Author Archives: Corner House Design

   Blog  Apr 08, 2019  0 Comments

Can Your Business Connect Through Exhibitions?

Business exhibitions and trade fairs could be a key part of your marketing strategy, providing you approach them in the right way, and with the right supporting materials.

Exhibitions are a platform to showcase what your business is about, but they also provide plenty of opportunities for networking and for attracting prospects.

Corner House Design

Our professionally designed stand

Do Your Research

As with so many aspects of business, preparation is essential for successful exhibiting. It is vital to do your research.

What kind of an exhibition is it, and is it in line with your business and, importantly, the kind of customers you are interested in attracting?

Next, think about different types of material you will need. Remember, you will need some kind of backdrop or banner, but also supporting material such as brochures or promotional items. More on this later.

Also, think about your people skills. What will be the way you pitch your business, and have you got it carefully prepared for maximum impact?

You want to be able to market and sell your services, but also attract interest from attendees. Think about your overall brand impression and how it can work to differentiate what you do.

Corner House Design

Promotional material for clients to takeaway

Making Contact and Networking

One of the main benefits of exhibitions is having the opportunity to meet potential prospects and useful contacts face to face, with a large group of people relevant to your business gathered in one place.

However, you should also be sufficiently open-minded to engage with a diverse crowd of people. Sometimes leads and opportunities come from people and situations you would not have anticipated.

Therefore, as well as being strategically prepared, be adaptable.

Most of all, be approachable and sociable.

Corner House Design - Exhibition

Alex meets Mike Newman holder of the Blind Land Speed Record, at the Speed of Sight stand

Analyse and Learn

It is very likely that you will see your competitors at a business exhibition. This is an opportunity to look at what they do, and to analyse and learn from them.

Do not stay fixed to your own stand, waiting for people to come to you. Circulate, observe and look at the products and services other businesses are showcasing.

What are they offering that you aren’t, and what can you do about it?

If there are seminars as part of the exhibition, attend them. Absorb all the useful information you can, and take notes. This sort of business intelligence can be a long-term benefit from attending an exhibition.

Following Up

Do not allow the exhibition to become a missed opportunity. Where you do make contacts and exchange details, be sure to follow up afterwards.

You should ensure these follow ups are timely, and relevant to your business strategy.

Supporting Material

Communications have a key role to play in business exhibitions, before, during and after the event.

You may want to put out information prior to your attendance to alert people to the event itself and that your business will be taking part. You want to maximise your potential footfall, so raising awareness through social media and other channels is a sound strategy.

During the event, as well as having display material, consider what you might wish visitors to your stand to take away with them.

This might be a brochure, catalogue or flyer, but it could also be a branded promotional item such as a mouse mat, mug or memory stick.

A prize giveaway is always a great attraction and a great way to engage delegates.

However, you should not confine printed material to what you make available on your exhibition stand. It can also work as follow-up material, if you have something more detailed to send on to the contacts you make.

In an age where there is so much emphasis on digital communications, it is easy to forget that face to face marketing and the tangibility of print media can play a vital role in winning new business.

Presenting our prize giveaway to Sherrie of Bolton Tuition Centre at the Big Bolton Expo

Are You Exhibition-ready?

At Corner House Design & Print, we specialise in creative design for marketing, including exhibition material, signage, leaflets, brochures and promotional products.

For more information, please phone 0161 777 6000, or email studio@cornerhousedesign.co.uk

   Blog  Oct 22, 2018  0 Comments

Top Tips for sending Christmas cards to your clients

With the advent of email, video and online software and the increase in postage costs, sending a physical greets card to your business associates at Christmas time seems to have fallen out of fashion.  BUT we argue this is why you should consider sending greetings cards, and here’s our top seven tips:

  1. Make it personal! Wherever possible include a handwritten note whether it’s thanking your clients for their business over the last year, promising to catch up in the New Year, or just wishing them Seasons Greetings – they will appreciate the thought.
  2. Plan in advance, have something designed that’s unique and stands out. Get yourself noticed.
  3. Don’t wait until the last minute to post. Sending in the first week of December usually guarantees that it gets seen BEFORE the Xmas break and sits on the desk or bookshelf longer.  A greeting card that arrives after mid-December, may not be seen until your contact returns to work in January.
  4. Don’t use the card to sell your services.
  5. Always send to the business address even if you know your clients personal address.
  6. Make it a “Seasons Greetings” card rather than a Merry Christmas – remember not everybody celebrates religious holidays.
  7. If you miss the boat for the Christmas holidays, think about a Happy New Year card, to land on their desk for when they return back to work in January.

A well thought out greeting card will let your clients and contacts know that you value their business relationship, but don’t leave it to the last minute to get organised.

   Blog  Aug 07, 2018  0 Comments

Brochures – are they an effective marketing tool?

Businesses can benefit from having printed brochures as part of a marketing strategy.

Successful marketing uses a range of different channels. It’s not about keeping to one medium.

While there is plenty of attention given to digital marketing, print has its place, and printed brochures can reach audiences in ways that online channels cannot.

Printed literature builds brand credibility, and allows people to find out more about you in depth, at their own pace.

We’re a creative design studio, based in Manchester, and here we look at the benefits of using printed brochures for marketing purposes.

