Would you try to barter with your grocer?
Most people would never consider trying haggle their local retailers on, say, the cost of paper towel, but why do creatives and agencies often experience this phenomenon? The following video clip illustrates this concept in a pretty hilarious way:
When going over a quote from your design agency, please remember the many hours of design that will be put into your project, as well as hard operating costs such as education, hardware and software that is invested by your design agency in order to make your project happen. Happy marketing!
The Coolest Christmas Card I’ve Ever Seen!
Has anyone else seen this sweet holiday card sent our by VW? I just stumbled on it, and wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy the design awesomeness!
One of These Things is Not Like the Other
Remember that song from Sesame Street… one of these things is not like the other….
I was reading an article today regarding our new president’s campaign branding and that song began playing through my mind. I couldn’t shake the question of what would happen if a beautiful brand comprised of a series of seamless items, were soured by one or more misfitting members.
I noodled on the concept of branding and I realized there was a simple illustration on how branding ought to work.
The essential concept of branding is to unify the entire user experience behind your brand concept —from visual representation, to customer service interaction, to corporate dynamic. Each facet of your company SHOULD mimic the values of all of the others.
So many people are alluded by the concept of a brand. They think it is their logo, their tagline, or their corporate colors. While these are great places to start, a well-crafted brand is so much more than those items. A cohesive brand should leak into every crevice of a business. From the design of your logo, print, packaging or web communications, the technique of your photography, the mission of the organization, the style of your copy, the tone of your customer service interactions all the way down to the atmosphere within your corporate facilities. However, a brand is much more than skin-deep.
On top of all this, know that your brand is not always what YOU say it is. Your clientele plays a huge part in the definition of your brand. After all, without them, you are dead in the water. You may want to position yourself as one thing, but your sales reports and customer feedback are saying something different. Your customer has an enormous amount of say in “who” your company is, because they are what keep it alive. Brand consistency instills trust with your clientele—they know what they can expect from your brand. If you start shifting things around, your risk rattling your customers’ trust right over to your competitor.
Since small businesses rarely have the money to hire out to a major brand agency to manage the gamut of details, they need to work extra hard themselves to carefully define and then execute their brand. As small businesses often work with many different vendors on their marketing efforts, it is imperative that the business owner or marketing manager clearly communicate their brand’s values to all parties involved and encourage collaboration to produce the strongest, most brand-centric result.
Some may say that small businesses can’t build a strong brand, that it takes a bigger budget than they will ever have. But branding your business doesn’t need to cost an exorbitant amount of money. Planning and simplicity are the key. Don’t fall prey to the notion that just because you don’t have a huge ad budget you can’t keep your brand consistent and professional.
For a really great read on branding try “The Brand Gap” by Marty Neumeier.
Just Grab That Image Off My Website…
Ahh the famous phrase used by clients everywhere. A friend of mine passed on this silly cartoon that finds humor in this phrase often-uttered by my print clients. It inspired me to write a little explanation of exactly why using web images isn’t a good practice. Bear with me, this one might take a second…
All photographic images (including all website images) are created of hundreds of pixels. These pixels are incredibly small and should be completely invisible to the naked eye when you are viewing an image at full size. However, if you were to zoom in very closely on a digital image you could see each pixel and how each one’s color slowly shifts to provide optical illusions of smooth color transitions that make up your photo.
Back to the moral of the cartoon. The bottom line of this issue is that web images are created in 72 or 96dpi (because web browsers view at this resolution) and print images are created in 300dpi. When a print designer is asked to take an image from a website, it must be scaled up from 72dpi to 300dpi, which essentially means each pixel will be enlarged to three times its original size. This creates a “pixelization” effect. Pixelation appears because the pixels that make up the image have been enlarged so much that you are now actually starting to see each one individually and the smooth optical illusion breaks down. The information in the image has essentially been stretched to such a degree that there are now gaps, and no amount of “photoshopping” can supplement this lost information. Because the pixels are now over-sized, pixelated images will appear blurry in print, which does very little to enforce the professionalism of your organization.
My recommendation to all individuals who are involved in coordination of print design is to always make sure you always keep a copy of the native, high resolution image files on your hard drive or on a back-up disc. This way, when your you or your designer needs high-resolution images, you will be able to access them quickly and easily.
