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Mini boxes, maximum creativity
November 2009, by Denise | 1 Comment Latest by AllisonWe’re a little worried by our latest MiniCard box-decorating competition. It seems to’ve captured the attention of the MOO Crew just a bit too much. The UK team spent a happy lunch hour crafting their boxes - see Simon and China, below:
And not to be outdone, I arrived this morning to an entry from Dave, one of our US MOO Crew!
Don’t worry, we might have a little prize for best box made by one of the MOO team, but the real prizes will still go to someone from our broader community.
It’s great to see everyone taking a break from their computers for a while though, and giving their heads a chance to think in a different way. Perhaps we should start a MOO craft hour at lunchtimes (to go with the poker lessons held by the ever patient - but suspiciously good - Gordon)?
Our first entry from the community can also be seen over on Flickr. A rather elegant creation by Bcome, this MiniCard box is decorated with a traditionally styled Japanese knot.
Bcome is an architect and designer, describing herself as ‘A German designer gone Japan’:
It’s a great first entry (we’ve already mentally deconstructed it - and are wondering if we could re-construct it ourselves) - and we’re looking forward to seeing what else you come up with. So give yourself a break, grab yourself a spare five minutes, and think in a different way for a while.
1 CommentHow’s your elf?
November 2009, by Dan | 5 Comments Latest by zombieWell, the weather outside is frightful and the MOO warehouse staff are getting ready for the Holiday rush. Our trusty elves are enjoying their last silent night before a few weeks of rigorous stocking stuffing. Soon your MOO orders will be walking in the air and climbing down your chimney.
You’ll need to make sure you get your orders placed before our cut off dates, as we would not want you to have a blue Christmas. We thought you may want to see some of our packers at work in the MOO grotto, so here are some festive snap shots from our Rhode Island office…
If you’re worried about your cards getting stolen by frosty the snowman, then we are offering a London, UK collection special. If you want to collect your order, simply send us your order number via the contact form, quoting your order number and “COLLECTION” in the subject line. We’ll then flag your order for collection and give you instructions on how/where to collect your order. This is for a limited time only (until the 16th December), so be sure to get your order in ASAP.
5 CommentsMiniCard Boxes - for a MiniGift Competition!
November 2009, by Simon G | 9 Comments Latest by lola pedroIf you’ve used up a whole box of MOO MiniCards, you’ll be left with lots of new contacts and… A white box without a purpose.
Luckily we’ve got just the purpose for these blank canvases - the MOO MiniCard MiniGift Box Competition! We’ve been inspired in the past by the amazing things you’ve done with MiniCard boxes and thought we’d give you a little nudge to celebrate your creativity, in time for Christmas and the Holidays.
We’d love to see what you can do with some felt, marker pens, glue, glitter, scrapbooking paper, polymer clay, yarn, and anything else you can find about the house by crafting a MOO MiniCard box (old or new) into either a festive Gift Box for family and friends or - if you’re the Etsy type - packaging for the handcrafted creations you sell.
Without further ado, the rules and and everything you’ll need to know are below…
Competition Guidelines
CATEGORIES
- Best reuse of a MiniCard box as festive gift wrap
- Best reuse of a MiniCard box for packaging design
PRIZES
- 1 Winner per Category - 1 x MOO Mosaic Frame + 100 MiniCards
- 1 Runner-up per Category - 1 x 100 MiniCards
ENTRIES
- Post a photo of your MiniCard Box in the MOO Flickr Group, and tag it MOOGiftBox
- Closing date for entries is midnight PST 28th December 2009
- Winners (and runners-up) announced in January 2010
- You can use the Old or New style MOO MiniCard Boxes
- … along with any means of decoration imaginable!
JUDGES
- MOO’s very own Product Designer (Paul) and Creative Director (Denise) will judge your entries along with Michael Craig - Design Director at Etsy. Their word is final.
Best of luck - get crafting, and most of all, have some fun!
9 CommentsTalk is cheap (with VoIP)
November 2009, by Simon G | Add a commentEven an online/web business cannot live in a vacuum.
When you started your web based business you probably had coffee with your suppliers, posted freshly signed contracts through the mail and called potential new clients. All of these really important milestone events happened offline, in the “real world”.
