My #1 small business marketing tip: Don't do what everyone else is doing.
Duh? Perhaps not. If more folks embraced that simple concept, I don't think you'd see so many organizations replicating each other's marketing efforts in the hope of producing a similar outcome.
We've got to continually remind ourselves that it is VERY difficult to precisely calculate all of the elements that produce a particular result--and that marketing is often a very exact science.
I think, because we often talk about design and marketing and advertising as processes, we get sucked into the idea that there's only one right way of doing a thing. In reality, its often the folks who do something completely out of the ordinary that have the greatest successes (and the most conspicuous failures).
It seems pretty simplistic, but it's also pretty true.
Be well,
Chuck
A tool for experimenting with web typography, layouts, and prototypes
Among other things, Typecast lets you layout, size, and combine fonts from Typekit, Fontdeck, Fonts.com, Webtype, MyFonts, and Google Web Fonts. It is free for use with Google Fonts and has a charge for including the other type providers. (You can test drive it free for two weeks--without using a credit card.)
Typecast in action...
A video demonstration...
Use the front door to get an overview and to sign up for a 14-day free trial (no credit card required)...
The free Google fonts portal...
The Typecast Blog...
For lovers of advertising ephemera
I was in a shop recently, that specializes in paper ephemera, and I found an early advertisement (1910s) for an interesting contraption-a centrifugal cream separator. What does this have to do with graphic design? I think it's a pretty sophisticated example of a classic mail order ad. Note the letter within the layout, the "30 Days' FREE TRIAL," the "Double Guarantee," the mail-in coupon, and all of the wonderful copy.
I thought it was interesting enough that I would frame and hang it. In case you'd like a printout, the link is to an 11 x 17 inch version that I scanned in high resolution.
The Sharples Genuine Tabular "A" Cream Separator (8.29 MB PDF)...
Some history of the Sharples Cream Separator from West Chester University...
Show and tell: The Venables Bell & Partners website
I came across a website I wanted to share with you and I thought I'd try something new: a quick show and tell. It's a simple-looking design but it has a lot of visual interest. And thats what its all about isn't it?
Show and tell: The Venables Bell & Partners...
The website...
Webtype.com...
The original design is not necessarily the best design
Jeff Fisher points us to an article addressing the recent redesign of the packaging for the United States Postal Service.
I agree with the many others who prefer the revised versions. The originals certainly set the direction (and that designer should be credited for the theme), but the revised versions are, to me, more sophisticated, cleaner, and the typography is a step tighter.
Also, let's be realistic, there was never a chance the USPS was going to use those ominous-looking eagles. The designs are either a bit contrived or surprisingly naive in that sense. There are some brands that require a certain amount of restraint because of the scope of their use and the USPS would seemingly be the preeminent case.
From Fast Company: The Badass Postal Service Branding That Could Have Been...
From the designers, GrandArmy...
From Dieline: Before & After: USPS Priority Mail...
The USPS Priority Mail page...
In the unlikely event you are unfamiliar with designer Jeff Fisher, here is LogoMotives...
Auctioneering is a strange form of marketing
Very much an emotional play.
Using cartoons in marketing
Tom Fishburne specializes in using cartoons to market products, services, and ideas. An interesting strategy to keep in mind.
His work...
How the idea (and Tom) evolved: Be careful what you wish for...
His website...
His Marketoon Studios website...
Sean D'Souza is another marketing expert (and cartoonist) who advocates the use of cartoons and uses them to illustrate some of his own articles...
Do you know the keyboard shortcuts for copying and pasting text on a desktop computer?
(I talked to someone today who did not, so cut me a break for stating the obvious--I'd just hate to think anyone was operating without it)...
On the PC > To copy: Click and drag to select the text you want to copy, then hold down the the Ctrl key and press the C key. To paste: Click where you want to paste the text, then hold down the Ctrl key and press the V key.
On the Mac > To copy: Click and drag to select the text you want to copy, then hold down the the ⌘ Command key and press the C key. To paste: Click where you want to paste the text, then hold down the ⌘ Command key and press the V key.
Thoughts on design
Love this: Calligrapher Seb Lester says, "digital is dead"...
Came across this lovely wall in Charleston, South Carolina while on vacation--wonderful textures.
I think I'm approaching a tipping point regarding the use of the term "tipping point."
How to price graphic design
Pricing, methods of pricing, the philosophy behind pricing, and so on, is a great controversy and quandary in the field of graphic design. Here are just a few views on pricing-an indication of just how little experts agree about how to do it.
The Dark Art of Pricing by Jessica Hische...
The Art & Science of Pricing by Ilise Benun for HOW Magazine...
Selling Your Value Instead of Your Hours by Tim Williams for Communication Arts Magazine...
Pricing Models by Shel Perkins for the AIGA...
Why You Don't Publish Pricing by David C. Baker...
AIGA Survey of Design Salaries 2014...
If you use InDesign (or QuarkXPress), you might find this useful
The idea is simple. Modifying a well-designed template is far easier than starting from scratch. My InDesign Ideabook includes 315 researched, designed, and meticulously formatted documents in a clean, simple style that it easy to build on.
The Ideabook lets you breeze through time-consuming document setup and get right to the important stuff. Instead of spending 15 minutes to create a simple layout, you'll spend 15 seconds. For complex projects-books, newsletters, catalogs, reports-you'll save HOURS.
"If you need to create winning design and your time is important to you, there is no better investment than Chuck Green's Idea Book. I write copy and create marketing materials for small business, and Chuck's world class layouts have me up and running in minutes instead of hours. I can't recommend this book enough!" Kory Basaraba, Copywriter and Consultant, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
For Adobe InDesign
For QuarkXPress
A few eyeopening interactive data maps
My friend Wendy Kalman knows that I love maps and thought I might find this first project interesting, thanks Wendy, I do.
It is an excellent example of how visualizing data can bring data to life and effect us in significant ways. If you were to see this 2010 census data on the geographic dispersal of individuals people by race, as a chart, you'd interpret the information in a one way-see it mapped out, city by city, is something else entirely. (I can't help but hope, when I see the distinct racial divides in some areas of the country, that they will blur over time.)
That got me looking and I have included some other interesting, interactive data maps below.
Dustin Cable's Racial Dot Map...
An article from Wired about the maps...
The Census Explorer...
National Geographic MapMaker Interactive...
1940s New York...
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MyFonts.com
The comprehensive collection of fonts from the world's top type foundries.