 

Brochure Credibility

What will help define your company in your prospects’ eyes? Printed literature makes it look like you mean business.

It is the brochure’s physical quality which helps make it distinctive as marketing material.

Whereas most people can hand someone a business card with a website address on it, or send them an email with their details, a brochure offers a different way to communicate.

What it gives the reader is time. Whereas a website has a few seconds at most to capture a visitor’s attention, the brochure is designed to let the reader browse, to focus and to digest its contents at a more leisurely pace.

Furthermore, the brochure suggests a deeper level of interaction. It’s material for your prospects to take away with them, and to experience something tangible, from the feel of the paper stock to the smell of the ink.

Brochures are accessible. Get the design and content right and they are an ideal medium for your audience gaining a swift understanding of the benefits of using your service or product.

Having a brochure suggests that you too have taken your time, to consider your approach and to appeal to your target audience.

 

What Goes in a Brochure?

It is vital to know what your reader wants. This means writing the brochure from their viewpoint.

When putting your brochure design and content together, consider the reader experience. How will they look at it, open it and digest the content?

What order would you expect them to ask questions about your business, brand, products or services?

Use this as a way of putting together a logical sequence for your brochure information.

Next, think about what you want your readers to do. Your brochure is a marketing tool; therefore, you should be using it in pursuit of a clear marketing objective.

It’s not use drawing them in with your carefully ordered content and attractive design if you don’t give them a clear call to action.

Motivate them to look inside your brochure, then further capture their attention by addressing their needs. Focus on the benefits of what you are offering them, more than the features.

Finally, persuade them to act, whether this is picking up the phone, placing an order, visiting your site or getting in touch electronically.

 

Pass it On

We know about things going viral online, and about the shareability of content. However, the printed brochure can work in the same way.

Obviously, its spread is not going to be as instant, but it has the power to resonate with readers, so that they pass it on to others.

As well put together brochure is its own recommendation, encouraging people to read it, to interact with it physically, and to give to others so that they can do the same.

 

Make Your Brochure Matter

Yes, a brochure is an effective marketing tool, but only if you get it spot on. This means design and content.

Let us help you get the printed product you need to connect with your target audience and attract new prospects and customers.

Phone 0161 777 6000, or email chdesign@globalnet.co.uk

Is Product Photography Central to Your Brand Strategy?
   Blog  Jul 12, 2018  0 Comments

Is Product Photography Central to Your Brand Strategy?

The visual content of a website is important in attracting people to it, and where ecommerce sites are concerned, product photography can be the decisive factor in whether they succeed or not.

As Manchester based specialists in branding and design, we know that different aspects of visual communication matter when it comes to your brand strategy, and this can include product photography.

Competing to Sell Online

It has never been easier to set up online to sell products. However, the fact that it is now pretty straightforward to start your own ecommerce business means that the competition is fierce.

Selling products online successfully means getting noticed and standing out from the competition.

Whatever product you are selling, the chances are high that there will be plenty of other sites out there selling something the same or similar.

Yes, ecommerce cuts costs which retailers can pass on to their customers, but then this is true of lots of them, so price may not be the main thing that will work in your favour.

Furthermore, many ecommerce sites are occupying a niche, selling products to a specific audience, where being a trusted brand will make a huge difference to attracting and retaining customers.

Consequently, what the product looks like online must be a vital part of your selling strategy.

If you want your ecommerce site to stand out, then your product photography, alongside your web design, must be good.

Where Will People See Your Products?

Product photography must have impact. Many people will see your products via a mobile device. Therefore, your images need to immediately stand out on a small screen, while often being viewed fleetingly.

Images must do much of your talking for you. Product descriptions and other details are, of course, important, but the visuals are the thing that will act to hook your audience’s attention.

Similarly, marketing on social media has a prominent visual element.

While platforms such as Instagram and Twitter offer some basic image enhancement, making your products grab people’s attention will be a challenge if you’re not starting from the position of having impactful product photography.

How your products look online is, essentially, an extension of your brand – if your products look cheap and the photography is poor, then people will assume your brand is similarly amateurish and possibly not trustworthy.

Think of product photography as part of how your brand voice communicates. It is integral to how prospective customers perceive you.

If your products are the life’s blood of your brand, then how you capture them visually should reflect this.

Integrated Design Solutions

Just as your product photography will work as an extension of your brand message, so it must also fit in with your overall image and brand identity.

It’s no use developing a website that has a particular look and appeal if the products you populate it with don’t match this imagery.

Effective ecommerce requires a high level of joined-up thinking when it comes to your brand strategy.

The best approach is to consider your product photography as a key component in your brand development and design.

Its style should underpin your message and your brand values.

Here at Corner House design, we provide integrated design solutions, which means that we can look at all aspects of your brand, from your identity to your website and, naturally, your product photography.

With our expert, in-house photography team, we can ensure your products look great and that how we capture them is fully in line with how your brand communicates to its target audience.

Give us a call on 0161 777 6000, or email chdesign@globalnet.co.uk

 

Are you missing out on a great marketing tactic?
   Uncategorized  Jun 25, 2018  0 Comments

Are you missing out on a great marketing tactic?

They say that the best form of marketing is meeting people face to face and building relationships.  But how do you meet new contacts – you can hardly go knocking on doors?  We have found that done correctly Exhibitions and Networking events are ideal opportunities to start to build and nurture relationships with potential clients and suppliers.

