Color symbolism: Meaning of colors III - The colors orange and brown

The significance of the colors orange and brown in Western Europe and USA:

The color orange

• Orange combines the energy of red with the happiness of yellow. Usually, the color symbolizes joy, sunshine, the tropics, enthusiasm, fascination, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement and inspiration.
• For the human eye, orange is a very hot color. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red.
• As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and also stimulates the appetite.
• Orange is the color of autumn and harvest and symbolizes strength and endurance.
• Design and Advertising
  Orange has very high visibility and is therefore used to attract attention and highlight the main elements of a design. The color orange is particularly suitable for the advertising of food and toys.
• Color gradiations
  Dark orange represents deceit and mistrust.
  Red orange is associated with desire, sexual passion, pleasure, dominance, aggression and drive.
  Gold is associated with illumination, wisdom, wealth and high quality and evokes the feeling of prestige.

The color brown

• Brown represents health, authenticity, down-to-earthness, steadfastness, simplicity, convenience and reliability.
• Brown is a warm neutral color that can stimulate the appetite.
• Color gradiations
  Red brown is associated with autumn and harvest.

Get to know more about the colors red and yellow.

10 steps to your new printer - laser printer vs. inkjet printer

As an entrepreneur or member of a board, in spite of paperless e-mail communication you still have a lot of communication printed on paper. In order to print your correspondence on paper, you either need an inkjet or a laser printer. Think about what you consider important in a printer and find out in these ten steps, whether you should buy a laser or an inkjet printer.

Your requirements
Before you buy a new printer think about your requirements: How many pages do you print per week/month? How many of them are in color? Do you print many photos (on special paper)?

1. Speed
   Laser printers print faster than inkjet printers. If you often make a lot of prints within a short time, it might make sense to buy a laser printer.
   
2. Quality
   When printing with laser printer, the print quality is better.inkjet. In addition, the ink of the laser printer is (somewhat) water-resistant and abrasion-proof. Printing with inkjet printers, your prints are neither water-resistant nor abrasion-proof.
   
3. ! Health !
   If you decide to use a laser printer, you should set it in a well ventilated area that is not someone's office. The toner dust is toxic and damages the genetic material of human cells! An inkjet printer on the other hand can be safely put right next to you in your office.
4. Purchase and printing costs
   Inkjet printers are cheaper to buy than laser printers. Since the cartridges of inkjet printers are relatively small, they are much cheaper than the toner cartridges for laser printers.
5. Size
   Inkjet printers are relatively compact and can fit on any desk. For a laser printer, however you need a separate table and of course a seperate room - unless you want to ruin your health.
6. Media to print on
   For inkjet printers you will find an incredible number of different media to print on, such as photo paper and other special papers in all kinds of sizes, labels, t-shirt transfer paper, printable CDs/DVDs). For laser printers, it is more difficult to find different printing material.
7. Ports for memory cards and cameras
   Most new printers (both laser and inkjet printers) have connections for various memory cards or digital cameras. So you can print directly from your memory card or digital camera without having to go the detour via your computer.
8. Photos
   Photos can be printed in very good quality with a sharp image on any type of paper when printing with a laser printer. For an inkjet printer you need special photo paper to ensure that your pictures look good.
9. Scanning, copying, faxing
   If you scan many documents, but do not really have room for a separate scanner, consider a multifunction device. Inkjet printers with integrated scanners are still relatively small. The multi-function devices and laser printers however really take a lot of space.
   If you often make copies, but do not want to buy a copy machine, a laser printer with a copy function could be a good solution.
   Among both inkjet and laser printers you can find multifunctional devices that also have a fax option.
   A multifunction device (whether laser or inkjet printer) does not only save space, but also money, since you only need to buy a device and not several different ones.
10. Maintenance
    With inkjet printers, you have to ensure that the ink does not dry up and the print head does not get clogged. Laser printers require relatively little attention from their owners.

Designing your business cards

Business cards are essential for your marketing! They are a cheap and simple way of advertising.

For business cards, there really is no standard format. However, there are a few formats that are common:

• 85 x 55 mm (EU credit card size used in Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland)
• 85.6 x 54 mm / 3.370 x 2.125 in (credit card size according to ISO 7810)
• 74 x 52 mm / 2.913 x 2.047 in (ISO 216, A8)
• 81 x 57 mm / 3.2 x 2.2 in (DIN C8)
• 100 x 65 mm / 3.937 x 2.559 in (with photo)
• 88.9 x 50.8 mm / 3.5 x 2 (business card size in U.S. and UK)
• 91 x 55 mm / 3.582 x 2.165 in (Japanese business card format)
• 90 x 55 mm / 3.54 x 2.165 in (used in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden)
• 90 x 54 mm / 3.543 x 2.125 in (used in Hong Kong and China)
• 90 x 50 mm / 3.543 x 1.968 in (used in Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary)
• Fold-over business cards usually folded to one of the above formats

As paper, you should select something stable, such as 300 g/m² or 350 g/m². Thin paper is cheaper, but does not look professional.

You can design and print your business cards on one side or on both sides. The one-sided print usually is a little bit cheaper. You can just have something printed in black on the front side - the print shop will call this 1/0. Or you have something printed in black on both sides - 1/1.
However, I recommend using color. Either just on the front side (4/0) or the front side colored and the back side in black (4/1), or both sides in color (4/4). '4' stands for the four printing colors used: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
You can also use special colors - at additional cost of course.
Also, you have the opportunit to have your business cards coated with a UV lacquer. This is offered by most of the print shops now.
Another possibility, which is particularly common in the U.S. is the thermography process. Thsi simulates the more expensive raised-print effect with the application of plastic powder that is melted onto the card.

The font on your cards should be adjusted depending on the appeal wanted. Avoid using all capital, script or ornate writing - these are difficult to read.
Select a font size that is not too small - less than 8 pt can only be read by some people with the help of a magnifying glass.

Your business card should appear clearly. Do not stuff it with too much text. Do not overload your card with too much information, as this will appear cluttered.

If you already have a Corporate Design (CD) - a consistent corporate identity - you should also use it for your business cards. At least your logo should appear on your cards!

Important content of your business card:

• Logo
• Company name
• Maybe a short description of the company
• First name, last name, title, function
• Full address
• Telephone, mobile telephone number, fax
• E-mail
• Website, blog, facebook page

There are several possibilities for having your business card printed.
One way to print the cards is doing it yourself - with your own printer and special business card paper. However, since this appears unprofessional, takes time and is not necessarily cheaper than having the cards printed professionally, you should make use of another possibility: You can use a local print shop or an internet print shop. Mot internet print shops are a little bit cheaper - however, they lack personal contact. To find an internet print shop simply google 'printing business cards'.