Event Branding 101: Our Wonka-Inspired West Canadian Cup

11.21.2023

The holiday season is fast approaching—which means now is the perfect time to think about how you can make a lasting impression on your customers, employees, and partners. Lucky for you, our latest offerings are designed to add a touch of personalization and holiday spice to your upcoming gift-giving and event festivities, making this year's holiday experience that much more special (and simple)! Let’s dive into our favourite ways to make your holiday season both memorable and impactful this year, including: Local goods gift boxesBranded holiday cardsPersonalized holiday party invitations Custom corporate calendars, and more! Give the Gift of Curated Goods Meaningfully Made by Local Makers Creating heartwarming gifts for your customers just got a whole lot easier. Collaborating with Alberta creators, we've curated custom gift boxes full of premium products—all sustainably sourced from local makers you'll love. What's inside? Option 1 includes two stunning glasses from MTNPAK Glassware, gin from Burwood Distillery, tasty treats from The Shortbread Company and hand-crafted coasters from Kingwood Decor. Option 2 includes mouthwatering maple syrup from Wabanaki Maple, a custom-made tree ornament and wooden calendar stand from Rocky Mountain Creators, and a brand-designed calendar to go with it! The best part? We top both options off with personalized, custom-designed cards and address labels that add a tasteful touch of branding to every gift. Plus, we fully manage the kitting, packaging and mailing—making it a hands-off experience through and through! Send us a note to inquire about pricing and availability. Personalized Holiday Cards For An Extra Thoughtful Touch Sending out holiday cards is a time-honoured tradition, and working with us, you can elevate yours. Say goodbye to generic, store-bought creative and tap into designs that effortlessly align with your brand. With a personalized holiday card, you can send warm wishes to your customers and partners in a way that says "we care." Personalized Invitations & Décor For Memorable Holiday Parties Planning a holiday party? Imagine custom-designed invitations that capture the essence of your event, setting the tone for a memorable celebration. And when you arrive, every little detail — from the party favours to the table settings — is flawlessy thought out. Our in-house Creative Services design group specializes in bringing your vision to life, ensuring that every detail of your event's branding effortlessly reflects your unique theme.

03.02.2023

If you're a graphic designer that creates materials for print, you've learned that variables such as the medium, typography and layout of a product all influence the process of how the design is produced. One of the finishing factors that's typically decided early on in the design process is the printing method (whether your design will be produced using offset or digital printing). Differences Between Offset and Digital Printing Both offset and digital printing have their unique benefits and limitations—and the choice of printing method can have a significant impact on the final product. When deciding, designers often take into consideration factors including: Quantity — Generally, digital printing is more cost-effective for short runs and offset printing more cost-effective for long runs. Color accuracy — Offset printing has historically offered better colour accuracy and consistency, which can be a deciding factor for brands with strict colour-matching standards. Image quality — In the past, offset printing offered higher image quality and resolution (although digital presses have made strides in recent years).Customization — Digital printing allows for greater personalization through variable data printing, meaning each print can be unique, whereas offset is preferred for standardized materials. Weighing these pros and cons has long been a challenge for designers during the print process—but with new innovations in print technology, it's quickly become a problem of the past. New Innovations: Where Digital Meets Offset Introducing the HP Indigo 15K Digital Offset Press—a high-end digital printing press designed for commercial printing and packaging applications. This incredible innovation in print technology is marrying the best of both worlds and eliminating the need to choose between digital and offset. WCD is proud to own the first of its kind in Western Canada, and here's why:Superior Print Quality The Indigo 15K uses HP Indigo ElectroInk technology to achieve high print quality, with up to 7-colour printing and a resolution of up to 1600 dpi. This allows for sharp, vibrant and accurate images and text. We love a crisp image! Wider Substrate Ranges & Inks The HP Indigo 15K boasts the widest substrate range in the industry, from 70-600 micron media. Now, designers have creative freedom with the ability to print on virtually endless substrates including uncoated, black and coloured, synthetics, metalized materials and more. Plus, imagine the endless possibilities of printing using white, metallic, fluorescent and invisible specialty inks! Unprecedented Speed The Indigo 15K is designed for high-volume production (like that of offset), with a top speed of up to 137 pages per minute (ppm) in 4-colour mode, or up to 272 ppm in 2-colour mode. Printing an astonishing 4,600 sheets per hour, you’ll benefit from faster turnaround times so that you can achieve your campaign deadlines with ease. Streamlined Workflow & Automation The Indigo 15K is equipped with advanced automation tools to streamline production and reduce downtime, ensuring you get your finished product faster than ever. WCD is leveraging HP's tools including the PrintOS platform, which provides cloud-based management, analytics, and automated colour calibration. Sustainability-Forward The Indigo 15K is designed with sustainability in mind, using HP Indigo's "Green Flow" program to reduce waste, energy consumption and carbon footprint. The press uses a water-based ink system, eliminating the need for hazardous chemicals and reducing overall water usage. Need to see it for yourself? Take it for a test run! Let us print-proof your latest marketing campaign on the HP Indigo 15K and prove to you the sheer power of the "Yes Press"—the digital press that empowers you to say YES to any request.

