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In a world where digital media reigns supreme, the printed brochure stands out as a tangible and memorable piece of marketing. Despite the rise of social media and email campaigns, research by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reveals that print campaigns have a 35% better recall rate than social media advertising and a 49% edge over email. This is especially true for the under 35 demographic, who find the physicality of mail a novel experience in the digital stream.

So, how can businesses leverage the enduring power of printed brochures? Here are 10 tips for designing a brochure that not only captures attention but also remains in the minds of your audience:

1. START WITH A STRIKING HEADLINE: Use alliteration to make your headline memorable. For example, “Thinking of Selling This Summer?” connects with the audience’s seasonal thoughts and stands out in their memory.

2. CREATE A COMPELLING SUB-HEADLINE: Offer something of value that’s time-sensitive to create urgency. “We are offering Free Valuations in your area this week” personalizes the message and prompts immediate action.

3. INCLUDE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION: Make it easy for your audience to respond. “Call us Today on [Your Contact Number] and book your Free Valuation” encourages a quick response to take advantage of the offer.

4. USE HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES: A picture is worth a thousand words. Include an appealing image that will evoke emotions about the potential new purchase.

5. FOCUS ON QUALITY DESIGN: A well-designed brochure reflects the quality of your services. Use clean layouts, readable fonts, and a color scheme that aligns with your branding.

6. HIGHLIGHT BENEFITS OVER FEATURES: Tell your audience how your services will improve their lives, rather than just listing what you offer.

7. MATCH THE TONE TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE: Make sure the writing style is appropriate for the demographic your product/service is aimed at to ensure that it resonates with the reader.

8. ENSURE CONSISTENCY: Your brochure should be consistent with your other marketing materials in both message and design to reinforce brand recognition.

9. TRACK YOUR RESULTS: Include a way to track the brochure’s success, such as a QR code or unique offer code.

10. CREATE AN UNCONVENTIONAL SHAPED BROCHURE:  Unusual shaped brochures can significantly differentiate a brand in a crowded market and make them more interactive. Unique designs can capture attention more effectively than standard shapes, potentially increasing the engagement and retention of the information presented.

By integrating these elements into your brochure design, you can create a powerful marketing tool that resonates with your audience and leaves a lasting impression. In an age where digital clutter is the norm, the tactile experience of a well-crafted brochure can make all the difference in your marketing strategy. Remember, the key to a successful brochure is not just in the information it conveys, but the emotion it evoked.

Our design and print shop is growing, and it’s all thanks to your wonderful support! To bring you an even better customer experience and a wider range of services, we are sprucing up our space. As we move downstairs into our newly renovated street-front store, we will create some much needed space for our ever-expanding signage division on the first floor, and be able to slot in some exciting new equipment too.

We look forward to welcoming you through our new doors on the ground floor of 55 Long Street, and assure you that your creative printing needs will continue to be our top priority.

For the first time ever, Hot Ink now offers fluorescent printing options. The pink is a real stand-out on it’s own and guaranteed to highlight any printed material, but that’s not all it can do… It dramatically enhances and extends your colour gamut when combined with standard print colours. No more “dirty orange” or “drab mauve” – we can now produce fresh shades of papaya plus vibrant lilacs and more, all previously unattainable using only CMYK. Use this speciality colour on its own or in combination with other colours to add vibrancy to your digital printing. View samples here and Chat to our designers today about how to set up your artwork for maximum effect.

T-shirt printing is not new for Hot Ink but this newly released process produces amazing results never possible before for on-demand prints.  This ultra-soft finish is guaranteed to look good for up to sixty washes at 60 degrees celsius! The white ink can also be applied selectively allowing for varying degrees of translucency making it as close to direct-on-garment print as it gets, while still being really cost effective for once-off custom orders.

The new technique requires no weeding (the process whereby the negative spaces need to be manually removed) which enables quick turn arounds and almost infinite detail. These features combined with the vivid colours and solid opacity makes it a real winner for affordable, custom T-shirt printing.

