A great design + cheap printer = disaster!

Posted in: Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on March 3, 2010

I once had a client show me some work I had done that they requested to print on their own.  Being a designer, I have developed quite a few relationships with multiple printers in the area and on-line.  This client was trying to “cut costs.”  A VERY common idea among business owners who don’t really understand the difference in printing qualities.

When she got her letterhead paper printed and shipped to her, she called me right away.  The shade of purple that I designed the logo in and the shade they printed in were not even close!  One was blue and the other was purple.  Then she pulled out the business cards she received.  Thankfully they looked much more rich in color and true to what we were desiring, although not to my perfection.  The bigger problem for me was the inconsistent branding look that she now had to work with.  That is like printing Target’s logo in a lighter shade of red than what we see on EVERY piece of collateral they have.  You see that shade of red anywhere and you think of Target!  I even see random people wearing that color of shirt and khaki pants at the mall and I assume they just came from working at Target.  That specific shade of red symbolizes that store to me.  Same goes for UPS’ brown.  Always the same shade of brown, never anything different.

The printing company they used is one of those, very common, cheap companies on-line offering so many free items if you just place an order with them.  It is so enticing as a new business owner, but I want to caution you!  Don’t invest in the designing fees for your marketing materials to only have them come across as very poor once printed.  That will only reflect your business to your customer and probably not do you any good, a bad investment.

Double-duty business cards

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on February 19, 2010

A double-duty business card can be a good thing or a not-so-good thing.  Below are two very specific examples of this.

• The good double-duty business card - Using your business card for more than just telling who you are and what you do.  Print a coupon or special offer on the backs of your cards.  Include them with invoices to current customers.  If you offer a referral incentive, print it on the card.
• The not-so-good double-duty business card – Use your business card to focus on one business, not multiple. Someone whose card indicates they ‘do it all’ might be perceived as the infamous “Jack-of-all- Trades, Master of None.”  This is especially true if you use the same business card for two or more different businesses (such as your part-time real estate business and your part-time computer repair business).

If you are trying to break into a specific specialty within the same business (such as newsletter design or Web design), design a separate business card to give to your target market. Depending on your business, you might want to have a fun card and a serious card.

Business Card Tips

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on February 18, 2010

Minimum Information for a Business Card

Other information is optional but as a minimum the business card should usually contain:

• Individual’s Name and/or Business Name
• Individual’s Title or some other descriptive text to indicate what the person does if it’s not obvious from the business name
• A way (preferrably multiple ways) to contact the person — could be phone, fax, email, web page, mailing address, street address, etc.

It is not necessary to but a complete listing of services or products on the business card.  Keep it to the essentials.  Use brochures and personal interviews to disclose the full range of services or products offered.

• Orientation – Horizontal layouts are the most typical, most widely used format for business cards.
• Name – Whether using a horizontal or vertical arrangement, the person’s name or the business name are usually the most prominent text item on the card.  It is usually placed in the center or upper half of the card and emphasized with a larger or bolder font.
• Contact – Contact information is usually placed in the lower half of the card (left, right, or centered). The preferred method of contact (such as phone number or email) is often emphasized with a larger size, bolder font, or more prominent placement.

What is branding?

Posted in: Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on February 17, 2010

To create a “brand” for your company is to create your image, and to promote that image within your campaigns and marketing materials.  Working in branding allows me to get involved with many aspects of your business, from logo design to advertising to slogans.  The goal of a brand is to make a company unique and recognizable, and to project a desired image.  Over time, a brand can make a company a household name, and identifiable by a simple shape or color.  To create a brand for your company, I need to fully understand the goals of your organization, the industry as a whole, and will then create the appropriate materials to represent your company.

Creating marketing materials – what to do…

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on February 11, 2010

Because of my own business needs, this topic has been on my mind a lot lately.  I have been researching the best way to effectively communicate what my business has to offer to the optimal client base.  Does that include a tri-fold brochure?  Should I make some rack cards and put them out for everyone to see and take if they choose?  Should I make postcards that act as a “teaser” to entice that person to look into my company and see what I can offer.  Should I create some type of printed portfolio showcasing a range of my work?

My husband works with sales for a major bank in the US and he keeps telling me that research shows many people will through a tri-fold brochure in the garbage before they even look at it.  Being that I create those for clients frequently, I don’t like hearing that.  That is what I was getting ready to create for myself!  Only problem is that  I just couldn’t bring myself to do this without adding a creative twist making the brochure a different size or adding some type of embellishment… but, that is when the price went up too…  I can’t win.

