I don't sell ad specialties.
The reason I am including a section on this subject is to
talk about the value of illustration in this arena. The cost
of ad specialites is relevant to the size of a company. 100
coffee cups at $9 earch or 1,000 cups at $3 each will add
up fast. Advertising specialites is a billion dollar industry.
I feel more than half of that is a waste of time and money.
The lack of thought that goes into some of this stuff is
amazing. The tag "Trash and Trinkets" is well deserved.
If you are about to have your logo silk screened or baked
onto a give-away item, think about this. Money spent on a
designer is a good investment. Money spent on an illustration
of the finished product is an even better investment. As
you can see by the examples here, clients get a first hand
look at what the finished product should look like. Ask your
salesman to show this to the printer and make sure he can
deliver what you want.
It is against the nature of an ad spec salesman to go through
these steps. An ad specialty item has a hundred percent markup
at the git go, with a multitude of other charges that pop
up. They usually promise their customers that art charges
won't be much more than $35 or $40. An illustration is out
of the question.
In the example shown below, Merican Industries found an ink
pen they liked and decided to have their two color logo imprinted
on the side. The illustration shows the blue in thelogo wouldn't
show on a black background. They went with a silver imprint
and it looks great. It cost an extra seventy five to find
out.
This mug has a mottled gray finish.
We found a third color white really made a great improvement.
Yes, it would have worked without the additional color. Just
not very well.
