| The growth in the use of USB flash drives, memory | | | | your company logo is complex, contains graduated |
| sticks, thumb drives, pen drives (call them what you | | | | colours and/or tints then it might not be suitable. |
| will) by the promotional sector continues unabated. Its | | | | Remember the space you are printing onto is relatively |
| no surprise really when you consider just how well | | | | small and the printing options on some memory sticks |
| printed or branded flash drives look, the fact that you | | | | are limited. Its not unusual for complex logo's to be |
| can avoid costly print costs by pre-loading electronic | | | | simplified before being printed onto a memory stick |
| copies of your sales material on the drives and the | | | | 4. Choose the right printing option: Typically flash drives |
| benefit the recipient gets by being able to use the flash | | | | are "spot printed" but they can also be laser engraved |
| drive to store their own documents on. | | | | or embossed. Another option that's growing in |
| When looking to buy promotional flash drives there are | | | | popularity is to use "Dome Stickers" - these top quality |
| a few things to look out for: | | | | stickers enable complex logo's to be printed and |
| 1. Make sure you choose the right style of flash drive: | | | | protected under a layer of resin and are ideal for |
| There are lots and lots of different standard designs | | | | logo's with tints or graduated colours |
| of flash drives on the market with the twister memory | | | | 5. Have your artwork available in the right format: If |
| stick as the most popular but this is not right for | | | | you want your printed memory sticks to look good |
| everyone because its relatively small and as a result | | | | then its essential that you provide your artwork in the |
| complex or large logo's don't work well on it. To help | | | | highest resolution in a format that does not compress |
| you choose ask you supplier to work up various | | | | the image data, e.g. Jpeg. Ideally you should supply |
| examples with your logo and ask them to send you | | | | your artwork in EPS or AI format. |
| samples of the short list if you have time. Most | | | | 6. Be clear on your timeframes: Its critical that you |
| companies will do this free of charge. Material, shape | | | | allow enough time when ordered printed flash drives. |
| and colour options are the fundamentals to consider. | | | | Whilst many companies will offer a "rush" service you |
| 2. Choose the right memory capacity: There is a | | | | will typically pay more for this and reduce your design |
| balance between choosing flash memory capacity | | | | options. The majority of flash drives are manufactured |
| based on your budget versus a higher level of | | | | in the Far East and as such you need to allow around |
| memory that makes the USB memory stick more | | | | 10 days from approval of the proof to the delivery of |
| appealing to the recipient. As you'd expect the smaller | | | | your final product. |
| the memory capacity the cheaper the price of the | | | | 7. Cheapest isn't always the right option: There are |
| flash drive. But, if you're looking to pre-load and "lock" | | | | certain factors to be consider when comparing prices |
| your company data onto the flash drives it's important | | | | for branded USB flash drives. Make sure the prices |
| to make sure that there is sufficient space, not only for | | | | you are being quoted are for new Grade A chips and |
| this data but also to ensure the drive is of value to the | | | | not re-cycled or Grade B chips that have a much |
| user. Its all about balance - there's no point paying for | | | | great failure rate, Secondly make sure all of the cost |
| memory that you don't need for your own data but | | | | quoted is fully inclusive, e.g. does it include; print set up, |
| you want people to use the flash drives and promote | | | | print origination, pantone matching, data-loading, |
| your product or company effectively. | | | | accessories delivery and finally what are the payment |
| 3. Choose the right logo to print onto the flash drive: If | | | | terms. |