This month I want to talk sizes and the importance of knowing if everything can fit in your envelope. I was working on an end-of-year appeal and the client wanted to add an extra insert. Their printer said to go with 9.5″x5″. As you know, everyone mistypes from time to time, and nobody is perfect (including me). Obviously, a 9.5″ wide insert will not fit in an A-10 envelope which is also 9.5″ wide. The max your insert should be is 9.25″ wide, and most printers would prefer the insert be 9″ wide so there’s a .5″ clearance. If I hadn’t checked, we would have created an insert that needed resizing before it prints. Not the end of the world, but it’s more time and work – and it’s often a tight deadline. That’s why attention to details as well as great design matter.

Another topic that comes to mind is photographing premiums. It was in an Instagram class with my colleague, Evi Abeler, food photographer extraordinaire, that I learned about a cool, little tool called Foldio. It’s perfect to use for all those premiums that you promote in your donor campaigns. Often new premiums arrive without a photo and you quickly shoot it with your phone. Right? But the lighting is never right, the background is too busy, and silhouetting takes time. Sure, Photoshop can work wonders, but everything takes longer (and is more difficult) than planned. That’s why I’ll be buying a Foldio. You can buy it and stash it in your office or send the premium my way and I’ll shoot it in mine. It will really make the product pop.