Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 3

This continues our series of introductory posts on designing for direct mail. Part 1 introduced your friend at the post office, the Mailpiece Design Analyst, the basic mailpiece shapes, and some helpful online resources. In Part 2, we looked more closely at the shapes and other ways that the USPS categorizes mail. Here in Part 3, we examine requirements for getting your mailpiece through the USPS's processing equipment.

 

Nonmachinable mail
A mailpiece is nonmachinable if it has any physical characteristic which prevents it from being processed by the post office’s equipment, and is subject to a surcharge. Unless you are doing something unusual with your mailpiece on purpose and electing to have it processed manually at extra cost, your goal is to make all mail machinable by meeting all of the specific guidelines in the reference documents available to you (and with the help of your Mailpiece Design Analyst, printer, and/or mailing service representative). All discount mail must be machinable.

 

Nonmachinable characteristics for letters:

• Has an aspect ratio of less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.
• Is polybagged, polywrapped, enclosed in plastic, or is made of a non-paper material. Windows and certain other types of external attachments are an exception to this.
• Has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices.
• Contains items such as pens, pencils, keys or coins that cause uneven thickness or are loose and able to move around.
• Is too rigid (does not bend easily when subjected to a transport belt tension of 40 pounds round an 11-inch diameter turn.
• For pieces more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long, the thickness is less than .009 inch.
• Has a delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mailpiece.
• Is a self-mailer that is not prepared according to DMM 201.3.14
• Is a booklet that is not prepared according to DMM 201.3.14.2

 

Machinable mail
This means the piece meets all of the physical requirements which allow it to be run through the USPS’s high-speed processing machinery. Machinable mail must meet all of the same requirements that Automated mail must meet (see below), except a barcode is not required.

Bookmark the USPS Quick Service Guides for detailed requirements for machinable and automated mail.

 

Presorting
Presorting is required for discount mail. This done after addressing, either by a presort bureau/letter shop/mailing service, or in-house using specific supplies and methods required by the post office.

 

Automated mail
Think of this as “machinable plus barcode.” To qualify for the lower automation postage rate, a barcode is applied by a presort bureau along with the address before delivery to the post office. There are minimum quantities for getting automation rates. Learning to design a mailpiece correctly for automation will most likely require the help of an MDA or other mailing adviser.

 

Barcodes
A barcode will be applied to your piece at some point in the process; it is either applied by a mailing service along with the address before it goes to the post office (in the case of Automated mail), or it is applied at the post office after a machine has read and interpreted the address.

If your piece will not be mailed at the Automation rate, you must leave a strip of clear space in the bottom right corner of the address side, the dimensions of which are based on the shape of the piece. If the piece is letter-sized, for example, the barcode clear space must be at least 4-3/4×5/8” and extend all the way to the right and bottom edges. Your MDA can provide you with an up-to-date plastic template and measurements.

If designing for Automated mail, the barcode will in most cases be printed as part of the address block by the mailing service / presort bureau. That address block will only need a clear space a few inches wide and tall, and the additional clear space in the corner is not needed. There is a great deal of flexibility in where the address/barcode block can be placed, as long as the barcode is within 4 inches of the bottom edge of the piece. The minimum size of the space needed will vary a little depending on the mailing service, so communication is key.

 

Background color/paper
In the aforementioned clear spaces, the background should be of a uniform color with adequate light reflectance for the barcode reader or address reader to read properly against. White is preferred, but lighter colors can also work. The USPS has reflectance meters which can measure a sample of the paper you are using. Certain types of coated papers should be avoided.

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In Part 4, we'll cover addressing and postage.

 

 

Comments (0)|Posted by: Alison Ashe, 24 July 2009 at 3:10pm

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 2

This continues our series of introductory posts on designing for direct mail. Part 1 introduced your friend at the post office, the Mailpiece Design Analyst, the basic mailpiece shapes, and some helpful online resources. Here in Part 2, we'll look more closely at the shapes and other ways that the USPS categorizes mail.

