I received something in the mail last week. Beautifully packaged. A gift I didn’t do anything to deserve, sent out of the goodness of her heart.
Aren’t they adorable? They’re made by c(o)in:purse, aka Mrs. Green Tea on Weddingbee. She posted a tutorial (because she’s incredibly generous like that) so you can even make some of your own if you would like! If I were her I would keep the fabrication process a secret and open an Etsy store but Mrs. GT is obviously a much better person than I am.
I can’t bear to hang them on the fridge for fear I will shut the door too hard and send them clattering all over the kitchen in a million pieces, so they are hanging very sweetly in our office right next to my photo/crafting/sewing corner. I plan to incorporate them into the baby decor eventually.
GT, you’re my favorite. Thanks a million for making my month with these.
Her insanely creative and unique packaging has me thinking more seriously about my own packaging for delivering products to my Jenna Cole customers. I also absolutely adore what Kasia Fink (aka Mrs. Seabreeze on Weddingbee) has come up with for her packaging, seen here and here. This is the little unique touch that I need!
So I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me brainstorm a little bit to think of some ways I can glam up my product deliveries. I’d love photo inspiration if you have it, but straight up brainstorming will work just fine.
I’m specifically looking for ways to make my DVD deliveries more interesting. I deliver all of my digital images (and all clients get a disc of digital images) via the silver DVD tins you can see the magnets sticking to two photos up. They each have a 2 inch X 2 inch indent on the front side which would be perfect for a cute little label, but I’ve only been able to find 1 1/4 inch X 1 3/4 inch labels thus far and they look funny unless perfectly centered, which I can’t seem to do. I’ve also started including a thank you card with each delivery, a simple little design I came up with that uses my wig logo and the word “grazie” on front.
That’s about as creative as I’ve gotten so far and I don’t think that’s going to work. So I’d like ideas on anything and everything including:
- envelopes to mail the DVD’s in (how can I decorate them? where can I find attractive and professional- read: not post office yellow-dnvelopes to fit DVD’s?)
- packaging ideas for sending out prints (will vary in size, from 4X6 to 8X10)
- Fun and unique elements that can be added very inexpensively to each mailing (so much be both cost effective and light)
- A color scheme?
- Ribbons? Bows? Candy? Confetti? Moss? Kraft paper?
- Would spending more on my packaging and postage costs really be effective in impressing my clients enough to make them more likely to refer me or use me for future sessions? Or do you think that doesn’t really matter?
I own a paper cutter, Photoshop (duh), sewing machine… and that’s about it. And I can certainly send off things and have them printed through my printing lab and use those somehow(that’s how I printed my thank you cards, and business cards, etc).
Limitations include:
- No color printer, and our laser printer can only print on regular weight copy paper
- Terrible, awful, horrible, no good handwriting
- Very limited design skills
- Only used the sewing machine once before
- Funds
Any ideas?
June 11th, 2009 on 4:13 am
I think that using boxes and lining them with paper and going to the trouble of wrapping it using quality satin ribbon would be lovely.
From a client relationship perspective, I think that the details genuinely make a difference. Especially is they are designed to really complement the ethos of your brand.
How do you live without a colour printer!?
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June 11th, 2009 on 7:16 am
Have you thought about little boxes like these? http://www.cddimensions.com/DVD-Case-Mailers/productinfo/GEN-1DVDMAILER/ I’m not sure if they are the right size or anything. But if you wrapped the DVD case with a ribbon and a bow…that could be really pretty.
Have you considered a stamp for the front of the DVD case? You could do a custom 2×2 stamp – http://orders.rubberstamps.net/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=WOODSTAMP8. If you use a permanent stamp pad like this one http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=101406, you wouldn’t have to mess with your printer or labels.
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June 11th, 2009 on 7:40 am
Hola Jenna! My photographer delivered our prints from the E-session we ordered in a smart black box. The inside had brightly colored tissues and it was all tied in a box with a simple “Thanks” on the front and the logo on the bag of a hang tag. I wish I had a picture so show you. The whole shebang came in what I think was a Kraft brown envelope in bubble wrap {the enve might have been white, it’s foggy} but I LOVED it. It was very simple but the attention to the detail floored me. I kept all of it!
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Lauren Reply:
June 11th, 2009 at 7:40 am
*tied with a bow, not a box — sorry it’s early
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June 11th, 2009 on 7:41 am
I think Hannah’s idea is great but if you are looking for a mailer with a little more style this site has some that you can design. http://www.zooprinting.com/products/info/dvdcdmailers it could look cute with your logo on the front of it.
I would say keep it simple though a including the note is great. I always love getting cards from vendors that I have worked with.
