social media – ImageBlog

March 16, 2021May 12, 2022

Post-Pandemic Plan: Is Now the Time to Rebrand?

Is now the time to rebrand? Sure looks that way if you judge by some of the big names taking the plunge (see below: from Burger King to Rolls Royce). And the reasons are fairly obvious. The upheaval in worldwide daily life due to the pandemic has wrought changes in individual and corporate buying patterns, needs, expenses, and supply sources at a level none of us have experienced before. Consumers shaken by economic and personal chaos in the past year will, we assume, have a pent-up demand for new products and new approaches when making purchasing decisions in the post-pandemic world. Perfect time for a rebrand, right?

Well, maybe. In the midst of turmoil, some consumers may be looking for stability and toward trusted brands that provide familiarity and dependability. A rebrand that goes too far may alienate a customer base looking for comfort and security in the familiar. Of course, this is the essential dilemma any time a rebrand is considered: how much change is too much?

We know rebranding is expensive and time-consuming. Often, the impetus to rebrand grows out of a need to make logos, brandmarks and overall marketing more “agile” and consistent across platforms — to develop a mark that displays well on screens large and small, as well as in print. Perhaps a time of historic change like now would be a good time to evaluate the pros and cons of changing up your look. (Fast Company has good advice on how to think about whether the time is right for you.)

Of course, rebranding includes MANY areas of marketing – signage, web design, social media, printwear, and on and on –but it’s true that folks look first and foremost at a logo redesign. So it’s always interesting to see how the big players are changing up their logos during this time. Below are some new looks from today’s digital marketplace (old on left, new on right):

PEUGEOT

Peugeot is seeking to bridge the divide between past and present on the eve of their big push toward manufacturing electric cars. Their latest rebrand draws on a previous lion logo – ensuring familiarity for a brand that has been around for 210 years!

BURGER KING

For the first time in more than 20 years, Burger King announced a brand-new logo, along with new packaging, uniforms, and signage. Described as “confident, simple, and fun,” the comprehensive overhaul again tries to benefit from both the familiarity of past logo designs and new simplified, digital-friendly changes.

GENERAL MOTORS

Another car manufacturer seeking to highlight its commitment to electric vehicles with a new brand is GM. Some critics think this rebrand is less than successful, but others give GM points for the “hidden” design element of an electric plug in the new shape of the lowercase “m” in the logo.

KIA

In a huge unveiling celebration in South Korea, Kia celebrated its best retail sales year ever in 2020—with a new logo for 2021. Kia also switched up for a new global tagline: “Movement that inspires.”

PFIZER

Fresh from developing one of the COVID-19 vaccines with BioNTech, Pfizer sought to rebrand with an emphasis on their switch from “commerce to science.” This is their most significant brand refresh in about 70 years. Did you recognize the DNA double-helix shape in the new brand?

ROLLS ROYCE

Rolls Royce premiered a new identity in a rebrand that seeks to move forward with digital-friendly marketing which remains true to the core identity of a luxury brand. They updated their typography and streamlined the iconic hood ornament design into the logo.

BUT CAN REBRANDING BACKFIRE?

Yes, it is a risk. When and how to rebrand — or not — is a tough call, with a lot at stake. Too much change at the wrong time can be disastrous. A slight modification may miss the mark. For example, in 2009, Tropicana removed the iconic Florida orange from their packaging for a more modern design… then reverted back after sales dropped by 20% in just one month!

Even if you decide a rebrand is not in your compnay’s best interest, the process of reaching that decision can be a great way to take stock of your image and your marketing needs. That clarity can go a long way in setting your marketing on the right track for what we hope will be post-pandemic prosperity.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we understand communication, design, and teamwork. 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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.

August 26, 2020May 12, 2022

Does Your Logo Need a Digital Refresh? Rolls Royce Did.

Rolls Royce has premiered a new identity for its Motor Cars division, a successful and elegant rebrand that illustrates how to move forward with digital-friendly marketing that remains true to the core identity of a luxury brand. Marina Willer and her team at Pentagram retained the RR monogram we all know, but updated and elevated other elements in usage, mainly the “Spirit of Ecstasy” symbol you will recognize as the hood ornament on the classic automobiles.

The “Spirit of Ecstasy” figure has been flipped to be more “forward looking,” with a sleeker shape and less detail. It also has a base, highlighting its function as the car’s hood ornament. The RR monogram is unaltered.

