PsPrint Blog

30 Designs Featuring Cemeteries

Brian Morris — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:12:36 +0000

Humans are fascinated with cemeteries; though no one wants to take up residence, we love to walk through cemeteries and study unique, old gravestone and tomb designs. For some, cemeteries offer a religious experience. For others, cemeteries are memorials to their deceased loved ones. Still others enjoy cemeteries for their historical and genealogical significance. And, of course, some visit cemeteries purely out of morbid curiosity.

Whether you’re enchanted by the above-ground tombs at New Orleans’ Saint Louis Cemetery, or you want to preserve history by making gravestone rubbings, you need a chilling setting for your next work of fiction, or you just want to place flowers on a relative’s grave on Memorial Day, cemeteries probably mean something to you.

In fact, cemeteries mean something to almost everyone, which is why they’re often featured in popular artwork. And, in that medium, the most popular artwork featuring cemeteries is macabre in nature. No matter what cemeteries mean to you, I think most of us can agree that walking alone through a cemetery, particularly at night, is decidedly creepy. It is that creepiness that has inspired most of these designs, though I’ve sprinkled in a few that are a bit on the lighter side. Without further ado, I present 30 designs featuring cemeteries.

1. The Cemetery by karatastamer

2. Cemetery 2.5 by KoTnoneKoT

3. Into the Cemetery by Jack666rulez

4. At the Cemetery by a-gnosis

5. Cemetery by dante-mk

6. At the Cemetery by MacGreen

7. Cemetery Sketch by artozi

8. Cemetery by VityaR83

9. Cemetery 1 by KoTnoneKoT

10. Cemetery Keeper by yahyaalakay

11. Cemetery Drive by xitsveronikiox

12. Cemetery by Vickie666

13. My Cemetery by Aeternum Art

14. Cemetery by Murr000

15. At the Cemetery by Liktarka-animal

16. A Quiet Cemetery by Catell-Ruz

17. Cloister Cemetery In The Snow by Fire-Starter-Studios

18. Magic Cemetery by ptitvinc

19. The Dark Cemetery by Davie-Filth

20. Cemetery Attack by Richard Blumenstein

21. Memory of the Tombs by Frederico Mariani

22. Graveyard Incantation by Hugo Silva

23. Lest We Forget by Krysten A. Palmer

24. Cemetery by beyzayildirim77

25. Grave by LuLebel

26. The Grave by LadyKenora

27. Gaffie the Grave Digger by Corpse-boy

28. The Girl Who Stood On A Grave by PrincessMagical

29. A Sundial In Grave by Marc Simonetti

30. My Grave by Rozefire

The post 30 Designs Featuring Cemeteries appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

10 Summer Newsletter Marketing Ideas

Brian Morris — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:02:50 +0000

Summer can be one of the hottest sales seasons for your business if you’re aggressive with your marketing strategy, relate to your customers’ problems and desires, and craft compelling offers that reach customers in convenient formats. One such format is a direct-mail newsletter, which you can tailor with useful and relevant content that reaches your customers at home. Boost summer profits with the following 10 summer newsletter marketing ideas.

1. Tips to beat the heat

If you’re in an industry that can cater to cool, you can use your newsletter to give customers tips for beating the summer heat. Air conditioning services, beverages, restaurants, bars and grills, clothing, recreation companies, and builders can all take advantage of this strategy.

2. Wedding planning

Photographers, caterers, rental halls, bridal shops, churches, DJs and other businesses can use direct-mail newsletters to promote wedding-related services.

3. Vacation planning

Tourist hot spots, Chambers of Commerce, convention and visitors bureaus, travel agencies, hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and a whole host of other businesses that cater to travelers can promote summer vacation products and services via newsletters.

4. The environment

Summer weather gets people outdoors and more in-tune with the environment, presenting a perfect opportunity to promote eco-friendly products and services in your newsletter.

5. Events

Summer events, such as community festivals and county fairs, are perfect marketing opportunities for many businesses. If you’ll be setting up a booth, let your customers know why they should stop by with your newsletter.

