A recipe postcard design is now an effective part of the print marketing for The Wakefield Inn.

Finding new and effective ways to engage your print marketing audience presents a challenge. Sending guests or clients a postcard featuring a recipe is a great way to follow up or touch base with them. This works especially well for B&B inns, cafés and restaurants, since they can feature a favorite dish that guests have enjoyed.

InsideOut Solutions recently worked with The Wakefield Inn, a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire, to design a postcard with Chef/Owner Janel Martin’s pear scone recipe. They chose a 4.25″ x 6″ card, which is the maximum size for the U.S. postcard rate, and it gave us plenty of room for all the elements of a great recipe postcard: the ingredients list, instructions, photos and a design branded with the inn’s logo, fonts and colors. There was even space for a QR code that goes straight to their bed and breakfast website’s Recipes page.

Wakefield Inn is a Branded Sets customer: InsideOut Solutions manages both their website and print marketing.

Postcards are very economical to print and mail, making them a good print marketing value. It’s a unique way to say “Thank You” and get customers to hold onto your contact information after they’ve visited. It’s also a nice memento that creates a positive association with your business every time they make your recipe!

New business cards and postcards set the tone for a brochure redesign.

Lookout Point Lakeside Inn was down to their last box of brochures. Co-owner Kristie Rosset decided this was the perfect time to update the design of the piece. InsideOut had recently established a new look for her postcards and business cards. Now we had the opportunity to brand the brochure.

Kristie was happy with the current format–an 8″ x 9″ piece which folded in half to 4″ x 9″–but she was also open to other options. Staying with a finished size of 4″ x 9″ made the most sense since it would fit both standard display racks and business envelopes. But which format would work for Lookout Point? Rack card, trifold or bifold?

Rack cards: small but mighty

A 2-sided 4″ x 9″ rack card was the most economical option. Although on the small side, a rack card still has enough room for good photos, a map and short-but-sweet text. For most small inns, a rack card is the best choice.

The old bifold brochure was dark and blocky.

Trifolds: a multi-tasker with impact

The trifold format (12″ x 9″ folded to 4″ x 9″) would work if it was important to emphasize multiple aspects of the inn. In Lookout Point’s case, the main aspect was the excellent accommodations (12 guest rooms and a condo), but the inn also hosted business meetings, weddings and fine dining events.

Bifold: right in between

The current bifold was a happy medium for fitting text and photos. As far as impact and cost, it was right between the rack card and trifold. After thinking it over, Kristie decided to stay with the bifold. The format had already proven itself and, with focused writing and design, we could still showcase the main aspects of the inn.

The design: making it all work

The new version showcases the inn's best qualities and matches the other print pieces.

The secondary aspects, such as gatherings and fine cuisine, also made their mark on the piece with small inset photos and short captions. The back panel was the place to put quick reference information. It’s a hard-working panel that features contact info, a locator map, a list of amenities and other highlights of the inn.

The same fonts, colors and photo treatments used in the previous print pieces were used in the bifold. As a result, all the pieces work well together and reinforce the established branding. Since InsideOut was already familiar with Lookout Point, the design process went quickly and smoothly.

“You’ve made this process so easy. Thank you! - Kristie

InsideOut managed the printing of 5,000 brochures to ensure low cost, high quality and timely delivery.

See a pdf of the complete set of branded print pieces.

New rack card design for The Croff House in Hudson, NY.

The Croff House is a Victorian home with a beautiful and comfortable updated decor. Owners Duncan Calhoun and Russell Gibson worked with InsideOut to create a great web site that captures the contemporary feel of the inn and showcases its luxurious amenities. With the web site completed, it was time to create a print piece that could do the same job in a much smaller space. Again, they turned to InsideOut — this time, for the design of their 4″ x 9″ rack card.

Strong branding with matching marketing pieces:
Print designer Jennifer Lozada transferred the logo, colors, fonts and layout of the web site to the much smaller 4″ x 9″ print format. Rather than cramming the space with text, she let the photos do most of the talking. Open spaces (“white space”) in the layout draw the eye to the most important information. White space is key if you want to convey elegance and sophistication. Even with the “blank” space, text and photos, there was still room for a helpful locator map. Good feedback from the owners helped refine the map, text and photo selections.

The result: The web site and rack card are a match, conveying a consistent message. The owners decided on a quantity of 5,000 cards. InsideOut managed the printing to ensure quality, affordable cost and speed of delivery.

