As a graphic designer, it is your job to make your clients' marketing materials truly stand out and set them apart from their competition. They have to look great to maximize their return on investment, which, in turn, will generate repeat business for you. If you have the basic thematic association design concepts down pat, it's time to take your clients' St. Patrick's Day promotions to the next level with striking creativity that looks professional and elegant.

Here are a few St. Patrick's Day tips and tricks for graphic designers:

Stray from the norm

Many designers stick to green and orange for their clients' St. Patrick's Day promotions, but you don't have to. In fact, straying from the normal color selections will help your designs become instant attention-grabbers. One example would be to make a shamrock in your clients' company colors.

Designers often cover St. Patty's Day promos in green backgrounds, so you should try to accentuate your designs by using a white background with subtle shapes in varying shades of green throughout the promotional piece; whether it's a postcard, brochure, sales letter or an envelope. This method lends a touch of elegance and professionalism to corporate pieces and makes fun materials stand out in a river of green.

Make it shine

An oft-overlooked design element is foil stamping. Foil-stamped promotional materials beam with confidence and professionalism, and St. Patrick's Day offers the perfect opportunity for gold foil stamping through associations with leprechauns and their pots of gold. You can also try outlining your letters or adding a drop shadow with silver foil stamping.

Cut it up

Die cutting is a great way to incorporate a thematic association on St. Patrick's Day. You can choose from pre-existing die cuts or have a custom die cut created in shape of a shamrock, leprechaun, Ireland, the Irish flag or a pot of gold, for example. Die cutting isn't limited to fun, adventurous promotional pieces - elegant designs can be accomplished as well. Imagine, for instance, a promotional postcard for an investment firm shaped like a shamrock with a blue background and white lettering.

Promotional materials should be promotional

If possible, encourage your clients to add limited-time sales, bargains and deals to their promotional pieces to increase their response. They'll know the sale begins or ends on St. Patrick's Day and are less likely to miss the sale. Another example would be to hide a pot of gold in a company catalog and give a percentage off of merchandise to anyone who correctly identifies its location (of course, it should be relatively easy to find). This will encourage potential customers to browse through the catalog pages, increasing the likelihood that they'll find something they want to purchase.

Ultimately, a successful marketing campaign depends on whether your client appears to offer what potential customers are looking for and whether they appear to have the best product/service/price, etc. It is your job to be the messenger, so scope out your clients' competition, unleash your creativity, and make your client out to be the best. If you keep the above tips in mind, everyone will be celebrating this St. Patrick's Day.