6. Holidays

Well-known summer holidays such as Independence Day, and lesser-known holidays such as Ice Cream Soda Day, can present excellent newsletter marketing opportunities.

7. Recipes

Summer is the cookout season, so use your newsletter to offer customers unique recipes that are relevant to your business.

8. Sidewalk sales

If you’ll host sidewalk sales this summer, use your newsletter to promote your special deal. If not, then host a “virtual sidewalk sale” and promote it in your newsletter.

9. Customer spotlights

Meet with a few of your customers and tell their stories in your newsletter. Don’t just settle for testimonials; create customer spotlights or case studies that demonstrate how you helped your customers. Include photos to add legitimacy, and you’ll have a powerful newsletter marketing piece all your customers can relate to.

10. Contests

Use your newsletter to promote a contest that’s relevant to your business, such as best patio picture for a landscaper or best family vacation photo for a travel agency.

Get creative with your summer newsletter marketing, make it engaging and useful to your customers as well as relevant to your business, and you’ll have a powerful marketing tool that will help profits sizzle this summer.

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Hot Off the Press: Cabrillo Stage, Dub Mission and More

Jennifer Moline — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:26:38 +0000

Great art requires great graphic designers to create great marketing materials. This week’s “Hot Off the Press” highlights designers – including Karen Johnson, Steven Noffsinger and Terri Driscoll – whose creations find a balance between the talent they’re promoting and information they’re dispensing via postcard handouts, display posters and more.

The thing I love about print marketing is it’s simple and inexpensive – if you work with an effective designer, you can craft a campaign that promotes your message in an eye-catching way. While I love those popular “more is better” commercials with the straight-faced man talking to children, a friend mentioned that he can’t recall what product the ad series is for. I realized I don’t, either (I looked it up – it’s for AT&T). Paying for the filming and then buying airtime couldn’t have been cheap for that ineffective ad campaign!

Print isn’t dead because it’s affordable to small businesses, and it can be done right when partnered with a good designer, as evidenced by the batch of PsPrint printing orders below. For more design inspiration, be sure to click on last week’s “Hot Off the Press,” which focused on nonprofit print marketing.

Poster design by Terri Driscoll for South to Shore

Door hanger for Real Estate Alliance Group

Booklet design by Nichole Aquino for Wardrobe for Opportunity

Back and front of postcard design by Karen Johnson for Lynne Rutter

Club card flyer front design (left) by Sep Ghadishah and back design by Frank Edwards for Dub Mission

Newsletter for Water Is Life Kenya

Club card flyer for Cabrillo Stage

Postcard design by The Sherwood Group’s Shirley Soda for American Society of Dermatopathology

Back and front of club card flyer for Fresno Reel Pride

Postcard design by Nora Thompson

Booklet cover for Christmas City Studio

Club card flyer design by Natalia Kim for Alameda County Fair

Postcard design by Steven Noffsinger for Lake Union Civic Orchestra

Brochure cover design by Marie-Jose Sat for Sonya Rapoport exhibition

Door hanger for Slip Free Option

The post Hot Off the Press: Cabrillo Stage, Dub Mission and More appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

10 Sizzling Barbecue Sauce Label Designs

Brian Morris — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:15:44 +0000

When summer rolls around, grills are fired up. The smoky smell of charred meat can wafts throughout my neighborhood on any given summer evening, and everyone seems to have their own special method for barbecuing the perfect ribs and more. But as Sweet Baby Ray’s puts it, the sauce is the boss, and there’s no shortage of barbecue sauce varieties at the local supermarket. Here are 10 of my favorite barbecue sauce label designs, served up for your inspiration.

1. Sweet Baby Ray’s

This simple design highlights the company’s awards and lends a down-home Southern charm to its sauce. Authenticity is paramount for a gourmet barbecue sauce, and this label design does a great job of making you feel as though the sauce came straight from Ray’s kitchen.

2. Broken Trail

Another label designed for authenticity, the goal of the designer was to ingrain its Texas roots into a striking design that stands out from the competition.

