When doing printing for t-shirts or promotional items, digitizing for embroidery, custom cut appliqués, vinyl decals or custom logo engraving, vector art is required for a quality-finished product.   If you do not have access to vector art, we provide art services in which your logo can be redrawn and t-shirt art can be created. There is a fee for this service, but it is well worth the money

Vector Art is a technique, not a style. Perhaps a better term would be "vector-based art," meaning art created in a vector-based program. VECTOR ART IS ACCEPTABLE ART. Vector art consists of creating paths and points in a program such as Illustrator, Corel Draw or Freehand. The program keeps track of the relationships between these points and paths. Vectors are any scaleable objects that keep their proportions and quality when sized up or down. They're defined as solid objects, and can be moved around in full, or grouped together with other objects. Vectors can be defined by mathematical and numeric data. So vector art is anything that's created in Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw, Flash or other "vector" illustration programs. Common vector files end in the following extensions: eps, ai, cdr. (Vector programs: Illustrator(ai), Freehand(FH##), Corel Draw(cdr), etc.)

Raster Art The other side of the coin is raster art. Raster art consists of pixel information, where every pixel is assigned a RGB or CMYK value. RASTER ART IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE FILE FOR ART. This can create smoother and more detailed images for photos and paintings, but if the image is scaled, the program has to create new information resulting in that distorted look. Examples of raster image file types are: BMP, TIFF, GIF, and JPEG files. (Raster programs: Photoshop(psd), Painter, Fireworks, MS Paint, Gimp, etc.) 01-19-09

Promotional products are very powerful as they have the ability to provide an effective message that is targeted to prospective as well as current clients. Promotional products allow you to market without waste as the item chosen will stay in front of your client or prospect for extended time frames.

Some key ideas to think about when deciding upon the right promotional product are:

Choose your prospects and clients carefully. Market specifically to those that are likely to use your products or services instead of mass marketing.

Rather than go with logo, telephone number and website, come up with a message that will let the client know about your message. Your message may be the benefit of using your product or service, it may be your slogan which tells prospects what you offer, or it may be an incentive to get them to do something that you are trying to accomplish (come in, spend $75 and you will receive our special, one-of-a-kind, personalized BBQ kit).

Consider the timing of your promotional products campaign. Adjust your campaigns to reap the rewards of what is happening. For example, in a recession, most companies will be tempted to cut back on their advertising budget. That is the one thing that any company cannot afford to do. The danger in doing this is that this creates a void in your customer's mind. Your competition, who understands this idea, will move in and have opportunities to earn the business that previously belonged to you. Instead of cutting back, use your advertising dollars more effectively by using the ideas listed above.

At AJAKO, Inc., we have trained promotional products specialists that can help you with your next marketing campaign. Please don't hesitate to contact us for a complimentary consultation.