 

Factors determining the type of mailing
As a designer, unless the format of the mailpiece and the class of mail are already decided for you, you'll be basing decisions about the design of the piece on what kind of message, information, or material needs to be conveyed, weighed against how much the client is willing to pay to get their piece into the hands of the recipients on their list. This cost analysis tool can help start that decision-making process if the client is unfamiliar with commercial mailing.

 

Retail or Discount
In most cases, commercial mail is discount mail and is designed for easier processing by the post office's equipment. Not meeting the specific physical requirements will bump you back up to full retail price or incur a nonmachinable surcharge. Retail is synonymous with Full Rate First Class. There is also a discounted Presorted First Class category for commercial mailings.

 

Size and Shape of Mailpiece
As mentioned in Part 1, any piece of mail will be classified as a postcard, letter, flat, or parcel, depending on the dimensions of the piece.

Postcard
Small postcards only
To qualify for the postcard rate:
• Minimum size 3-1/2 x 5 inches and .007 inches thick (equivalent to 80lb text weight stock, or an index card).
• Maximum size 4-1/2 x 6 inches and .016 inches thick (about as thick as 120lb cover weight stock).
• Postcard rate is only available if using First Class.

Letter
Larger postcards, letters, booklets, self-mailers
• Minimum size 3-1/2 x 5 inches and .007 inches thick (equivalent to 80lb text weight stock, or an index card).
• Maximum size 6-1/8 x 11-1/2* inches and 1/4 inch thick.
*Maximum length for a letter will be 10-1/2 inches effective 9/8/09.

Flat
Larger envelopes, newsletters, magazines, larger booklets, larger self-mailers
• A flat has at least one dimension that is greater than 6-1/8 inches high or 11-1/2* inches long or 1/4 inch thick.
• Maximum size: 12 inches high x 15 inches long x 3/4 inch thick.
*Maximum length for a letter will be 10-1/2 inches effective 9/8/09.

Parcel
Anything that isn't a postcard, letter, or flat
• Length + girth cannot exceed 108 inches (130 inches for Parcel Select).

 

Class
Classes can be thought of as service levels. The class affects postage rates, speed, and services included such as forwarding and returning.

Express Mail
Anything mailable can be sent Express
• Highest cost
• Fastest service available

First Class Mail
Anything mailable can be sent First Class
• First Class Mail offers a discounted rate for small postcards
• Faster than Standard

Standard Mail
Advertisements, circulars, newsletters, magazines, small parcels, merchandise
• Maximum weight is 16 ounces
• Slower than First Class

Periodicals
Newsletters, magazines
• Must be published at regular intervals and meet other specific qualifications
• Requires a formal application procedure

Package Services
Merchandise, books, circulars, catalogs, computer-readable media, film, recordings, educational materials, binders, other printed matter
• Subclasses are Parcel Select, Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail, and Library Mail
• For merchandise, Priority Mail (First Class) may have similar postage costs to Package Services but is faster.

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In Part 3, we'll look at what you need to know to get your mailpiece through the USPS's processing equipment.

 

Comments (0)|Posted by: Alison Ashe, 1 July 2009 at 12:29pm

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 1

We recently attended a breakfast talk hosted by AIGA Knoxville on designing for direct mail. Sheila Kirton, our local USPS Mailpiece Design Analyst (did you know those existed?), gave us a great refresher on what to do and not to do when designing direct mail and alerted us to some upcoming changes in mailpiece requirements. Since we found this so helpful, we decided to put together our own introductory guide to mailing standards. Even if you’ve worked on mailpieces before, there can be many gaps in your knowledge. Mail can be pretty tricky, and it’s difficult to know where to go for a comprehensive overview from a designer’s perspective.

