Quantum Tape Handbook

The latest Bolt Advertising project with Quantum corporation was a success. Quantum had endless pages of sales and data sheets and somehow the sales reps were expected to stay organized. We developed and designed a new handbook containing these pages. The design set a new tone with Quantum, the pages were re written and the piece was printed on FSC certified environmental paper. Quantum is taking the initiative for greener business practices.

Quantum & You Promo

Bolt Advertising completed another high profile porject for Quantum Corporation recently. This 32 page brochure features many current Quantum customers. They share quotes, and case studies of these customers and how Quantum has improved their data backup and archive needs. They needed a new look, something that set them apart from the corporate look they were accustomed to. Bolt worked closely with Quantum to set a tone that was warm and personal.


If you look closely to the back cover we printed this piece on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved paper. This paper is made using sustainable and well managed forests as well as about 10% post consumer waste. This makes it another project printed environmentally by Bolt as well as printing with non-toxic vegetable based inks. Look for more Quantum projects coming up, and the FSC logo printed on other Quatnum Brochures.

Antimal House "Themed Gel Ant Habitats" Officially Launches

Bolt Advertising adds another official project to the roster with the recent package design and launch of Antimal House themed ant gel habitats. It's an exciting new addition to our porfolio. It was fun to work on and the owners are really cool. What's not to like about it, it's a new take on a timeless classic, the ant farm. Anyways, Bolt designed 4 packages and support materials for the packaging. There are four exciting themes which are featured and for sale on thier new website . "The site highlights the latest product releases, which includes: "SurfAnts", "SnoAnts", "MutAnts", as well as the much anticipated "BeerAnts". Plans are also underway to introduce "ArmyAnts", which will be available in the fall.

Bolt also has planned a PR campaign underway now to announce the new launch of the product and the Antimal website. The big story comes out next week with the announcement and official launch of thier products on Skymall. The magazine you look through while you are bored on a plane. Perfect though, millions will be enticed. Check out the designs here at Antimal House Website, Skymall here, or just to check out Bolt Advertising Portfolio projects here.

What is the FSC? (Forest Stewardship Council)

Bolt Advertising is committed to helping reduce waste and business environmental impact. Sounds great, but what exactly does this mean? How do you know we are really taking a stand and putting out the effort. And what is this talk about FSC and FSC certification?

To make things simple: When we design advertising, business collateral and the like, most of this needs to be printed on some sort of paper and/or other material. Since companies are very responsible for putting out most of this waste. We know that when we pursue an ad campaign with our clients, we make the effort to consult them in their ad printing. Most don't ask for it. That's why we do. We inform them of their environmental printing options, how we can print using soy and vegetable based inks, FSC certified paper and so forth. When we do produce a piece using these environmental solutions, we will post the projects and some detailed information about them on our website.

There are many more considerations to make when printing, such as: who is producing these paper products, where the material comes from, who is using renewable energy etc. I will get into more of these details in later posts. For now we will talk about the FSC or Forest Stewardship Council.

The FSC is a council formed in 1993 to help reduce the depletion of natural forests by overseeing and managing sustainable forest for all sorts of paper and wood products. So when something is made with FSC certified wood or paper, we are using wood products from these sustainable forests and we are conserving our resources. There are various companies producing paper products today that are certified by the FSC as well as a myriad of printers and high end print shops that are recognized by the FSC. More and more of these companies are adopting the use of sustainable wood products, making it easier than ever to produce ad materials made of such paper.

You will notice on some catalogs and various other ad collateral the FSC certification logo shown at the top of this post. This logo is accompanied by a certification number designated specifically and only for this particular design. To get the full acceptance of claiming to be using sustainable paper, the FSC has to review and approve your design to be accepted to use their logo. This will eliminate anyone from falsely claiming going green or adapting green practices when they are really not, sometimes called "green washing".

Pretty simple really. FSC certified paper is an easy way to get on the green bandwagon. Learn more about the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) here.

Commitment to the Environment

Bolt Advertising is committed to helping reduce business advertising waste and the depletion of natural forests by consulting you in your advertising printing. So we like to say that Bolt Advertising is a creative advertising and brand agency with a purpose. Bolt is partnered with industry approved and recognized printing houses as we offer various printing solutions that can help shrink your advertising environmental impact.
There is a huge waste responsibility with large and small business alike, and now it’s easier than ever to make a choice and give it your attention. You might think, “It’s really about taking the easy most cost effective route to maximize profits right?” Well, like we said, it’s easier and than ever and you won’t be paying more for it, all you have to do is ask. And if you forget to ask, we will make it a point to ask for you and get you on the road to a cleaner, more responsible business.
If you want some quick tips to get your business started on reducing waste, visit our blog post on Bolt’s top ways of reducing your business paper waste.
Ask us about FSC certified papers, high post consumer recycle content and environmental soy and vegetable based inks. Learn more about the FSC US.

Top Ways to Reduce your Business Paper Waste

It's inevitable, we all know when you are in business, printing on paper just seems so unavoidable. Whether its web pages, reports, spreadsheets, images, presentations, business cards, advertising materials, etc. If you are looking for some simple ways to reduce your business and advertising waste so you can shrink your negative environmental impact. I have listed some of my top ways for doing just that. Doing the most you can will help make your work environment a more pleasant place to work and it just looks good for business. Whether you are greening your business already or are looking to jump in on this necessary trend, these are some simple tips to add to or getting started going "Green".

Let's face it. "We" business owners with places of business are some of the biggest polluters. Hey, its all for profit, so lets just do what it takes right? Well, we have a huge responsibility and the only way we are to change things is to start doing. Easier said that done? Check this out, it may be easier than you thought.

