Tag Archive: graphic-design
It is small business week and the blogs that I am reading this week are packed full of great useful tips for me and many of my clients. The one that is on my mind right now is regarding how to choose you business name.
When I look back at choosing my companies name, I can honestly say, I started with just my name being business name. Then, I moved on to my initials. Pretty common moves so far… Then, I added 26 (my anniversary date) to my initials. It was starting to feel better but we were still not there. Then, my husband called one day and said, “I got it, Design 26!” I loved it right away. It sounded catchy yet creative yet it was going to require someone to think “I wonder what the 26 stands for???” For me, I felt that would bring my customer closer to building a relationship with me. They would reach out and ask what the significance was of the 26.
My company name stayed that way until I re-organized my website. In that process, I was consulted to add the word “Graphic” to my name. Design is a very broad word and adding the word graphic to it would give my customers that much more knowledge in what I offer. It also would help Google find me when that customer searches for a graphic designer as opposed to just a designer.
So, my name has been changed now for a little over six months. My business cards haven’t changed yet. They will once this stack runs dry. I would love to hear your thoughts regarding my process. Recently I had someone ask me what a graphic designer even did. That made me think again about whether or not I had chosen the correct name…
I recently listened to a conference call over the internet put on by a lady who is literally obsessed with folding! I have to admit, I haven’t really given folding so much thought but listening to her really changed my mind. Her first piece of helpful advise was to mock up your piece and fold it the way it is going to be folded. Then, watch your audience member view the piece. Are they catching the key points that you are wanting them to see in the order you are intending? Sounds like a novel idea, but I don’t think we always find ourselves doing that.
After seeing her many examples of amazing work (very jealous designer here…) where the items are designed around a particular fold, I have to admit, they caught my attention. Let’s be honest, how many tri-fold brochures really capture our attention and make us want to “Read more!” Just turning your tri-fold horizontal is enough of a change to capture the audience’s attention.
My favorite fold has to be with the double gate fold. I received a small piece that came folded down to a 4×6 size. But when I opened it up, it was so captivating and I couldn’t help but read more!
Check out her site for some interesting info on folding – www.foldfactory.com. Confirmed to me that there really is someone obsessed about EVERYTHING!!! My wheels are turning with ideas on how to fold that next marketing piece!!!






