Business Magnets: Branding that Sticks Around

So here’s why magnets prove to be a good marketing tool:

They get stuck up…

Something about the irresistible urge to see an object magnetically attracted to the wall causes the child in all of us to toss up that magnet on a refrigerator, file cabinet, or any nearby metal object. See if it “works,” right? Back in our print shop, take-out lunch advertisements beside the phone in our Press Room gather and stick around a long time; and a useful magnet with measurement conversions is always up on the Bindery cutter.

and

They stick around…

…often long after the person who put it up even finds it useful! If your design and/or logo is pleasing, your little magnetic parasite may well stay there for the life of the host. (See above!) It becomes a decoration, and any marketing piece that involves your brand in that kind of longevity is well worth the small investment!

Magnets work great for car bumpers and even in large format for vehicle branding on doors and delivery vans. Removable, they don’t damage the vehicle’s finish and can be switched out easily whenever needed. Magnets are also nice and flat so great for direct mail inserts. People might ditch the printed promo, but generally hang onto the magnet.

Making your marketing magnets useful increases their longevity as well. The phone numbers for lunch delivery help restaurant magnets stick around. As a designer, information such as decimal conversions for measurements, PMS colors, envelope and sheet sizes, or other handy prepress data would be a keeper. Calendars are useful for most any workstation. Consider what useful information related to your business would be handy to have nearby your customers’ workstation – they will also be seeing your logo and message every day. That’s marketing success.

Promotional products, like marketing magnets, come in a huge variety of useful objects. Think about how to use them to market your small business. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing

. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

September 20, 2013

Pin Up Your Marketing with a Bulletin Board Test

So what looks good for lunch today?

This is our breakroom bulletin board – your workplace might have a similar one. While scanning the take-out menus and ads for various local eateries, think of that bulletin board as a little microcosm of a larger marketing environment: each piece hangs there hoping to catch attention, influence behavior, provide information. Some use mouth-watering photos of their meals; others provide detailed descriptions of their menu choices while still others rely on the familiarity of their logo and brand to catch your eye. They come in all sizes and colors. Each local eatery, vying for your daily lunchtime dollar, wants to outshine the others.

Now think of your marketing material on a bulletin board among those of your competitors. Will they stand out? Would you stop and take notice, feel drawn in by the imagery or design? Which one will make you decide to eat – or shop or invest… and why? If you saw a Pinterest page with a screenshot of your website alongside others in the same line of work, how would you feel about what that homepage says about you? Consider those “bulletin boards” as your marketing litmus test.

Back to Basics: Design & Message

If simply designing with eye-catching color was all that was necessary to get noticed, then most marketing would be a neon, day-glo mess. Yet color choice remains central to making design stand out. Consider if your colors are consistent with your branding and company image, if use of an out-of-the-ordinary color would be efficient, or if even black and white or a minimalist design might give you the desired effect. Keep up with the print and digital advertising of your competitors in the marketplace – the more you understand their efforts the better you can craft your own message to stand out.

With print marketing, shape – whether in terms of scale or geometric shape – can be very important. This is true whether you are printing a flyer, direct mail piece, handout or poster. Over-sized pieces draw attention, yet at times an unusually small piece might stand out from the herd. Die-cuts add an extra step in production but often create a very unique and memorable end product. Your information might fit onto the front of one sheet, or you might need to expand into a folded piece or multiple page publication – all basic and important decisions.

How is your message unique? In other words, what does your business do better than anyone else? Does your marketing simply repeat the same claims all of your competitors are making, or does it reveal why a potential customer is missing out by not discovering what your enterprise has to offer?

The bulletin board test can bring forward some of the most basic questions about your marketing efforts through a simple, real-time comparison. Taking the time to do that comparison can lead you toward finding more productive strategies for success.

Consider the ways you can use inspired graphic design to market your small business. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing

. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

July 11, 2013

Multimedia Graphic Design Done Right: TCM Spotlight

Classic movies and classic graphic design – both sources of inspiration, and no one does it better than TCM. Their commercials, program intros, event branding, website, print publications and products all are branded with the same retro, distinctive TCM style. This unity of great design across platforms and media is a basic goal for any successful marketing, regardless of a company’s size or budget. TCM is well worth a look if you need a little inspiration.

Turner Classic Movies is the cable/satellite channel owned by Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time/Warner. The TCM logotype, which sets the graphic tone for all the consistent branding TCM does so well, was created by the charles s. anderson design co. of Minneapolis, MN. This world class firm holds a client list which reads like a Who’s Who of great branding and marketing success. (They also maintain an incredible royalty free image library of highly curated pop culture artwork, a great resource for any designer, called csaimages.) Their website relates the story of how the original TCM logo design was created with 30 different icons to represent the multiplicity of the movie industry and its ever-changing nature as a medium. When presented to Ted Turner, he wanted to know “which one is the logo?” The answer: all of them! “But which one?”

