University of Oregon Welcome Kit

Premier Press helps the University of Oregon welcome new students in true Duck style. Helps them nest, if you will.

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In the summer of 1978, Paul Nevue was thrilled to get a letter welcoming him to his first fall term as a University of Oregon Duck.

If he were enrolling this year, he’d get much more than that letter. He’d get a personalized welcome package including a note from the U of O Duck mascot, and loads of trinkets to “show the world [he’s] a Duck.” A U of O-branded water bottle, decals for his car, a key chain, a luggage tag, buttons, a coupon for The Duck Store, info on housing, and, of course, a couple of duck feathers.

Today Paul is an account director at Premier Press, so he got to do the next best thing to going back to college: He got to oversee the printing, fulfillment, and mailing of this awesome kit.

The project presented some interesting challenges:

First there was the weight and size of the package to consider. To save weight and make the packaging sustainable, the outside box was made sturdy enough to serve as the shipping box. No shipping box was needed. We had to keep mailing costs at a certain threshold, so we weighed every piece, arranged them in the most compact way, found the lightest materials, shaved off a tenth of an ounce here and another tenth there — until we got it right.

Because the inside of the box was personalized, it was printed with variable data using a digital printer, while the outside wrapper required a printer that could handle a larger sheet. That meant we had to color-match the output of the different printers. Done.

And finally, we had to make sure the student’s name on the inside materials matched the name on the mailing label.

It was a great example of teamwork – the kind that U of O and Premier Press are famous for. Thanks to our printing and mailing departments for their coordinated efforts, and thanks to U of O Admissions for the great concept, design, and swag. Their new students are sure to feel welcome, and we wish them a terrific first year.