What to Know For Designing Video Brochures, Mailers, and Boxes

Many designers are comfortable creating digital designs for websites, online ads, email campaigns, social media, and presentations.

Designing for print is different though.

For example, video brochures, video mailers, and video boxes are different because they combine print, structure, folds, screens, buttons, speakers, inserts, interior molding, and physical delivery into tangible pieces.

While a design may look great on a computer screen, it can still create challenges when it moves into production. Colors may not translate the same way. Images may not be high enough resolution. Logos may not scale cleanly. Important text may sit too close to a fold, trim line, screen opening, or button area.

Understanding the following print design basics can help the process move faster and help the finished product look more premium.

Digital Design and Print Design are Not the Same

Digital designs are created to be viewed on screens in pixels. Printed designs are created to become physical products where resolution, color, materials, and production details matter significantly.

That may sound simple, but it changes many parts of the design process.

For instance, a digital graphic may only need to look good on a phone, laptop, or monitor. However, a printed video brochure, video mailer, or video box has to work with paper stock, lamination, ink, folds, cuts, screens, speakers, buttons, magnets, EVA foam molding, packaging materials, and other production details.

Those differences are why production-ready artwork matters.

Screens Use RGB, But Print Uses CMYK

One of the biggest differences between digital and print design is color.

Digital screens use RGB, which stands for red, green, and blue. Screens create color with light, which is why colors can look bright and vibrant on a monitor or phone.

Printing typically uses CMYK, which stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Print creates color with ink, which behaves much differently than light.

Because of this, some colors that look bright on screens may look different when printed on paper. Very bright blues, greens, oranges, and neon-style colors are especially prone to shifting when converted from RGB to CMYK.

This doesn’t mean printed pieces can’t look pristine. As most people have seen, they often do. But it does mean artwork for print should be prepared differently so expectations are realistic and colors are handled properly.

High Resolution Is Important in Print

Resolution is another major difference between digital and print.

An image may look acceptable on a screen even if it’s not high enough quality for printing. But when that same image is printed, it might look blurry, soft, pixelated, or stretched.

For print, high-resolution images are important because the final product needs to look sharp in a person’s hands. This is especially true for photos of products, people, background images, logos, icons, and other design details.

As a general rule, images used for print should be high resolution—300 DPI—at the final size they will appear. A small image pulled from a website, screenshot, email, or social media post is often not high enough resolution for professional printing.

When your goal is to create a first impression that looks sharp and classy, a key to making that happen is to use design elements in high resolution.

Vector Files Are Best for Logos and Graphic Elements

Logos and graphic elements should be provided as vector files whenever possible.

Vector artwork is different from a standard image file because it can be enlarged or reduced without losing quality. That makes it ideal for logos, icons, illustrations, line art, and other brand elements that need to stay crisp.

Common vector file formats include AI, EPS, and some editable PDF files.

On the other hand, files like JPGs and PNGs are raster images. They’re made of pixels. Raster files can work well for photos, but they aren’t always ideal for logos or small graphics because they tend to become blurry or jagged when enlarged.

This is why a logo copied from a website typically won’t be good enough for print, even if it looks fine on a screen.

When customers provide images and brand assets in vector files, the finished product usually looks cleaner and more professional.

Editable Design Files Help Production Teams Do Their Best Work

Sometimes customers send artwork as one flattened image. That may look complete on screen, but it limits what a production or design team can do with it.

For example, if all text, logos, images, backgrounds, and design elements are locked together inside one JPG or PNG, the production team will not be able to adjust placement, improve resolution, correct spacing, extend bleed, or adapt the design to the exact product layout without recreating some of the design elements.

Editable design files give production teams more flexibility to do their best work.

This is especially important for video marketing products because the printed design has to work around physical features such as screens, buttons, speakers, folds, panels, box interiors, inserts, and mailing requirements.

Providing separate design elements in the correct formats will help production teams move through their processes smoothly.

Bleed, Trim, Margins, and Fold Lines Matter

Print production includes details that digital design usually doesn’t. For instance:

• Bleed is extra space that extends beyond the final cut line. It helps prevent unwanted white edges after each piece is trimmed.
• Trim is where the finished piece will be cut.
• Safe margins help keep important text, logos, and design elements away from edges, folds, screens, buttons, and other areas where they could be cut off, covered, or distorted.
• Fold lines matter because video marketing products are physical pieces that open and close. Important text or design elements should not land awkwardly across folds unless that’s part of the design.

For video boxes, the structure of the box also comes into play. The exterior, interior, lid, base, screen placement, insert area, and product placement all need to work together.

At this point, you’re probably understanding that printed artwork for video brochures, video mailers, and video boxes needs to be prepared differently than artwork for digital ads or social media graphics.

Digital Proofs Are Helpful, But They’re Still Viewed on Screens

Digital proofs are an important part of the review process. They allow clients to check layout, spelling, product placement, colors, logos, images, and overall design before production begins.

However, digital proofs are still viewed on screens.

That means colors may appear slightly different depending on the monitor, phone, tablet, brightness settings, and screen calibration. While a proof is useful for confirming the design, it should not be treated as a perfect representation of how every printed color will appear when the final product is viewed in-person.

This is another reason why proper file preparation is important. The better the artwork is prepared for print, the better the production team can help produce a finished piece that matches the intended look as closely as possible.

Proper Print Files Help Avoid Production Delays

When artwork is prepared correctly from the beginning, a project usually moves faster.

However, when files are incomplete, flattened, low-resolution, missing fonts or logos, or built in the wrong format, the process will be slowed down. The design team may need to request new files, recreate artwork, adjust layouts, or explain why certain elements cannot be printed as submitted.

That doesn’t mean clients need to understand every technical detail before starting a project, but it does help avoid production delays.

Experienced Design Support Makes the Process Easier

When buying from MediaFast, clients don’t have to design their video brochures, video mailers, or video boxes on their own.

We have an experienced design team that understands how to create artwork for these specific products. Since the requirements are different from designing a standard flyer, postcard, or digital graphic, this option is often very appealing.

Also, even when we handle the design, our clients still need to provide logos, brand guidelines, product photos, copy, fonts, color references, images, videos, and other design elements in the best formats available. Yes, we can often help convert or rebuild certain elements, but as stated in the previous section, that can cause delays.

The goal is always the same: to create a finished product that looks premium, functions properly, and represents our client’s brands well.

Final Thoughts on Printed Artwork for MediaFast Products

Printed artwork plays a major role in the quality of video brochures, video mailers, and video boxes.

The video may be the most engaging part of the experience, but the printed piece surrounding it helps create the first impression, support the message, and make the product feel amazing.

When artwork is prepared correctly, colors are handled better, images look sharper, logos stay crisp, layouts work with the physical structure, and production can move more efficiently.

Whether you provide completed artwork or work with our design team, understanding the basics of print design will help your project move through production without delays.

To watch a helpful video about design for our video marketing products, visit our Templates & Graphic Design page.