Today online printers are a dime a dozen, here are some tips on how to pick the right one.

Quite often I run into customers that truly don’t understand what graphic design services are and what it can do for a business or product. So I thought hmmm good material for blog post.

The term graphic design per Wikipedia refers to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages.
In layman’s terms good graphic design is meant to make things look better to evoke a reaction. To inspire, motivate, call to action, enlighten, understand, explain. A good well designed brochure can inspire someone to find out more information about a product or company. A graphically designed poster can motivate you to take action on a cause. Why? Because the message has been designed to visually speak to you. The composition, layout, typography and information have been combined and crafted in such a way that your eye flows thru the message and triggers your brain to react.

How can graphic design have an impact on your business? Well if you manage to find a creative designer, (ah -hem) that can strategically yet creatively make your product or business stand out – there’s half your marketing battle won. A good graphic designer can begin to build a brand for you. Create a visual message that identifies you and your product and can help you get noticed!

Came across this great reference at Hongkiat, thought it was worth adding to my new photoshop tutorial section for all you PSD junkies. Enjoy! Check it out now

A few clients in the past week have asked me about Social Media Networking and mostly about Twitter and what it can do for their business. Commonly asked is “Do you Twitter?”
For those who do not have an understanding of Twitter, its basically the new micro-blogging technology that allows people to connect and share ideas, resources, knowledge in a few words…quick tidbits of information.

I came across this video by Common Craft that can explain in the most simplest of terms.

After a long absence, the InHouse Advertising blog is up an running again and we’ve give ourselves a spruce up. For all subscribers thanks for your suggestions and inquiries. For the newbies, please subscribe to our feed as we dive into the world of all things “graphic!”

In this current economic downturn, small business owners face the huge task of trying to keep their business afloat. Making sales quotas, meeting payroll and earning enough capital to just run the business are some of the daily challenges. Survival tactics for business owners begin with making cut backs and tightening their spending, however the one thing you shouldn’t cut back on is your marketing!

In times of trouble, advertising and marketing budgets are usually the first casualties, however what business owner don’t realize is that marketing should be considered an investment rather than an expense. You need to key into the customer base you have now, you have to be able to drive your message directly to them and make a niche to your particular audience.

Laura Lake wrote on About.com, during a recession you need to implement SMART marketing which consists of:

• S – Strategize
• M – Maintain market spend
• A – Assess and allocate the budget
• R – Research your customer thoroughly
• T – Target and reach out to them

If you cut your advertising and marketing budget, how will people find you? How will people know your product or service exists? Cutting your marketing budget means basically cutting off the communication to your audience.

Smart marketing tactics are key in a downturned economy. Making sure your advertising dollars are well thought out and well spent will help in the survival of your business.

So your finishing up a sales meeting with a potential client, you are pulling out your best closing statement to give them every reason to use your services and they utter those dreaded words…”Let me think about it and get back to you”.

More often than not you will hear this phrase however don’t think of it in any negative way. It’s just another opportunity to market yourself again and here is a marketing tip to consider: Make sure your prospect is left with a “leave behind”. If your meeting with a client face to face, not only is a business card essential, but a leave behind is something that may sway the decision down the road.

A leave behind is exactly what it says, something you leave behind to make the customer remember you. It’s literature about your service and/or business. It should be a standout piece that will speak to your potential clients what you are all about.

Some great tips on creating a leave behind from Zan Jones, founder of SalesJaz:

• Make it juicy! Think of some great facts about your business and how you approach them. An insurance agent might leave behind an article on “7 Facts that Contribute to Auto Insurance Cost.”
• Go for functionality. Office supplies or business aids that your client will use on a daily basis will keep your name alive. Mouse pads, pens, or post-it notes with your logo are hard for people to throw away because they are usable.
• Know who you are. Make sure the leave behind accurately reflects your business and has obvious tie-in to the product or service you provide. For example, a carpet cleaning company might leave a calendar with monthly stain cleaning tips to help maintain a spot free carpet.
• Let your business card do the work. A car dealer’s business card might have “5 Things to Consider When Buying a Car” facts printed on the back. I worked with someone at Hershey Chocolate who taped a small Hershey bar on the back of her cards. Create a reason for your business card to be saved.
• Use pictures and market to the pain. Think about the pain your clients might experience without your product or service. An attorney might leave behind a brochure with a photo of a smiling family and list reasons to have a will in place.
• Wait until you actually leave. That’s the idea of the “leave behind.” You don’t want the client to be checking out your golden nuggets of information while you are still talking to them. It has to be enticing enough for them to look at it, read and save after you have left.

Hmmm another logo gets created where I am truly stumped and can’t figure out what kind of business/industry this is? If your logo doesn’t describe at the very least what you do or what your industry is…the prospects of getting clients are kinds of hard. Take a look at logo guru David Airey and his article on “What makes a good logo design.”

In the meantime….can anyone figure out the logo above and tell me what kind of business or industry it is?

Chatting with a colleague today we got into the subject of color and how it affects branding. She was working on a new campaign and her client who was in the dental industry wanted to use red throughout their marketing collateral. Ironically, one of the key points in her clients marketing requests was to project a calming, soothing feel. Now I don’t know about you but the color red does not project calm nor does it give a soothing feeling!

Color can definitely have a positive or negative impact on your brand. Back in my art theory class 101, we were always tested with different projects that included evoking certain moods with the colors we chose. Blue was always a secure and trusting color. Banks and law offices tend to use blue. Greens has always been used for money, success. Light greens are associated with environmental. Reds are powerful, energetic lively color. It has been proven that certain bright colors actually activate your pituitary gland and a spectrum of colors have been identified and validate through research. In an article written by Susan Gunelius of Brandcurve, 7 Ways Research Show How Color Affect Your Brand, she highlights some of that research.

Color is very crucial element in brand identity. Depending on your industry or service, your color palette should promote a certain emotion in your branding. Personally I am drawn to earth tones. It fosters in me, a sense of warmth, calm, sophisticated, yet casual – pretty much anything within the earth tone palette catches my eye and I notice I tend to remember the branding systems that have a collection of neutrals and interesting greens and earthy colors.

In searching for color and how it can make you feel I found this Color Personality Quiz. The quiz is meant for color selection of an interior home, a series of questions will give you a color profile based on the mood you are trying to create. I found it interesting that based on my answers, and the mood I wanted to portray…an earth tone pallet appeared for my profile. So make sure the color selection you pick sets the right tone for your marketing and branding efforts.

Wikipedia’s definition of a logo (ideogram), is an image embodying an organization. Logos are meant to represent companies’ brands or corporate identities and foster their immediate customer recognition. A logo is an integral part of building your business identity, it is the face of your business. With that being said, why are there a multitude of companies so unwilling to budget for their corporate identity?

There are countless websites out there offering logo design, some even offer logos as low as $50 dollars. However there is a BIG difference between paying for a logo and paying for a brand identity. Fortune 500 companies spend huge dollars developing a brand, why? Because when you are out there running around, busy as ever and forget its your Mother’s birthday – you will remember to “say it with flowers” and FTD will pop in your head. If you want to send her a card you will remember Hallmark because “you care enough to send the very best.” That’s the power of branding. These logos along with their ad slogans have grown into identities that create a sense of loyalty and trust.

Logo design is not just about having a good graphic and some type. It’s about appealing to the audience, a visual suggestion of your service. It should represent your company’s image, and should be instilled into your customers repeatedly — so that when and if your business services are needed, they will think of you first. Stay away from sites trying to sell you cheap logos, all you get is a bad logo as opposed to a well thought out look suited to fit your companies character.

This logo to the left is an example of a website offering cheap logos. The owner’s testimonial said “I don’t need to explain anything here. The crispyness of my logo explains it all.” I have stared at this a few times…I finally found out what kind of company they are.

Can you guess? I would love to hear your comments.