Brand Bellyache?
- blogging/writing
- posting
- commenting
- getting and giving reviews
- sharing posts that relate to your business
Ways to Advertise Your Logo
- Car Wrap
- Tablerunner
- T-shirts/Hats
- PPT Presentations
- Signage Indoor/Outdoor
Lifelong Learning and Illustration for Marketing
Lifelong Learning
The most successful business owners read books. Inspirational, How To.., Memoirs, History, are topics that motivate them to create something new and exciting. I’d love to hear from you some of the books that have most inspired you in business and in life. Please fill out the form on this page and I will contact you.
Illustration for Marketing
The illustration of the mouse eating a book was commissioned by the children’s book author, Carla Thomas, to use in her marketing, including social posts, website content, and in a postcard mailer.
If you know someone who is interested in making their marketing materials stand out, I would be happy to give a free 20-minute consultation to hear your story. Together we can dream up a mail campaign and I can create the postcard or other graphics. The style; illustration, photo illustration, type, and layout always depend upon and build upon the client’s brand. What personal or company values would you like to support and tell the world about?
#LifelongLearning #graphicdesign #watercolorillustration #YourGraphicDesigner #postcarddesign #companyvalues #illustration #marketing #businessowners #learning #brand
Red in Logos
More companies that have high revenues, also use red in their logos. Red is the most visible color in the spectrum, catching the eye and bringing the viewer in. Are colors lucky? In Chinese culture, red is considered lucky. It creates a feeling of excitement, which can be inspirational. What inspires you may motivate you to greatness. I suppose that is lucky.
Read this article about luck and success. How Important Is Luck to Career Success?
And here is a lucky quote I like.
“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?” -Jean Cocteau
Now go out there and get lucky!
#Colorpsychology #logodesign #Luckycolor
The Color Purple
The color purple in history has been associated with power and royalty because of the time and cost it took to create fabrics in this color. Evidently it took thousands upon thousands of snails to create each different purple hue. Today, purple is often associated with innovation.
Read this interesting article from Wikipedia to learn more. Purple
The FACE of the Company
Some business owners are timid about bragging about their business, especially when their face IS literally THE FACE of the company. Artists, writers, business coaches, and healers often use their own image as a brand focus. This works well in industries that want to build personal trust. Featuring the owner doing what they do best, with happy clients, gives the viewer confidence that the owner is approachable. The shyness of some is understandable if they view this type of marketing as bragging or showing off. I say that if you have a talent that makes you good at what you do, then, by all means, show it off. When you have a gift to give through your work, and people need your services, then give it to the universe.
Here are some tips for featuring your personal image in branding:
- Use a professional photographer. Review their work and see if their style matches the look you want to show.
- Putting your headshot in your branding is like The Three Bears; too many photos of you will give the wrong impression, and too few will not make an impact. No more than two shots of you on your homepage, one for your bio page, and maybe one or two others on the site is a good rule of thumb. If you only have a 5-8 page site, keep it to no more than 3 total on the site.
- Use a designer before the shoot to decide what kind of shots to get, and then ask your photographer if they can accommodate what you are looking for. Marketing your image is just as important for your business as choosing the product you sell.
Featured Business Owner:
Lisa Hough, a business and relationship coach, is a powerful female entrepreneur who empowers her clients to excel at home and at the office. Her brand is a combination of great design, strong colors, insightful words, and images of her and her clients. She is definitely doing it the ‘Goldilocks’ way…just right.
#designer #branding #selfpromotion #goldilocksmarketing #logodesigner
DESIGN is the silent ambassador of your brand
DESIGN is the silent ambassador of your brand —Paul Rand
If you scan social media for your business, what stands out to you in the posts that seem to work? Are they screaming SALE SALE SALE? Probably not. I would venture to think that some of what attracts you to read is first the image, then the tagline. If you like what the topic is, you read on. But more subliminally, there is some trust in the brand before you even come upon the post. Paul Rand’s quote, “Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.”, speaks to the psychology of design. Most do not understand why they are attracted to certain images, yet they are drawn to make a judgment based upon what they see.
Good design uses all elements available to create an emotion and to lead the viewer in a specific direction. Let’s use my post graphic shown here:
- The use of ample white space around the words implies open space, and the type, small to large, implies depth within that space.
- All caps point to the very important word, DESIGN, while the quote is broken into separate lines accentuating three separate thoughts; DESIGN; silent ambassador; your brand.
But design gets even deeper when it has an extended message.
- Accentuating the words from the top and the bottom line pulls the viewer first to see “DESIGN your brand” before they even see the middle line of the quote.
Simple, yet effective. This works very well in flyers, postcards, and websites. Hiring a professional designer who can manipulate your images and text into a pleasing layout attracts the viewer and supports your brand. But if you are serious about sending strong messages, have a conversation with the designer about the placement of your text and graphics to optimize the effect.
Let’s set up a free appointment to discuss your brand.
#graphic #designer #brand #socialmedia #psychology #brandpsychology #logodesigner #logodesignerforhire #graphicdesigner
Are You Married to Your Logo?