So I thought some more…  With social media changing so much I find myself spending so much time on perfecting my website as that is my  main reference for my business when potential clients want to see my work.  In my field, it is key.  So with that knowledge and thought process behind me AND my website finally starting to take final shape, it is time for me to create some postcard “teasers” for my business.  For me and my business, that is the best bang for my buck I believe!  Stay tuned, I will post it when I am done.

A new WordPress theme!

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog, Word Press by Jennifer Slagle on February 5, 2010

Hang tight – I have been working hard to get my site looking and feeling the way I want!  I hope you like this new theme that I have recently downloaded.  It is so user friendly and I am finding with a few extra tips from my brother, I am able to actually do most of this on my own!  Who would have thought I could do such a thing.  Hopefully it will be finished real soon.  Let me know your thoughts.

7 Rules to Understand Design and Designers

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on January 12, 2010

Even though I don’t 100% agree with all the rules, I love this 7 Rules to Understand Design and Designers wall decal.

Business Goals – what are yours for 2010?

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on January 5, 2010

With the start of a new year, it is always a great time to rethink or adjust your business marketing plan based on your results from the previous year.  What do you have planned for 2010 to help increase your business?  Do you need to adjust your logo and give it a fresh new current look?  Maybe you need to create some marketing brochures or postcards that you can give to potential clients.  I know from my personal experience that when I hand a potential client a brochure on my work, they are more apt to do business with me.  Seeing a finished product or idea can help the customer visualize what they are going to be getting.  If I just tell them what I do and that I would love to help them out, the feeling is never the same.  It goes to show you, the power of vision is true!

What will you do differently from last year?  What will you do the same?  What do you need help with?  Let’s talk!

The Power of Vision

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog by Jennifer Slagle on December 14, 2009

People remember:

• 10% of what they hear
• 20% of what they read
  
• 80% of what they see

I recently read this and love what it says!  It just goes to show you how effective we must be in our approach to get new customers and keep them.  We need to find a way to engage the audience to first want to even look at what we have created for them and then we need to make sure they will stay interested in it.

Finding the “Wow” factor isn’t always easy but can’t we all agree that we do remember places or things that really captivate our memory.   When I design pieces, I always find myself feeling satisfied with the result once my audience goes “Wow” when looking at the work for the first time.  If that initial satisfaction isn’t there, I know there is still work to be done on the piece.

Given certain subjects, this can be challenging.  This past summer I did a piece for the Iowa Motor Truck Association.  Since I have no experience in the trucking field, I had to dig deep to help me find ways to “Wow” this audience.  Luck for me, the piece I was creating was an invitation to a Truck Show at the Iowa Speedway.  I created the invitation with pictures of the speedway and pictures of cars racing at the speedway.  My thought was that if they picked this invitation up and saw race cars, they might want to read more and find out what this event was all about.  It worked as IMTA was very happy with the look I created and they had a great turnout for their event!

Here is a picture of the cover of the invite.  I took a picture of the front end of a semi and put a reflection of the racetrack in the grill.

WordPress – a new learning process for some of us…

Posted in: Graphic Design, Graphic Design Blog, Word Press by Jennifer Slagle on December 11, 2009

So my new site has been up and running with wordpress for about a month now.  I have to admit right away, I thought it was going to be a bit more “user friendly” for us non-web developing clients.  I am a graphic designer, not a web developer.  Although it would appear to many that I would understand both processes, I really don’t.  I am starting to think though that I should learn a bit of it so I don’t feel so lost all the time.

Thankfully I have a great person helping me along the way and he does know WordPress better than most.  I just hope he is still glad he has me as a client…

It is really bothering me that my site just doesn’t have the feel I want it to have yet.  I am a designer who loves color and wants more of it!  I love the idea of having very bold colors on top of black backgrounds.  Why does that seem so hard to get on my site?  I also love different fonts.  I personally own more than 10,000 of them and would buy more if I had an open checkbook..  Why can’t I use those fonts I love so much?  It just seems so simple to me!

So, please be patient… my site is going to have the look and feel I want real soon.  Then the content will be right behind that.  And then hopefully, the business will start to boom!  Big deams!