Effective Marketing Communications Doesn't Come in a Jar, Bottle or Can

I received  an incredibly funny video from a graphic designer partner of mine yesterday. Certainly it pokes fun at the things that clients say to make marketing professionals crazy but more importantly it drives home the point that if creating compelling marketing materials and programs was easy, there would be no need for professionals. Bigger, brighter and shinier only attracts attention sometimes and it doesn’t create sales. If it did, all you would have to do is click on this…  (Read on)

The Bloglines Plumber Wins My Vote for Creativity

When I visited bloglines today I was greeted by the Bloglines Plumber. Not only is this the funniest thing that I’ve seen all day but it is an amazingly creative solution to a problem that website owners have every day. Albeit most websites don’t go down once they have been live but how many times have you visited a site to see the “under contruction” message. Mostly these just frustrate me. This one made me laugh and I wanted to…  (Read on)

Are Networks like DIY and HGTV Hurting Professionals Outside the Design Industry?

Whether you’re spending your evenings watching Design on a Dime or This Old House, it seems that most everyone I know has caught the home improvement television bug. Certainly the traffic at Lowe’s and Home Depot supports this budding interest. Despite what you my think, my interior design and decorating clients tell me that all this sudden interest is actually great for their business. What most enthusiastic home decorators quickly learn is that they have neither the skill nor the…  (Read on)

Protecting Your Image with a Corporate Style Guide

Whether they are buying new window treatments for your home or logo-branded premium items in their corporate colors, individuals as well as marketing professionals invest heavily in setting their style and promoting their brand. Yet often our best efforts are sabotaged by well-meaning spouses who bring home tacky Barcaloungers and rogue sales people who design their own postcards using PowerPoint. You can always hide that chair in the basement but once 500 postcards with your logo printed in lime green…  (Read on)

How Much Should You Pay for a Logo?

Logo design is truly an art yet talented designers can rarely make a living designing them. Unfortunately many people have the misconception that (1) graphic designers are also mind readers and (2) that every graphic designer has an enormous collection of clip art, fonts and photographs expertly archived on their laptop that they will happily share for a few Andrew Jacksons. Not true. Over time I have learned to sit across the table new clients and explain, without flinching, that their…  (Read on)