 

Interesting Findings from the AIGA Knoxville Breakfast Talk

• The maximum length for a mailpiece in the Letter category is being reduced from 11.5 to 10.5 inches on September 8. Anything over 10.5 inches will be mailed as a Flat instead of a Letter. (This applies to Sumo-sized postcards, self-mailers, booklets, etc.)
• A square letter-sized mailpiece will receive a nonmachinable surcharge because it will tumble end over end instead of sliding smoothly through the equipment. Flats can be square, however.
• Glossy paper stocks can cause problems in the machines because they generate static electricity. They can also interfere with machine readability and incur additional charges.
• Some paper coatings or printing methods can interfere with the barcode your piece will receive during processing. A mailer that we received recently had a barcode which was badly smeared over a field of solid color. The color appeared to have been printed by a color laser / quick run method.
• Blue inks are more difficult for machines to read.
• Your envelope’s flap can be on either the front or the back side, but cannot be on the bottom edge.
• Your piece can have rounded corners, but they can have a radius no larger than 1/8 inch.
• Don’t use an open / cutout address window in your self-mailer; it can get caught in the machines. A booklet that we received advertising a well-known design conference demonstrated this error!
• Those clear tabs for closing self-mailers look nicer, but they often don't stick as well as the opaque ones.

 

Mailpiece Design Analyst

Something you may not know even if you have been designing mailpieces for a while is that there is someone at the USPS whose job it is to help you design mail correctly and prevent unexpected postage costs and delays for you and your clients. Sometimes this information finds its way to you through others, such as printers or mailing services / presort bureaus, but the MDA is closest to the source.

From the USPS site: “Mailpiece Design Analysts (MDA) are postal employees specially trained to answer your questions regarding mailpiece design. These employees provide advice and issue rulings regarding acceptability for automated rates. MDAs provide technical assistance on mailpiece design to envelope manufacturers, printers, advertising agencies, and graphic designers.”

This includes testing your chosen paper stocks, if needed, and checking your artwork via email/PDF for problems before you send it to print.

To find the analyst assigned to your zip code:
http://pe.usps.gov/mpdesign/mpdfr_mda_lookup.asp

 

Brief Introduction to Mailpiece Shapes

We’ll look more in depth at how mail is categorized in upcoming posts, but one of the first things you should know, which will make it easier to navigate the USPS’s reference documents, is that there are only four categories of mail shapes.

• Postcard
• Letter
• Flat
• Parcel

Any piece of mail will be classified as one of these, depending on the dimensions of the piece. Many things which do not seem like a letter, for example, actually fall into the Letter category, such as a small booklet, a self-mailer, or a large postcard.

Small postcards under 4.5×6 in. and being sent First Class are the only things the USPS places in the Postcard category; a Postcard is really only a type of discounted Letter.

 

Other Resources

For those who would like to dive right in, these have been the most helpful online resources for us. The USPS publishes an overwhelming number of reference documents, many of which repeat the same information in ways that are tailored for the different audiences to which they speak. The more in-depth resources also tend to include lots of information on sorting methods, barcode creation, etc. which most designers don’t need to know; that information is targeted at mailing professionals (presort bureaus; postal employees; in-house mailing departments).

Business Mail 101
Online introductory tool for beginning or infrequent mailers (this applies to a lot of designers!), including a glossary.

Quick Service Guides
A more user-friendly version of the information in the Domestic Mail Manual. Includes visual diagrams of sizes and shapes of the different types of mail (see the sections labeled “Physical Standards”).

USPS Domestic Mail Manual (the Bible of mailing)
It’s actually not easy to locate this online version of the ultimate domestic mailing reference when browsing the USPS site.

USPS International Mail Manual

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In our posts to follow, we'll examine the different shapes and classes of mail, and discuss how to ensure that your mailpiece will travel safely through the post office's automated equipment.

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 2

 

Comments (3)|Posted by: Alison Ashe, 8 June 2009 at 3:28pm

Alison Ashe

Alison solves visual communication problems through a process of research, concept exploration, and original thinking.

Lindsay Miller

Lindsay is dedicated to the unrelenting pursuit of delivering unique, effective media solutions that bring a company's message to life.

Joseph Nother

As co-founder and creative director for Designsensory, Joseph oversees teams that deliver award-winning and compelling design.

Brandon Rochelle

Brandon, co-founder and technical director, oversees technology development spanning interactive work through online marketing.

Mark Schafer

In his role as creative designer, he puts his passion for creating excellent, meaningful design into practice.

Susan Sewell

Susan brings a background as a writer, senior editor, promotion specialist, and project manager.