Tutorials and Product Advice - Ribbon Impressions

Company Branding with Personalized Ribbons

What is company branding?

A company’s brand is what they are, what they want to be, and what they aim to become as a whole. It can be a promise of quality, trust or service. A brand is what makes a company or organization truly unique. Branding should make any company stand out from its competitors and lets the consumer know what to expect from that company.

Branding is one of the most important parts of any business, whether it be large or small. Building a strong brand helps a company or organization be financially strong. Product marketing is really where this process all begins.

In order to be successful in marketing a company’s brand, one must have a strong branding or marketing strategy. To determine the brand of a business, one must identify a target market and the product or service distribution means. By doing so, the organization can communicate the brand to this target market. And with the use of personalized ribbons, a company’s brand will truly stand out. Personalized ribbons are truly a great tool in company branding.

A few things to consider when working with an organization’s brand:

Brand Identity: This is the customer’s knowledge of and ability to recognize the brand.

Brand Meaning: This is the character of the brand beyond the image, and includes product or business features, reliability, value and experience.

Consumer Relationship: This is the attitude of the customer toward the brand.

Remember that a brand is the means to communicate with a chosen market. Each brand needs to be visually stimulating, thereby encouraging product loyalty. Carefully designed branding leads to a secure business or organization. An organization’s brand should posses the above characteristics.

Most of our personalized ribbons can be printed with a company logo and each ribbon has its own value. Ribbon rolls are great for corporate gifting and event decoration. Badge ribbons can be used not only on badge holders and name tags, but for awards, bookmarks and other recognition pieces. Rosette ribbons are commonly used for awards and can be used to highlight accomplishments in an office or business setting.

An organization’s brand serves as a promise to the consumer. Whether this promise is of services or product, remember that the brand will be used in a marketing strategy and requires copious research. Consumers must understand a brand to increase the effectiveness and value for the company.

Awareness Ribbons, Colors and Symbols

Custom Ribbon rolls cut to symbolize the colors red orange yellow green blue purple for awareness

Different colors and patterns are associated with various issues. Many advocacy groups have adopted ribbons as symbols of support or awareness. Awareness ribbons date back to 1917 when the yellow awareness ribbon showed up to support the US military while serving abroad. Since then, ribbon colors have been used for various causes and symbolize various concerns depending on the color and pattern.

Awareness ribbons are meant to show support or raise consciousness for a cause.

While these ribbons are used year round, some of the most prominent reasons for wearing awareness ribbons happen in October. Many schools acknowledge Red Ribbon Week during the last week of October. Others include breast cancer awareness, literacy awareness and cultural diversity awareness. For a complete list of awareness ribbon colors and months, a simple reference website is https://fundraisingforacause.com/pages/ribbon-color-meanings.

Creating Awareness

Yellow ribbon for support our troops awareness

Here is a simple tutorial on creating any color awareness ribbon you might need.

Step 1: Begin the ribbon by cutting a section of personalized ribbon that includes the entire text. It is key to make sure that when ordering personalized awareness ribbons, you appropriately space the text. In this example, they cut between Support and Troops. At this point, consider the finish of the ribbon. If the awareness ribbons need a slanted end, cut the section of the personalized ribbon at an angle.

Step 2: Form a small loop in the ribbon, leaving each end hanging down so you can see the text on the ends without covering it with the crossover. Attach this crossover, or intersection, using either a small piece of tape or hot glue. This will secure the shape of the awareness ribbon. Hot glue is the best option if you need to keep the awareness ribbon for long-term use.

Step 3: At this point, choose a fastener for the awareness ribbon. Pins are available at https://www.nametag.com/name-tags/fasteners.php. Keep in mind when ordering fasteners to go with the awareness ribbons to make sure they will match the thickness and design of the personalized ribbon. There are many options for fasteners. If they do not come with adhesive, use hot glue to affix them properly.

How To: Canning Jars and Ribbons

No matter what the occasion is, when the urge hits to give someone flowers, keep in mind to never just steal them from your neighbor’s garden! Put some thought into the arraignment and make it a personal gift that will mean something for a long time with thoughtful personalized ribbons. And what better way than to make a personalized vase?

So, take those flowers from last week and create a home made project that is sure to please for years to come. We’re all into up-cycling anything these days. Why not incorporate all those old Mason Jars? While it isn’t required to actually use a Mason Jar, find a few of those old canning jars that are lying around your home. And here’s a couple amazing ideas to get you going in the right direction for that something special and personal. All you need is a canning jar without a lid and some scraps of ribbon!

Spring Tulips and Burlap Wrapped Mason Jars flower arrangements

gingham and mason jars a pretty cool life

mason jars with satin green ribbon and white doilies

flowers in clustered mason jars, held together with a ribbon

The simplest way to create a personalized masterpiece is an old canning jar, a wide strip of burlap and a favorite piece of old scrap ribbon. Simply wrap that burlap around the canning jar and secure down with a bit of hot glue. Next, take that ribbon and tie a pretty bow. It’s that simple!

Another way to create these simple vases is to just take a ribbon of your choice and wrap it around the top part of the canning jar. This example used gingham ribbon, but any ribbon will work. Make it personalized by ordering (or using some you already have) personalized ribbon rolls. Dress up this version with a simple paper doily wrapped around the canning jar before tying the ribbon around it.

The final suggestion is to arrange several canning jars together and secure them with a long piece of ribbon. Finish this with a simple, or maybe a more extravagant bow. Whether they be in clusters, like this example, or individual canning jars, these are sure to impress and be a keepsake for years to come.

