Client: Kristi Rummel, national sales director for Sierra Club, San Francisco
Provider: Cultivator Advertising and Design Inc., Denver
Contributors: Cultivator employees: Homa Nekoorad, designer; Scott Coe, copywriter and account manager; and Tim Abare, copywriter. Others: Allan Kennedy, landscape photography; Dennis Lane, studio photography; and Tewell Warren Printing, printing
Purpose: The project was a media kit for Sierra magazine, the monthly magazine for members of Sierra Club, America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, Coe says. The audience was ad agencies and corporate media buyers.
Know When to Fold 'Em
With careful design consideration, a simple folder can be attention-grabbing and cost-saving.
BY SARAH MORTON
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Your customer receives a large sales kit in the mail. Before opening it, he pictures the 2-pocket cardstock folder and the bundles of 8 1/2 x 11-inch white paper packed inside. He casually opens the folder and thumbs through the text-heavy info, noting the name of the person on the business card held predictably in place by the die-cut pocket. Then he chucks the folder onto a shelf with dozens of others just like it.
Sound familiar? That's because sales and information folders are a mainstay of the business world. They're flexible, sturdy and have a long shelf life. Unfortunately, they're often dreadfully boring. With the right balance of design and budget considerations, though, they don't have to be. "We try to come up with unique ways to bridge the gap between a perception of quality and cost-effective functionality," says Scott Coe, a partner at Cultivator Advertising and Design, Denver. "We have a few proven systems that work time and again, but usually, each client has unique challenges."
It's also important to consider the differences between a flat print project and an interactive, multidimensional piece such as a folder. "The 3D aspect of creating a folder/ binder/media kit is something that warrants attention and careful thought," says Joshua C. Chen, creative director of Chen Design Associates (CDA), San Francisco. "The user's experience and interaction with the piece, from the first moment of handling it to how the pacing works inside--what gets viewed first, second, third, etc.--are all important considerations that need to be flushed out in real time."
Flexibility is key, too, whether you're creating a sales kit, a presentation folder or an informational dossier for an end user. "Given the challenges of budget and time, most requests we get are from people who would like to have a functioning folder/binder that serves more than one purpose," Chen says. In an identity system, he says, letterhead is a cornerstone
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piece that's used for many purposes. In the same way, folders are required to function toward multiple goals. "The challenge is being able to pull that off successfully, and not have it appear to end up a 'lowest common denominator' designed piece," Chen says.
Coe agrees, adding that the ability to customize these materials is essential. "Customers are tired of throwing away boxes of outdated collateral," he says. They want to be able to speak to any given customer with specific information. The web has driven an 'audience of one' mentality into all areas of marketing, and offline collateral needs to follow suit. That's one of the principle design challenges we solve for clients," especially because they can't compromise quality.
Most of the time, recipients expect a standard, 2-pocket folder. The challenge is adding a twist to this anticipated solution that meets the client's needs and grabs the recipient's attention, or pushes clients to take risks with new formats. "I think the double pocket is still very common and popular--not sure if it's due to people's preconceived ideas of what a folder or binder is, or what," Coe says. "In our process, we try to pull the client away from what is known or assumed and look at things from, hopefully, a different or new perspective. Why do you need two pockets, when maybe one pocket will direct readers' eyes better? On the flip side, being 'clever' just to be clever isn't the right way to go either."
So what's on the horizon for folder design? During the dot-com boom, Chen says, folders with flashy features such as ornate folds and complex die cuts were "all the rage." He thinks the new direction may be toward simplicity and designing to meet goals, which he hopes "is more than just trendy."
The following three case studies are great examples of designing folders that meet end users' objectives:
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Sierra Magazine Media Kit
Helzberg Diamond Masterpiece Dossier
Challenges: The first challenge was positioning the magazine around its readership--a seasoned, educated audience of outdoor enthusiasts with discretionary income, opinion leadership and diverse interests. The second was the organization of a variety of content into a clean, easy presentation of information. The third was creating flexibility in the materials so the client could adapt the information to multiple audiences.
Components: The 2-color folder features lush outdoor photography and quotes about nature from John Muir, Sierra Club's first president. Inside, the left side is a vertical pocket containing tabbed, labeled dividers printed with information about editorial, demographics, circulation and merchandising, each in a different earthy color. On the right, a flap folds down from the top to meet a standard horizontal pocket, elegantly housing loose components including sample issues of the magazine, an overview brochure, several rate cards and a wide assortment of readership information.