Some who are married may wish their spouse was a logo. A logo would not argue, cry, or run up the credit card. It would just hang out while you go on with your business. It would not raise a hand when you complain about the lack of new clients, nor would it scowl as you spend money on ads that never produce. A logo would still stand up as tall as possible for you in good times and bad. And you would expect your logo to sell, sell, sell, on your website, social media, truck decals, business cards, and possibly even a billboard.
When was the last time you really looked your logo in the eye and evaluated the strength of this marriage?
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Is my brand fresh, current, and creating a great first impression? Or is it looking dated or cheap?
- What would my dream client say if asked an opinion of my brand?
What is my logo trying to say?
Your logo may secretly be sabotaging your sales because it is sad and dingy. It could be begging for a refresh, a facelift, or a complete overhaul. It could be crying for help and you just can’t see or hear it.
AFD to the rescue
Annette Frei is a logo surgeon. She understands that you may have an established brand that people recognize and a completely new logo is out of the question. She is an accomplished designer and Illustrator who knows how to update the look of your loving logo, while keeping the beauty that helped build your business to where it is today.
How does it work?
An evaluation and plan are set, then the redesign process is executed with experienced finesse. Your sweet logo will thank you and then put on the company uniform and outsell any other marketing tools that you have used in the past.
Law Logos – Donald S. Davidson’s Marketing Campaign Graphics
What happens when a business owner becomes dedicated to starting a marketing campaign for their brand? They have to create and follow a cohesive plan that gives them the best chances of hitting marketing targets in the advertising world. First, we will take a look at some of those advertising platforms:
- In-person networking
- Video Conferencing
- Email Campaigns
- Website
- Social Media
- Conferences
- Press Releases
- TV
What do all of these have in common?—Logo and Graphic Design. Our world is a very visual one, where it only takes a fraction of a second for the viewer to make a judgment about a business based upon their visual branding. Companies need to hit their viewing audience with a powerful punch of clean design, direct messages, and continuity in those first seconds to keep them engaged. The brand must lead the eye to the main messages while signaling there is a call to action coming.
Which advertising modes a business decides to use depends upon the industry, who their target market is, and of course budget. Some business owners can create more than enough business with their personality doing networking, a website, and social media. Larger marketing plans include conferences and TV ads. No matter what platform they go with, the Logo and Graphic Design must be a priority.
Let’s next talk about the type of graphics are needed for the platforms mentioned above.
- In-person networking — business cards, embroidered hats or shirts for employees who network, name badges with logo, lanyards, pens, or other giveaways
- Video Conferencing — professional background image with logo and tagline
- Email Campaigns — banners with a variety of taglines for different campaign topics
- Website — icons, slider images with taglines, photos, graphics, and animation for videos, ebook design
- Social Media — banners for each social platform, brand identifiable graphics, info-graphics, and photo illustration for posts, icons for story branding
- Conferences — booth graphics including banners and giveaway products with logo
- Press Releases — branded graphics
- TV — all of the above
Here is where the professional Graphic Designer comes in. I work with my clients to find out what kind of marketing would best suit their industry, then come up with a graphics plan for the year. Some clients are ready to bite the bullet and hit the marketing head-on, while others are more comfortable taking one step at a time. With the budget in mind, plans can be broken down into phases and payment plans if needed.
Always the first phase includes designing the logo. My desire for my clients to succeed from the beginning leads me to be generous with the final logo files I include in even the most basic packages. I want them to have a logo for most situations without having to come back and ask the designer. Sizes and file formats include .jpg, .png, .pdf, and .svg files in a variety of sizes, configurations, and resolutions. Below are some samples of some of the files created to go along with the main law logo featured at the beginning of this article.
I hope this gives you a boatload of ideas about what graphics you may need to start a marketing campaign. Write it all down and use a professional Logo and Graphic Designer! You are not only purchasing great design, but years of experience that will help your marketing plan get off to a great start, and make your dedication turn into ROI.
*Donald S. Davidson is a local SF Bay attorney that has Mt Diablo in his backyard. His website was designed with 360 Web Designs, and I designed his logo. Now we have moved on to his brand package, including social media banners, business cards, and letterhead.
*Donald S. Davidson is a local SF Bay attorney that has Mt Diablo in his backyard. His website was designed with 360 Web Designs, and I designed his logo. Now we have moved on to his brand package, including social media banners, business cards, and letterhead.
Tips to Get Quality Web Hits
If you own or run a small business, here are three easy tips to get you ranked higher in Google. Getting ranked is a high priority for most businesses because if you are not on the first page of a web search, you will not get website hits and clicks.
1. Get Google Reviews
-This is really important. When users search online, they want to use proven products and services. When they see that bright yellow 5-star listing with a lot of reviews, they pay attention.
2. Optimize your web pages
– Having a key phrase and a carefully crafted description will raise your chances of getting seen. Remember, if they can’t see your contact info, they can’t call you.
3. Continually add new content
– algorithms pick up on and can even catch good or poor new content on your website. Make sure you are consistent and create content that readers are interested in.
If you would like to learn more about this topic, connect with Annette Frei Design.
#webmarketing #contentmarketing #webconsulting #design #marketing #seo #digitalmarketing #socialmedia #website #smallbusiness #google
