Did you know the HardingPoorman Group has been holding 40,000 pounds of road salt for the Super Bowl Committee for the past year?

It came from Dallas where an ice storm hit last year’s Super Bowl but the salt didn’t arrive in time. Hope we don’t need it this year!

Did you know…the US is the largest consumer of paper goods in the world?

Even with all of our efforts to reduce waste and use more recycled paper fiber, we still top the list. Here at the HardingPoorman Group, we are hyper aware of our carbon footprint.

One of the ways HPG works to reduce our footprint is by using recycled and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified Paper. We are an approved “FSC Certified Printer.”

In order to make this claim and use the FSC logo, HPG had to go through a detailed chain-of-custody certification process.

We went through the process because it’s the right thing to do. HPG is committed to contribute to better uses of energy, more recycling of paper products, and less wastefulness. To learn more about the Forest Stewardship Council, please visit their website www.fscus.org.

With the New Year well on its way, now’s the ideal time to look ahead at your company’s future printing needs. Whether you can look ahead a quarter or a full year, print job advance planning can save you a bundle.

Every time your printer turns on a machine, you pay pre-production fees such as file prep and make-ready charges. Naturally, you always pay a premium for rush jobs. So why not group as many printing jobs together as possible? Called “ganging,” printing multiple jobs at the same time saves on materials, energy, and reduces pre-production fees.

If you know you generally print one form a month, that’s twelve “file preps” per year. Send all twelve jobs to your printer at the same time, and pay one prep fee. Even ganging by quarter will be a money saver.

Here’s another way to gang jobs:  Print as many pieces as possible on the same stock. Since most paper stocks have a minimum order, using the same paper for multiple items will also provide savings.

Improve savings even more by choosing a “house stock”, which is a paper that your printer always keeps on hand…..they buy in bulk so it is usually a more economic option.  Here at the HardingPoorman Group, our house stock is a bright white recycled sheet that we offer to clients at a lower rate than most of the 3^rd class paper sheets.

Plan ahead this year, and reduce your bottom line. Ask your HPG rep for ideas that fit your corporate needs and timeframe.

Super Bowl 46 is here, and with it, lots of superb things are going on in and around Indianapolis. Many of the Super Bowl related activities have nothing to do with football or celebrities, but rather, raising awareness and helping others.

One of 7,000 children's baskets being filled with Hoosier products at HPG

Super Baskets of Hope is one of those programs. Thirty-two cities that are home to National Football League teams will divide 7,000 baskets, each filled with child-friendly items donated by Indiana businesses. The baskets of toys, puzzles and games will go to children in hospitals in NFL cities across the country, thanks to a super-sized effort from Riley Children’s Foundation and dozens of Indiana businesses.

To view a video of the Super Baskets of Hope program, click HERE.

HardingPoorman Group is a big part of the Super Baskets of Hope effort, donating warehousing space for the thousands of items that will fill the baskets.  These items have been arriving at HPG over the past several months.

The Super Baskets of Hope will be wrapped and shipped to children’s hospitals around the country on Jan. 30^th.

Donations are still being accepted to offset the cost of shipping 7,000 baskets. To make a $5 donation, text RILEY to 90999.

As of January 22^nd, it will cost a penny more to mail letters via the United States Postal Service (USPS). This is the first price change for First-Class mail in more than 2 years. The increase is in response to efforts to curtail spiraling deficits within the USPS.

Since HardingPoorman Group handles First-Class mail for many of our clients, we have been following recent events regarding pricing and financial matters at USPS.

Double click on this link new postal pricing changes to see all the new postal pricing changes going into effect this month. Here are some of the most common changes:

• Letters (1 oz.) – $0.01 increase to $0.45
• Postcards – $0.03 increase to $032
• Letters to Canada or Mexico (1 oz.) – $0.05 increase to $0.85
• Letters to other international destinations – $0.07 increase to $1.05

Prices also will go up for Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Extra Services. Express Mail and Priority Mail prices will remain unchanged.

No matter how large the event, planning and organization are always key components of event success.

There are a dozen (or more) questions you need to ask yourself before planning for your event signage.  Here are just a few:

• What is the purpose of my signage?  Is it for advertising?  Is it to draw attention?  Is it directional signage to guide visitors?
• What restrictions are there about signage size at this event?
• How will my signage be displayed? Do I need back-lit signage, front-lit, banners, pull-downs, or free-standing signage?
• What substrate will be best?  Will my signage come into contact with water, sunlight, heat, etc.

