This week I attended a Canton Advertising Federation luncheon to hear Mark Daddario of the Cleveland USPS talk about “Green Marketing”. In 2007 I’d researched eco-friendly design for a lecture I gave at the NE Ohio Regional Parks Conference. My information had been supplied by a paper mill (Monadnock) and it was written from their perspective. Now I was going to have a chance to view it from a different angle.

Mark is an excellent speaker and gave a very informative talk. He explained how the USPS works with mailing list owners to “Green Clean” lists to eliminate waste and save both money and energy. Mark can be reached at 216.525.0355 and is always happy to answer questions about “Green Marketing”.

Did you know that paper manufacturing alone is the third largest use of fossil fuels worldwide? Mark and Monadnock both stressed the need for designers to work closely with printers. Wise printer, paper and ink selections will work together to help reduce pollution and protect the environment.

Designers going green can choose to use: 
• a printer who has an environmental management system in place and recycles
• vegetable-based inks and water-based glues

Concerned designers can decide not to use:
• foil stamping— it renders paper non-recyclable
• metallic and fluorescent inks—they contain heavy metals

For more information download Monadnock Paper Mills  Field Guide. It’s message is that eco-friendly design can be cost-efficient, environmentally sensitive and beautiful. I highly recommend this 24-page guide for both it’s beauty and content.

I have been enjoying my copy of Deliver, the USPS magazine for marketers that Mark gave us. You can find the companion website at www.delivermagazine.com. While there be sure that you visit The Green Room, Deliver’s Complete Coverage on Eco-Friendly Marketing.

There’s a recent trend for designers to use very small, light weight fonts. While it may look nice and allow for more content to be displayed, it doesn’t always work. With the average American being bombarded with up to several hundred messages every day, the hard-to-read messages are ignored, especially by older Americans.

The following age-related factors should be considered when selecting fonts and colors: 

• One in four Americans is a 45- to 63-year-old Baby Boomer. This is the largest population group in U.S. history.

• Near the age of 40, the lens of the human eye begins to harden and small type becomes difficult to read. 

• Around the age of 65, the lens of the eye thickens and yellows. Things begin to look more yellow and it becomes hard to distinguish between shades of green and blue. 

Much like a fine pianist, a designer’s personal style, talent and knowledge determine the quality of the finished piece. For advertising to be successful, the designer must know and understand the target audience.

A coworker once walked into my cubicle at Sterling Jewelers and informed me that she could do my job if she had the software. My reply was that I had been a designer long before they had even thought of the software (see my 1983 hand-drawn newspaper ad layouts above).

Today this “anyone can do it” attitude runs rampant among advertisers. I can’t stress it enough, design is more than pretty pictures and cool software. It’s a complex tool used to change consumer perception and behaviors and I’ve yet to find that keystroke command on my keyboard…