 

The 31st May 2018 saw us return to GMBiz Expo for the 4th year running. This is a fantastic event, which has a buzz about it you can’t find elsewhere. The range of businesses not only exhibiting but also visiting was better than ever, ranging from local SME’s through to corporate organisations.  We highly recommend you check it out for next year!

 

We made some valuable connections, not only prospective clients, but potential suppliers which will allow us to provide more services to our clients.

 

We always have a prize draw – they’re great for “breaking the ice” this year it was ‘guess how many paperclips are in the jar’ and we’re delighted to announce that Tom Morris of Barclays’ Market Street branch was the lucky winner of our Half Term “Goodie” bag.  For those wanting to know, there was a grand total of 353 paperclips in the jar.

 

Exhibiting alongside our strategic partners, Owl Tree Web Solutions allowed us to bring a fantastic Start-up SME offer incorporating logo, stationery and web design which was well received at the expo.

 

Thanks to all for visiting our stand, we look forward to seeing you all at our next expo in 2018!

 

To close we thought we would share our top 3 tips for expos,

 

There are 3 top tips from Corner House Design when attending an exhibition

 

Be Prepared!

This is the most important tip! After investing in an exhibition to promote your business the last thing you is to realise the day before that you have no marketing materials. We advise that 2-4 weeks before the expo you check that you have sufficient marketing materials. After all if you require an urgent print job you will pay the premium for the turn around.  We would also recommend if it’s the first time you’ve exhibited – set up a trial run in your workplace to check you are happy with the stand layout.

 

Ensure you have a way to track and follow up leads

Its all well and good going to exhibitions and events to meet new contacts and build potential leads but do you have a way to record these? Do not rely on the power of your memory, even the best of us forget things. To increase your chances of conversion make detailed notes and be sure to make contact ASAP.

 

Wear comfy shoes

 

This may sound silly but is far from it! Make sure you wear a pair of shoes that you will be comfy standing in all day.  We would highly encourage you NOT to sit down on your stand – it puts people off talking to you and its not very welcoming. Finally it’s hard to smile and chat if you’re standing on feet with blisters!!

 

We hope you found our expo tips useful, if you wish to give us a call to have a chat about your expo stand or even for some advice please feel free to make contact with one of the team at Corner House Design.

The importance of your Brand when building your business
   Uncategorized  May 17, 2018  0 Comments

The importance of your Brand when building your business

Branding makes all the difference to a business. Get it right, and you can reap the rewards; get it wrong, however, and you could be stuck on the starting block.

 

Your brand is what defines your business in the eyes of others. For small businesses wanting to upscale especially, branding must be a key part of their strategy.

 

As specialists in branding, based in Manchester, we help our clients shape their brand identities and express the essence of what they’re about through excellence in design.

 

Branding is a Strategy

 

Branding only works if it is part of a strategy. In other words, it’s not simply about having a logo and applying it willy nilly.

 

While a memorable, well-designed logo is important, it will only work as part of an overall approach to branding that takes your target audience and market into account, and understands how your business fits in.

Brand strategy is the how, what, where of your communications, and, crucially, to whom you want to communicate.

 

You must, therefore, know your audience to make your branding effective.

 

You need to know who your target audience is inside out. What are their interests and habits and, most of all, their concerns, worries and pain points?

 

Research them and then use this knowledge to build your brand.

 

Where do you advertise, and what are your distribution channels? These should be as much a part of your brand strategy as the content of your communication and messages.

 

How Do You Define Your Brand?

 

For any business, this is a journey of self-discovery.

 

Consider your tone of voice. Your branding is more than visual. It must encompass your business’s values, and express these in a consistent way that will resonate with your audience.

 

To get to this point, you must ask certain questions about your own business:

 

  • What are its aims?

 

  • What are the benefits of its products or services?

 

  • What qualities do you want your prospects and customers to associate with your business?

 

  • What do your prospects and customers actually think of you?

 

These are not always easy questions for you to answer, or to ask, but they are essential in getting to the basics of what forms your brand.

 

You must do your research diligently.

 

Brand Integration

 

Your brand is your promise to your customer. From it, they should understand what they can expect from you, and how what you offer is different from your competition.

 

You are raising awareness through your branding. This means developing a distinctive visual presence, but going beyond a distinctive– to all your channels, from physical marketing material to online communications.

 

But it goes deeper than this. It informs how you answer the phone to enquiries, your email signatures, your overall customer service. This is brand integration.

 

What is Brand Equity?

 

Brand equity is the added value a strong brand brings to your products or services. A strong brand rewards your business by bolstering it, allowing you to charge your customers more, because they recognise what your brand is worth.

 

When it comes to branding, small businesses should think bigger. Branding cannot be successful if it is piecemeal or half-hearted. Develop your brand as if you were already a successful, nationally, or even globally, known name. Treat it as something that should enhance your credibility.

 

How We Can Help Your Branding

 

Branding is a full-time commitment. If it feels like a challenge, then now is the time to get professional help, advice and support with your branding.

 

We can develop your brand, find your voice and help you position your business more strongly in front of the people that count, your target audience, prospects and customers.