The new typography (right) is a significant change in the new digital-friendly wordmark.

From small businesses to the big players, successful marketing is currently focused on making brands and logos “digital friendly.” Small screens and social media apps create visual perceptions differently than print. A great look in print can lose it’s vitality and impact within a smartphone app or digital ad. Designers are asked to solve this problem, yet retain continuity between the established look and style of the brand.

Below are several areas to consider when recharging a logo/brand to perform more powerfully on digital media.

COLOR: tweaking color for a more RGB-friendly environment can require one color for print, a slightly different one for digital. Some, like the PBS rebrand in 2019, went from black to a completely new electric “PBS Blue” in their digital overhaul.
SIMPLIFICATION: at small sizes or lower resolution, much detail or texture is either lost or unfortunately seems to “dirty” up the appearance onscreen.
FLATTENING: probably the most common current trend for “digitalizing” brands, removing shadows, bevels, embossing, and any 3D effects can provide a logo’s shape and color with more visual impact on digital screens. The goal here is, again, simplification for a stronger impact.
FONT CONSIDERATIONS: often typography on small screens calls out for changes in kerning, spacing and letter shapes both for readability and aesthetics. The challenge with an established brand is to remain true to the spirit of the historic typography but enhance it for greater success in digital channels. The great foundries are responding to this with the creation of multiple masters in typefaces to meet the needs of “microtype.”
OVERALL BALANCE: just like with typography concerns, the relationship of the logo, wordmark, tagline, images, copy, or any other branding elements can need to change and update for better functionality onscreen.

Every brand can benefit from a “logo review” as our online identities expand and grow. The example of Rolls Royce above shows a smooth transition that maintains the integrity of the original brand expression but allows it to function more fully in a digital environment. An example of a brand struggling with that transition is pointed out over on Creative Review in a great article about the BMW refresh.

The flat and digital-friendly BMW logo is on the right.

BMW’s well-known logo has a beveled appearance, matching the actual badge on the vehicles themselves. In trying to make a more digital-friendly logo, BMW tries to straddle both worlds by using a “flat” version for “communications” and retaining the other for use on vehicles and showrooms. Could be a confusing distraction. Both hold good inspirations for taking a new look at your current brand, logo, wordmark and marketing.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we understand communication, design, and teamwork. 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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 16, 2017

USPS Stamps Have a New Feel – Textured Coatings & Thermochromic Ink

The USPS continues to excel with great design, print and marketing ideas in their innovative new postage stamps. Their newest releases take the plain printed stamp to a whole new experience level. They combine cool, engaging print techniques with a topical interest in current events and culture.

In honor of the America’s favorite sports, the USPS chose the kick off of the U.S. Open golf championship to debut a series of stamps with an actual “feel.” The Have a Ball! Forever stamps are round, and honor the sports of baseball, basketball, football, golf, kickball, soccer, tennis, and volleyball. Each has a special textured coating to simulate the surface of each ball. You can feel the baseball’s stitching, the golf ball’s dimples, the tennis ball’s seams, raised panels on a soccer ball and volleyball, and the unique patterns of a football, basketball and kickball. For the philatelist, you can order first-day-of-issue postmarks and first-day covers here. On Twitter, follow the hashtag of #Haveaballstamps.

To top that creative print idea, the USPS will commemorate a rare total solar eclipse, which crosses the entire width of the continental United States on August 21, with the Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp. What makes this stamp as unique as the eclipse which it commemorates? The heat of your finger pressed onto the stamp will transform the image of the darkened moon blocking the sun into an image of the full moon. This is the first time the USPS has used thermochromic ink in printing stamps. This ink is vulnerable to UV light and, since it is a forever stamp, should not be exposed to direct sunlight to preserve the effect. For collectors, you can also purchase a special envelope to help protect the stamp pane. On Twitter, follow the hashtag #EclipseStamps.

Remember, the USPS receives no tax dollars for operating expenses. They fund their operations through the sale of postage, products and services.

Using an actual stamp – as opposed to a permit imprint –helps to boost “open rates” for direct mail marketing, providing a personal touch. For a specially targeted mailing of limited size, these textured and innovative forever stamps might prove eye-catching enough to pay for themselves in improved response.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Personalization – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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.

