The print design system
How the brand meets paper, vinyl, and board: stationery, collateral, desk and office pieces, and event display. It uses the Brand view's mark, type, and palette, and adds what the screen never needs: trim, bleed, safe areas, stock, and ink.
The template scale
Every template in Print, Digital, and Social ships in three steps on the same grid. Choose the step that fits the setting: a letter is Minimal, a seminar handout is Accent, and a booth in a busy hall is Bold. Do not mix steps inside one piece. A set, such as a card and its matching letterhead, may use different steps.
| Step | Surface | Accent | Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimal | Quiet and correspondence-grade. White or natural stock and ink-colored type; the paper does the work. | One hairline or rule. No accent fills. | The full mark in color. |
| Accent | Recognizable at arm's length. A band of ink or accent frames the content. | Eyebrows and one rule. The accent never fills more than about a tenth of the face. | The full mark: color on paper, reversed inside the band. |
| Bold | A full-bleed ink flood, or full-bleed photography where the format has room. For rooms, not envelopes. | Display type and keylines in the accent. | The full mark reversed. |
Principles
| Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Brand owns the identity. | Mark files, type families, and colors come from the Brand view. Print never adds a typeface or a color; it only defines how those assets meet ink and stock. |
| Paper is a surface. | Prefer natural or ivory stock to a printed tint. A tint across a whole sheet muddies type and shows banding on digital presses. |
| Readable at arm's length, then across a room. | Body text on letters, brochures, and worksheets is at least 12 pt with generous line spacing, fill-in items are 15 pt, and running text is upright. Only supporting lines go smaller: contact lines, running heads, pad footers, and fine print, and nothing below 7.5 pt. Banner headlines read from about 12 m (40 ft). |
| Write on paper, never on ink. | Anything a reader fills in, ticks, circles, or signs sits on white or ivory: write-in lines, tick boxes, notes, calendar dates, date fields, signature lines. Bands and floods carry only printed type. Ballpoint and pencil vanish on ink. |
| Compliant by default. | Advertising pieces carry the brand's name and address and follow the claim rules of its field, the same as on social. When in doubt, send it for review. |
Ink. Record the press build of each color token here once it is proofed: CMYK, the nearest spot color, and where each is used. Keep floods at or below 300% total ink, and never set small type in a rich build.
Formats
Every template page sizes its previews from the print group in src/formats.json. Bleed extends past the trim line; live type and the mark stay inside the safe area.
| Format | Trim | Bleed | Safe area | Stock | Page | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letterhead · US Letter | 8.5″ × 11″ | 0.125″ | 0.5″ | 70–80 lb uncoated text, white or natural; laser and inkjet compatible. | Letterheads Planned | Minimal prints without bleed in the office; Accent and Bold need a press with bleed. |
| Second sheet · US Letter | 8.5″ × 11″ | 0.125″ | 0.5″ | Same stock as the first sheet. | Letterheads Planned | |
| Business card · US | 3.5″ × 2″ | 0.125″ | 0.125″ | 16–32 pt uncoated or soft-touch cover. | Business Cards Planned | |
| Tri-fold brochure · letter | 11″ × 8.5″ | 0.125″ | 0.25″ | 100 lb gloss or silk text; 80 lb uncoated for Minimal. | Brochures Planned | Roll fold: the tuck-in panel is 1/16″ narrower than the other two. |
| Booklet · 6 × 9 trade | 6″ × 9″ | 0.125″ | 0.375″ | Interior 60–70 lb natural uncoated text; cover 100 lb cover with matte laminate. | Booklets Planned | Saddle-stitched at 48 pages or fewer with a page count that is a multiple of 4; perfect bound above that. |
| Worksheet · US Letter | 8.5″ × 11″ | 0″ | 0.5″ | 24 lb bond or 70 lb uncoated text so it takes pen and pencil. | Worksheets Planned | No bleed: a white margin on every template so it prints on any office printer. |
| Calendar · US Letter | 8.5″ × 11″ | 0.125″ | 0.5″ | 100 lb uncoated cover, so the sheet pins flat and takes pen. | Calendar Planned | Two single-sheet templates share this format: the year at a glance and the month page. |
| Notepad · half letter | 5.5″ × 8.5″ | 0.125″ | 0.375″ | 60–70 lb uncoated text, 50 sheets, padded at the head onto chipboard. | Notepads Planned | Top-glued: the padding compound takes about 1/8″ at the head, so nothing sits above the safe line. |
| Desk pad · 4 × 6 | 4″ × 6″ | 0.125″ | 0.25″ | Same text stock, 50 sheets, padded at the head. | Notepads Planned | |
| Retractable pull-up banner | 33″ × 80″ | 0.5″ | 1″ | 13 oz anti-curl vinyl or polyester fabric. | Conference Banners Planned | The bottom 8″ disappears into the stand cassette; keep everything critical above it. |
| Hanging or table banner | 96″ × 36″ | 0.5″ | 1.5″ | 13 oz matte vinyl with grommets, or dye-sublimated fabric. | Conference Banners Planned | Grommets sit 1″ in from each corner and every 24″; nothing within 1.5″ of the edge. |
| Poster · tabloid | 11″ × 17″ | 0.125″ | 0.5″ | 100 lb gloss text; in-office or digital press. | Posters Planned | |
| Poster · medium | 18″ × 24″ | 0.125″ | 0.75″ | 100 lb silk cover or 9 mil satin photo paper. | Posters Planned | |
| Poster · large | 24″ × 36″ | 0.125″ | 1″ | 9 mil satin photo paper; foam-core mount for easels. | Posters Planned | |
| Poster · one-sheet | 27″ × 40″ | 0.125″ | 1″ | 9 mil satin photo paper, or backlit film for light boxes. | Posters Planned |
Previews
A sheet is a print canvas (canvas--print) sized from the catalog, so one preview unit is one inch and type is set in points. It is composed from the same pieces as a screen canvas, in src/styles/canvas.css. Turn on the guides to see the safe area.
NachoDS
Street address · CityPhone · example.com
NachoDS
Handing off to a printer
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| File | PDF/X-4, CMYK (or CMYK plus a spot for foil), fonts embedded, crop marks offset beyond the bleed. |
| Images | 300 ppi at final size for sheet goods; 100 to 150 ppi at final size for banners and posters 24″ and up. |
| Mark | Vector files only, from the Brand view. Never place a screenshot or a raster export. |
| Proof | A hard proof on the chosen stock for every first run and every new stock. |