Christen Gruebel

Christen Gruebel
The Price is Right

Holiday giving is all the more remarkable when recipients are left wondering how they deserved such a nice gift. One way to accomplish this is turning to gift sets.

A Happy Medium

To dabble a bit in the philosophical realm, the term "golden mean" is often applied to the discussion of ethics for the greater good of society. It is said to be the ideal middle ground between two extreme points of view and many of the world's greatest thinkers—from Aristotle to Confucius—have touched upon it in their teachings.

Lost in Translation

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If that was all Greek to you, don’t worry. To most, it’s certainly an unknown language. They never would have known the difference. In the truest sense of the phrase, this is how it feels when a technology novice tries to utilize, market or even improve a website. It’s classic “failure to communicate.” And if you happen to think Twitter is merely the sound of annoying laughter or you still check your Friendster profile daily, dub yourself a tech newbie.

Save the Date

Woe to sidekicks. The ever-underrated second bananas never get their moments in the sun. Worse, they’re the ones who usually have to take the bullet so the hero can live to fight another day. Replaceable, that’s what they are. Sure, time can fly, heal all wounds and save nine in a single stitch. But without its partner, the calendar, what would be there to bring order to time’s crazy impulses? Okay, so the calendar has a tendency to run out when time has seemingly met its match (i.e., December 31, every year), but it always comes back renewed and ready to face another day.

Survival of the Fittest

(As new promotional products are introduced to the market, wearables continue to dominate sales figures. According to PPAI, promotional product distributor sales for 2006 totaled $18.8 billion with wearables accounting for a whopping 30.79 percent of this figure. Because many print suppliers and distributors are currently testing the promotional waters, the staff of Print Professional would like to acquaint its readers with a top-selling item that just might be a perfect fit for their next campaign. Originally printed in the February 2008 issue of Promo Marketing (PM), the following article discusses the value and trends of T-shirts and details some important imprinting techniques.

Building Blocks to Success

The sum of a trademark equals a whole lot more than just its legal implications. By today’s standards, it’s what makes someone or something unique. Think golden arches, the swoosh or the doughboy. The corresponding brands shouldn’t be too far behind. In the case of commercial printing, such talk of “differentiation” has grown proportionately with each new-and-shiny improvement in technology. As in-house production becomes more a reality than ever before, print brokers have been looking for a way to diversify their offerings to maintain brand equity in a turbulent business environment. In growing numbers, manufacturers have been adding promotional products to their lines