Results: Rummel says clients have called the piece classy and professional, remarking that it quickly creates an image of the Sierra reader. "I've enjoyed using it as an interactive media kit during sales presentations," she says, adding that the packaging, colors and design "are unique and support the copy perfectly." Rummel says the kit was the basis for creating online and CD-ROM versions.
Client: Pam Rodriguez, creative director for Helzberg Diamonds, Kansas City, Mo.
Provider: Creativille Inc., St. Louis
Contributors: Creativille employee: Steve Hartman, art director/designer/writer. Others: Sonya Terjanian, writer, and Gregg Goldman Photography, photographer
Purpose: The purpose of this piece is mainly packaging for Helzberg Diamond's premium loose diamond product, Helzberg Diamond Masterpiece, Hartman says. The folder acts as a carrier for the product at time of purchase, as well as for the certification of authenticity, product brochure, warranty statements and receipt. The end user is the customer or recipient of the diamond. Helzberg Diamonds wanted a dossier that would last as an heirloom page, as well as protect the document.
Challenge: The challenge was to create a dossier that would carry a brochure, warranty statements and a diamond in one sturdy, protective, stylish package.
Components: The dark-gray, horizontally ribbed, trifold folder features minimal text printed in silver metallic ink. Inside on the right, three die-cut slits contain each of the three necessary items--the brochure, warranty wallet and diamond sleeve--which also feature the silver metallic printing. These three items are crucial to selling the importance and value of the diamond product. This is an expensive item to purchase, but the packaging was limited to only the necessities of the purchase.
Results: The dossier is elegant and atypical of a jewelry purchase. Usually, recipients receive a box and folded paperwork from a jeweler, but this was meant to be archival and special to the purchaser. The client and designer both feel it met that need.
Client: Tamara Barak, communications manager at Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City, Calif.
Provider: Chen Design Associates (CDA), San Francisco
Contributors, Sequoia Identity & Marketing Collateral: CDA employees: Joshua C. Chen, art director/designer; Kathryn Hoffman, art director/copywriter/designer; Max Spector, lead designer; Janet McKelpin, copywriter/designer; and Brian Singer, designer; Others: Jenny Thomas, photography; Getty Images, PhotoDisc & Image Bank, stock photography; Tamara Barak, client/editor/copywriter; Anderson Printing, printing; and Oscar Printing Company & Lithographix, printing
Contributors, Sequoia Media Kit: CDA employees: Joshua C. Chen, art director/designer, and Max Spector, designer. Others: Jenny Thomas, photographer; Tamara Barak, copywriter; and Hemlock Printers, printing
Purpose: Like many hospitals, Sequoia wants to be perceived as "high tech/high touch"--as highly technical but also highly attentive and caring, Chen says. "Upon researching the visual identities of competing hospitals, we saw a noticeable trend toward overstating the high touch while disregarding the high tech. We wanted to implement a more fine-tuned and contemporary balance of the two ideals. We were careful not to repeat the clichéd and trite imagery that so many hospitals use ("shiny, happy people") but instead opted to use more dynamic crops, unusual angles and more sophisticated composition." Among competing hospitals, he says, CDA found an overuse of red and bright blue, and concluded that a more refined color palette would better speak to the overall level of quality that Sequoia has to offer. Accordingly, CDA used more muted and cross-processed photography.
Sequoia Hospital Identity Kit
Challenge: Budget was one challenge noted during Chen's original conversations with Sequoia's public relations/ communications manager and its human resources manager--neither department allowed for much money. CDA suggested "getting additional departments to buy in on the project and create a folder kit that would be multi-use," he says. The hospital foundation could use it to send out fund-raising material. The director of business development and physician recruiting could use it for his pursuit of new doctors. And volunteer services could use it to hand out orientation materials for new volunteers. In addition, the public relations/communications manager could use it for general marketing purposes, and the human resources manager could use it for recruitment or during job fairs.
Components: The front of the muted yellow folder contains a diagonal slit that holds an informational brochure. The folder also features a file tab printed with the name and location of the hospital. Inside, angular flaps and pockets on both the left and the right hold items, including a list of services, a physician guide, and a quarterly postcard and newsletter.
Results: By pooling their individual budgets together, Sequoia ended up with a better, higher-quality product that benefited everyone. At the same time, it reduced redundancy of materials. Overall, results have been favorable, but it's still too early to tell what kind of impact the media kit is having because each department is just getting used to using it.
Sarah Morton is managing editor of Cincinnati-based HOW magazine, a bimonthly publication for professional graphic designers.