 

Give us a call on 0161 777 6000, or email chdesign@globalnet.co.uk

20 Years in Business – An Interview with The Head of Morale (aka Patch the Dog!)
   Blog  May 11, 2018  0 Comments

20 Years in Business – An Interview with The Head of Morale (aka Patch the Dog!)

What was your first ever job?

Destroying my mum’s slippers in the kitchen – oh they were the days

How many years have you been working in the creative industry?

I get told 7 years but feels more like 49

What was your first thought when Alex took you to visit the studio?

Oh my, this place is massive, so much room to run around and far too many sticks in the car park to choose from. I love charging down the stairs and going to interrupt Alan at Clocktower Creative, I’ve not been used for a voiceover yet though!

What’s your secret to working with family?

Keep them entertained and raise morale; my favourite game to play is “chase the mouse” (cursor) on the screen; for some reason though I just can’t catch it!

What is it like to work with 2 generations of Evans’s

I love it, Dave spoils me, especially when I visit their new house with a big garden to run around but Alex is a bit boring, he’s always telling me off for trying to get to the elves and often stops me chasing the cursor. I love him though – he’s my best pal.

What’s your favourite pastime?

This is rather difficult it’s a toss up between chasing my ball or stick or the other is curling up next to the radiator and snoozing away whilst Alex and Kasey are at work. I’m not a lazy dog honest!

If you could pass one piece of advice on to any dog in a business what would it be?

Look cute and play those “puppy” eyes, customers will love you and it helps boost sales. Or make sure you have a nice comfy bed to curl up on when they are busy doing boring work things and don’t have time to play.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Well this is difficult it used to be Dave & Julie’s until Alex started taking me to doggy day care at his nana’s house, now I love nothing more than running through that front door for my doggy treat and sitting on Brian’s Knee.

What do your friends think of you working?

Of course not all dogs can get “pawthorisation” to go to work, so I feel privileged, they say I have a ‘Woof’ time but they’re just jealous.

If you didn’t work in the Graphic Design industry what would you be doing?

I would love to be a tester of indestructible toys! Alex & Kasey won’t buy me any stuffed toys as they say I just destroy them.

Finally, any thank yous?

Thanks to all at Corner House they make me feel so welcome and a special thank you to Nana Joan, she stops me from being dragged into the studio everyday.

The Big Bolton Expo 2018
   Blog  Apr 30, 2018  0 Comments

The Big Bolton Expo 2018

Tuesday 24th April saw our expo season kick off in the best way possible at The Big Bolton Expo.

We first started supporting the Big Bolton Expo back in 2015 where its fair to say I had slightly less grey hair!

Over the past 2 years we have been the print sponsors for the event. This is a no brainer for us – a great way to increase our exposure to both the exhibitors and the delegates attending.

Although the exhibition starts at 4pm, we always arrive early to make sure that we have plenty of time to set up, lay the stand out in the most attractive manner and finally get pre-show networking with the other 80+ exhibitors in the room. I have to say it is one of the friendliest yet business orientated exhibitions we attend.

With the doors opening to over 600 delegates at 4pm we were all set ready to greet the friendly faces of business owners in Bolton.  Its fair to say they came thick and fast through the doors despite the typical northern weather!

As always our stand was adjacent to our colleague Warran from Owl Tree our double headed approach to helping delegates in all aspects of design and web works really well, referring  those talking about web development over to Warran and Warran reciprocating by referring anybody looking for design, branding or print to us. This is a business alliance that is going from strength to strength and our clients love the synergy between us.

As always it was a pleasure to be at the show and to meet so many fantastic exhibitors and delegates throughout the evening. We look forward to doing it all again next year.

We would like to say a huge congratulations to Sally-Ann & Katherine of Bridal 1632 who won our exhibition prize draw of 500 premium business cards.

A final note to say thank you to David, Gaynor and the rest of the team at thebest of Bolton as the organisation behind the scenes is second to none and the footfall is truly amazing. If you are thinking about exhibiting at any expo I would certainly recommend the Big Bolton Expo

 

Alex Evans

Why Print Matters in Marketing
   Blog  Apr 01, 2018  0 Comments

Why Print Matters in Marketing

It’s the digital age right, so print is a dead medium? Wrong. Print matters in marketing. Yes, there are plenty of digital marketing channels to explore, but print still represents a viable, and often dynamic, alternative.

As a creative design studio in Manchester, we work with a huge variety of local businesses, and we believe one key portal to successful marketing is print.

Here, we look at the reasons why print is alive, and the benefits it can bring to business.

Print is Memorable

For return on investment, Waitrose has described print as its most effective advertising channel.

Some research suggests as many as 70% of people are more likely to remember a business if they see it in print.

Many people continue to prefer print for reading, compared to on-screen content.

If the world we live in is about seeking, receiving and consuming information, then print still has a prominent role to play.

People interact with print differently than they do with online content. As an awareness-raising medium, print has less competition, because it requires more attention from the reader.

In other words, get your print content right, including how you position and distribute it, and you can attract a deeper level of attention, for longer.

The tactile element of print helps make it memorable. If someone physically holds the thing they are reading, it may make the brand more memorable, less fleeting than when encountered online.

Why Design for Print is Different

In a hugely competitive field, businesses are looking for a way to stand out, to differentiate themselves.