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June 11th, 2009 on 7:55 am
I think it’s so sweet that you want to go to the trouble of making a nice presentation for your clients, but I think it’s unnecessary. You are giving them a great service already and I think including a sweet thank you card (which you already do) is gracious enough. I wouldn’t recommend spending more on frills that will likely go into the trash.
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June 11th, 2009 on 8:03 am
I’m sure you want the emphasis to be on your beautiful photos. With that in mind, I’d say to keep it simple. Clean lines, no frills, no waste like extra paper, etc.
Since the DVDs are probably pretty nondescript, what about printing your favorite shot on a label and using it for the cover? One can buy full-sheet labels to print at home and then cut. (I can’t believe you don’t have a color printer, but maybe this could be outsourced.)
I love the idea of a simple black box tied with a silver or white ribbon for albums or prints, maybe with your logo embossed on the bottom corner of the box in a black lacquer type of thing? That would just involve having a stamp made of your logo and using embossing powder and a heat gun (none exorbitantly expensive). Then, I’d wrap the contents in one sheet of crisply folded tissue paper using a logo sticker as a closure for the tissue paper.
Is this vision coming through or not?
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June 11th, 2009 on 8:25 am
I can picture your silver tin that you showed us tied with a simple ribbon. That would be nice. Twine and kraft paper is a simple, inexpensive touch if you happen to wrap something in kraft paper. Also, you could stamp something on the bottom corners of your outside envelopes (or whatever else) with any saying, word, image (can find something at Micheals, Joanns, etc) or I’m sure someone on Etsy could make your wig image into a stamp as well.
Whatever you do, simple, clean is great. You don’t need to glam up too much because what you are really giving them are those awesome, glammed up pictures!
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June 11th, 2009 on 9:01 am
I’m having the same problem of trying to find a nice way to ship the paintings but also add a little something.
You don’t want it to break your bank but you still want it to be nice. And then I have no graphic skills whatsoever so I’m kinda just making stabs in the dark.
Sadly I don’t have too many suggestions though the sticker ideas sound nice or maybe look into seeing if you could press the dvd cases with your brand. I could tell you what not to do that I learned from our photog (first suggestion don’t become a chain smoker so the DVD reeks of cigs).
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June 11th, 2009 on 9:46 am
Jenna,
My opinion is that any way you can re-inforce your brand of Jenna Cole from start to finish will only benefit you. It will 1, help your clients to remember you and recommend you, but 2- (and I would say more importantly) give them a sense of who you are and the personality of your brand. That said, you should be sure that your communications with clients are “on brand” and consistent with your brand personality. For example, you have already done a great job with this, matching a fun and casual typeface with your fun and casual hair-do logo. Any other aspects of your communications, such as the way you package the CDs or albums, should also match the fun and casual feel you have already communicated.
I like the ideas of brightly colored tissue paper. I think a little extra freebe that doesn’t cost you much would be worth the investment.
Hope this helped… gotta use my advertising degree some how..
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Becky (rksquared) Reply:
June 11th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I agree with this wholeheartedly. In fact, when I read the comment above about the extras being “unnecessary” my stomach started tying itself in knots.
Whatever you can do to reinforce your brand now will only make it easier for you later. Think about who your ideal customers are now, and who you want them to be in a year or two. It’s no secret that in the photography business the higher your prices are, the more the little details matter to your customers. At the luxury level they aren’t paying for just fantastic pictures, but a fantastic, and seamless experience.
Similar to the “dress for the next level” strategy in the business world, you should be paying at least enough attention to the details of packaging, service, etc as the next level of customer would expect. (IMO, anyway.) That way, when you do decide to raise your prices, the experience is already there to help justify it to your customers.
Sorry for the rant, I’ve been researching branding a LOT lately, and I’m becoming a little bit passionate about it. I do have some ideas for you, though. I’ll post them in another comment below.
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June 11th, 2009 on 11:33 am
There are a lot of options, but the part of my brain dominated by my Marketing and Commerce degree has a couple questions (maybe things for you to think about!):
1. What image do you want your company to have? Cottage chic, country, urban, sophisticated, edgy, modern, vintage- anything you could label a decor style or fashion sense. I’m getting a cottage-country-vintage americana feel from your photos, but where do you want to take your business?
2. Do you have brand colours? Branding can be extremely important- essentially to differentiate your end product to people like me whose photography knowledge ends with “Ooh, pretty pictures!” Consider incorporating two or three colours into everything you do- your website, business cards, thank yous, packaging. Your logo is a great start!
Personally, I love love LOVE packaging. I could see a cute, colourful fabric sewn into simple envelopes for the metal tins. Something reminiscent of bandanas or vintage handkercheifs. They would be simple to sew for a beginner! I could dig around for a pattern if you’d like. Rubber stamps on Kraft paper or mailing envelopes, twine, burlap- I love texture.