Next, consider how to stand apart from your competitors and how to draw attention to your brand.  Events can be the perfect place to use oversized prints that feature the latest printing techniques (such as specialized coatings).

At a recent event at the Indianapolis Convention Center, HPG had a client who took advantage of every surface.  No only did they utilize their booth space in the convention hall with banners and floor graphics, but they even used the registration booth in the foyer to show support for their sponsor – Dr. Pepper.

With advanced UV printing technology, there is the ability to print on a huge variety of signage materials including vinyl, adhesive backed paper, canvas, board, and back-lit panels like those you see here.

Make sure you take full advantage of your signage options at your next event!

Color standardization is a vital concept. Ask any designer that has worked hard to pull together a new logo with a well thought out color palette, only to have the greens go yellow and the blues go gray when that logo is translated into print.

As we mentioned in part I of this series, it IS difficult to assure colors will appear the same across a wide spectrum of printing substrates. We no longer rely upon empirical data or the subjective eye to match color.

HardingPoorman Group’s solution was to adopt the IDEAlliance G7 Master Printer Offset Printing and Proofing expertise plus TECHKON color measurement. We now get industry-accepted standards of visual color match from proof to print EVERY TIME.

Here is how it works:

• HPG takes all files (from prepress, proofing, and press) and runs them through a rigorous verification system.  If the color is consistently achieving more than two Delta E (a measurement of color) variances, the file does not go to print or is re-run.
• HPG manages spot colors on press as well with specialized color measuring devices – enabling operators to quickly and efficiently troubleshoot and correct any color issues.
• Customer libraries are kept with swatches of reoccurring PMS / Corporate colors to insure we are able to repeatedly match colors.

Got a tricky color in your logo? Give HPG the challenge. We can guarantee the best color match technologically possible.

Color standards are something you don’t think about much until they are done incorrectly. Have you ever had series of items printed on various materials, such as a coffee mug, brochure and backlit event signage – and none of the colors match? Reds look maroon on some items, pink on others?

It is hard to assure that colors will appear the same across a wide spectrum of printing substrates.

Our solution was to adopt the IDEAlliance G7 Master Printer Offset Printing and Proofing expertise in addition to TECHKON color measurement. We can integrate modern process control techniques with proofing and press controls, getting industry-accepted standards of visual color match from proof to print.

We are one of just three printers in Indiana to utilize this state-of-the-art technology.

Recertified as a G7 Master Printer for the third time, HardingPoorman now has two G7 color professionals and 10 certified staff members deemed “proficient” in G7 practices and methodologies by IDEAlliance.

Why does this matter to you? Well, it comes right back to those mugs, brochures and backlit event signage. You want your brand to print true, to be universally recognizable immediately, no matter where it is seen. We understand the power of brands – for us as well as our clients. We can guarantee the best color match technologically possible, no matter what we print for you.

So long, 2011! And with it, good-bye to tired, traditional ways of reaching your clients. Time to look ahead to 2012 and check out how new media, smart media and e-media are affecting consumer buying trends.

A tri-fold brochure and business cards alone no longer get the job done. Savvy companies integrate print with social media to reach their clients in ways and in places they are familiar with.

• Consider transit advertising
• Ads or messaging on Twitter and Facebook
• Create a YouTube video to explain and showcase a new product
• Add a personalized URL to your next mailer to direct customers to a landing page with a call to action
• Perhaps you can even add a QR code to your business card, shelf hanger, or next direct mail piece.  You can use the code to direct your customers to special offers.

Let HardingPoorman Group help you start the New Year off with a bang by effectively help to manage your marketing strategy as well as your printing.

Happy New Year from HPG!

On behalf of all of us here at HardingPoorman Group:

SPG Graphics, Ropkey Graphics, Full Court Press, Discom Technologies, and Saint Clair Press, we would like to wish you a wonderful year!

We look forward to working with each of you in as many exciting new ways as possible in the coming year. May it be a healthy and prosperous us all.

From all of us to all of you, here’s to a wonderfully engaging, creative, and successful 2012!