“It’s perfect!!!!” – Duncan

“The rack card looks great.” – Russ

Some prospective guests prefer going online while others are looking for printed materials. Maine Stay has the complete set to suit both groups.

Maine Stay Inn and Cottages recently had InsideOut design their rack card. They now have the complete set of essential online and print marketing pieces: a search engine-friendly website, a rack card & business card, a blog and an e-newsletter. All the pieces have consistent branding and they work together to target the full range of prospective guests.

Click here to see the case study for Maine Stay’s marketing materials.

Raster logo issues
The logo on the site was a “raster”. A raster image is like a mosaic made from tiny square “tiles” of data arranged over a very fine grid. When you enlarge the image, it’s like looking at a mosaic close up: you can see the blocky pixels that make up the image.

Raster image of a flower looks like a mosaic of squares up close.

As a result, there’s a limit to how much you can enlarge a raster image. So if, for example, you have a small raster logo on your site, but you need it really huge on a poster… you’re out of luck. Every time you need a bigger logo, you’ll have to pay a designer to re-draw it larger, from scratch, if you want it to look clear and crisp.

Most raster logos created for the web will not work if you need to use them in print. Print requires a much higher resolution than the web. What looks crisp on your computer screen will look either jagged or fuzzy in print.

Another raster logo problem: changing the background. Image on the left is the original. On the right, you can see a whitish outline from cutting the logo out of its original background. Not good.

Vector logo is the standard
Raster logos can work well, as long as you stay within their limitations. But there are good reasons why vector graphics are the standard for logos. Instead of little squares of tile, think of a very thin wire that can be bent into different shapes. If you bend that wire into the shape of a circle, when you look at it up close, you’ll still see the sharply defined edge of the circle. It doesn’t start breaking down into a bunch of little squares.

A vector graphic describes lines as well as shapes and colors consistently and efficiently — no matter how it’s resized. And there’s no issue with separating the image from its background. Any professional designer will be happy to work with your Adobe Illustrator, EPS or Freehand vector logo.

O-Bar-O Logo converted to vector
Susan’s situation was pretty typical. Acquiring a business includes inheriting old branding. Susan decided to get the vector done and avoid future logo hassles. She worked with InsideOut designer, Jim McCauley, to create an updated version of the logo with a few alterations to suit her vision. Jim retained the eroded look of the original but recreated the effect in Adobe Illustrator, a professional vector-based illustration program. Based on Susan’s input, he replaced the compass with evergreen trees. He also incorporated richer, earthy colors and a more western-looking font for the text. The result is a logo that will work visually and technically for years to come.

Original version from the web site has been altered and converted to a vector image.

New Site Design for the William Miller House

Beth Logan, our award winning lead designer, maintained the color scheme of their old site while modernizing the look and internal structure. Of course, all website designs at InsideOut are made with Cascading Style Sheets, and optimized for Search Engine Placement.

They have a different style of photo gallery, one that allows them to include descriptions of the photos. When a visitor clicks on the photo, it is pulled into a lightbox for better viewing. Try this feature on the breakfast page and click on the smaller inlay photos to view them larger.

The innkeepers of this Richmond lodging are active bloggers, and we made the RSS feed from their blog a prominent section of their footer.

The site is also loading very quickly as we work to improve some of our internal mechanics for even faster service of web sites. This means storing common Javascript and CSS files on a super fast server.

Mike has already told us the website has improved his business. How can we help you? Give us a call at 1-800-500-8401 or fill out our online contact form.

Consistent branding looks professional, saves on design time and helps guests and prospects remember you.

Starting with the logo
Maine Stay Inn and Cottages (Kennebunkport, ME) offers modern comforts in their historic home and guest cottages. Innkeepers Judi and Walter Hauer knew their web site needed an update and chose InsideOut for the redesign. But they had no logo or established branding.

After exchanging ideas with Judi, InsideOut designer Jim McCauley created a logo that conveys the accommodations’ traditional yet contemporary appeal. The logo is legible at both large and small sizes. And because it’s a vector-based* electronic file, graphic designers can quickly and easily work with this logo. Beth Logan had no trouble incorporating the new logo into her web site design.

Business cards
With the look and feel established by the logo and web site, designing the business card was a snap. Maine Stay decided to list all the staff with a check box next to each name. In this way, they saved the cost of printing a set of cards for each person. InsideOut created the design and took care of the print management for fuss-free printing and quick delivery.