Whilst it’s great to meet face-to-face, we have to admit it’s not practical all of the time which is why the UK portion of MOO’s Marketing team don’t fly from MOO HQ in London (UK) to our office in Rhode Island (USA) for our weekly Marketing meeting (despite how much fun it’d be to pay the Providence office a visit). Instead, we try to make use of all of the latest technology to keep us close to our US team mates.
The team are always chatting on IM (instant messenger) and sharing files via email, but we sometimes need to store files so the whole team can access them when we’re on the move, anywhere in the world. We use Huddle for sharing files - it’s free and the perfect place to keep up to date files for the entire team. The feature that comes in very handy is the version tracking of uploaded files to see who last worked on a particular document. Very nice indeed.
We also use VoIP (voice over internet protocol) to keep in touch. It’s just like a normal telephone service, but has the added benefit of no line rental and you can call other VoIP users for free - a great way to save on the cost of phone calls (especially when you’re calling across the ocean). Another feature of VoIP that we love is the ability to conference call for free too.
The guys at Gradwell have a whole set of VoIP options and some great tips on the other benefits of VoIP - things we’d never even considered:
- Using local numbers (making it cheaper for your customer to call you) and redirecting the caller smoothly to your VoIP phone number.
- Forwarding incoming calls to a VoIP enabled mobile, letting you easily take your work on the road - never missing out on an important business call.
- Sharing the workload of incoming calls by sharing your VoIP line with a team mate and delegating calls - making you more productive.
- ‘Smart’ call forwarding to different VoIP lines or team mates based on where the caller is calling from making it more relevant for the caller and easier to manage.
- Free, customised VoiceMail - tailoring the message for your unique business.
Gradwell have extended a kind discount to MOO customers - 1,000 FREE minutes (to 01, 02, 03 and 0870 numbers) for any of their VoIP packages. Simply enter the code MOO2009 in the signup process to get the free minutes added to your new account!
Add a commentFind the one-of-a-kind gift
November 2009, by Emilie | 37 Comments Latest by EstasiaThere had been much discussion at MOO Studios as to where is the best place to find that perfect Christmas gift (we knew where to find Christmas Cards). But, it seemed we were all seeking a unique, one-of-a-kind gift for our special someone and weren’t sure where we could find it. Luckily, we now have the answer.
Last week, many of you emailed us your favourite local Christmas Craft Fair or Market. We’ve compiled those fairs here. If you have other fairs that we should check out, please list them in the comments!
In the United Kingdom
Brighton:
MADE09
From Thursday 19th November to Sunday 22nd November 2009
Chelmsford:
Winter Wonderland Shopping Fair
Sunday 29 November, 10am - 4pm
Godmanchester:
Oakleigh Christmas Fair
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th December 2009
Leicester:
Christmas Craft Fair 2009 Parklands Leisure Centre
Sunday 22nd November 2009
London:
Sparkle - Contemporary Craft and Gourmet Fair
From Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd November 2009
We Make London
Saturday 5th December
All I Want For Xmas - The Design & Gift Market
From Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th December 2009
South Gloucestershire:
Vintage and handmade Christmas fair
Saturday 14th November 2009
In the US
Chicago:
One of a Kind Show
From Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th December 2009
Los Angeles:
Unique Los Angeles
Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th December 2009
Maryland:
Handmade Mart Holiday Shop -N-Stroll
Saturday 5th December
New York:
Holiday Art Show Deepwell Farms St James, NY
Saturday 14th, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November 2009
One of a Kind Show
Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th December
Long Island Fine Arts and Craft Winter Wonderland Holiday Extravaganza
Sunday 12th December
Oakland:
The Crucible
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th December
In Canada:
Toronto:
One of a Kind Show
From November 16th to December 6th 2009
Vancouver
Got Craft?
Vancouver’s largest indie craft fair
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Illustration that packs a punch in the post
November 2009, by Anne-Marie | 7 Comments Latest by Roxann SouciFreelance life can be tough. Long gaps between commissions. Accounts departments who just can’t seem to find your invoice. Not to mention the ever-present need to get your work seen by the people who count.
Jonny Wan, a freelance illustrator from Sheffield, knows all about that. A graduate of the Manchester School of Art, he’s constantly striving to ensure his unique illustrative style (think abstracted facial expressions, patterns, symmetry and hand-drawn lettering) snags the attention of creative directors everywhere – and he does so via Business Cards and Postcards from MOO.
