Category Archives: Tips for Clients

The benefits of graphic design

The Benefits of Graphic Design

Graphic design is about more than just appearances, and provides many more benefits than simply making something look good. Its importance is often underestimated, but good design can bring many significant business benefits. When used effectively graphic design can boost your company’s marketing and messaging through visual communication, giving it greater power to inform, educate, or persuade your audience. Here are some of the benefits:

Professionalism and Consistency

You want your company to make a great first impression. The use of logos, pictures and design can help create a professional image of your company in the eyes of your audience. When properly applied, graphic design offers visual consistency through all of your marketing efforts, which builds your company’s identity and brand recognition.

Identity and Brand Recognition

Graphic design helps establish your visual identity, which reflects your company’s mission and values. Your company’s branding begins with a great logo then expands to every aspect of your business communications, be it stationery, presentation templates, brochures, ads, websites or video. All of these things work together to build your identity and brand recognition. Your brand should provide an instant connection to your company’s mission and values as well as to the products and services that you offer, and good graphic design can forge that kind of connection.

Communication

Graphic design extends beyond establishing identity and brand recognition. It can be very effective at attracting attention and encouraging your audience to want to learn more. It also can be employed to produce visual aids that can better help you communicate your ideas. An informative image can transmit ideas that cannot be expressed with words alone. You can use professionally designed images to create a positive impression and help strengthen your message.

Build Trust, Goodwill & Loyalty

A well designed brand helps create a professional appearance that builds trust and credibility, which is essential to growing your business. Your brand fosters unity and commitment among your employees by providing them an identity and values to rally behind and promote. Trust plays a crucial role in convincing buyers about the quality of your products or services. Companies that thrive are ones that have developed a brand that is trusted. Good design plays a key role in creating communication that can enhance that trust.

Increase Sales & Market Position

With good graphic design, you not only gain high visibility, but you can also convert your audience into buyers, leading to increased sales. All of the above benefits can contribute to one powerful result: more sales and revenue for your business.

A Strategic Investment

Running a business is a long-term commitment. In today’s ever-growing marketplace, standing out is becoming more and more difficult. Using good design to establish your identity and brand is a great way to communicate who you are, what you do and why it is important.

The use of good design can improve many aspects of your business. Contact us to find out how we can help you strengthen your communication, marketing, and brand through graphic design.

How to work with a graphic design firm

How to Work with a Graphic Design Firm

Good design requires successful teamwork between the designer and the client. Working with a graphic design firm starts with providing solid input at the beginning of a new project. Preparation is key. The project you entrust to a design firm is going to represent your company, so it’s important to give them as much information as possible up front. Here are some things you can do to make the design process easier and more productive for both you and your design firm.

Purpose: Let your design firm know what you are trying to accomplish.

Who are you are you trying to reach? And what do you need to tell them?
Is there a call-to-action? Do you want your audience to do something specific after seeing the piece?
How will the design be used? Is the piece for web? Print? Or both? Is it something used in person? By mail, etc.?
Is there a specific or targeted deadline for completion?

Message: One of the most important elements of graphic design is getting the message right and delivering it in the right tone.

What are your company’s values, attitude, purpose and personality?

Look and feel: How do you want your company to be perceived?

Provide descriptions such as, “conservative”, “clean”, “elegant”, “innovative”, etc”. These offer clues about the tone you want from a look-and-feel perspective.
Provide examples. A picture is worth a thousand words. Find websites or materials that you think are similar to the look and feel you’d like to achieve with your project. And describe why you like them (“I like the dynamic look of this”; “I like these colors”; “I like how clean and professional this feels”).

Budget: If you have a set budget, let your designer know.

Costs will vary depending on what you want. Like building a custom home, the more complex the project, the higher the price. A total re-branding is going to cost more than a single logo or package design. Discuss the final deliverables and your budget constraints with your design firm so they can offer recommendations based on your budget and provide you with an accurate cost estimate.

Deadlines: Keep deadlines in mind.

Provide your targeted deadline for completion at the start of the project. A design project has many steps and requires some back-and-forth between the design firm and the client before completion. Once the project is underway, be sure you meet your own deadlines. Provide content and feedback promptly. If multiple people in your company need to review the work, provide collective feedback from your team. This will help keep your project on time and on budget.

Keeping each of these points in mind as you begin a project will help ensure a smooth process and an on-target solution from your design team.

How to get great photos on location

Almost all of the photographers we work with prefer to have an art director on the photoshoot. First of all, the old adage of “two heads are better than one” comes into play for problem solving, setting up the shot or even having another body to help move the equipment around, but there are many other key advantages.

What does an art director do on a photoshoot?