The multi-faceted approach of that original design sets the standard for the cross-platform, diversified branding of TCM that maintains the same look, feel and tone across it’s print media, television production, expansive website and product creation. The tone is distinctly retro, but with a modern, polished, and high-tech flavor. Having open access to one of the world’s largest, richest film libraries for your inspiration and imagery is a resource of which any graphic designer can only dream! But the folks at TCM consistently use those images in a fresh, larger-than-life way to maintain the thematic look of their brand without exploiting or tarnishing the classic films from which the images are appropriated. That, in itself, is a tough task and speaks to the integrity of the TCM design process. For example:

The first half of the clip above demonstrates this balance well – a humorous look at the man on the street’s reaction to the iconic image of Sue Lyon in Stanley Kubrick’s classic film “Lolita.” The second half of the clip sets a perfect film noir mood, creating an homage to American artist Edward Hopper’s famous painting “Nighthawks.” This is smart marketing that know’s its audience and upholds the value and integrity of its film archive.

Studying how the big players excel is valuable instruction for the rest of us. For those of us who cannot afford the guidance of a charles s. anderson design team and don’t have the budget of a Ted Turner, a few takeaways are:

Develop and know your image. Be sure, at the most basic level, you understand and control the “look” of your brand – what it stands for, how it will represent and how you want the public to perceive your business. This begins, typically, with a basic logotype and then expands throughout all the activities of your enterprise.

Respect yourself. Your passion for your work should show through in your business’ design and marketing efforts. Work with a designer and printer to create marketing material that inspires you, makes you feel proud of what you do, and represents quality.

Work to maintain consistency of your brand in all the ways the public encounters your business. The design and flavor of your print materials should be a consistent match to any representation of your business that your public will see. Consider all the areas this might include: signage, website, direct mail, social media, print/tv/radio/web advertisements, employee uniforms, retail spaces and lobby decor, promotional products as well as the actual goods or services produced and supplied.

Printers understand communication and design. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

June 5, 2013

Buy Local, Buy the Book – Indie Asheville and Print Go Together

Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe is the flagship, downtown, indie bookstore in Asheville, NC, and always does a great job in outreach and marketing to the community. With an award-winning events program, website and social media plan, a sister-store at Downtown Books & News, and a bustling café with local pastries and house blends, Malaprop’s is nationally recognized as a leading independent bookstore. Even their free bookmark shows me why they are such a success.

Last week I bought a book at Malaprop’s and the associate stuck a free giveaway bookmark into the volume – a simple, direct way to reach your customers. The bookmark (see above) promotes shopping at local, independent establishments like Malaprop’s and Downtown Books & News, and spells out 10 clear reasons why doing so helps you, helps your community and helps the larger world as well. Click the photo above to see a larger version and read the 10 great effects of your choice to buy local and indie.

What makes this marketing piece so effective?

It is useful, and will therefore have longevity. A printed bookmark will stay around to mark your place while you read, getting notice each time the book is opened – a much longer “life” than for most printed direct mail or marketing pieces.
The message is clear. The card draws a clear connection between the act of choosing to spend your dollars locally and 10 specific results of that choice.
It is thought-provoking. Issues of job creation, environmental sustainability, choice, local economics and growth and more are effected by the decision to shop locally from independent merchants.
It rewards the consumer. The free bookmark is positive reinforcement for a smart choice.

And all from a small piece of printed paper! Print and paper are the perfect marketing fit for a bookseller, but if a bookmark is not a natural fit for your business or product line, consider the huge selection of promotional products that you can brand with your logo and message to use in a similar way. Think creatively about new ways your business can reward customers while establishing in their minds the message you want to promote. This little bookmark can help get you thinking about ways you can do that in your own style.

Don’t forget to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

May 24, 2013

Logo Design Tip: Avoid the Swoosh (or, It Pays to be Original)

A fairly safe rule for logo design: avoid the SWOOSH.

The Nike logo story is now part of graphic design legend: how Carolyn Davidson, a student at Portland State, randomly met Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, in the hallway at school and accepted his offer to work on a logo for his growing company – one that would “convey motion and look good on a shoe.” After many hours of work and a $35 payment for her trouble, Knight’s initial reaction: “Well I don’t love it, but maybe it will grow on me.”

Millions of dollars later, somehow that Nike swoosh has become THE iconic example of a brand mark and logo identity that do their job right – it represents both Nike and the value of a recognizable brand mark. The logo has been on Nike shoes since 1972 and is internationally recognized. “Swoosh” even has its own Wikipedia entry.

This popularity has, of course, bred imitations. While that exact “swoosh” is the property of Nike, the swoosh-type shape has been borrowed and appropriated for many, many other enterprises. Keep your eyes open online and in print, and you’ll see the swoosh again and again… and again.