February 16, 2016

What the Success of Snapchat Means for Marketers

Content is king. It’s a phrase so overused that you may have nixed it from your digital marketing vocabulary completely. With hundreds of social media platforms sharing content at breakneck speed all over the world, how small business marketers continue to evolve and stand head and shoulders above all the chatter? The answer is content, but not just any content. Consumers are savvier, smarter and have higher expectations than ever. The content that will get you a gold crown has to be relentlessly consistent and inherently personal. If you have any doubt, look at how Snapchat has changed the face of social media with over 100 million active users and 7 billion daily video views.

Behind the Scenes Is Where It’s At

Brand consistency gets a lot of hype, and for good reason. Your audience has to feel like they can rely on the brand they love and trust. But in a fast food, first-come first-served, fight-for-your-right-to-party kind of world, consumers are now looking for more than a Coke and a smile. They want to see a brand evolve. They want to see behind the scenes. In fact, they expect it.

Snapchat is used by the masses, but it’s also used by the White House, professional sports teams, Amazon and CNN, all showing a more informal, humor-driven side. This adds dimension and relatability, which engages audiences on another level. Unlike the beautiful and professional images of Instagram and the carefully curated Facebook content planned out in advance on Hootsuite, Snapchat is instant, impermanent and truly of the moment. It’s also proof that consumers are interested in unpolished, real-life appeals.

Make It Easy and Make It Personal

Snapchat is the first social media platform to give users their own QR code as an inherent part of the user profile. While many businesses have used QR codes to drive traffic to a social media platform, website or microsite, Snapchat puts the focus on the user by giving them a code they can use to gain followers and connect with new friends. Both Elle Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar have changed their Twitter profile pictures to their Snapchat QR codes. All their followers have to do to follow them on Snap is take a screenshot of their profile picture, open Snapchat, go to add friends, tap add by Snapcode and select the screenshot. Easy, fast and no typing required.

Always Be Pushing Content

If there’s one thing to take away from the Snapchat revolution is that it’s OK to get real with your target audience. The fact of the matter is that perfectly polished content takes time and money, both of which are going into the pockets of your competitors while you’re perfecting every Instagram post and analyzing all 140 Twitter characters.

Get a cellphone with an impressive camera, like the HTC One M9, so you’re always ready to capture the moment. Get a cheap, phone-friendly tripod or camera stabilization equipment made specifically for shooting video on your cellphone for less than $30. Just don’t forget that it doesn’t have to be perfect, edited or directly related to your product to hit home with your audience. Just give them a warm and fuzzy feeling when they think about your brand.

We 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 environmentally responsible printing. 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.com or call us at 828-684-4512 for quotes on all your print and marketing projects.

August 12, 2015

Making Print Social: Interactive Media and Integrated Marketing

Infographics have become wildly popular both online and in print. Graphic designers create visually inventive ways to convey otherwise confusing, unclear or tedious information that work well in print layouts and also draw readers online. The graphic-as-step-by-step-explanation trend is almost cliché – so much that The Atlantic was able to explore the trend with its article “The Rise of ‘In One Chart’ In One Chart.”

This doesn’t mean you should run away from infographics, though. They rose to ubiquity because they work: people enjoy them and they help explain complex topics quickly and succinctly. But infographics are inherently a one-way street. The designer and client are communicating with their audience, but the audience cannot talk back. This is why interactive media is a great new frontier for marketing. Users often spend more time with interactive media and they remember its message better afterwords. The following are some great examples of ways to take advantage of interactive media within any marketing campaign:

Quizzes

Dish Network has a Netflix quiz that is close to its television-addicted audience’s heart. With a series of questions, it helps determine what type of Netflix binger you are. Test takers answer some of the questions with responses like “I occasionally skip work to finish a season” or “I lost track of days somewhere between starting “Breaking Bad” and finishing “Mad Men.” Similarly, SnapApp created a quiz entitled “DDI: Common Leadership Styles,” and has reported great results with this as well as with many other quizzes it has put together.

This type of content is fun for users, it encourages them to stay on the website for an extended period of time and it prompts them to share the results with their friends on various social platforms. THIS IS GOLD. Quizzes are good investments to get users interested in looking at your content and promoting it for you – for free.