E-newsletter
The logo and branding also transferred seamlessly to the e-newsletter designed by InsideOut. Now anyone on the Maine Stay team can publish e-newsletters with an easy-to-use template that also provides email list maintenance tools and statistics on open rates, bounce rates, etc. Their branded e-newsletter gives them an excellent way to reach out to guests in a targeted, low-cost way.

Consistent branding counts
By establishing a branded look first, Maine Stay has saved hours of design time. Their marketing materials also express the quality of their accommodations in a consistent way. This consistency makes the brand more memorable and avoids jarring discontinuities: e.g., the web site makes the place look great, but the rack card makes it look so-so. In Maine Stay’s case, prospective guests see the same experience as they go from business card to e-newsletter to web site to blog. A good first impression is backed up by repeating that impression, instilling the brand into viewers’ memories.

*Vector-based logos can be enlarged endlessly with no loss in image quality. Non-vector logos have strict limitations on how much they can be enlarged. Designers also use up valuable time cutting them out from their backgrounds since non-vector logos usually do not have transparent backgrounds.

Rack card and business card designs for Garden House, Key West, FL

Catering to the Key West crowd
Key West is a favorite spring break destination and Garden House has just the right vibe for this fun-loving crowd. Garden House owners John and Connie Manasco worked with InsideOut to create a great website that’s fun and easy-to-use. Next, they needed print pieces for visitors to pick up and keep. They turned to InsideOut to design a rack card and business card that matched their site.

For the rack card, the 4″ x 9″ size was the perfect choice since it fits both standard display racks and no. 10 envelopes. Plus there’s just enough real estate for useful information and photos while still fitting easily into a purse or backback. Using standard sizes for the rack cards and business cards (3.5″ x 2″) also kept print costs much lower than custom dimensions.

Matching the web site for strong branding
With a few adjustments, print designer Jennifer Lozada was able to transfer the horizontal web design to the vertical 4″ x 9″ print format and the small business card size. She kept the tone very casual, using the same sunny beach and ocean colors, cutout photos, fun pattern and handwritten font. Text was kept to a minimum; only the most important information was included. As a result, there was room for a few good photos plus a simple map to help visitors find the inn and to illustrate its convenient central location.

Garden House’s marketing pieces, both online and in print, have the same relaxed party-friendly look. Matching these pieces keeps a consistent picture in prospects’ minds. There’s no jarring difference in quality between the cards and the site.

The result:
John & Connie were happy with the designs and quickly approved them. They selected a quantity of 2500 rack cards and 2500 business cards which gave them an excellent per piece cost on printing. InsideOut oversaw the print management, ensuring high quality printing and fast, no-fuss delivery.

Old design vs. new business card design for Lookout Point

Business card update for luxury inn
Lookout Point Lakeside Inn (Hot Springs, Arkansas) was nearly out of business cards. Before reprinting them, co-owner Kristie Rosset asked InsideOut to take a look at the card and see if it needed “freshening up.” The original card was easy-to-read, but it didn’t capture the sophistication of Lookout Point. After receiving our feedback, Kristie decided it was time for a redesign.

Making the card a keeper
The key to an elegant design is uncluttered space. To keep the card clean and clear, we did not cram it with text and photos. Instead, we used two of Kristie’s favorite images, one for the front and one for the back. To make it a “keeper”, the card also advertises Lookout Point’s 10% hybrid car driver discount. We incorporated this special offer into the design by making it an icon rather than another line of text on the back. To keep the branding consistent, the business card uses colors, photos and other visual elements common to their web site and postcards.

The result:
The design was approved very quickly and InsideOut took care of the print management to ensure fuss-free printing and delivery. The innkeeper and the assistant innkeeper received 1000 cards each within a week after approval. Lookout Point is very happy with the new design:

“I LOVE the new business card!” Â – Kristie Rosset

“We wanted to choose someone to design our website who had a proven track record, but also who would be prepared to work closely with us to achieve the website we wanted. Inside Out Solutions were our choice, after many months of research, and we were delighted with their professionalism and dedication to the art. Beth Logan, our designer, was very patient with us during the design process and offered us many great suggestions to enhance our own ideas, creating a quite magnificent website which our peers have nothing but praise for. Last year, when we had our old website, our potential guests would call with a room enquiry and would say they would call back, but 90% did not. This year, the difference is staggering, and that is all down to our new website. We estimate that 90% do call back and make a reservation. We feel we have a website to be proud of; after all, it is our shop window, and we want people to come in and to buy……..now that happens most of the time. Thank you Inside Out Solutions!”

- Mike and Helen

The new web site

The old web site