03.02.2023

Just decades ago, graphic designers spent their days producing print layouts for products like posters, books and brochures. But in today’s digital world, the realm of graphic design is expansive and ever-evolving. Although they share the same basic principles, print design and digital design each require a unique skill set and approach. Let’s dive into some of their key differences. What is Print Design? Print design is the artful creation of digital files that will eventually be produced as physical media. You can find print designers developing creative for products like: MagazinesBooksNewspapersBrochuresFlyersBusiness CardsBillboards Packaging, and more Dive into digital printing > What is Digital Design? Digital design refers to the creation of designs intended for publishing across digital media. The world of digital design may include: Digital advertisements WebsitesSocial media assetsApps, and more The Core Differences Between Digital and Print Design Whether designing for print or digital, creative designers need to take into consideration these core differences before diving in: Resolution Print design requires a much higher resolution than digital design to ensure the final product renders sharp and clear. Digital design, on the other hand, must take into consideration the resolution of the varying devices on which the design will be viewed (like a small cellphone screen vs. large desktop screen). Digital designers also need to consider the interactivity of their creative, which may include animations, clickable links, and other features that are not available in print. Medium When designing for print, it’s important to take into account the physical characteristics of the finished product such as paper size, weight, texture, and colour. This means that the design needs to be created with a specific print size in mind, including appropriate margins and bleed areas. Print designs must also take into account how colours will appear on paper, which may differ from how they appear on a computer screen. That said, our brand new HP Indigo 15K Digital Press is able to colour match up to 97% of PANTONE® colours—a truly unprecedented innovation! We own the only HP Indigo 15K in Western Canada! Learn More > Layout A billboard is huge, a banner is large, and a mobile screen is itty bitty. Our point? The layout of a design is heavily influenced by the medium in which it will be displayed. In print design, the designer has complete control over the size and placement of elements on the page, allowing for precise control over the visual hierarchy of the design that guides the viewer's eye through the content. In digital design, layouts often need to be responsive—meaning that it must adjust to different screen sizes and resolutions. This can limit the amount of control that the designer has over the layout, as certain elements may need to be moved or resized to fit the screen. Calls-to-action (CTAs) In digital design, the audience’s call to action (CTA) often renders in the form of clickable buttons, links and forms. Because taking action from a print piece typically requires more effort, print designers need to be creative in the way they incorporate their CTAs. Many designers today are using print-based digital technologies like QR codes and augmented reality (AR) to make it easier for the audience to move through the journey from physical to digital. Printing & Publishing Finally, the production process for print and digital designs varies greatly. Print designs must be sent to a printer for physical production, while digital designs can be published online with the click of a button. This means that print designs require more pre-production work—such as physical proofing and colour correction—to ensure that the final product matches the designer's vision. Get a designer that can do both! Did you know WCD’s in-house Creative Services agency specializes in both print and digital design? Not only do we have the all-around expertise, but we also have the production capabilities to print small and large format projects—from 10” brochures to 10’ banners! It’s never been easier to produce your multimedia campaigns in one place. But don’t take our word for it—get immersed in some of our favourite creative campaigns!