Online, this is increasingly challenging. Everyone has a website. Print, however, is different. It feels different to the consumer and it offers a wide range of possibilities to accentuate this.

These include: striking designs in layout of images and text, different paper size formats, folding and packaging, and the paper stock it’s printed on.

Also, in an age of supposed instant gratification through digital delivery, presenting something that’s designed for a more considered, even slower approach, may be quite radical.

When you factor in print’s increased longevity, you’ve got a medium that offers a truly alternative marketing channel.

Print and Brand Consistency

Your brand matters. It’s who you are and what your business stands for. Print is great for brand building.

Why? Because if you apply your brand properly and consistently, it offers different opportunities to reinforce it in the minds of your target audience, your prospects and your customers.

This goes beyond business cards, which still carry a huge currency for making contact details memorable, and essential. With print, you can carefully brand all your communications, from orders to invoices and beyond.

As a means of subtly emphasising your brand, print is essential.

Are You Ready for Offline Marketing?

Successful strategic marketing looks at several alternatives, combining its methods and means to communicate effectively.

Good design is essential to successful marketing, but so is making the right choices when it comes to your marketing channels.

In a competitive, crowded marketplace, offline marketing can be the thing that differentiates you.

Is this restricted to certain types of businesses?

Not necessarily so. Many different businesses can benefit from marketing themselves through print, from small enterprises serving the local community to larger concerns wanting to spread the word in a way that stands out.

Print Matters

Whether its leaflets or brochures, your corporate identity, or signage for exhibitions, we’ll provide you with the design expertise to make your brand and your business memorable.

Give us a call on 0161 777 6000, or email chdesign@globalnet.co.uk and let’s talk about your requirements.

   Uncategorized  Jan 19, 2018  0 Comments

20 Years in Business – An Interview with Alex (heir apparent)

Alex Evans, Corner House Design & Print

What was your first job?

General joey at Corner House Design but officially at the age of 16 I was a checkout boy at Sainsbury’s.

How many years have you been working in the creative industry?

Officially since I was 16 but have been working within CHD since I was a youngster.

What was your biggest drive to work in the family studio?

I’ve always helped in the studio since I was a kid, whether it was helping mum with filing and keeping the books up to date or doing the cleaning, or if I got really lucky, I got to work on a live job .  I attended college and worked at the studio during the holidays – these were two hugely contrasting situations, one being months to finish a brief the other being hours! I took the plunge at 18 and knuckled down from there. Having seen the hours of hard work Dad put in I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ride and like, every kid, I dreamed of following in my dad’s footsteps. And here I am today after 6 years!

Whats your secret to be able to work with the family for so long?

Don’t live with them! – in all seriousness I knew from 18 that if I was to be spending 8 hours plus in the studio with my Mum and Dad the last thing I wanted to do was go home and be told off for leaving my washing on the floor by my boss. The key is to separate work and family life, although a bit of integration in the studio is also essential. We leave things at the door and don’t  bring home issues into work or work issues home.

What is your key to building a strong and trustworthy team?

Honesty and accountability. A good friend will be proud for hearing those words. I’ve never once seen any of the team duck and dive and pass the blame, when we are honest we learn from our mistakes to prevent the issue arising again. Oh and you have to be able to make a good brew here!

Over the past 6 years you have seen the business develop into a heredity business, what has the biggest change over the past 6 years been?

Being allowed more freedom, having established more of a business development role over the past few years I’m now undertaking more responsibilities including client meetings, networking, exhibitions and much more. I still do a lot of design work but getting to know the clients is key and tailoring each of our services to their requirements helps reduce stress for our clients.

If you could pass one piece of advice on to any business owner what would it be?

Never stand still! You have to constantly be evolving and forever learning.

Over the past 20 years there have been huge developments in technology, what do you feel is the most beneficial and what is the most frustrating?

The million dollar question! The most beneficial clearly has to be the hardware we use, the Apple Macs. These reduce production times massively and something which may have taken a week to fix 10 years ago can be done in hours now! I think the biggest drawback though is availability. With so many people being able to access the software etc. it has made the industry very cut throat and has opened up the door to people who are not trained designers.  I’m sure its like this in most sectors though!

Who is your biggest influence when it comes to your determination in business?

My family, it’s a cliché that I’m sure a lot are fed up of hearing about but they truly are. The sacrifices my family have made over the years for the business shows me their determination and passion to keep on going, through thick and thin we all stick together and help and this reflects in our workplace.  Although honestly I hate to pick one person it has to be my Dad, his hard work over the past 20 years, the determination, the sacrifices when we were kids and the hardships he has been through yet he still arrives in the studio every day with a smile and ready for his brew!

Since the integration of digital marketing and specifically social media being key to businesses, how do you feel you have adopted to it.

Rather well, I remember the days of MySpace and then the big switch to Facebook, some of the old ‘on this day’ posts are rather embarrassing!

It has been something that has been forever evolving for my generation and it still blows my mind with the capabilities now! Although there has got to be a point where we get fed up of reading about other peoples lives and like to talk face to face instead! I do have to laugh when my Dad talks about ‘Twittering’

Are there any people you wish to thank over the past 20 years?

