Mktg Materials - what finish is best, matte, glossy or ?

[ChrisPerry]

I am working at upgrading my marketing materials, handouts, etc. I need folders - the typical 9x12 type folder. My colors are black and white...so the base folder color needs to be black or white.

My biz cards are high gloss and most of my materials to this point have been high gloss (brochures, post cards, etc). I was thinking of a high gloss black folder with an embossed and white ink logo on the cover, lower right corner probably.

So I got some samples from companies and there are a million options as to color, paper type, weight, texture, embossing, foil embossing, printing, etc.

What really caught my attention was a heavy (100#) linen textured folder, but it's a matte finish. My assistant prefers a black glossy (the inside of the folder will be white, the backside of the paper being white). I'm willing to change my other materials as they come due to match the folders, but the folders will be around for a few years (due to the min quantity one can order).

So what says high end more? What says luxury? What says "you're gonna pay a lot, but it's worth it"?

[michaelnotar]

my portfolios are leather books, black finished leather, with my logo stamped in gloss black which is a nice accent. but then pages are acetate with glossy and matte prints inside of them (i cant tell which are which seems the clear acetate disguises them and the acetate is not a glare free or matte etc).

a high end land development here uses the same combo and it looks wicked awesome. they have this paper thats must be partly felt as it has that feel to it, really soft.

a nice heavy gloss paper looks nice, supergloss esp. post cards looks really cheap IMHO.
i admit to liking the glossy postcards but then am advised against it.

i work with realtors alot to produce 8x10 flyers of their homes, outsourced design and printing. one company does glossy on both side the other does all matte, matte looks 10x more professional and elite.

[Martin_Doudoroff]

A small point: pay close attention to the durability of the materials and finishes you're looking at. You don't want your marketing materials to scuff up easily: it looks really careless if you hand a potential client scratched materials, and if the client manages to scuff the stuff up on their own later, that won't help you either. The most impressive marketing materials are the kind you want to keep for a long time, not look at once and pitch.

[michaelnotar]

and on that note gloss will show all imperfections/scratches while a pearl or semimatte/matte wont obviously.

[Ronald Garrett]

Nothing says "high end" or "first class" better than black and gold embossed lettering. If you can find a black , heavy, felt like paper with fancy gold embossed lettering, it will shout " quality". Sample images need to be ultra glossy because detail and tonal accuracy are displayed at a higher level.

IMHO.

[Martin_Doudoroff]

Originally Posted by Ronald Garrett

Nothing says "high end" or "first class" better than black and gold embossed lettering. If you can find a black , heavy, felt like paper with fancy gold embossed lettering, it will shout " quality".

Unless it shouts “CHEESY!” Bad design will completely undermine you. Mis-reading your customer will completely undermine you.

This is where you have to know your customer very well indeed. You have to know a lot about their tastes and align perfectly with them. Otherwise, you're wasting your time and money. That's also where the responses you get on this thread will fail you: we don't know your customer.

[ChrisPerry]

True, you don't (and perhaps I don't either).
What I have been told is to let the big boys spend the money on market research, and then just copy their lead.

For example: To better penetrate the HS senior crowd go look at what they're seeing - Hollister, Abercrombie, etc - what images, colors, sounds and smells, decor in the stores, etc.

I sat in a mall back around christmas and noticed that of hte 6 jewelry stores I could see from where I was sitting all but one used black and silver or black and gold on their facades, all but one has glossy floors (marble or fake marble).

Mid to upper department stores are not brightly lit like a walmart, kmart, etc

If my market segment is middle to upper middle then I should mimic other mid to upper middle stores that they're used to frequenting - they'll feel more relaxed in my store, more comfortable spending money.

What I don't know is what these folks use for their marketing pieces - most of what I see or have to look at - Canon, Leather Craftsman, H&H Lab are glossy. PhotoOne wasn't, but the sticker on the folder wasn't exactly a high end approach.

Thoughts?