Postcard Designers - Getting It Right

Like instructing someone on how to prepare your favourite dish, leaving your postcard design in the hands of another can have results ranging from commendable to disastrous!

While the experts will probably give you something that is overall better than what you could have done...

Communication misfires or forgotten details are common and could see your postcards get sent back for a redo.

For postcard designers, it's just a project, but for you it could be your whole life - so it's natural to want to take the matter into your own hands!

After all, only you know exactly what you want.

Doing your own postcard design may sound like the obvious answer, but plenty of other things could go wrong and you could end up with postcards that are just as bad, or worse.

The chart below outlines a few of the advantages and disadvantages, and will help in deciding which method of design is for you.

Making Your Own Postcards

Advantages

• Power to create anything you want
• Short turnaround time
• Inexpensive
• Many templates available to assist you
• Can work on it whenever

Disadvantages

• Low knowledge or skill can produce juvenile looking, ineffective postcards
• Lengthy time investment required

Outsourcing Your Postcard Design

Advantages

• The confidence that your work is being handled by experts
• Potential for extremely high-quality postcards
• Frees up time for you to focus on other matters
• Some companies offer unlimited, free revisions

Disadvantages

• May not get exactly what you had in mind
• Entire project from start to finish can take weeks
• Price can reach up to a several hundred dollars
• Project cancellations can result in wasted money

Finding Good Postcard Designers

Websites like Logtechnology.com and MaaDesigns.co.uk (do a search for stationery design or postcard designers) provide professional postcard design services with lots of helpful how-to's and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to familiarize you with the process.

Get a good postcard designer!

The esteemed NewDesignGroup.ca have completed a number of postcard projects for clients in the Ontario, Canada region, such as the prestigious CBC Radio Canada and an award winning nursery school.

If you're wondering where you fit into all this, you can breath a sigh of relief and download an application that will help you to make your own postcard.

Try Brothersoft's Postcard Maker 1.3 available at BrotherSoft.com

Outsourced or not, finding postcard designers that'll do the job well is the key - so that you don't waste your time and money.

Whereas almost all normal postcard designs involve an attention-grabbing image along with a headline...

Resist the urge to boast your amazing graphic skills or get your moneys worth with design professionals by demanding overly complex, cluttered postcards.

Balancing visuals is surprisingly important; while the picture you place on the front helps, you don't want anything to distract from the chief element - the message, which must be brief and to the point (make every word count!)

Double check before printing!

Similarly, you may think that full colour, artistic scenery is better on both sides of your postcard.

Be wary - this can be confusing, as it is human nature to turn a postcard over and immediately get the message (a phone number to call, an offer that is happening, etc).

If the information isn't clear enough, or is obscured by pictures and such, the reader will quickly lose interest.

One side should be the focal point, and the other should speak to those who were tempted by the front side.

You can also try using double-sided postcards - they're only marginally more expensive than single-sided, and you can get all your required info on them without creating a textual mess on one side.

Explore our site further for more postcard ideas!