MOO first caught his eye at his university degree show, where he noticed that all the students’ cutest promo materials were produced by the same company – MOO! Then we tempted him with a free Business Card sample, giving him a chance to try our ordering software (”simple, logical and gives the user complete control”) and evaluate our print quality and finishing (”very pleasing”). Duly hooked, Jonny ordered a set of Postcards and some Business Cards featuring a range of his work, and is preparing to send them off to art directors as we speak.
As an illustrator, working in a visual medium, presentation is very important to Jonny. “I like to make little promotional packs of my postcards and business cards”, he says. “I send them out packaged in self-seal clear bags. It’s good to put real thought into how the art director receives your promo materials – it’s boring to just whack some cards in an envelope.”
Like many creative types, Jonny’s happiest when he’s working, even between commissions. An example of this is his self-initiated “Can’t Afford It” project. Whenever he wants an item of clothing he can’t afford, he draws it instead! Eventually to be self-published as a book, working like this helps him improve his work rate, hone his Photoshop and Illustrator skills, and keep his unique style fresh and ever-evolving.
No matter how his style develops, MOO’s short print runs means that his promotional materials are always in step with his latest work. “As an illustrator, your style is always changing and improving. The last thing you want is to end up with a thousand cards of the same design. You need to keep existing and future clients up to date with your freshest, latest work, because essentially they will hire you based on what they see on your promo material. It’s no good for an art director to commission you only to find that your illustrative style has changed or moved on.” He laughs. “After all, you wouldn’t be happy buying a Jay-Z CD to find a Metallica disc inside, right?”
When designing his cards, Jonny also took advantage of a new feature that allows users to upload images for both the front and the back of the Business Cards. “Anything that gives you more options allows room for creative control – and it’s that kind of flexibility that keeps me coming back to MOO. The ability to upload images for both sides of the Business Cards enables you to make the cards completely unique.”
“A business card is usually the first point of contact between a new client and an illustrator, so it’s important your card jumps out at people while being straight and upfront with your contact details. The fact that the cards can be individual rather than generic also gives a sense of professionalism – people can be impressed that you’ve put the effort into designing your own cards. A little effort can go a long way.”
Jonny’s constantly thinking of new ways to promote his work using MOO products. “I love the Stickers – I can see them being a very unique selling point. They’re a little different and unexpected, which is beneficial in an industry where everyone strives to promote themselves in a unique way.”
MiniCards appeal to him for the same reason. “MiniCards are great because they get straight to the point and don’t take up a lot of space. Art directors get bombarded with samples every morning. They open their mail and have to make snap decisions about what to keep and what to chuck.”
“They’re more likely to pin a MiniCard onto their noticeboard than, say, a leaflet, because they know it won’t take up a lot of space. And if your work’s on their noticeboard, they’re more likely to bear you in mind when it comes to commissioning. And that’s what it’s all about!”
Thanks for talking to us Jonny! We look forward to seeing more of your work soon.
Like Jonny’s work? He’s available for commissions so get in touch, and say hello from us too.
7 CommentsMaking events & trade shows work for you
November 2009, by Pete | 1 Comment Latest by Gianfranco ChiccoIn many company blogs, marketing teams often have lots to say (or at least, they’re pretty hard to keep quiet). With MOO this isn’t always the case - our customers usually give the rest of the team so much to blog about, we barely get a look in.
One marketing ‘channel’ (yes, sorry, some marketing buzzwords and jargon coming up) that has given us lots to talk about over the last year however, is events and trade-shows. MOO has visited Austin, Boston, Las Vegas, London, New York, Providence, San Diego, and we are at Washington DC this week. In total we have spoken to tens of thousands of photographers, graphic designers, artists, fashion designers, students and more. We have met hundreds of businesses along the way, and while it’s been pretty tiring, it has also been lots of fun, and very educational.
Trade-shows can be very expensive, time consuming and demanding, so it’s really important to get as much from them as possible.
Today, we thought we’d share five things that worked for us - hopefully some of this will be useful for those of you considering trade-shows as part of your ‘marketing mix’ next year (I did warn you about the jargon!).
