Aha, I thought, I needed to look at samples, and so I searched the internet for any examples I could come up with. It was only later that I realized that the search probably wouldn't have been necessary at all if I'd just stopped to really think about the situation.

We're surrounded by examples of marketing. I think that the second I walk out the door I'm seeing different examples of the various styles that commercial printing can take.

When I get my mail each day I'm seeing great postcard designs. When I go to any office, when I go out to the store, I can find countless brochure design samples for me to choose from.

I've even got a Rolodex and binder filled with high quality business cards to give me countless different ideas for my own business card.

When you turn on the TV and when you turn on the radio you're given examples of advertising. When I walk down the street I might see posters, billboards, or I might be handed some flyers.

I think the thing that happens is that we become so surrounded by it we actually forget it's there for when it comes time to come up with our marketing designs. I mean, I don't immediately think to myself when I have to come up with a new design that I should just open my window and look out at the world, even though I'll likely be confronted by some kind of advertisement if I do.

A lot of it is disconnecting the process of designing an advertisement with the finished product. When I'm hunched over my computer with Open Canvas open I'm not thinking about how often I'm seeing inspiration all over the place.

Even when I pick up products off the shelves at store the boxes, the labels they have on them, are all great examples of commercial printing. What makes them so potent is the fact that they can work so well to advertise something without a person even being aware anymore that they're being advertised to.

Trust me, you'll never be without an example of something to go off of when designing your own marketing material. No matter what style of marketing you plan on doing, there is some form of it already out there for you to conveniently look at. All you need to do is open your eyes and take a good look around you.