Firstly its got to be my Mum and Dad otherwise I wouldn’t be working here today. Kasey my partner: she’s put up with the many long hours we put in and I thank her for just being there. Janet, our studio manager for putting up with our family tiffs for so long and all the shared advice. There are also a couple of other business associates who I would like to thank for their advice: Warran, Ian, Ann, Mike and anyone else who has passed on words of advice.

   Blog  Nov 28, 2017  0 Comments

20 Years in Business – An Interview with the Financial Director

Julie Evans, Financial Director, Corner House Design & Print

What was your first job?

I was an office junior for Trafford Council on a training course called YTS earning £25 per week. Us oldies will know what that stands for!

How many years have you been working in the creative industry?

36 with a career break when our children were very young.

What was your first thought when Dave wanted to establish your own design studio?

PANIC!!! We had 2 young children when we set up Corner House but I never doubted Dave’s ability and passion to set up our own business.

What’s your secret to be able to work with your husband for so long?

He’s the boss at work and I’m the boss at home. It obviously works as Dave and I celebrated our 32nd Wedding Anniversary in July and we have worked together every day since we met ove 35 years ago.

What is your key to building a strong and trustworthy team?

Treat everybody with respect and remember we all have families and a life out of work.

Over the past 6 years you have seen the business develop into a hereditary business, what has the biggest challenge been over the past 6 years?

Not killing Alex!! You have to separate work from home life, not always easy but it has to be done.

If you could pass one piece of advice on to any business owner what would it be?

Believe in your business.

Your business survived through the worst financial crisis of our generation, was there a time that you were worried and if so what did you do to counteract it?

I always worry through good and bad!!

Over the past 20 years you have seen a huge development in technology, what do you feel is the most beneficial and what is the most frustrating?

There is no doubt that technology saves time, but you still need people to come up with creative design initially – and that can take time.

Who is your biggest influence when it comes to your determination in business?

Dave.

Since the integration of digital marketing and specifically social media being key to businesses, how do you feel you have adopted to it.

I have to confess I leave that to Alex.

Are there any people you wish to thank over the past 20 years?

I would like to thank Dave’s dad, although he is no longer with us. He helped us so much in the beginning and he also gave me the confidence to take on the accounts. Thank you to our loyal clients and suppliers some of whom have been with us from day one, Mike, Dave and Paul and we have all seen the good and bad times in the industry.  Also I mustn’t forget Alex for taking over the business development and social media side of the business. The only tweeting I understand is from the feathered variety that sit in trees!! And last but not least Natalie, Alex and our lovely family for all the support over the years.

   Blog, Uncategorized  Nov 21, 2017  0 Comments

20 Years in Business- An Interview with the MD

David Evans

Dave Evans, Managing Director, Corner House

As we celebrating 20 years in business, we’ve put together a series of interviews with key members of staff.

First for the hot seat is, our Managing Director, Dave,  let’s see if we can find out what his secrets are.

What was your first ever job?

Producing printing plates in a Reprographic department

How many years have you been working in the creative industry?

40 years! From the age of 16

Why establish your own design studio?

The vision of working for myself – More control over my future

Whats your secret to be able to work with the wife for so long?

At work I’m the boss, At home Julie’s the boss – Simple

What is your key to building a strong and trustworthy team?

Knowing that each of my staff have different strengths but work well as a team

What has the biggest change over the past 6 years been?

Welcoming my son, Alex, into the business & the change in technology

If you could pass one piece of advice on to any business owner what would it be?

Concentrate on what you know! Work to your strengths.

Your business survived through the worst financial crisis of our generation, was there a time that you were ever worried and if so what did you do to counteract it?

Cut back where necessary, don’t panic, look where you can make savings, plan plan and keep on planning.

Over the past 20 years you have seen a huge development in technology, what do you feel is the most beneficial and what is the most frustrating?

You have to keep up to date with software, its amazing that with Apple you HAVE to update your Hardware as well!

Who is your biggest influence when it comes to your determination in business?

Brian Maley (MDA) – I run my business the way he ran his, a mentor and fantastic business man, very fair!

Since the integration of digital marketing and specifically social media being key to businesses, how do you feel you have adopted to it.

Social Media is new to a dinosaur like me, that’s why Alex takes the reigns

Are there any people you wish to thank over the past 20 years?

My wife Julie for working with me through the good and the bad. Brian Maley for teaching me all I know & Phillip Jenkins for his wise words.

The Great Christmas Card Offer 2017
   Uncategorized  Nov 08, 2017  0 Comments

The Great Christmas Card Offer 2017

This year’s Seasonal Offer for Christmas is for traditional Christmas cards.  Unsure whether it’s a good idea to be sending physical cards rather than an email this year,  why not check out our blog  Top Tips for Sending Christmas cards to your Clients

Our Season Offer includes:

Bespoke design & artwork for £50 – a saving of £25.00

Print prices:

50  £55

100 £90

250 £190

500 £275

Envelopes:

50  £5

100 £7.50

250 £12.50

500 £25

You’ve only got until the end of November to get your order in.  So why not delight your clients and contacts this year, with a bespoke Christmas card.

Give us a call on 0161 777 6000 or email us at chdesign@globalnet.co.uk

 

Why brochures are a great marketing tool
   Blog  Jul 17, 2017  0 Comments

Why brochures are a great marketing tool

Yes, that’s correct, we said brochures are a great marketing tool!