We process many requests for unique and glorious stationery and are always looking for ways to enhance the standard printing methods. Many of our clients are already familiar with some our speciality finishes like the spot gloss varnish, white ink and metallic inks. We recently added foiling to our finishes which has also been very well received.

However, if it is a “less-is-more” effect that you are after, nothing speaks of understated luxury quite like a piece of debossed stationery. Perfect for a logo on a business card or a monogram on your wedding invitations, it adds a subtle tactile quality that immediately says: “This is something special”.

Chat to us about getting your custom block made and we will help you make a great first impression!

As a Carbon Neutral Certified printer we often get asked about recyclable labels and ‘environmentally friendly’ substrates to print on. When it comes to labelling solutions, it is a little more complex so let’s break it down in more detail…

To start with, labels consist of three parts: the printable substrate or ‘face material’; the backing film or ‘release liner’ that gets discarded; plus a layer of adhesive between the two. This often means that some parts of the label are recyclable but parts of it may not be.

Next, many people get confused between the terms ‘recycled’; ‘recyclable’; ‘compostable’ and ‘biodegradable’. A product labeled as ‘RECYCLABLE’ can go into the recycling bin, versus general landfill. ‘RECYCLED’ on the other hand, means a product already includes content from previously used material. For an item to be considered ‘COMPOSTABLE’, it must be able to break down into organic materials that can offer nutrients to the soil and plants around it. Finally, the term ‘BIODEGRADABLE’ simply means that an item will break down into smaller parts after disposal.

Another factor to consider is, what will your label be applied onto and does this have compatible characteristics? For example a vinyl label applied onto a paper bag will render both items non-recyclable unless they are separated first.

So with all this information, what should you look for? Ideally you want a label that is recyclable or biodegradable, an adhesive that is water-based (ie. solvent-free), and a release liner that is not coated with silicone which cannot be recycled. We would recommend choosing paper labels where possible as paper can be recycled and or biodegrade more readily. If your labels need to be waterproof, Rock Paper self adhesive stock  is a great alternative to vinyl as it is waterproof plus it can both be recycled and will biodegrade. It also has a water-based adhesive, as do our paper labels and Polylaser vinyl labels. Unfortunately to date we have been unable to source any labels in this country with release liners that are not coated in silicone or laminated with PE film.

The recycling options and variety of products available in South Africa is significantly smaller than that available in Europe and America but as the demand grows, we hope that the local offering will increase too making it possible for us to make truly sustainable choices. Until then we must all do the best we can, wherever we can, to mitigate un-recyclable waste as far as possible.

We often get asked: “Which is best, matt or gloss?”. There is no correct answer to this question. One should rather ask: “Which is best for ‘my particular job’ – gloss or matt?”. Let’s go through some of the options available and help you make the right decisions for your next project…

Matt or glossy effects can be achieved in various ways depending on the paper you print on, the print device you use plus the finishes you apply afterwards. With laser printing, the difference between matt and gloss paper is marginal if there is high ink coverage, as the nature of toner-based laser printing is quite glossy anyway. With litho printing however, the difference is significant. The reason for this is that the liquid ink used in this process will dry quickly on the surface of gloss coated paper resulting in rich contrasting colours, but it is readily absorbed by matt uncoated paper giving you muted colours and an ultra-matt result.

In order to achieve an ultra-gloss  effect, one can apply either a gloss UV varnish (a film of liquid sprayed over the surface of the print that is cured under UV light), or a gloss lamination (a plastic film applied to the paper with heat). If printing on uncoated paper is not matt enough for you, lamination is also available in a matt finish. Both matt and gloss lamination provide valuable protection for your printed material, making it scuff and splash resistant, however one should be mindful that it is not an environmentally friendly solution as it not recyclable.

Now you know how to achieve these different effects, you need to ask yourself which one is best for your specific project. This is an aesthetic decision and the answer should be based on the nature of your product or service and how your brand should be perceived by your target market. For example, if you are producing earth-friendly; 100% organic skin care products, the matt finish of a recycled card would be a good fit both ethically and aesthetically. Should you wish to showcase high-end jewellery made of shiny precious metal and jewels, a chic gloss finish and possibly even some foil or metallic ink might be better suited to convey the right image.