Contests

New York’s premier hip hop radio station, Hot 97, has remade itself for the digital era. One recent advancement is a contest to find up-and-coming artists called “Who’s Next.” For this contest, the station identifies local amateurs with potential, and each person or band creates a profile page to upload his or her songs to attract positive votes from listeners. A community has developed around the contest, and now the station has a small army of loyal fans who come to the site regularly to check for new music, watch videos and read the bios of those who hope to be the next big star.

Running contests encourages followers to check your site regularly, which gives you the opportunity to promote your product or services to them.

Visual Storytelling

One of the most beautiful examples of compelling visual storytelling comes from the New York Times. It’s story, “Snow Fall” tells the tale of a skier trapped in an avalanche on the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. From maps and video interviews to incredible photos and informative animations, this story has it all.

Although most companies don’t have anything this poignant to tell, the process helps turn all kinds of stories into captivating content. For example, McDonald’s put together an interactive site for user-generated “100 McDonald’s Moments.” This is designed to “remind people why they love the McDonald’s brand experience and core products,” explains Razorfish. The idea proved to be a success since the collection grew from 20 moments to 100 over a month of marketing. Razorfish also notes that the average visitor spent more than seven minutes on the website.

Stories enable visitors to spend more time on your site and engage with the content. Find or create a story that relates to your target market, and encourage visitors to look around for more interactive content.

Of course, all of this is part of the strategy of integrated marketing – using all the avenues of connection between you and the public in concert to boost the power of your marketing. Print, website, social media, face to face – it just makes sense to coordinate across all these interactions for greater results. For example, here’s a quick link to a story about how Traveler Beer uses social media to drive interest in their new Shandy drinks. Or this link about how Coca-Cola has generated huge buzz with their VDP marketing of personalized drink bottles.

We can all learn some creative ideas from how the big players use integrated marketing to create powerful returns. But the benefits are in no way limited to huge budgets or huge corporations. Even the smaller companies can coordinate their social media, blog and website with their print and direct mail to generate greater results in their marketing. In short, any content that makes your marketing “social” will be more successful for you and more engaging for the people you reach.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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 16, 2015

Turn to Your Printer for Multimedia Marketing Support

Printing businesses have expanded their services far beyond just printing on paper. Product lines include design services, integrated marketing and direct mail, promotional products and the production of marketing materials as diverse as wide format signage and embroidered or screen printed clothing. In other words, your printer is now your marketing specialist.

Printers Deliver Customer-Friendly Online Tools

Digital technology arrived early in the print world with desktop publishing, photo editing, and graphics technology revolutionizing the business throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Back in the early days of email, printers were among the first to seize upon that technology to deliver goods (in this case, printing proofs) to customers as soon as they were available. No more driving downtown, finding parking, and hoping the client was available to look over proofs so the job could go ahead.

Clients, too, loved the new email services. So it was no surprise that once the web took off, printers quickly created websites to serve their customers even more quickly. Now they can upload files to print, preview them and place the order. By 2007, an industry report from First Research predicted that by 2010, 30 percent of all print jobs would have to be completed within a day. Short run, digital printing now fills that demand.

Today, printers offer online tools to help customers create and order their own marketing. Many offer professional design services or templates customers can use to create their projects. Customers can review the designs, approve and send them to production right away — all in a single online visit. (They can also save their work for later review.) Local printers will deliver the goods directly to the doorstep or business office, as well as providing technical and marketing advice for planning an overall marketing strategy for businesses both large and small. According to the Xerox blog, printers whose businesses grew by 10 percent or more in 2013 attributed some of it to web-based services.

Eco-Friendly Printing Pays

Printers have embraced green technology and sustainable business practices. The print industry has long been a leader in recycling and sustainable business practices. Soy ink (long a requirement for many federal government contract bids), water solvent inks, and the use of paper products endorsed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and other agencies give customers the satisfaction of knowing their print marketing is eco-friendly. Many customers choose to brand their print with this commitment to environmental stewardship as a part of their marketing outreach. In turn they can promote their good corporate citizenship through social media on outlets like LinkedIn, a leading site for business marketing and information. LinkedIn is a great place to post important business news and updates for clients and your industry, as exemplified by LifeLock.

More Products Than Ever Can Be Print-Personalized

It used to be that printing T-shirts was an expensive undertaking that required a minimum number of shirts to print. Digital technology makes it possible to affordably print even a single T-shirt. While the technology may not quite be the same quality as a silk-screened shirt, it’s pretty darn close and with proper laundering, digitally printed images can last nearly as long as a silk screen.

