Just Diaries Buyers Guide/1

So your boss wants to give good quality diaries to your best clients and has asked you to organise some options – what do you do? This article will take you through the process so that you stand the best chance of a successful outcome.

Diary Formats

Of course your boss did not give you enough information with which to get a quotation – here are the key elements: what diary formats are required- A4 diaries, A5 diaries, pocket diaries? What page layout is required? Weekly format diaries will have one week across two pages, a two weekly format will have two weeks across two pages. Then there are daily diaries with one day per page, and in an A4 format there are even diaries with two pages per day.

A popular executive desk diary weekly format is “quarto” which is slightly shortly than A4 at 210mm x 260mm and the days of the week go in columns. Quarto diaries usually have appointment times, and for businesses that are heavily appointments driven then an A4 daily appointments diary with up to 5 columns per page and 15 minute appointment slots is ideal.

Most people expect diaries to be casebound like a book, however diaries can also be bound with a plastic spiral on the spine  within  an outer wallet– comb bound diaries, or with a metal wiro binding. Comb bound diaries have the advantage that the diary will lie flat on the desk more easily and also a new diary insert can be bought each year to go into the outer wallet as a cost saving.

For managers who have to make short notes in the field a notable pocket diary may be advantageous. This has a one week diary section on the left hand side and a notes page on the right hand side.

There is also a choice between cream pages and white pages, usually if the diary is to be foil blocked then we suggest silver foil with white pages and gold foil with cream pages.

Diaries usually have a number of information and planner pages and the content will vary slightly from brand to brand. It is unusual for a customer to make a diary selection based on what these pages contain. The maps section is worth a look, and if your business is involved with international trade then a diary with world maps might be useful. Sometimes world maps can be added as an option.

Colourful Covers for Diaries

Not so long ago the choice of colours for diary covers was limited to black, navy blue, and burgundy. Nowadays the choice of colours is much wider and can included pink and purple and lime green. Also diary covers can be made in two tones with different materials. “Leather look” diaries have improved in recent years and sometimes what looks like leather isn’t!  If price is the driving factor, the traditional sober colours will still give the best value for money.

What goes on the diary cover?

For the corporate customer giving diaries as gifts to their clients it is generally expected that the diaries will be branded with the company’s logo. Some diaries are suitable for foil blocking and others are more suited to blind embossing. Foil blocking is applied with a metal die and a sheet of silver or gold foil is placed between the heated die and the diary cover. The die is pressed onto the diary cover and the foil bonds with the cover to present the logo. To blind emboss the diary, the metal die is heated and pressed onto the diary without a foil and the logo is more deeply imprinted onto the cover.

The diary cover material for blind embossing needs to be much thicker than that for foil blocking so these diaries are normally much more expensive. Which method is chosen is mainly a question of preference although some logos lend themselves to blind embossing more than others.

It is important to have a good quality digital logo and most diary suppliers will reject logos that are not good enough. The logo should be supplied at a resolution of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) ideally as an eps vector graphic. Images drawn from a website are normally only 72dpi and not good enough for this purpose.

Diary insert pages and diary tipin pages.

It is worth considering adding extra pages to the diary to present your company information, sometimes called tipin or insert pages. As these are printed separately, it is usually only economic to add extra pages on an order of 100 or more diaries. These insert pages can be printed in 1, 2 or 4 colours. For coloured photographs ask for “four colour process”. If it is important to show you branding in its complete colours, then specify 4 colour process. Note that the supplier counts each side of paper as a page!

If you have an in-house graphic designer, the artwork for the insert pages can be prepared and sent to the diary supplier, otherwise request that the artwork preparation is included in the quotation.

Optional Diary Extras

These can include, gilt corners for the front and/or back covers, address/telephone books, extra blocking positions, special maps, business card or leaflet pockets for the inside front cover, ribbon markers and bookmarks.

The next buyers guide, Just Diaries Buyers’ Guide/2 will cover the procurement process and planning prior to purchase. (written by Paul Buck,  www.justdiaries.co.uk)