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June 11th, 2009 on 11:39 am
I’ve been thinking about the same thing this week! I’ve got my first engagement session next week and I really want to make a good impression!
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June 11th, 2009 on 12:14 pm
Presentation is so very important and my husband and I have thought it through and through how we are presenting the disc (and other items) to our photography clients. To me, it matters a lot.
We actually got our discs printed with our logo right on the DVD itself and we present them in a CD case (like a music CD) with a cover that says “style.ish love” and the clients names. Lucky for me, my husband is a fantastic graphic designer so he comes up with beautiful designs.
For the silver DVD case you could make a belly band around it with your logo and wig repeating around it that the client can just slide off. It adds a nice touch to the case. We actually did this for our own wedding CD, email me if you want to see a picture of it. Also, buy a custom embosser and emboss your logo (or just the wig would be cool) on any paper products you send out. It is such a small touch but looks really cool. I get ours at http://www.wgpress.com
Anyway, I hope that helps and yes, I do agree, Kasia’s packaging is what makes me like her fascinators even more! thanks for linking to my pictures.
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June 11th, 2009 on 12:49 pm
Here’s a link to a great label company where you could buy 2″x2″ labels in white or brown kraft. Then you could send them to your printer to get the wig logo printed on them!
https://bkl.storesecured.com/items/Square-Labels/list.htm
I love when boxes have a paper “ribbon” wrapped around them, really just a sleeve. (Think Nordstrom’s gift wrapping) But you could make that yourself with pretty, heavyweight scrap booking paper (sold by individual sheets at Micheal’s in tons of great colors and designs!) that you could cut with your paper cutter in 2″ wide strips, and score them with a bone fold (or just a knife) to make perfect folds at the edges of the box.
You could wrap the sleeve around the box then seal it with a logo label!
And/or you could send your prints wrapped in tissue, then put in a pretty stamped bag like this:
http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/photogallery/25-perfect-programs?lnc=&rsc=lpg&lpgStart=1¤tslide=9¤tChapter=1#ms-global-breadcrumbs
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June 11th, 2009 on 3:51 pm
I buy pocketfolds & envelopes from Cardsandpockets.com–the square size is perfect for a DVD!
I decided to do this because my own engagement pic cd came in similar packaging, and I really noticed and appreciated it!
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June 11th, 2009 on 5:10 pm
Just some ideas…a workaround for 2×2 stickers would be using whcc’s 2×3.5″ sticker template. Align your design to one side & crop them to fit when you get them. The price is $12 for 50, and you can do anything with the design.
Enveloperinc.com has “Enveloppers” that come in 8 5/8 x 11 1/8″ size to fit up to 8×10″ prints. Along with simple belly band or just a sticker, they make for nice print packaging.
Uline has Self-seal Kraft Stay Flat and Kraft and White Easy-Fold Mailers for shipping. Design some 4×5.5 WHCC stickers as mailing labels, and you have some instant branded fun!
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June 11th, 2009 on 5:38 pm
I think that it is important that not only these “frills” as others have put it add the touch you are looking for, but also continue to brand your business. For example, while the packaging needs to be pretty, I would recommend you stick to the main colors on your business cards, or website. Branding is so important in a business. My brain is fried from taking finals at school this week so I don’t have any specific ideas, but I’m sure others will have great ideas for you!
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June 11th, 2009 on 6:37 pm
check out the Container Store, or even just an office supply store for plain DVD mailing envelopes.
While you’re checking out the office supply places, see if they have laser printer compatible labels. Printing your logo as part of your return address on an oversized label as well as customizing the DVD/CD labels will do a ton to give you a more customized look, even in black and white!
I like the idea someone mentioned above about using colored tissue paper in your packaging if you can. Just make sure it’s acid free so that you’re not risking damaging your work.
Good luck!
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June 12th, 2009 on 1:31 pm
I’m back again. They are discussing this very thing on one of the Flickr groups I’m on:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/startingaweddingbiz/discuss/72157603787476395/
(PS – it’s a great group called Starting a Wedding Photography Business).
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July 3rd, 2009 on 3:27 pm
my work life in the field has devoured all my personal time as of late so i’ve been basically offline. i thought about you and the magnets and wondered if they ever arrived. i know i’m ultra late to respond but i’m so glad you like ‘em! xo.
p.s. i have ideas about CD packaging but my cheap recycling behind only come up with homely looking ideas. if a better light bulb goes off in that pea brain of mine i’ll be sure to holla
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May 20th, 2010 on 8:31 am
[...] back in June of last year, I asked for help brainstorming packaging for Jenna Cole. I admit it took me months to get my act together and jump [...]