February 13th, 2009
A logo is a representation of your business and it should clearly signify something identifiable with who you are and what you do. When trying to visualize with a logo for your business, look at as many different ones as you can (online and in the real world). Also think of common logos that are highly recognizable without the company name and what makes them good:
And there are also a great deal that use their name within the logo or a rendering of the text:
Your logo is your identity and should be on every piece of marketing material you distribute. Once you decide on a logo, it’s best not to change it much except for resizing appropriately for your propaganda. It should match the colors you’re using in other parts of your marketing, be re-sizeable (very large as in billboard, and very small for return address on envelopes) without losing quality or information. This means it will need to be a vector image.
By sketching out examples you can start to get closer to an idea of what you want to represent your business - you will actually feel something when you see it (like excitement, passion for your work, harmony of what fits and speaks, creativity that sparks interest). There are many logo experts out there also that you can just turn over a few details and they will be able to come up with several ideas with different emphasis that you can pick from. If your business has a short name, it’s often preferable to get the name in the logo so that each time it’s seen, the name will be included and the repetition factor will begin to help build your image.
It often helps to get the opinions of friends, colleagues, family members and take into account what they say about each one to help guide your decision on the best logo. There are thousands of online sites out there to read through and peruse other logos to get ideas. Here’s a few:
Logo Moose
Logoworks
Logo Design Love
Posted in Design Tips and Tutorials | 4 Comments »
February 12th, 2009
I’ve been using Photoshop a long time and never knew it was possible to justify areas of text. I was staring at one section of a trifold brochure I was working on and thought, hey, this text really needs to be justified and set out to see if it was possible in Photoshop. I didn’t find much actually and after a couple hours, I found one description that actually worked.
For any kind of professional marketing material, this should be utilized in most areas. Justification means adjusting the space between words so that the ends of lines are aligned, giving it that nice, symmetric block feel instead of the various length lines that tend to draw the viewer back and forth and create a chaotic feel.
It’s easy and here’s how you do it.
What your text looks like within the piece normally:
You’ve got your heading, background images and the copy from the client that you’ve inserted.
Step 1: If you’re going back and adjusting what you already have, select the text and cut (Ctrl X on PC). The text area will be blank. Now, select the Text Tool (T) and drag a box where you want the text to fit into just as you would draw a shape:
The size of this box can be adjusted by dragging the corners.
Step 2: Paste the text in if you cut or copied it or you can just type it but be sure to proof it carefully:
It will look as it did before you pasted it or as it would normally if you just typed it.
Step 3: On the Character palette (Window > Character) select the Paragraph tab. You’ll see 7 types of alignments (little horizontal lines). The 3 middle offer alignments with the final line aligned left, center or right. The far right options is Justify All:
Play with these types of alignments to see what works best for your piece. The size and font can still be adjusted on the Character tab.
Posted in Design Tips and Tutorials | 1 Comment »
February 10th, 2009
I’ve been notified by a web developer friend and colleague that he’d tagged me in his latest meme, Seven Jobs I Might Have. This was an interesting thought process. Here’s the 7 I came up with and why I’d like each one:
- Travel RV blogger
Hit the open road, stay off the main highways, find the small towns and unknown areas of beauty, talk to the locals, take in the whole experience and blog about it.
- Photographer
Get paid to snap the camera at those cool things you can find just about everywhere if you’re looking for them - people, nature, animals, food.
- New car reviewer
I’ve always loved cars and being able to take out the new models, race them around and give my written review on what’s good and not-so-good about them.
- IM/Email Life Coach
Help people work through daily issues or stopping blocks through rhetoric, getting them to look from a different angle and take some action!
- Nature Retreat Leader
Leading groups of women in search of a spiritual connection or healing process through beautiful areas of nature.
- Marine Biologist AKA Dolphin Specialist
Such beautiful and joyful creatures - training and studying dolphins as well as rehabbing those rescued.
- Mail Delivery service
Finding a way to get rid of the awful Postal service once and for all and inventing the way to transport and deliver mail and packages using much less physical labor and consumer cost.
I tried to keep mine close to possible and include the kinds of things that have always held some interest to me. I guess I could’ve been much more interesting but hey, it keeps me dreaming! I’m going to tag:
Kristine
Michelle
Posted in Mostly Fun Stuff | 2 Comments »
January 27th, 2009
- Determine the size of the postcard. Do you want the mail piece to be the same size as most pieces and hopefully be stuck on the refrigerator (or file cabinet) or be significantly larger to stand out?