Avoiding Boring Badge Ribbons – Part 2

The boring badge ribbon has proven functional at many professional gatherings. Keep this in mind when choosing badge ribbons as they are meant to improve the effectiveness of a name badge. The five previous tips were aimed to help decide which type of badge ribbon was the best for each ribbon project. Here are five more tips to help with the overall design of any badge ribbon.

TIP #6 Avoiding Boring Ribbons: Choose a distinctive font.

The easiest way to drastically improve how your ribbon looks, and to keep it from being boring, is by using a nice font. There are many fonts available that will meet most any need. Keep in mind that most fonts will require a metal die.

Badge ribbon printing requires the use of dies, which are made to imprint onto the ribbons. A die is basically like a stamp as it presses a printing foil down on to the badge ribbon. Wherever the stamp touches the foil to the ribbon, the foil will stay printed, or dyed, onto the badge ribbon.

Many badge ribbons may be printed using a polymer die. Polymer dies are faster and less expensive, but they do have a few drawbacks. They are made from a softer material than metal dies; they also wear out quickly, so they can’t be used for large runs of the same ribbon; and they don’t hold detail well, so only thick, plain letters and shapes can be used. Small holes in the design, like the inside of a letter “a” or “e” may fill in because the die can’t press hard enough to ensure a clean impression.

A metal die, which is much stronger than the polymer die, can hold much more detail and will ensure a much cleaner imprint. Using a metal die no longer limits the choice of font; text may be made smaller or even add a logo or other image. Metal dies give much more freedom in the design of a badge ribbon and are well worth the additional cost. They can also be saved to use again and again.

TIP #7 Avoiding Boring Ribbons: Have fun with your text.

Text doesn’t have to be boring like straight side-to-side or up-and-down. Depending on the badge ribbon chosen, the text can be set at an angle or even on a curve. This is a great trick to get longer words to fit on a narrower ribbon and doesn’t always require a metal die.

TIP #8 Avoiding Boring Ribbons: Don’t limit yourself to one color.

For a better looking badge ribbon, use a combination of colors. A plain badge ribbon suddenly seems less boring when changes to a few elements are made. If the badge ribbon really needs to make an impression, try a Full Color Custom Ribbon. This badge ribbon will be printed in full color and has no limits to fonts or number of colors and no metal dies. You can even get a photograph printed on these badge ribbons.

TIP #9 Avoiding Boring Ribbons: Plan the shape and size of your ribbon.

Each ribbon should take content and function into account when adjusting the length or shape. If there is extra empty space, make the ribbon smaller or request options for making the text fill it better. Each badge ribbon should fit the text comfortably and not be crowded or empty. Make the badge ribbon unique by replacing the pinked ends with a fishtail.

TIP #10 Avoiding Boring Ribbons: Add a company logo.

Nothing spices up a badge ribbon like an image. Use a company logo or find a basic image that will set off the design on the ribbon; it will instantly increase the ribbon’s appeal. Remember, a metal die will be required.

So the next time you find yourself in need of a ribbon for that upcoming event, keep these 10 tips in mind and the planning stages should be a bit easier and more enjoyable.

*Tips and graphics provided by guest author Melanie Bunch, Graphic Artist at Coller Industries.*

Avoiding Boring Badge Ribbons – Part 1

The boring badge ribbon makes its debut at many business conventions, corporate retreats, or any number of other professional gatherings. One can usually find these badge ribbons attached to someone’s name badge or possibly just pinned onto someone’s shirt or jacket. The boring badge ribbon is meant to be functional in presenting a word or short phrase, usually in all capital letters and a very plain font. Please note that there is nothing wrong with this ribbon type if the purpose is to simply designate a particular person as a “Speaker” or any other title.

Badge ribbons that are going to be given out as prizes or promotions are ribbons that aim to get the viewer interested in asking about a particular topic, business or cause you are representing. These badge ribbons are meant for something more, but sometimes they look just as plain as the examples described above. It is this ribbon type that deserves a little extra planning to really perform in their function the best way possible.

TIP #1: Remember what medium you are working with.

You are printing on a ribbon not a brochure or flier. Your text should be concise and to the point.

TIP #2: Consider the badge ribbon size you are ordering.

A horizontal ribbon that is four inches wide can fit words like “promotional” or “team leader” and still be big enough to read from a short distance. But, if you’re getting a vertical ribbon that is only two inches wide, try to use shorter words.

TIP #3: Vertical text should be limited.

Vertical ribbons typically have printing running vertically stacked down the ribbon. Usually you can only get away with having one word like that; any more and it becomes hard to read.

TIP #4: When lots of text is acceptable.

There are promotional ribbons with entire poems that are used as bookmarks, ribbons with wedding details for favors, and keepsake ribbons from family reunions or church events. But, if you want your ribbon to say a lot, plan on having small letters and be prepared to order a metal die to be able to imprint the fine details that are required to have this small print.

TIP #5: Consider the tone of your words.

A corporate meeting would be a great setting for the boring badge ribbon with a simple ribbon saying “President” but, if you have a smaller or less formal meeting why not have a ribbon saying “Man In Charge” or “Big Cheese” instead?

Take some time to consider these five tips when choosing which badge ribbon is the best for your purpose. There will be five more tips to follow up after you make your choice to help solidify what you really need. These final tips will help you maximize your badge ribbons and promotional ribbons.

*Tips and graphics provided by guest author Melanie Bunch, Graphic Artist at Coller Industries.*