There is no right or wrong with a matt vs a gloss finish, as long as the aesthetic matches the tone of your brand, the size of your budget and is pleasing to your eye.

The ability to print digitally with white ink has been around since 2019, but recently we have been finding it has more to offer than just novel aesthetic value. Always the ones who love to experiment, Hot Ink has been pioneering different synthetic materials in response to the rising demand for packaging which needs to be waterproof and menus that must withstand alcohol and sanitiser. Vinyl self adhesive labels have always been a good waterproof solution on bottles and cosmetic products, but menu’s; bellybands and necktags for wine/juice bottles, require a different treatment.

The ‘Kernow’ range from Papersmith includes synthetic substrates available in clear and black and is designed specifically for digital printing. White ink is the perfect print partner for these as the crisp print results read really well on both stocks. These substrates are also both recyclable as #1 PET plastics.

Not only can you print white plus combinations of colour successfully onto dark and clear waterproof materials, but sometimes the combination of white ink only onto textured Kraft/tinted paper provides that simple ‘less-is-more’ solution you’ve been looking for!

Try it out before the end of April 2021 and score 20% discount on your order (T&Cs)

We are thrilled to announce that Hot Ink was voted “Best Digital Printing Company” in South Africa in the 2020 MEA Business awards.

As part of the nomination process, we had to document Hot Ink’s strengths and unique selling points and how we have been able to continue succeeding through a global pandemic. Great service and swift turnarounds are prerequisites in this industry, but constantly being the first to offer new innovations in print technology has also served us well. Metallic and white ink plus gloss varnish have become popular embellishments for our discerning client base always looking for ways to stand out. Last year we added digital die-cutting to our offering which made short-run packaging instantly accessible and affordable. Combine all this with strong creative and technical guidance from our in-house design team and you achieve maximum results with your equipment.

Being a Carbon Neutral Certified Printer has attracted many like-minded customers also looking to do what they do in a more sustainable way. We continually research more environmentally friendly substrates for our clients and packaging solutions for ourselves. This can be a challenge when you are located at the bottom of the African continent, but we believe perseverance and combined momentum can make a difference.

We are in our 24th year and we know what it takes to survive. It is much more than just business savvy, it is the passion and commitment of the owners and staff that kept Hot Ink going during lockdown. It’s the desire to follow our hearts and do new fun stuff all the time, that keeps our customers looking to Hot Ink for the next ‘great’ thing. To be recognised for doing what we love is truly an accolade for all of us.

Awards Coordinator, Katherine Benton had this to say: “While it has been a difficult 12 months, all of those recognised have managed to succeed in a time where success has been an almost unachievable goal.” 

We have often spoken about the perceived value that metallic ink adds to your printed material, as well as the exquisite iridescent effects one can achieve by blending these inks with the CMYK print process. But sometimes premium brands need to communicate their luxury status unequivocally – this is when the ultra-chrome finish of foiling comes in.

Opting for this specialised process will certainly take your printing up to another level but there are a few things to consider before you do. Firstly, make sure that your product/brand identity is aligned with the opulent look and feel of this reflective finish. Also be mindful that the initial set-up costs are higher, so it doesn’t make economic sense to foil very small quantities. This is due to the fact that a metal foiling block must be produced for each design. This block is loaded into a press and set up at the correct pressure for different paper stocks. Tests are done to check the alignment with the printing before stamping the foil onto each item individually. Finally, make sure your deadline allows for a few extra days of turnaround time – this is not a finish that can be done in a day, but it will be worth the wait! If you really only need a small amount, we are also able to over-print pre-foiled cardstock which can yield a similar effect (view samples), so we always make a plan.

A little bit of foil goes a long way – both literally and figuratively. Research shows that 77% of marketers believe print enhancements give their brand a premium look* and 74% of consumers state the design technique of direct mail pieces influences their decision to engage with it**. Foil is so eye-catching that just one small area can be enough to enhance the value of the print. So if you want to create awareness of your premium brand, foiling might be just the finish you require.

*NAPCO; **Keypoint Intelligence/Info Trends