Friday, January 27, 2012

online printing woes – or wins!

When designing projects for my clients, I try to source a local printer for a variety of reasons, including quality control (ability to attend press checks), community (stimulating the local economy) and environment (smaller carbon footprint).

But sometimes budget constraints force me to look at using online printers, and I've often been left wanting. Lack of control, less than optimal customer service, and a tendency for billing errors have taught me to select my online printer very carefully. After many tries, I finally found one that met my high standards and I've been recommending them to my clients as the need arises.

Today, I'm happy to share that I've found another online printer who, at least on this first project, has done an excellent job in all areas. NextDayFlyers just delivered an order of 250 postcards and I'm so pleased with the results! The colors are very close to what I was expecting, the paper and coating are nice, customer service was prompt and friendly, and turn-around was astonishingly fast (ordered Tuesday, received Friday).

Full disclosure: I won this print order during a giveaway on Illustration Pages, a wonderful blog that features great artists and inspirational work. But given that this project was such a great experience (and that their prices are lower than my other go-to online printer), I definitely plan to use them again – and will pay full price :)