3. Proper BBQ

An entire line of branded barbecue products, each with a distinctive design style that makes it feel decidedly Old West – or right off the Conestoga wagon.

4. BC Lions BBQ Sauce

This was sold as a promotional piece for the BC Lions team in 2011. I love the use of the peeled orange as a “Q” and the contrast of the team-branded orange typography against the charcoal background.

5. Camping Sauces

This is a student-designed packaging concept for barbecue sauces geared toward campers. The idea is that different campers like different sauces, so they can be placed in smaller, camping-themed packages so multiple sauces can be enjoyed at each meal.

6. Pig of the Month

These labels were designed for the Pig of the Month mail-order barbecue sauce company. Each features a fun theme that matches its witty copy.

7. BBQ Fight Club

Illustrated and personified barnyard animals make these barbecue sauce label designs unique and attention getting.

8. Deen Bros.

I love the logo (the pig silhouette on a flame), which makes this an instantly understood and recognizable brand. The sauce was created by Jamie and Bobby Deen, sons of TV personality Paula Deen.

9. Danny D’s

Danny D’s barbecue sauce label design is modern and fun, yet old-school and genuine. It’s the perfect meld of a composite style that’s just different enough to get noticed.

10. Yellow Jacket

An ultra-modern barbecue sauce label that includes an easily branded bee character.

What’s your favorite barbecue sauce label design? Share it in the comments!

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30 Designs for Memorial Day

Brian Morris — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:12:27 +0000

Officially, Memorial Day is observed to pay tribute to those who have died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Unofficially, it’s also a day for family gatherings, cookouts, road trips and deep patriotism. Memorial Day is freedom, good weather, great people and fun; it is a day to remember those who have sacrificed yet also to celebrate those freedoms they sacrificed for. It is the American Spirit, and because the day means so many different things to so many different people, it’s no wonder many talented graphic designers have crafted various Memorial Day designs. Here, I showcase 30 of my favorite designs for Memorial Day.

1. Memorial Day by CatusSnake

2. A Soldier’s Prayer by JamminBison

3. Lest We Forget by Mikiangel001

4. Remembrance by runique

5. Happy Memorial Day by SuperStinkWarrior

6. Memorial by shadowkittyart

7. Memorial Day Jump by Poison Arrow Designs

8. Memorial by Michael Bittick

9. Memorial Day by SonicRocksMySocks

10. Memorial Day by cdblue

11. Memorial Day Greeting by Haley Stone

12. Memories by Davydos Vystartas

13. Memorial Day by bcconceptes

14. Memorial Day by SweetKitty999

15. Memorial Day by bazikg

16. Memorial Day by Startzman

17. Memorial Day by ChiefJoseph

18. Thank You by MalevolentNate

19. Memorial Day Party Poster Template by 4ustudio

20. Big Boss Salutes Memorial Day Heroes

21. Memorial Day by XGambit3567

22. Memorial Day by JesusFreak0261

23. Memorial Helmet by Rogue5

24. The Activity Memorial Day by MitchGerards

25. Memorial Day by UIPainter

26. Memorial Day by mike-loscalzo

27. Memorial Day by hya

28. Lest We Forget by ColeHails

29. The Unknown Soldier by MichaelO

30. Memorial Day Infographic by Qaaim Goodwin

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10 Wedding Photo Editing Tutorials

Brian Morris — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:31:29 +0000

When it comes to wedding photography, the stakes are high: You must be able to capture the perfect shot at the perfect moment in order to wow the bride and groom as well as myriad family and friends who will ultimately view your work in the newlyweds’ wedding album. So many variables make wedding photography tricky at best, especially since you cannot control church lighting, the weather or in some cases even where you’re allowed to set up to shoot. That’s why great photo editing skills are essential.

When the perfect shot has less than perfect lighting, or the bride and groom want a special effect applied to their engagement or wedding photos, you can make adjustments that will leave everyone happy – and help bolster your portfolio so you can land new clients. Here are 10 wedding photo editing tutorials you can use to foster your own wedding photography skills.