Sometimes a small adjustment can make all the difference. And when it comes to the design and printing of crucial marketing materials it can even make a significant difference—on your bottom line! One of the lessons of this story is that sometimes the best way to reconcile your budget and your objectives may be with a little adjustment in size.

Meet The Client

Meet Minneapolis is the name of that city’s official convention and visitors association. The objective, of course, is to woo visitors from around the world by offering world-class convention facilities and the promise of a wonderful visitor experience. So when they undertook to create a new corporate brochure there could be no compromises. It had to be elegant, alluring, impactful and persuasive.

But, as it happened, it also had to be produced on a “tight-fit” budget.

No Compromises

Meet Minneapolis’ designer Evangeline Johnson wanted to create something that made a strong impression. But all too soon, she discovered her budget threatened to impose compromises she didn’t want to make. Enter GLS Account Executive Jim Benedict.

“Vangie” and Jim got together in the GLS “idea room” and working as partners, reviewed objectives and ideas. Then, sketching out possibilities on white paper, almost like the iconic restaurant napkin, a concept began to emerge, a concept that met the marketing goals while meeting the budget, too.

“Jim was great, helping me with tips on how to make everything work.”

– Evangeline Johnson, Designer,
– Meet Minneapolis

Developing Ideas

Among the initial adjustments was a downsizing of the piece that allowed use of a smaller press, reduced paper costs and resulted in a finished size that would have the added benefit of lowering mailing costs. Would the smaller piece reduce its visual impact? No way!

By containing costs through re-sizing, Vangie was able to create a very cool cover, featuring a digitized map of the globe with a glossy, raised texture, using high profile UV coating silk-screened on an uncoated cover stock. The effect is striking, elegant—and memorable.

The saddle-stitched interior contained content that tells the Minneapolis story with vivid, engaging, high-impact color printing. But Vangie needed flexibility too. She needed one brochure to do the job of several. “To save costs, we need to be able to address widely different groups with a single piece.”

So working together, they developed a creative array of die cuts that would contain inexpensive, changeable inserts addressing different target markets as needed. As the ideas gelled, GLS’ CAD designer supplied prototype mock-ups so Vangie could better visualize the options.

A Team Approach Works

The close collaboration made the creation of the piece conform to the designer’s original vision while taking advantage of cost-saving options suggested by GLS. “Jim was really great, helping me with tips about the things we could do to make everything work,” she said. “Even like how to revise the setup of my files to make them work on a smaller press and reduce production costs. It was really helpful to have him come in and show me all the possibilities.”

Objectives Met

In the end, Designer Vangie Johnson got what she came for: an elegant, unique and memorable piece that persuasively makes the case for Minneapolis as a world-class convention and visitor venue—within budget. More evidence that minor adjustments can sometimes make a major difference!

If you think you’d like to work with a strong partner with the ability to offer innovative, cost-saving solutions, find out how GLS Companies can help; contact an account executive today.

To learn more about Meet Minneapolis, visit www.meetminneapolis.com.