Customisation
Where possible, MOO builds its own booth. That means no cookie-cutter plinths and stands, no shiny black velvet drapes, no bar stools and definitely no $100 waste-paper baskets. A good company has a brand worth protecting, and it’s visual identity is a huge part of that. This remains the case at a live event - any old furniture and fuscia coloured carpet shouldn’t suddenly become acceptable. As an on online business, an event may be one of the few times a year you have a physical presence in the real world. So we invest in design and customisation. Our current booths are created by our marketing and design teams, from scratch. They begin with a brief and a blank piece of paper, and then we work out what we want to achieve, but more importantly what will customers and visitors want to experience at a MOO booth. It ends up looking something like this;
Relevancy
We often talk about short print runs helping relevancy. Making postcards specifically for a job interview, or tailoring your business cards to the trade show you are about to attend helps you to stand out and get noticed. The same should go for when you are exhibiting - marketing materials shouldn’t be left over from a different exhibition - the money you save handing out the leftovers may well be negated by the customers who take their business to someone with a more relevant offering. MOO tries to make sure everything we hand out is fresh, current and targeted to its recipient. At the HOW Design Conference we talked about vector art, graphics and illustration. At PhotoPlus, we talked jpegs and megapixels.
Creativity
If you are speaking to creative people, it helps to speak their language, and prove you understand their values. Make the effort to be creative. Some booths pop out from a mile away, even if they are tiny - because they look vibrant, or clinical or crazy or fun - what matters is that they support the company brand, and appeal to the type of customers you want to engage with.
Generosity
People walk up to a booth and ask ‘what kind of show specials do you have?’ - you need to decide if discounts and specials are part of your events plan, but you can be generous in other ways. Give people some time, listen, ask them some questions and find out a little about them. If I know a bit about the person in-front of me, it’s much easier explaining how they could use MOO, and how a creative print project would benefit their business or project. Leaving a booth with a firm idea in mind that might benefit your business is far more powerful than a discount flyer or a mouse-mat. At PhotoPlus in New York, we designed and printed Blurb books full of ideas and inspiration on how to use MOO products, and the response was far more positive than any promotional material.
Going for a walk
This one is simple - the best way to learn what works well at any specific show is see for yourself. Look at every booth (both the busy ones and the quiet ones), and speak to the teams working there. Carry lots of Business cards - and make some connections.
And finally?
Well we have one more show, the InDesign Conference in Washington DC, which runs (this very week) from the 4th to the 6th of November 2009. If you are close by, we would love you to pay us a visit. Then after that, a rest.
PS If you have some more tips, we’d love to hear what works for you. 1 Comment
‘My mini-mini portfolio’
October 2009, by Anne-Marie | 13 Comments Latest by Roxann SouciAfter giving you the story behind Perch’s MiniCards, we thought we should catch up with photographer, Simon Warren. Also featured on our MiniCards page, he’s been taking advantage of the latest features and comparing them with the larger Business Cards he’s been using (and loving) for a while. Here’s what he had to say:
Simon Warren is one of the UK’s top location photographers. He’s been using MOO’s Business Cards to showcase his outstanding graphic images: bold exteriors, sleek interiors, arresting construction shots and more.
Though happy with the size and scope of the Business Cards, he’s recently been experimenting with MiniCards, with positive results.
A hardcore Business Card fan, Simon was initially worried by the slimmed-down dimensions of the MiniCards (about half the size of a full-size business card.)
“At first, I was concerned that the cards would be simply too small to showcase my photos effectively”, he explains. “But actually, this can work very well. The cards show snippets of images – almost abstract – giving a hint of information, but (quite literally) not the full picture.”
Rather than being a hindrance, this fits well with other design aspects of his brand. “My website works in exactly the same way – visitors are shown an interesting or intriguing section of an image, which they click to see in full. It’s a simple but effective way to get people involved and interacting with my work.”
He also likes the impact the MiniCards can have when shown together. “Once you have a whole bunch of cards spread out on the table, the viewer is able to get a better impression of your work than a single image can provide, so that’s how I like to show them. Then I let the viewer choose whichever one they want. The fact that they’ve been involved in the choice often helps them remember your work better than if you simply thrust a card into their hand.
“I often refer to my MOO Business Cards as my ‘mini-portfolio’. My MiniCards are now my mini-mini portfolio!” he laughs. “Sometimes when you’re carrying a full set of business cards around in a holder, it can be a little clunky. At a very basic level, they’re physically easier to carry around with you. As a photographer, you carry so much equipment with you - that’s a big plus.”
Simon’s also pleased with his MiniCard holder. “It swings open sideways and then you push the cards out with your thumb. It’s unusual and I think people like that.
