Ideally the poster size for us would be 11 x 17 so that we can send it through our printers to personalize.  But we will work with whatever size you give us.  I don't have a preference for landscape or portrait.  Some of our users have complained about the posters being too large to put in store windows.  Others like the large posters.  You can't please all the people all the time!
 
Some hosts use clear lables, some use printers, some hand write the information in.  I have given them an example of the completed poster in the past and even send them the word file with the layout of the information so all they have to do is change the name and dates.  I usually try to match up the fonts and colors and sizes for them.
 
50 posters is plenty.  They probably wouldn't complain if you cut it to 40.
 
I do think they find the posters useful to put up around town.  I also like getting a supply of them as well.  I end up sending to surrounding counties where the local host might not expand out.
 
Postcards are used differently by sites.  Some use them to mail out to their current mail list.  Some sites make up their own postcards because we might not provide them enough.
 
I never understood why you would do so many images on the postcards.  It seems that one or two postcards would be fine.  But sending 50 postcards of 10 different images with the council name on the back was a lot of extra printing.  We can personalize the post cards or the sites can when they add their own pertinent schedules.  The only scare is that the local sites might forget to crdit the state council.  I guess I would prefer one or two images with our name on the back rather than six images without our name on it.
 
OK I am rambling, so I am done.  Kathleen 
 
 
Kathleen Pool
Associate Director
Kentucky Humanities Council, Inc.
206 E. Maxwell St.
Lexington, KY  40508
859/257-5932
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From: Museum on Main Street [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Harsh, Carol [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 1:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: question about MoMS posters and postcards

Hi all,

 

Hope you are having a wonderful summer and have enjoyed some time of relaxation.

 

We are in the early stages of designing and printing the posters and postcards for The Way We Worked and we want to get some quick feedback about posters and postcards.

 

We are considering a horizontal poster for The Way We Worked that may be about 15” tall x 22” wide.  As you know we design them in such a way as to leave space for the  host communities to  overprint their names and exhibition dates on the poster.  Council names and logos are on the posters, too.

·         Is this size about right, or should the posters be smaller? 

·         Do your host towns use clear labels to put their info on the posters or do they go to a printer and have them done?

·         Is 50 posters per town about right? Or is that too many?

·         Do you think your venues find the posters useful? Or should we change them in some way?

 

For the postcards, we are considering changing things up a bit and making them a little larger, 5” x 7” rather than 4” x 6”—and using 6 images rather than 10 images. This will give the host communities more space to print their program schedule or other info that they want to put on the postcards. 

·         How popular are the postcards?

·         How are the postcards used in your states?

·         Currently we print enough for each town to get  500 postcards.  Is that a good number?

·         On the back of each postcard, we currently include a statement like, “Brought to you by the XXX Humanities Council.” It would save MoMS a ton of money if we didn’t customize the postcards.  How important is it to keep that phrase on them?

 

We would appreciate your responses to these questions.  It will help us plan appropriately and spend MoMS money wisely.

 

All the best,

 

Carol

 

Carol G. Harsh

Director, Museum on Main Street

Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

P.O. Box 37012, MRC 941

Washington, DC  20013-7012

202-633-5333

202-465-5267 (cell)