Here are some simple effective ways to get started making a difference:

1.Digitize
We have the power at out fingertips. Keep things on the computer. Recycle your fax machine and do emails only. Why is anyone still using fax? View your files on the computer and show your reports and presentations online instead of printing them out. Keep files saved digitally instead of a filing cabinet. Next time that newsletter goes out, send it via email. If you think about this one, and the power of the computer you will start to come up with your own ideas.

2.Print FSC Certified Paper
When it comes to printing your advertising materials, anything from business cards, letterhead, direct mailers, brochures, catalogs, sales presentations, annual reports, newsletters, etc. Work with an advertising company or Printer that specializes or has knowledge in environmental printing. Bolt Advertising, website here, is a source for environmental printing solutions. FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council. They oversee the use of making paper and wood products using sustainable forests that don't deplete the natural forests that are vital to the earth.

3.Print on Recycled Paper
If FCS doesn't suit your business. Try printing your ad materials on recycled papers. Beware, not all papers are 100% recycled material. Always look for high post consumer content. Recycled paper isn't always the cheapest, but when deciding between something more cost effective or causing massive waste, weigh the options and decide what is best for you. More importantly what is best for our earth.

4.Buy Recycled Printing Paper
All office supply stores carry recycled printing paper. Again, make sure the paper has a high post consumer content.

5.Print on Both Sides of Paper
If printing out a document, email etc make sure when you are finished place the paper in a reusable stack or right back into the printer and print on the backside. If its not an official paper or document, chances are you won't be using the first print for anything very important or very long for that matter. Flip it over and use it again to print out your quick requirements.

6.Buy Recycled office Supplies
Paper, envelopes, pens, pencils, refillable pens, bath towels, file folders etc. These are all items that can be purchased at office supply stores made with recycled materials.

Bolt Shoots Lifestyle for Katin USA Surf Co.

I just finished up some touches on some lifestyle photos we have taken for Katin Surf Co. They are one of surf's original surf and board short companies located right here in Huntington Beach, CA. The location was strangely at the beach at Huntington. Some of the riders in the shoot were visiting from the Carolinas surfing a Vans contest just south of the pier. This particular shoot was to show their new trunk line, but we also emphasised a bit of lifestyle. You can see some of the photos here.



The style is a bit different from the typical surf shots, adding a bit of an animated wrap around effect. Bolt Advertising will be shooting some more in the near future, so stay tuned for some more photo updates.

Your Brand Needs Creativity and Not Just Strategy.

If you are like most people that get bombarded everyday with brand messages from the hordes of corporate communications tactics. You may not be aware that the average person (yes, which includes you) gets hundreds if not thousands of marketing and advertising messages shoved in our faces, daily. Not to mention trying to take note of the thousands of other daily tasks you try committing yourself to everyday. So, why is it that such a small and select bunch of brands and brand messages get through to people crystal clear, and get remembered?

It would be nice if that answer to that question came easy. Of course the definition of a brand and understanding the process in building a brand is extremely more complex than anyone can describe in one short web post. However, I will continue to post a series of a simpler approach to understanding what makes a good brand, and how the brands message is communicated to make people take action.

Before we discuss our first topic, I want to bring to light a typical scenario that comes up quite often in the business world of communication. To start, I am the owner and creative director of an advertising and design agency Bolt Advertising in Orange County, California. My shop is specifically in Huntington Beach, which is prime location for the myriad of huge businesses in the surrounding Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego counties. We specialize on digging in on high end advertising, branding and design projects, giving that small shop attention at the large agency level of talent. Enough about me. The scenario I am getting at is that in this area we come across so many great products and great businesses that are missing a huge key point: Investing in quality communication and creative services to help build their brands.

It seems that many companies overlook what it is they really need to succeed. This brings up the first topic: that brand strategy and creativity have to come together. Whether the company is focusing on their communications strategy with numbers and figures and strategies or they are focused too much on how big or small their logo should be. The idea is that when you bring these two factors together, the strategists and the creative people, you are on your way to building a better brand.

A company might have both sides within the company but one doesn't always know what the other is doing. This division between the two can divide a company even further from its customers. Marty Neumeir the author of "The Brand Gap" and "Zag" states that this division is a natural barrier to communication and that companies who learn how to bridge the gap have a tremendous advantage over those who don't. When brand communication comes through intact - crystal clear and potent - it goes straight into people's brains without distortion, noise, or the need to think too much about it.

Coming from a brand collaborator since the 1970's, there has to be a lot of truth behind this topic. In this day and age of extreme competition, companies can't afford to continue to operate without combining creative talent with strategy. In the next post I will layout a series of disciplines, "the big idea" and clue you in on how to bring both logic and creative talent and design together.

Mark's Photography Page

It's about time. Due to popular demand, I have put up a photography page here showcasing various styles and examples of my photography. My design and advertising in Orange County wouldn't be the same if I didn't have an eye and composition of photographs. At Bolt Advertising we use quite a bit of our own photography. That way we can get exactly what we want, and have more control. Although, these aren't breakthrough images, they still are worth a thousand words. I will continue to add and remove as I accumulate more.

Welcome

Welcome to the Bolt Advertising blog page, "It's time to grow." This is our first post and we will continue to post regularly on topics in advertising, design and environmental printing. Environmental printing and advertising is an important part of our business strategy. Helping business to help the earth, and to grow their business at the same time. Bolt advertising takes advertising a green step further. We dig deeper.