Part of Upper Valley Press offers design and marketing services under the business name Target Direct. This department offers marketing solutions for small businesses and schools focused on direct mailing to local residents and potential customers.

I was the sole graphic designer for this service and responsible for designing flyers, postcards, inserts, and ads to be printed and mailed to advertise sales, events and promotions for local businesses in the New Hampshire and Vermont Upper Valley area. Clients include Hubert’s, L.L. Cote, Brown’s Furniture, America’s Mattress, Mayo’s Furniture, Love’s Bedding, Grevior Furniture, Springfield Family Dental, Peabody & Smith, and many more.

Some artwork is provided camera-ready, where I was responsible for taking the provided artwork and ensuring it met the press requirements for the job such as output size, CMYK only color, K-only black where appropriate, and pre-flighting for any issues.

Many clients prefer to use Target Direct’s design services, however, where I was responsible for designing the promotional material often with only minimal content and direction provided, and revising as necessary. Content might be provided anywhere from a few weeks prior to printing, though sometimes content wasn’t provided until 2 or 3 days prior to print in which case the print deadline still had to be met.

In such a deadline-driven environment, I adapted to creating flyers in a much shorter time than is often required while maintaining a higher quality design than most local businesses are accustomed to. My ultimate goal while designing for these Target Direct customers was to exceed their expectations and create promotional material that would stand out in a resident’s mailbox.

Target Direct prints both internally at Upper Valley Press and with an outside printer for some materials. It was my responsibility to make sure the files were not only print ready but also proof  the files and ensure they were free of mistakes or typos so that there was no need for reprints. Being the only one who will proof the files, once the customer sends a final approval I would always review for typos prior to printing. A strong attention to detail and design sense for working with many different clients and meeting their expectations were some of the challenges in this position, but also made it that much more fulfilling with each successful print job.