Embroidery is a great way to create custom branded clothing, uniforms, hats, bags, and many other items that will put your name and logo directly into people’s lives. Outfit your staff with branded print wear, or create items to sell or even give away to clients. They will become your own team of mobile advertising!

Mugs and other personal gift items are also fair game for personalization thanks to sublimation dye printing, a great way full service printers have diversified their printing businesses, says the industry news site MyPrintResource.com. A sublimation printer can print on anything made from a polymer base or polyester, which covers a lot of ground from Christmas ornaments to sports equipment to phone cases. The selection is huge, and you can browse an online catalog to find exactly the right promotional product to brand for your unique marketing plan.

Wide-format printing creates posters, banners, POP displays, bus signs, indoor and outdoor signage, trade show booths, and other large printed material. Your printer will help you design and customize these items with your own logo, colors, photography and graphics for exactly the impact you want. Xerox predicts wide format printing will grow 65 percent each year through 2017.

Years of experience also empower a full service printer to advise you on ideas that work and that meet your individual budget. Best of all – this marketing expertise is yours FREE OF CHARGE! Where else can you find that kind of deal? If you have the right printer, you already have a highly trained marketing consultant who knows print, branding, direct mail, web strategies, social media and has years of experience in both high and low tech marketing approaches that work for businesses just like yours. The most assuring part of this partnership for you is that the print/communications company only succeeds when your marketing succeeds! Start taking advantage of this asset – the print industry itself has had to reinvent itself in this new high tech economy. They know what works. Meet with a printer today to find one who can offer you the full range of marketing options that today’s competitive and creative markets demand.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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 2, 2015

Beyond Emoji: A Need for New Punctuation?

Our language is constantly evolving regardless of how many grammar and standardized rules we define. Typography, in time, evolves as well under the influence of both the spoken language and the newly emerging digital modes of interaction. Digital communications have inspired an increase in some new experimental punctuation marks – attempts to bring more clarity to non-verbal, non face-to-face conversation.

Is New Punctuation Needed?

Digital communications have run into a few unforeseen limits. Have you found yourself being more easily misunderstood in email and text messaging than you are face to face or by phone conversations? So much of our communication actually occurs through physical cues, expressions, body and hand gestures, intonation and vocal signals – none of which are accessible in a text message or a 140 character tweet!

Whenever a limitation arises in communication, language begins to morph and adapt to overcome that difficulty. It’s inevitable. Currently, emoticons or emoji are an attempt to “add on” a little explanation or commentary with unspoken cues in symbolic form. They are often used in a playful way – perhaps more as decoration, personalization or humor than a standard punctuation mark. But recently a few nominees have emerged for induction into our standard set of periods, commas and semicolons.

The Exclamation and Question Commas

The Exclamation Comma, and its cousin the Question Comma (or Quoma), are attempts to move emphasis from the entire contents of a sentence to a phrase within the statement or question. The Grammarly blog cites the Exclamation Comma as an invention from 1992 that was patented in Canada, and then largely forgotten. The pressing need for either of these marks might be debatable, but they do serve a clear purpose as in the examples below:

“While I love your new outfit (exclamation comma) I’m certain the invitation called for formal attire.”

“Who do you think you are (question comma) a winner or a loser?”

SarcMark, Interrobang, Irony Point

A more formal attempt to alter the written language is an attempt at a punctuation change called the SarcMark: a registered trademarked symbol that you can purchase to use in order to denote sarcasm or irony in a statement.The SarcMark is the creation of Paul and Doug Sak who started Sarcasm Inc. They saw the need (and business opportunity) for a punctuation mark that denotes sarcasm, especially in a digital communication. As their video says, “Only $1.99 for lifetime use… and never be misunderstood again.” It works on both Mac and PC platforms, and has both a font option for type or texting, or a graphic option if you know the person on the other end has not downloaded the symbol as well. Smark marketers, the Saks have also created branded apparel and other items to encourage the use of their new punctuation.

The Interrobang is a combination of question mark and exclamation point, and is used by some to mark a rhetorical question that does not require an answer, or to show excitement or disbelief in the form of a question (“Did you just do what I think you did?!) The irony point (a backwards question mark) is a French attempt to create a punctuation mark to indicate there is a second meaning to what is being said.

