LEARNING CENTER

Executing a complex community survey is a challenge. Getting it into the hands of community members, generating excitement and interest, and getting those surveys returned and tabulated can be a daunting task.

That was just the job Stephan Gunsaulus, Cuesta’s Director of Marketing and Communications, was ready to tackle. Cuesta College was looking for an effective way to reach out to residents of San Luis Obispo County to provide input for the 2011-2016 Educational Master Plan. As an accomplished marketing veteran, Stephan knew an integrated approach, utilizing both print and digital delivery, would be needed. The question was how to execute such a strategy. Much to his delight, Casey literally walked in the door with the answer; Casey's new "cross-media" marketing solution.

Since the advent of Electronic Mail, enterprising and morally gray entrepreneurs have been using unsolicited email, or SPAM, to play the odds and make a buck. The emails they send range from semi-legitimate to downright illegal, and the unfortunate truth is, there's very little that can be done to stop them.

Today SPAM accounts for 14.5 billion email messages a day, or 45% of all emails. Most of these are advertising (36%), with adult content at a close second place(31.7%). Despite SPAM's reputation, scams and fraud account for only 2.5% of all unsolicited email (75% of which are identity theft scams). Spam blockers help weed out many of the worst offenders, but plenty of SPAM still gets through.

When it comes to images, JPEGs are the undisputed king of the hill. With roughly 70% of websites using JPEGs and most digital cameras and camcorders, including the ones on smart phones and tablets, JPEGs have a huge market share on the Internet and with electronic devices that use images. The advantages of this file format, particularly on the web or devices with limited internal memory, is that they offer a decent image quality with an impressive reduction in file size.

So why doesn't your printer like them? Why do they roll their eyes and make a face at the mere mention of this useful and nearly ubiquitous file format?

Business has always been social. It has always been about connecting with partners, prospects, and clients. The rise of new online social tools only makes it easier to stay connected to what's happening in the world around you. Watch as Jasper goes over his 5 Tips for Social Success.

Social Media as a Tool for Business

Everyone has at least heard of the “social media” buzzword. Things like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs have become an everyday part of life for many of us. For most, it’s a terrific way to waste time while at work. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. At its core, social media offers an easy and effective way for business to connect with customers. However, don’t expect a Social Media campaign to “ring the register” right away. In it’s purest form, Social Media is about building relationships. After all, the heart of any marketing strategy is just that – building stronger relationships with your customers and your community. A well-run Social Media campaign will then in turn help turn those relationships into sales.

The Printing Industry is full of jargon that serves to confuse and frustrate customers and outsiders. Below are some common terms used in the printing industry.

Against the grain: Folding or feeding paper at right angles to the grain direction of the paper. On some stocks folding against the grain can result in quality control issues.

Aqueous Coating/Flood Coat: A coat of varnish applied to a sheet on press that protects a printed piece from scuffs and scratches.

Basic size: All papers have an assigned basic sized. For example; 25 x 38 for book papers, 20 x 26 for cover papers, 22 1/2 x 28 1/2 or 22 1/2 x 35 for bristols, 25 1/2 x 30 1/2 for index.

Basis weight: The weight in pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of paper at basic size (see above). Example, 50# Book paper: 500 sheets at basic size of 25" x 38" weighs 50 lbs.

Blanket: A rubber-surfaced fabric wrapped around a cylinder that is used to transfer an image from the plate to the paper. A primary component of offset printing.

In a recent typography class, I had the opportunity to learn about typographers quotes. Although the type of quote that is used is a fairly minor component of a document, using the correct type of quotes is an easy way to make sure that your document is the best that it can be.

The most important thing to remember when you are using quotes within a document is that 66 comes before 99. This means that the opening quotes should be the ones that look like a 66 and the closing quotes should look like a 99.

One of the most common mistakes that people make when they are preparing images for print is that they incorrectly size their images. Making sure that your image's size and resolution match is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your project will look its absolute best.

When you are preparing pictures for publication, it is important to think about how it will be reproduced. The two different methods that I usually use are print and internet.

Images destined for the internet are simple. Computer screen images are made up of little red, green, and blue dots that are placed right next to each other. There are 72 rows of these dots per inch, and therefore a 72 dpi image is sufficient for the web, or any other graphic that stays on your computer.