- Determine the number of cards you’ll need. How many members do you have on your mailing list? If you have 100, will you order 500 for a better printing cost? This can be good if your mailing list is growing and you will be able to continue to use the piece. Or, there’s a whole lot of research on sending the same piece in a regularly repetitive schedule (once a month, once a quarter, etc.) and how long it takes for the recipient to actually start having some recognition.
- Determine your focus. What is your target audience looking for? Do they need your new product or service for something they were previously unaware there was a shortcut? Do they need solution to a common problem? Are they looking for a way to save money on their general expenses? Try to really clarify this first and then develop your approach and content from the answer.
- Determine the cost of your marketing. Don’t forget to figure the postage into the cost of your mailing as well as the design cost. Bulk postage is much less costly but studies show that a hand addressed postcard or envelope will be approximately 75% less likely to be tossed in the trash. And the pre-printed postage also screams out “JUNK MAIL”. Read more on the postings about this topic.
- Pull it all together. Finally, you need to keep your content simple and direct and have the focus be to contact you. This means leaving out unnecessary phrases and cluttering objects such as: “Your Friendly Neighborhood Landscaper” or a clipart of a rake just to fill space. It’s not likely a prospective client will say, “Hey, this guy’s not surly - we should go with him”.
Posted in Marketing your business | No Comments »
January 27th, 2009
Click to see larger image.
This is an interesting mailing item because the insert is a seed packet which can be planted. This client is in real estate and wanted to accomplish several things: to promote beautifying a new or existing property, to show her belief in the environment, to set her apart from the normal page-type flyers and to give the client something they can use and hopefully keep her as a reminder in their minds.
As you can see in the larger image, the insert gives the planting instructions. The quote on the side highlights the parts that my client thought are the most important in her client’s minds (home, body, soul) and that her approach comes from those places as well.
Posted in Marketing your business | No Comments »
January 26th, 2009
Today I joined my first forum. I was researching some ways to market myself and learn more about the online process of creating a network as a place to share insights, find possible solutions to roadblocks and much more. I went with the advice of a friend and joined Small Business Forum.net. This is a growing site with a good group of participating members tackling a number of issues and theories. If you’d like to join, just go on, register as a new user and start with a post in the “Introduce Yourself” question. I’ll try to answer any questions if you have them - if I can’t, I can point you to my friend who knows it inside and out.
I never thought this kind of networking mattered a whole lot but I realize that to best get your biz out there, you need to focus on all aspects: word-of-mouth, print material, good website that is often updated, and networking online. There are lots of forums out there on just about every topic, if you’re not sure how to find one, just Google your topic+forum, such as “solar panels+forum”. you can easily click through the conversations and decide if it seems like one you’d to join - to actually post a response or pose a new thread (a new topic), you will have join.
Posted in Marketing your business | No Comments »
January 20th, 2009
Ok, it’s not an inauguration site, it just happens to go live on the same day. Here in the mountain time zone, we woke to the live shots of the already buzzing Washington DC for inauguration day - the end of an abysmal running of the country (by most accounts) and the hope for a new and better future. We seem to believe that our lives will change - on this very day, precisely at noon EST. Here in Colorado, that’s only 10am and the coffee is still fresh.
It IS a fairly monumental day when you think of it. Someone other than a white American named George or Bill or John is being appointed to our highest power. I gotta say, I’m pretty proud of us.
As I write my first Just H Design blog post for my new site, I want to comment on a few things. Our economy is not in great shape. Depending on which area of the country you hang out, it’s either “not good” or it’s an official “depression”. Florida has seen jobs and tourism dropping off the last couple years. And huge condo complexes going unfinished and investors pulling out, builders trying to sue - and things continue to slide. In Illinois, jobs are being cut, houses lost, etc. In fact, my youngest brother was laid off by my dad - I’m not sure which one was more stressed by that - and my other brother is losing his job in a company closing, just after buying a house in town with his wife.
More and more people are starting home businesses as job after job goes away - me included. I’ve been designing for over 7 years - websites, postcards, business cards, logos, etc - and now I’m here to offer all that I’ve learned on a full-time basis because I have some respect for my boss (!) and this is what I love doing.
So, in this era of expected change, we all have to take control of what we want to do, get our best stuff out there and be a part of better times coming. It starts here, it starts now. Let’s go!
Posted in Just H News | 1 Comment »