We love brochures at Corner House Print & Design – we know that with the introduction of the digital age brochures seem to have fallen out of favour BUT we believe they are making a comeback.

There is no denying that websites are easier to keep up to date if your product offering is constantly changing, but having a brochure is a great way to differentiate yourself from your competitors and to give your customers something tangible that sits on a desk or coffee table, long after they’ve viewed your business online.

We can think of lots of instances where a quality, professional designed brochure plays a key role in promoting your business.

Case Study – Portfolio Everything Property

A great example is a brochure we designed for Portfolio Everything Property – a well established company offering a wide range of building services from producing Plans & ReModelling to Kitchens and Bathrooms, they offer over 19 services to their customers.

The quality of the service offered is tangible in the form of the brochure – professional designed and printed on good quality stock, the brochure comprises a folder with individual inserts for each area of expertise, all co-ordinated within a colour spectrum, under a strong central brand.

The brochures are used for a multitude of purposes:

  • Given to people who visit the showrooms, as a takeaway to remind them of the quality of the goods and service on offer.
  • Mailed out to prospects who email or telephone for further information.
  • Handed out at exhibitions and events.

To invest in a printed brochure is to showcase your business as well established, trustworthy and customer focussed.

The flexibility of being able to customise the brochure to the services required by inserting individual data sheets, also keeps it cost effective.

Design is key

Whilst many think brochures are old fashioned, we strongly disagree, with some thought and creativity the result can be a serious “stand out” promotional tool that will leave a lasting impression.

Why use a professional graphic design agency?

To get a professional result, you need to use professionals. With a team of experts in graphic design, copywriting and photography who are happy to guide you through the whole process from ideas to design to print, you are guaranteed to be delighted with the result. One key benefit not to be ignored is their ability to come up with something unique to showcase your business.

Last but not least

Let us leave you with this thought. How many promotional emails do you receive in a day? How many do you delete? Now compare that to a quality brochure received through the post just when you are thinking of doing work on your home – what kind of impression does that make?

Are you thinking about producing a brochure? Please feel free to get in touch with Corner House Design & Print in Manchester for an informal chat about your brochure.

BNI 60 Seconds – No2
   Blog  Jun 07, 2016  0 Comments

BNI 60 Seconds – No2

So my last blog post was about using our 60 seconds sales pitch throughout our blog and social media.

My previous 60 seconds worked as one of our fellow BNI members approached me and spoke about how I told them to look at first impressions and now its instinctive whenever he goes to a new restaurant, client or event. I know its something I do personally.

So here comes the next edition.

 

BNI 60 Seconds Post No2 – Facts tell, Stories Sell!

How do you make your business stand out from all of your competitors?

Last week I talked about perceptions and first impressions when visiting a restaurant.

But to get customers into the restaurant you are required to grab the passing trades attention with your shop front. If that shop front looks old and tired it isn’t going to give the greatest first impression and don’t forget you’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression.

How much potential trade has that old tired shop-front lost the business? Or to think about it in a positive way how much potential new custom would notice a facelift and draw them in to try it for the first time!

We can back this up with a case study from one of our clients LL Estates – They recently updated their shop-front in Rhuddlan Village including upgrading Point Of Sale boards to modern LED versions.

Not only did it get people talking in the village about the ever expanding local business but has drawn in massive amounts of new customers drawing them away from their competition.

We help business’s everyday stand out from their competitors whether it be the simplest of tasks as updating a business card through to a complete re-brand or corporate brochure.

I am currently looking for anyone wanting a Shop frontage design, print and fitting.

Alex Evans – Corner House Design & Print Ltd

Made In Bury – Premier Business Fair 2016
   Blog  May 16, 2016  0 Comments

Made In Bury – Premier Business Fair 2016

Friday 13th May 2016 saw Corner House Design & Print Ltd return to the Made In Bury Premier Business Fair for the second year.  This is always a favourite show of ours as you are supplied with shell schemes allowing us to become very creative with our stand after many years of working on clients exhibition stands for shell schemes.

Plenty of planning went into the stand for ourselves this year including opening up the centre of the stand to create a more open stand with our Web Developers Owl Tree Web Solutions. This meant we had a free flowing stand allowing delegates to be able to walk through and have a chat with us.

It was a busy day on the stand with plenty of interest in our Small Business Package which I will breakdown further below. We will soon be getting in touch with all who spoke to us, so if you bumped into us please don’t be shy to interact with us on our Twitter page.

Expo’s have become a staple part of CHD’s marketing plan over the past couple of years and we have found it gives you a huge exposure to not only potential clients but also prospective suppliers to help us grow and expand our business whilst striving to up-keep our superb customer satisfaction.

Also a big congratulations goes out to ‘Super Josh Charity’ – The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity for winning our prize draw of two lovely bottles of wine. We hope you had a very successful day as well as raising a huge awareness in the area!

Small Business Package:

• Logo design or Logo Redraw

• 500 Business Cards 

• 500 Comp Slips

• 500 Letterheads OR 500 A5 Flyers 

• 4 Page WordPress Website

• 12 Months Hosting Package

ALL THIS FOR £1,600 +VAT

ALL ABOVE INCLUDES DESIGN/ARTWORK/PRINT

BNI – 60 Seconds!
   Blog  May 13, 2016  0 Comments

BNI – 60 Seconds!