Don’t Let Newton’s Law of Motion Happen to You
Earlier this week, I was asked by my client to make a portion of their design larger, which caused me to flashback to high school science and Newton’s Law of Motion:
For every action there is an opposite, equal reaction.
At the time of this my client’s request, the layout of their piece was nearly complete, and in order to make a portion of the design larger I would need to make another portion smaller. Significant, last-minute adjustments like this to the design of your marketing piece can prove to be detrimental to the entire flow of your message. A well-trained designer will assemble the pieces of your marketing piece together like an intricate puzzle. Trying to make significant changes to one of those puzzle pieces can throw off how the rest of the puzzle fits, and in turn, how the message reads.
So don’t let Newton’s Law of Motion happen to your marketing materials. Take the time to pre-plan the content of your marketing materials before meeting with your designer. Go over the details carefully and itemize what items need to be the most prominent. Taking a little time to pre-plan now will lead to a marketing piece with a message that rings clear as a bell with your audience!
Twitter is Still Da-Bomb
Ok, I still think Twitter is still fricking awesome. I just picked up a new client this week who I met on Twitter. Plus, I picked up a pro-bono job for a cause I really believe in as result of Twitter networking. If you haven’t yet joined the fun, you should. Its addicting.
Incredible Small Business Read
Well, I have been absent from writing for a while, but I have a fantastic read for all you small business owners out there—actually, its a great read for marketers in general as well as owners of any size business.
The book is a classic that I only just discovered. It is called “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” by Al Ries and Jack Trout. The time-tested book is so incredibly easy to read. It outlines 22 core principles of positioning and marketing that every business person should know. Once you read the no-nonsense insight in this book, you will be amazed that you didn’t acquire these principles by shear logic before. The book also gives a ton of real-life examples that help demonstrate exactly what they are trying to teach.
A few of my favorite principles are as follows:
Law #1 – It is better to be first than it is to be better.
This pill can be hard to swallow. When I think about it, I know my business is far from the first design firm in the land, and I believe that I provide my clients with a product and customer service that is far superior to that which other firms like mine may offer. With that said, I had a hard time with this law. Shouldn’t the “best man win?” Well, just think about the major brand players that are out there…. Coca-Cola, Apple Computers, etc. They will always stand out in your head because they were the first in their product line. Now you are probably thinking that your business is doomed, because you were not the first to offer your product or service. Never fear, Law #2 will save you!
Law #2 – If you can’t be first in a category, create your own category.
So many of the principles in this book are about adjusting your perception of your business. In order to distinguish your business from your competitors, you need to re-examine the positioning of your product or service and search for a way to classify it as first in its own category. See the book for examples (ha, I’m determined to get you to read this book…)
Law #13 - You have to give up something to get something.
This is another tough lesson, but the book is convincing. A niche market is something to be treasured. Less is more. Find your niche and stick with it. You can’t offer the superior product or service in your category if your attention is hopelessly divided. Its easy to see a quick money-making opportunity and jump, but if you look at the numbers in the long run, your old product often suffers as your new product profits, which doesn’t amount to any real growth. Plus, once the novelty of your new product wears off, you will only be left with a weakened version of your flagship product. So, if you absolutely must expand into a new market… at least brand that product to stand alone so that your initial product isn’t weakened by consumer confusion (that also gets covered in its own Law).
Alright, I need to be done now. Enough of the Cliff’s Notes. I can’t regurgitate the entire book for you. Just trust me. And read it. You won’t regret it.
Strong Design Studios Launches New Website
Just wanted to publish a quick post to let everyone know that Strong Design Studios just redesigned and relaunched our website. If you get a chance, check it out atwww.strongdesignstudios.com
Beautiful Moo Business Cards
I recently posted a link to several sweet business card sites. Shortly after, a client came to me looking to have her acting/modeling business card redesigned. When she asked to have her headshot featured on the card, my mind got to cooking that the MOO photocards could be a perfect fit for this project! Check out the finished product!
The paper is nice and thick and the images are vivid, however, before you design your card make sure to check out the template restrictions and the color palette for the information. You can be really creative with these cards, but you just need to know the rules before you begin.