Perhaps the proof of whether any of these marks have a lasting place in our typography will be when one or more of them make it into the standard set of glyphs for our most used font families – or even onto our keyboards. Time will tell.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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 17, 2015

Hillvetica? Branding and Design in Presidential Politics

All political opinions aside…

Political campaigns are great case studies in marketing – what works, what doesn’t, and how organizations with HUGE sums of money choose to distribute it across their marketing channels. As the 2016 presidential race kicks off a full year and a half before the actual election, we notice that “branding” and logo creation for campaigns seems to have taken on immediate importance in a way not seen in previous elections. Faster than ever, the candidates have realized the power and influence of a well-recognized, branded campaign logo. We’ll just stick with a quick look at two:

Michael Beirut and his creative team at Pentagram had the pleasure – and pressure – of designing the Hillary Clinton campaign logo. Immediately upon release the blue H with a red arrow received a huge amount of scrutiny, much of it critical, and within a couple of days it had morphed into its own typeface. Designer Rick Wolff created the arrow-laced, all caps font and appropriately called it: Hillvetica.

Over on the other side of the aisle, the Marco Rubio campaign is emphasizing an American focus with a map of the nation serving as the “dot” on the “i” in Rubio. Opinions again run the gamut on the design, just like they do on all the candidates. Some feel the fact that the map omits Alaska and Hawaii is a definite drawback. WIRED magazine points out that the phenomenon of “crowdsmashing” – or the viral “piling-on” of criticism through social media – brings huge amounts of attention to a campaign, political or otherwise. In a politically charged effort, to ultimately be seen and heard is pay dirt – the attention itself, whether good or bad, can be the goal.

One very practical design consideration in comparing these two logos: the Rubio mark does not resize as easily as the “H arrow” does, which is important as the campaigns develop both online and in print. The Rubio map will virtually disappear if used as a Twitter avatar or icon on mobile apps. The simplicity of the Clinton mark lends itself much more easily to multi-channel marketing – always a consideration when crafting your business logo today.

The importance of a well-defined brand and logo for all the presidential campaigns is reinforced as each candidate steps forward and is greeted with the resulting online critique of their look. Political marketing for 2016 certainly spotlights the importance big players place on the smart crafting of a solid brand.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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.

December 31, 2014

2014: ImageBlog’s Year in Print, Design & More

Another year in the rearview mirror. Imageblog – our online newstand of conjecture, knowledge, experience and opinion about print, design, marketing, technology and sustainability – takes the last day of a busy year to glance back at the topics we touched on in the past 12 months. Editorially, we strive to cover topics of interest to graphic designers, print buyers and small business owners involved in empowering their brand through effective marketing. With a year-end overview, we notice a few trends in our blog:

Creative Cloud: Adobe’s Cutting Edge

Adobe moved us all to the cloud in 2014 with new versions of all our favorite software programs, new features available only in the cloud-based apps, and new ways to share, collaborate and learn interactively. Keeping up with the CC innovations could be a time-consuming job this year, but thankfully Adobe did it’s typical stellar job of integrating new tools and features in an intuitive, user-friendly interface. In June, we discussed issues relevant to print designers when Upgrading to Adobe CC and settling into the new stand-alone versions of InDesign, PhotoShop and Illustrator. Another article focused in on the changes for Illustrator, which included a reworked pen tool, pencil tool and “Live Corners.” For InDesign, we took a look at how to Auto Generate QR Codes with Data Merge (which seemed unthinkable a few years ago), the wonderful new Color Theme tool, and the evolution of Kuler into Adobe Color.

Graphic Design Tips & Tricks

As always, we love to share ideas that might make the life of a graphic designer or busy business owner a little easier when preparing files for print or marketing projects. This year that included blog posts on How to Properly Create Bleed Area for a print project, an easy strategy for using layers to keep auto page numbering on top of other elements in InDesign, and how to design and create mock-ups of product labels. We’re always on the lookout for blogs featuring great prepress tips, and are happy to share new ideas and secrets as we learn them.

Multichannel, Integrated & Diverse Marketing

Successful marketing relies more than ever on using multiple channels to reach your audience with your message and brand: print, mail, web, social media, signage, promotional products, and more. Posts this year included tips on creating engaging video content, promoting small business online, custom embroidery and screen printing, and some interesting stats on the profitability of multichannel marketing. Another post covered the importance of logo design with versatility in mind – because that logo has to work across every marketing channel.