Just a quick glance through our shop here, and a few magazines that were lying about, yielded these examples:

While one company certainly can’t monopolize a basic geometric shape, originality matters in effective logo design. You want to get noticed, not blend in with the crowd. Avoiding the “swoosh”, for the foreseeable future, is probably a good rule to keep in mind when branding your business.

FYI – for further reading…

Author Per Mollerup has an amazing, newly revised book out called “Marks of Excellene: The History and Taxonomy of Trademarks.” It covers the history of the human need to create trademarks, and is useful for anyone interested in branding, advertising, and design. It is reviewed by Slate.com here.

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

May 14, 2013

Share a Coke with Your Name on it: Getting Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing

Update:

After success in Australia, South Africa, the UK and dozens of other countries, Coke is finally releasing personalized Coke in the US this summer of 2014 – and it seems to be a social media hit (at least judging by my Facebook newsfeed.) 250 of the most popular names for millenials and teens will be found on 20 oz. bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Zero. You can check online to see if your name will be on the bottles, and you can personalize virtual bottles to share via social media as well. But don’t get too creative – to avert potential viral disasters, the website will not generate any name not in their approved database! 😉
So why not get variable?

(The following article was first posted in 2013.)

Variable Data Packaging? — (Source link: www.marketingmagazine.co.uk)

V ariable Data Printing is a proven catalyst in effective marketing – when properly executed, research indicates that response rates can be increased by as much as 30% with VDP. Now corporations are discovering creative new ways to combine personalized content with both online and print communications for a truly integrated marketing outreach. With the dominance of social media, consumers are beginning to expect (or in marketing-speak, “demand”) a personally targeted appeal from their advertisers. And who is more successful at branding and effective marketing than Coca-Cola?

But, VDP packaging? Well, in a way…. In Australia, and now the UK, Coke is putting out millions of bottles bearing, rather than their iconic logo, 150 names as a way to “personalize” their packaging. Coke enjoys such a universally established brand recognition that they can even remove their logo from their products and still count on consumer loyalty. The campaign is called “Share A Coke”, and as a truly integrated concept, it combines the product packaging with an online site where you can create a “virtual personalised Coke can” if you are unable to find the name you are looking for among the 150 choices. Outdoor ads, and social media also drive the campaign. The video below shares how Coke anticipated the buzz generation on Twitter to further build consumer interaction:

After a successful run in Australia, Coke is repeating the project in the UK. Now, a true VDP product packaging would require the Coke bottles to be printed with the customer’s name before rolling out of the vending machine – an expensive proposition – but the success of this semi-VDP approach highlights some important ideas:

the power of variable data personalization in affecting consumer choice,
an increasing consumer expectation that we can share a personal interaction with what was previously an unreachable corporate entity when it comes to our consumer purchasing power. The buzzword is “engagement,” and consumers are realizing their new role involves more than passive consumption, but can also include interaction and influence.
the value of finding ways to initiate the power and outreach of social media outlets like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to your marketing advantage

Share a Coke campaign — Image Source: thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com

Printers understand communication and design. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

April 3, 2013

Print or Web: 6 Reasons You Need a Vector Version of Your Logo

Both of these images are .EPS files, but the one on the left is pixellated. The one on the right is a true vector logo.

Want to make a change to your logo without totally rebranding yourself? Want to print in wide format at a large size for your new signage? Want to use spot color printing to standardize all your stationary? Then in each case, you should be using a vector version of your logo! While you may not be able to place or use it in a Word document, for any high quality printing or output (or for spot or “2-color” printing) your vector logo is the gold standard and you should insist on it from your graphic designer beforehand. Preferably, it will be the way your logo was originally created, and you will not have to pay or struggle to convert it from a pixel-based image after it has already become an integral part of your brand. Here are the reasons why:

You can easily switch a vector logo to any type of pixel-based file needed (.TIF, .JPG, .PNG, etc.) for manipulation, web use or other purposes… yet it is difficult and sometimes impossible to travel from pixel to vector in a satisfactory manner, especially once type has been rasterized. Use this logo as the basis for any and all marketing – all other necessary file types for any other printing, web development, further creative design or marketing can be easily made from this original, keeping all colors and appearance clearly defined. You will consistently maintain your brand across all your marketing efforts, holding all vendors accountable to true reproduction of the original!
Vector artwork can be scaled to any size needed and maintain its perfect clarity. They have crisp edges at any size as they are based on mathematical formulas rather than a bed of pixels.
They maintain a clear, transparent background when placed over other artwork or elements in your design. PNG files also have this ability but are pixel based so… (see reason #1)
When you inevitably want to “tweak” your logo or add something in the future, you can easily do that in a vector-based program such as Adobe® Illustrator, but might find yourself limited if your logo is pixel-based. We often have customers need to make additions to a logo after the fact, such as adding an “Inc.” on the end, changing a tag line as their buisiness focus evolves, update their brand with a new color without totally reinventing the wheel. Also, you do not have to return to the original artist who created your logo to get the files necessary to make the change, as is often the case if the original was created in PhotoShop.
They can function either in RGB or CMYK color modes as well as carry spot color definitions. You can select exact PMS color matches so that your brand is always reproduced consistently. While there are methods to include spot color information in a pixel-based file (DCS files from PhotoShop with spot color channels) they are, again, not resizeable and do not include easy trap information for printing.
This last reason can be debatable, and I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, but: as most logos need to be clean, vivid and memorable, vector shapes readily lend themselves to these qualities. The logos you know and remember are almost always designed as vector shapes rather with fuzzy, artistic brushstrokes or photographic effects.

