Manhasset Minuteman Press

Nothing was going right at the plate for Dave Concepcion, the shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds. About a month into the 1976 season, he was suffering a hitting slump, a plague of physical and mental anguish that had frittered away his batting average to around .150. The Reds were in Chicago, where the Cubs had a large industrial gas-operated clothes dryer in the stadium. Feeling goofy, Concepcion hopped in the dryer and called to his teammates. "Hey! Maybe this will help me get hot." Going along with the gag, Pat Zachry, the pitcher, hit the side of the switch, pretending to turn on the machine. With a puff of smoke, sparks flew, the machine whirred and began to rotate with Concepcion inside. ''I'll never forget it,'' said Zachry. '' Davey started spinning , and I froze with my eyes bugging out. Oh, it was terrible. Then I banged the side of the switch again. And the machine stopped. ''Davey went out that day and got fou

Fashionable. Admirable. Timeless. If you were to define cool, what words would you use? Cool is just . . . cool. In some sense, even describing what makes something cool can diminish its appeal. But in print and design, nothing is more appealing than cool. What Makes a Brand Cool? How do you add this edge to set your products apart? To find out, marketing scholars Caleb Warren and Margaret C. Campbell carried out six experiments comparing consumer products, coolness ratings, and participant reactions. In their research, Warren and Campbell discovered a relationship between the qualities of coolness and autonomy, finding designs perceived as cool were those that radiated autonomy in a socially acceptable way. Cool things tend to go a step beyond "stylish" things, so cool designs often push the boundaries of style. Think normative styles like jeans – but add excessive grunge rips. Or ordinary 1950s T-shirts – but add packs of cigarettes rolled i

While you may not be able to launch a 3D billboard and party-train campaign, you can to stop traffic with 3D elements and hot design trends from 2019. Here are four animated styles with practical examples to try in your next printed piece. Three-Dimensional Designs 3D works seem to be everywhere right now: entire compositions that have so much depth, you can't help but reach out and touch them. Examples include 3D typography (that works with any kind of font rendering), metallic 3D pipes pulsing with neon electricity, or effervescent 3D poster compositions that jump off the page and make it impossible to look elsewhere. Asymmetrical Layouts While rigid designs have been standard for several years, layouts that break free from the predictable grid are now soaring in popularity. Asymmetrical balance results from using unequal visual weight on each side of your page. For example, one side might contain a dominant element, which is balanced by lesser focal p

Want to get more people to pull the trigger on a purchase? Give them a push with perfectly placed coupons! Coupons have a built-in visual appeal and an innate call to action. A coupon with a limited time offer adds a sense of urgency in a customer's mind for two reasons: 1. If they plan to buy something, they want the best possible price. 2. If they don't buy now, it might be out of stock (or full price again) later.   Why should you use coupons? Many reasons! Coupon offers can make the difference between someone who's browsing and a purchasing customer. Coupon offers are also a major incentive to drive traffic to your website. Besides stimulating sales of existing stock, coupons also generate cross sales between products and can energize your brand. Building a successful coupon campaign may take some trial and error. Here are several action steps get you started: Start Small The first step in coupon marketing is to track the performance

Design involves a special kind of communication. First, creators must have an idea or concept in mind. Second, they need to articulate their ideas in ways graphic designers can bring to life on a page. This requires a common language, and sometimes graphic designers are known for having a vocabulary all their own. If you're working on a design concept, knowing the right terminology will help you communicate to produce the results you envision. Here are some design adjectives that can help you articulate the concepts you'd like to see in your next print project: Cool vs. Warm On the color wheel, warm colors range from yellow to red-purple. Those colors that are reminiscent of fire or the sun are called warm colors. These hues are reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks. Warm colors communicate energy, playfulness, happiness, sociability, and optimism. Cool colors include blue, greens, and purple. These colors typically stand for sky, space, water, and nat