How To Design An Attractive Printed Mouse Mat

When designing promotional printed mouse mats, you must concentrate on creating a design that will appeal to a wide range of people. You can’t go out and ask everyone you plan to give mouse mats to in advance what design features they find most attractive, so you’ve got to second-guess every client and customer and hope that the design you create will be appealing.
Need-to-Know Information Before you Start
The first thing you’ll need to do is find out how big your print area is. Fortunately this information is very easy to locate—just check the specifications for the mat you’ve chosen and you’ll find the print area for the mouse mat, in millimeters.
You’ll also need to know if there are any particular elements of the mouse mats you’ve chosen that might affect the type of design you can create. For example, if your printed mouse mats are round, double sided, have a business holder or other added function, the design you create will need to take these features into consideration.
Select a Color Scheme
Color is perhaps the most important part of your mouse mat design. Choose colors that reflect your company color scheme, if you have one. Creating promotional items that mimic your company colors is a great way to create brand recognition.
If you don’t already have a company color scheme, it might be time to create one! To do this, think about the aspects of your company that you want to be apparent in the promotional items you distribute. For example, adult-oriented services such as law firms, insurance companies and banks may opt for more subdued tones, while companies that provide services or products aimed at children should produce more colorful promotional items with bright primary colors.
Whichever colors you choose, remember that your main priority in creating the design is getting people to associate your promotional printed mouse mats with your company.
Choose your Text and Font
Next, decide what text you want to add to your mouse mats. This will probably include at least a company name, logo and contact information (don’t forget your Web address if you have one)—you may also want to include a promotional message or slogan, and some images.
Be cautious about adding text—you don’t want to add so much written information that it becomes difficult for the recipient of the items to understand your message. Adding paragraphs of text is definitely not a good idea.
When choosing fonts, go with the font you use for your company logo. However, use some caution here—the font you choose should be easily readable on the surface of a mouse mat, and some fonts may not down-size very well. If your existing company font is not easily readable in the smaller size, use it only for your company name, then use a clear Sans Serif font for any other text you add.

About the Author

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's largest online source of printed mouse mats and other promotional items. He has taken the UK gift market by storm by the a