WARNING: pixel-based files can be saved from photo-editing software as EPS files, so remember that just because a file has an EPS suffix, it has not been magically converted to a vector file. Also, pixel images can be placed into vector draw programs like Illustrator and saved as .AI or .EPS files. Again, not vector!
Rely on your printer for advice and direction when creating your files. They should be able to provide you with everything from encouragement along the way to complete design, layout, copywriting, production, multi-purposing and distribution of your marketing outreach. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

February 26, 2013

Easy Custom Graphic Displays in Pop-Up Banner Stands

These are an easy, lightweight, affordable marketing powerhouse for any small business. Beautiful custom-branded display graphics, mounted onto low-cost, easy to carry pop-up banner stands, provide a powerful visual impact. Display them in your lobby or work area to promote services or products, then carry them along to trade shows or events for professional, powerful graphic displays. You can also switch out new banners and use the stand pop-up stand as your promotions change over time.

Above are a sample of some local banner displays that are custom branded for a customer’s own look and message. The hardware is minimal, and the entire display collapses and retreats (think window blinds) into an easy to carry case for transport and protection. You might also consider a large variety of trade show booth displays, backlit signage and other inventive pop-up graphic ideas for your next marketing effort.

Your printer can make all of this happen — it is an easy process for the busy small business owner when you have the right printer. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for print, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

January 23, 2013

Branded Work Apparel: Customize Your Team’s Gear

Consistent, cohesive and high quality branding is important for small businesses. Your logo design and identity should work for you across each aspect of your business, wherever you interact with the public. That includes signage, building design, interior decor, employee apparel and work gear, website branding, direct mail outreach…. you have a chance at each of these points when the public sees your business to make a good impression.

Outfitting your employees with branded apparel and work gear makes a strong impression both in store and outside of the place of business. They will see your team doing quality work, in quality gear. Consider standardizing the look, color and design of your team’s apparel, whether it is a typical uniform or a more casual style. Through embroidery and screen printing, most all work clothing can be customized to reflect your brand. Even tools, construction gear and footwear can be part of your public image. We outfitted a team’s construction hats with their brand colors and logos through contour cut vinyl adhesive labelling. Begin to browse online for ideas and you will discover a huge variety of high quality, custom apparel to help you achieve the right look for your team.

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with any questions you have in fashioning your brand or designing your marketing materials. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for print, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

January 10, 2013

See the Negative Space in Your Logo Design

Is that a black circle floating in nothingness? Or is it a field of white with a hole in the middle? With either view, the shapes exist in context with each other. In design, the field surrounding intentional shapes is often called negative space. Yet this “empty” area also speaks – sometimes intentionally, and occasionally with an unintended message. The control of negative space in a design amounts to working out a productive balance between shape and the shape of what’s left.

The negative space of a logo can speak subtely, in a supporting or even subliminal role. The trick is to make sure that this role is the one you want, and does not carry any unintended messages. The iconic FedEx logo contains a subtle but effective arrow in it’s negative space – something I missed for years – a great example of an almost subliminal symbol of motion, travel and progress built into the negative space of their brand.

The new logo for VH1, on the other hand, has a negative space issue that I find confusing – or maybe have just not deciphered yet. From first glance, the logo looks like the negative space should be spelling out something… it looks a little like the word “is” in an old-school monospace font. But I don’t think that is the intended message. In this case, the negative space feels distracting – like a message that is not really there.

I love the creative way many designers now actively manage negative space in logos to speak as loudly, and perhaps more effectively, than the “positive” space. In a way, these designs give the viewer a satisfaction of having solved a riddle, having “gotten” the inside joke or meaning. Arguably, this puts them in a friendlier, more receptive mood to the design’s message. The cleverness of a logo design can yield a powerful impact. A few samples are below – google “negative space in logo design” for many great design galleries, or check out this link for more.

Designer: Rajendra Prasad A on Behance

Designer: Matto

Designer: Sean Heisler

Abdallah Ahizoune

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.