The art director’s responsibility goes beyond coordinating what needs to occur on the photoshoot. There is an overall message that needs to be communicated with words and pictures that work together cohesively to further the client’s story. A good art director has a broad understanding of the client’s business and keeps the big picture in mind at all times, which helps immeasurably in communicating with the photographer as a shoot is in progress. It becomes a team effort with art director and photographer in constant communication…”Let’s shoot this in both horizontal and vertical format so it works for the website or as a full page cover for a brochure.” Or, “Safety is a big issue for our client right now so let’s make sure everyone has on proper safety equipment.” Or, “I’d like to zoom in on this shot so we really see the client’s equipment up close and feature their technology.” When we art direct, we stay right by the camera so we can see what the photographer is seeing and also so we can communicate quickly and clearly during the shoot.

Here are a few more things we have found contribute to a successful photoshoot.

Plan the shoot with the client.
– Get client input. What is the main purpose of the shoot?
– Logistics: Get contact information of key personnel you will be working with on site.
– Create a detailed shot list and time schedule.
Get there early and stay late. If you are shooting outside take advantage of early and evening light. A beautiful sunrise or amazing sunset can add tremendously to what you are shooting. Even a landfill can be beautiful with the right lighting.
Communicate with models.
– When working with non-professional models (ie company employees) keep communication simple and straightforward.
– Demonstrate what you want them to do if need be.
– Their body language has to be natural and believable. Capture them doing their job, and help them feel as comfortable as possible.
Be the photographer’s eyes and ears. Be open to opportunities that are not on the shot list. Many brochure cover images and website banner images were things we saw and shot spontaneously with narrow windows of opportunity.
Pay attention to details.
– Ask questions as you shoot regarding safety, uniforms, company processes and procedures.
– Keep the shot as clean as possible. Watch for things like clutter in the background or on desks.
– Make sure hands and feet are not cut off in the frame of the shot.
– Don’t crop with the camera.
– Make sure models’ attire is neat and appropriate.
Tell a story with each photo. The goal on every shot should be communication. What does this photo say visually.

Here are some examples of our team efforts when we work together as art director/photographer to capture images for our clients.

Protecting your brand: Trademark or registered trademark

Trademark vs registered trademark: What’s the difference?

We develop logos, taglines and brand standards for our clients. Along the way, we’ve occasionally been asked about trademarks and the difference between trademark symbols. Here’s a brief overview.

Trademarks protect brand names and logos.

The registered trademark symbol ® signifies that a brand name or logo is a trademark or service mark that has been officially registered with the federal trademark office.

The most important thing to know is that you can not use the registered trademark symbol ® until you have officially registered with the trademark office.

The logo that we created for Waste Management, below, uses the registered trademark symbol.

WM Service Anniversary Greeting

Alternatively you can use the trademark (TM) symbol. The TM symbol can be used whenever you wish to claim a trademark for your brand name or logo without officially registering with the trademark office.

The logo we created for TakeawayTee Foundation, below, uses the TM symbol.

TakeawayTee Foundation

You can find further information and a more detailed explanation from the US Patent & Trademark Office here: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics

One last point: Don’t confuse copyrights with trademarks. The copyright symbol © is not the same as a trademark. The copyright symbol is intended to protect original works (artistic work, literary work, songs, movies, etc). The US Patent & Trademark Office explains it well: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics/trademark-patent-or-copyright

How to choose a graphic design firm

How to Choose a Design Firm

Whether it’s from television, the internet, or printed materials, consumers are exposed to hundreds of companies every day. If you want to stand out, simply having a logo isn’t enough. Consumers are attracted to eye-catching, message-sending, innovative brands. And that’s where good graphic design can help transform your company’s product, message, and mantra into one cohesive visual design that really makes an impression.

Many clients have difficulty choosing a graphic designer, mostly because they aren’t quite sure what to look for. Here are some points you should consider when looking for and choosing a graphic design firm:

A great portfolio.

Obviously you want to choose a firm that will help you look your best, so start by looking at a firm’s portfolio. Pay particular attention to any descriptions that accompany their projects. A project may look good, but each has to fit specific project requirements to be an effective communication tool. You will want to choose a firm whose style of design matches the style you need to best represent your brand and reach your target audience.

Look for experience that relates to your project.

You don’t necessarily need to find a designer who has experience in your exact industry, but make sure the design company has experience in the medium that you plan to use – whether that is printed brochures, websites, presentations, trade show booth graphics, or multimedia. Or whether they have solved specific design challenges similar to yours. You want to find a design company that has the insight needed to understand your purpose and your content, and has the ability to effectively communicate both to your audience.

Meet them.

These days it is very common to do everything via text and email. Yet, if you can meet with potential designers, you can get a feeling for whether they really understand what you’re looking for. If you can’t meet in person, try for a phone or video-based meeting. If they can hear you explain what you’re looking for and you hear them explain the way they see it working out, you might come to a meeting of the minds much quicker.

Think Long-Term.

Good design requires both a good designer and a good client. Choosing a design company that takes the time to understand what you want and how you want to convey it is the basis for the best designer-client relationships. These long-term engagements help develop a clear understanding of branding and execution. If you and your designer are comfortable together, you will receive better results.

By keeping these things in mind during your search, you will be much more likely to find a graphic design firm that meets your visual communication needs.