“At networking events so many people are handing out conventional business cards in conventional holders. Sometimes that’s what you want, but other times it’s good to stand out a little. MiniCards can help you do just that.”
Thanks for chatting with us Simon!
Find out more about Simon’s work, or check out his portfolio.
Beat the UK Postal Strikes
October 2009, by Dan | 6 Comments Latest by DeniseAs you are probably aware, Royal Mail have scheduled further strikes this week. Please note this only affects “Standard” delivery to UK addresses, not Express.
Local delivery services and the sorting office at Royal Mail HQ will be closed this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We want to make sure that your order doesn’t get caught in the backlog and we have some alternatives for you to think about when placing your order.
Express
At checkout, you can choose our Express service. This is a guaranteed, signed for service, which is totally unaffected by the strikes. UK Express starts at £10 and is definitely value for money. You will be able to track the delivery online and the service is 1-3 days guaranteed (once shipped).
Collection
During the strike action, we are offering a special collection service. If you are based locally to our Clerkenwell warehouse in London, please send us your order number via the contact form, quoting COLLECTION in the subject line. We’ll then flag your order for collection and give you instructions on how/where to collect your order. This is for a limited time only, so be sure to get your order in ASAP!
In the meantime, fingers crossed for a speedy resolution to these disputes.
6 CommentsThe story behind the Perch MiniCards
October 2009, by Denise | 7 Comments Latest by RachaelAs you know, we’ve updated the features on MiniCards. You can upload an image for the front and the back - and there are some other neat features too. On the MiniCards page, you’ll find some images of real cards. Ones our customers have made - like these, from Perch:
We contacted Perch after seeing their cards at dConstruct, a conference in Brighton. We liked them so much, we wondered what they’d do with the new features we had planned for MiniCards. The cards above are the ones they made, and this is the story behind them.
Perch is a “really little” content management system. (Their words, not ours!) It’s designed to be simple, straightforward, and easy to get running, so that even internet novices can edit content on a small website with no muss and no fuss. The really little CMS also has a really neat little price and, confesses Drew McLellan, Director and Senior Developer at edgeofmyseat.com, the company behind Perch, a slimmed-down marketing budget to match.
Despite this, Perch have been using their MiniCards to do mighty things. Things that might have carried a hefty price tag with another printer. Prior to launch, Perch produced a batch of MOO MiniCards with a special 20% discount code on the back – a time-tested, traditional way to promote a product, which gave people a reason to hold onto the card until the company went live.
After launch, they began to look at new ways to market themselves, by sponsoring conferences, and speaking about Perch at events. In order to test the effectiveness of such activities, they needed a way to track where their site visitors had heard about the product - and this is where the mighty MiniCard things started happening.
Rather than the general discount card they’d used previously, Perch ordered some new MiniCards, with unique discount codes on the front where the photo normally goes. They wrote some software to generate the codes, and output an XML file that they then “mail merged” into their images using the Data-Driven Graphics tool in Adobe Fireworks. This created 100 unique images for each batch of MiniCards, which they then uploaded as part of each order.
“The ability to have 100 unique cards in a run of 100 has been fantastic for us”, says Drew. “Doing it any other way would have been a nightmare. Firstly it would have been difficult just to find someone able to do it, and you can bet it would have been expensive - probably too expensive to be worth doing! Now when someone uses a discount code, we can tell which event they picked up the card at by tracking the code back through our systems.”
Perch also find MOO’s short print runs to be very handy, because each batch they order is a small commitment both financially, and in terms of strategy. Fresh illustration work, a small tweak to the logo – all can be incorporated into the MiniCards next time a batch is produced. “The fact that we order 100 cards at a time means it’s no hassle to make that sort of change”, says Drew, “and it’s great to order up some new cards knowing that the wastage from the old cards is really minimal. We’ve probably got about £5-worth of unused old design cards sitting around, which is nothing. If we were printing traditionally at volume then you’re tied in and can’t stay nimble.”
“MOO’s generally our first port of call when we need something printed”, says Drew. “We’ve been really pleased with the quality and the ability to click a few things on a web page and have something physical that you’ve created turn up at your door is awesome.”
Thanks to Drew for taking the time to talk to us - and thanks to Anne-Marie for writing this up. Find out more about Perch and what it can do for you, or make some MiniCards of your own.
7 CommentsMOO in the wild
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