In Memoriam

Time flies – and as it does we note the passing of great leaders in the design and print world, as well as the passage of trends and techniques in a quickly changing field. This past year, ImageBlog posted a remembrance of Al Feldstein, the well-loved and long-time editor of MAD magazine, as well as one on the great Massimo Vignelli, who almost single-handedly brought the European modernist aesthetic to American design. We also took a curious look back at some vintage artifacts from our own pre-digital Prepress Department.

Who’s Doing It Right: Great Design in the Real World

It’s always fun to discuss and learn from great design and marketing out there in the big leagues. This year we highlighted how the Traveler Beer company is using some quirky mustaches and our love of selfies to promote their Shandy beer beverages in the US. We also too a SFW look at Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” logo and the potentially touchy subject of sex, typography and marketing. In other posts we looked at the clever and controversial nature of magazine cover design, trends in choosing an actual brand or company name, and a list of design blogs that we have found inspiring.

Cheers to a great and exciting 2015 ahead. We wish you enormous success with your small business marketing ventures as we all continue to learn and innovate.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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.

December 22, 2014

4 Easy Steps to Creating Engaging Video Content

Visual content marketing, or the use of video in your website’s content, has grown exponentially over the last few years. According to numbers published by Ooyala, mobile and tablet video watching has grown a staggering 532% since 2012. Taking advantage of the new trend to couple content with video is key in your content’s success in engaging consumers. Here are some ways that you can use video to engage your audiences and keep them coming back for more.

Teach Them Something

Your audience may be interested in your product, but may be unsure of how to use it or are confused about its applications. Smart content coupled with instructive videos can engage and inspire consumers to make the jump from interested to invested. For example, Callaway Golf’s online show, “Callaway Talks,” is a video podcast where pros talk about equipment, performance and innovations within the world of Callaway Golf clubs. The information provided, discussions, and debates are all powerful content marketing tools utilized by Callaway to reach out to consumers with video content.

Tell Them a Story

The line between marketing and entertainment is becoming more blurred than ever before. No recent advertisement serves as a better example of how entertaining content can serve to capture the imagination of consumers and engage them in your brand than the recent viral video shared by the Wall Street Journal of Jean-Claude Van Damme doing powerful splits between two Volvo Trucks. In just a minute and a half Volvo created massive social media buzz and demonstrated to the world the stability and control of Volvo’s powerful Dynamic Steering systems. You may not have world-class martial artists at your disposal, there are plenty of royalty-free stock videos available online. With clever editing, narration and your own video content, even stock video can be utilized to craft a memorable tale to capture consumer attention.

Get Them to Relate

If your brand isn’t strong, most consumers will see you as just another faceless company with something to sell them. By adding a compelling and human face to your online presence, you can draw in customers on an emotional level and help them relate to you. Global arc welder manufacturer Lincoln Electric crafts oxyfuel cutting devices and distributes soldering alloys internationally—not exactly a relatable business for most consumers. However, through personal and introspective videos available on their LincolnElectricTV YouTube Channel, Lincoln electric connects with consumers by showing them how welding helps in the creation of everything from farm equipment to roller coasters. With the video tagline of “Welding Makes This World Possible,” Lincoln Electric grabs consumers emotionally and makes them take a second look at the products and people that they may not have ever given a second thought to.

Let Them Participate

The final tool in your video content arsenal comes from your customers themselves. Encourage your customer base to create their own videos sharing how your product or service effects their life, and share the ones that best represent your brand. In doing so, you essentially crowdsource your marketing directly to your audience, and create a connection with them. Everyone wants to be famous for a moment, and sharing consumer created video content is a sure way to get them talking about your product with their friends and families. Integrated marketing that truly engages your audience is the goal. Check out these links to see how companies like Taco Bell and Traveler Beer are utilizing creative ways to bring their customers into their marketing outreach.

Call us at 828.684.4512 for any marketing needs. As a printer, we 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 environmentally responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is now partnered with Extreme Awards & Engraving – our in-house partner providing custom engraved trophies and awards for employee recognition programs, sporting events, and promotional needs. With our new sister company, we will be sharing space, resources and expertise in a collaboration designed to further provide you with one place to meet all of your marketing needs… Under One Roof! Visit them online at www.extremeae.com or call direct at 828.684.4538.

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.