keep reading here » Fabric Graphics Magazine – Read My Niche Markets Article

Paper, Paper, and More Paper

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:02:11 +0000

In the world of printing and graphic design, discussions around paper – where it comes from and where it goes – are going on all the time.

Some of those discussions get pretty heated too. Let’s move from the serious to the sublime. ... Keep reading here » Paper, Paper, and More Paper

Twitter in the Real World – Chalkbot

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:03:01 +0000

During the Tour de France, a lumbering 1-tonne (that's 2,200 pounds), message-writing robot printed messages with water-soluble yellow paint on the pavement where bicyclers and their fans could read them. ... Keep reading here » Twitter in the Real World – Chalkbot

Harry Potter, Here We Come!

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:03:32 +0000

I've been watching the development of e-paper for 10 years, and now it's finally becoming a reality. Unfortunately, that reality is full of ads!

In September, LA and NYC readers of Entertainment Weekly will find a paper-thin interactive video player inserted into their magazine that promotes Pepsi and the 2009/2010 TV season. ... Keep reading here » Harry Potter, Here We Come!

My Favorite Technologies on the Hype Cycle

Gail Nickel-Kailing — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:04:12 +0000

Gartner has been publishing "hype cycle" diagrams for nearly 15 years, covering all kinds of technologies.

I am always interested in the one that focuses on emerging technologies because I tend to be a bit on the painful leading edge at times. ... Keep reading here » My Favorite Technologies on the Hype Cycle