Affordable Custom Boxes
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Thank you, Dirke! We use Nashville Wraps for a lot of boxes now. But I hadn't heard of Glerup. Thanks for the referral. They look great!
Forum Activity for @HeidiD
Marketing/Graphic designer for gourmet chocolatier
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
I'm afraid I may not be the best person to answer that. I'm not a freelance graphic designer. I sort of stumbled into this position when I moved from CT and left my photography business behind. I went into this gourmet chocolate company looking for work - any work. They saw my resume and decided to take all their photography and marketing in-house. So I work solely with them.
However, as a former small business owner, I understand budget is probably your biggest concern. (If it's not, you could easily just hire a photographer and graphic designer to create the materials you need.) One of the ways I worked with my small budget to market my business was by bartering. And you're in a great industry to barter since most people love chocolate!
Think about how much the artwork is worth to you. That's hard to do. But think about the potential for growth your business has by being presented well.
I keep wanting to lay out numbers for you but I just don't know what graphic designers are charging right now. Just consider the fact that when you barter, you're bartering the value of your product, not the cost. To clarify, if you charge $10 (value) for a box of chocolates which only cost you $5 (cost), you're effectively getting the graphic design services at half price because you're bartering what they charge for their services with what you charge for your product.
Not everyone will barter. But lots will. It can't hurt to ask.
If you can't find anyone to barter, ask about payment options. I personally feel that the images of your chocolate and the design of your marketing pieces is second in priority just after the quality of the chocolate itself. If you have amazing chocolate and horrible images of it, it won't sell. If you have crappy chocolate and great images of it, it'll sell.
Feel free to give me some more specific details about your situation and I'll see if I can give you any more guidance. For example, what kind of budget have you set aside for marketing? (What percent of your gross?) Who have you found that you would love to have photograph your chocolate? What do they charge? What do you get in return? How about graphic designers? Who have you found and what are they asking?
Affordable Custom Boxes
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Okay haha. Some of these box companies have horrible images of their products.
Affordable Custom Boxes
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
I haven't seen that company before. They look to be about the quality of some of our boxes that we have now. But we're looking for something more like this level of quality: http://www.recchiuti.com/100.html?area=01 (Click on the picture of the outside of the box.)
Most of the custom box companies we've found are overseas so the shipping doubles the already expensive boxes. We love BSD but, again, the shipping doubles the cost of the box.
Affordable Custom Boxes
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
We are a mid-sized company looking to upscale our brand boxes. Ideally, we'd like to order no more than a year's worth of boxes at a time. However, to get the price point down per box to fit into our pricing structure, we would need to order for 2-3 years. There are issues of storage space and product change that make this an unpleasant option.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a custom box company that has a good balance of high quality and low price? I know you get what you pay for. I'm just looking for as many options as I can find right now. 
Marketing/Graphic designer for gourmet chocolatier
Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hello! I'm excited to join your community. I began working with a gourmet chocolatier about 7 months ago. The company is called Ghyslain Chocolatier. (g-SLEIGH) They have a production facility and boutique in Union City, IN and 2 quick casual French bistros in Louisville, KY. I handle all creative - photography, marketing, website, social media & graphic design.
Previously, I was self-employed as a fashion-styled photographer for 18 years in CT. (exclusiveimageonline.com)