Four Reasons Why Graphic Designers Should Design for Print

Maybe you’re a graphic designer looking to grow your business. Or maybe you’re a printer trying to convince graphic designers to design for print so you can sell to them. Either way, it’s helpful to know that print isn’t dead and that designing for print is still in high demand.

Designing for print is a good next step for graphic designers who currently only provide web designs and digital services, whether they’re part of a company or are freelancers. Here’s why.

Why Design for Print?

1. Print is an Effective Marketing Tool

People trust print

Despite how popular digital advertising is, studies still find that people trust printed ads more. Marketing Sherpa concluded that print ads are the most trusted form of advertising compared with television, web, radio, and outdoor ads, with 82% of respondents saying that they trust print ads.

Direct mail works

Often print ads work in the form of direct mail, which itself is a powerful marketing tool. Direct mail consistently has higher response rates than digital mail and ads. True Impact Marketing conducted a study that found that compared to digital ads, the participants:

• Were more motivated to act by direct mail
• Found it easier to recall information on direct mail
• Were able to process information on direct mail more easily

Local businesses benefit

Print is also especially effective for reaching a local audience through large format items such as posters, yard signs, banners, and car magnets. Many local businesses rely heavily on print. Instead of trying to persuade them to get a website or update their social media profile, designers can design for print based on the needs that they know they have.

Enhance your marketing strategy

Furthermore, graphic designers who know how to effectively design for print can also use this skills to design print materials for themselves, which enhances their marketing strategy and grows their business.

2. Selling Print is Profitable

Expand your horizons

Offering design services for print in addition to web gives graphic designers an extra stream of revenue. This also allows them to reach new markets with prospects that are not necessarily interested in digital channels. This is especially the case with smaller, older, independent businesses that rely on word-of-mouth and traditional marketing.

Upsell and cross-sell

It’s often a challenge for graphic designers to upsell or cross-sell because of the nature of their services. Designing business cards makes a great service to add onto a regular website design job, and flyer designs go well with designs for a digital ad. When graphic designers design for print, they get to increase their profits with more add-ons and packages.

Resell print

Graphic designers who design for print have the option to sell the printed product itself too. The financial risk is very low because they don’t need to purchase any printing equipment to do this. They can simply place the order with a wholesale printer, mark up the product, and resell it to their clients. This is another way to make profit. For example, SinaLite found that the estimated average markup for printed business cards 127%.

3. Print is a Physical Product

Experience design more fully

Graphic design is highly visual, but it can be more than that. Printing adds more tangible elements to design so that viewers can engage with it with more senses, for example:

• Feeling the texture, weight, and ink of a business card
• Smell the stock and the coating of a flyer
• Hear the sound of the envelope tearing or the unfolding of a brochure

They will pay more

A research article published last year by Oxford University Press explains how consumers generally value physical goods more than digital goods. This makes them more willing to pay more for physical products. Graphic designers often find their services devalued because of their digital nature. When they design for print, they bring their designs into the physical realm, which increases their perceived value.

Brand with utility

With physical products, clients not only see the branding in the design, but they are often also able to use these products for their daily needs. Good examples of these products include branded notepads, wall calendars, and promotional pens.

4. Designing for Print Increases Creativity

Create new things

Graphic designers must continuously improve and upgrade their skills in order to keep with with new technological advancements and trends. Learning to design for print is a form of skill upgrading that gives them the ability to create even more types of work. Often this may involve creatively adapting old artwork for new purposes as well as finding ways to integrate design with different mediums (e.g. how to connect direct mail with a client’s website).

Connect people with creativity

Adding print design to digital design helps graphic designers disseminate more of their work to the world. It also encourages cooperation between different the parties involved in the process. Through their print designs, designers get the opportunity to work with printers, prepress operators, bindery professionals, and more so that the end result is a complete printed job ready to reach the world.

Are You Ready to Print?

After designing a piece for print, graphic designers have the option of getting it printed and reselling it to their clients. To minimize risk, find a reliable printer that can meet the needs of the design and the clients that it’s for.

SinaLite is a wholesale trade printer that prints only for resellers, which includes graphic designers. This means that their wholesale prices are not accessible to the end user, giving the reseller an advantage. These resellers enjoy:

• Unique specialty stocks that bring out certain elements of a design
• Fast turnarounds to meet the deadlines of the designers’ clients
• An easy-to-use website for placing print orders
• Free file templates to help them design for print

Happy designing!