Corner House have been an established member of the Bolton BNI for well over 12 months now. We have found that BNI has helped to expand and grow our business in competitive times!

Part of the BNI meeting schedule gives each and every member of the group 60 seconds to give a ‘sales’ pitch to the rest of the group.

After an eye opening education slot last week from ‘Action Coach – Business Coach, Ian Finney’ It has shown us different ways to utilise the 60seconds pitch we write each week.

So after being an established member we find ourselves with at least 52 different scripts which aren’t being utilised.

From now on keep an eye on here or on our social media as we will be posting our 60 second sales pitch from that week. Im not going to go back to the very start but varying them from past weeks.

The following posts will all be linked. These have been used for the past few weeks flowing from one to another, a great way to get people thinking of how our services could benefit their 0r their associates business’s.

 

BNI 60 Seconds Post No1:

Do you want your business to look sexy?

This is what we at Corner House strive to achieve. As they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this is a common occurrence in our line of work!

We delve into our creative imagination to generate something bespoke to each client! No templates or generic styles are produced at Corner House and this makes each and every end product completely unique!

Image is everything! This is where we step in to create that unique piece of artwork that is going to grab your customers or target markets attention. Everything is judged from the look & style of a piece of marketing material all the way through to the touch and feel of it!

Next time you go out for a meal have a think about what perception the look and feel of the Menu gives you as a customer. For example an encapsulated piece of paper may give off the perception of cheap and cheerful.

I am currently looking for any company that may use bespoke catalogues to sell their products for instance a wholesaler or cash & carry.

Alex Evans

Corner House Design & Print Ltd

Importance of High Quality Photography
   Blog  May 12, 2016  0 Comments

Importance of High Quality Photography

Over the years here at CHD we have seen our fair share of images supplied to us to use in publications. Whether they be professionally shot stunning photos or a simple iPhone photo quickly emailed over at 72 dpi we always try our best to work with what’s supplied.

What is your target audience’s reaction going to be to a poor quality photograph of your product? Will it be positive? Is it going to make them want to buy your product? These are some important questions you need to ask yourself.

CHD have the experience to be able to check over your images and give you an honest and impartial evaluation of what should and shouldn’t be used. This is important as due to the accessibility of the Internet we are often being sent images that have been taken directly from the web which are far too low quality to print!

The art of stunning product shots is something that takes time, patience and experience. The use of studio lighting reflectors and equipment all becomes key when trying to take the perfect shot to sell your product. We have as a business looked into various different techniques but we still revert to our original set up for the best looking shots, this is a large part of our research and development which drives our studio forward!

Why not give us a call to discuss our photography services and how we can help benefit the sales and look of your product.

Litho or Digital Print? Whats the difference
   Blog  May 11, 2016  0 Comments

Litho or Digital Print? Whats the difference

How times have changed and it’s all gone full circle! When I (Alex) first stepped into the business 5 years ago printers were disappearing quicker than you could spell Lithographic!

Now it’s too easy to ignore or delete emails/digital marketing and businesses are looking for another answer to how to sell to their potential customers. It’s now time to go back to the old school! Personalised print? Small run digital? We are going to help explain the difference between the two main printing techniques!

Litho print suits large run and specialist print. If you’re printing in the thousands this will be the print selection for your job with the ability to print multiple copies on one sheet. This also requires an intermediate such as a plate to transfer the print from digital file to hard copy! This means the process will take longer due to the production of the plates through reprographics! The quality is second to none and you have the ability to apply finishes such as Spot UV, Varnishes and encapsulation.

Digital print is the modern solution to running lower quantity print! We recommend Digital usually up to the quantity of 500 but you are quite limited on the weight and type of stock you can run through the machine. It is often rather difficult for someone who is not in the trade to notice the difference in quality between digital and litho! Due to the lack of need for an intermediate its very easy to produce personalised print often returning more on investment during mail out campaigns etc.

Dave started out in the print rooms back when things were black and white and you had to get off the couch to turn over the TV and his experience within the industry is priceless! We will discuss and work out the best print solution for your job using our experience to guide you every step of the way!

   Uncategorized  Nov 05, 2014  0 Comments

Corner House’s meet the team…Questionnaire

When developing our website here at Corner House we played with the prospect of having Bio pages for each of our staff allowing clients to get to know us.  This was purely during the development stages and after finalising the layout/look of the site we decided against it!

So what do we do with this information we collated from our staff? Well we are going to put it into this blog post for you to have a fun light read. So read on to learn a little more about our staff:

Read More

Corner House’s big step into the world of digital media!
   Uncategorized  Oct 31, 2014  0 Comments

Corner House’s big step into the world of digital media!

November 2014 sees the launch of Corner House’s website! This is a first for us despite working on various different digital media jobs for clients we had yet to step into the huge virtual world! Our website has been in the pipeline for the past 12 months but like most businesses we had struggled to get the time to organise our own development work and had always given priority to clients projects!

Corner House has now established various social media pages such as: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ to interact with current and prospective clients. This new venture is a learning curve for all and after a unanimous vote this responsibility has been passed to the youth of the team Alex!

Keep your eyes peeled on all media accounts for updates and up and coming projects!

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