Our logos are not only defined by the text in them. The best of them hold their own without text or with text in another language. The colors, graphic elements and shape help to make them recognizable. Does your logo hold up in foreign languages? It’s interesting to see some that do.

Read the article via Neatorama and Designer Daily then let me know your thoughts on the article. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

This month’s ‘As Seen On The Net’ article by Kevan at Elboroom Design touches on many of the topics featured in e-Groove over the years. Audience, imagery, color, etc.. I have to say I pretty much agree with all the points made.

Read the article then take a look at your marketing communications and website. How do they stack up to the standards recommended in the article? Let me know your thoughts on the article and your personal marcom review. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

I like the way this month’s ‘As Seen On The Net’ article approaches the subject, focusing on the importance of the client knowing who they want to reach, and what they want to communicate.

What do you need help with? Print materials, the web or both.
Do you have a logo or need one?
Who is your target audience?
What are the benefits of your product or service?

These are the kinds of questions graphic designers ask in their project brief. So the more a business knows what they want, the easier it will be to find the designer that fits those needs.

Read the article then complete our 5 question survey about hiring a designer. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

All of our businesses have a brand. It’s the core of who we are, what benefit we provide. (Remember, it’s not our logo. Our logos are only visual representations of our brand.) Have a look at this article by branding guru Laura Ries.

Also note the comments following the article to see reactions from out in webland. What is your reaction?

Read the article then complete our 4 question survey about your brand. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Read the article then Complete our 3 question survey about Twitter. I’d love to know what you think.

Yes, AND No.

Microsoft Word is a word processing application, that is quite good at, word processing. It is not a graphic design or page layout app. So if you are only going to print your brochure on your desktop printer, then the answer is yes. Now you may have to jump through hoops to do it, since the professional graphics and typesetting functionality of a page layout app is not available. If your file needs to be professionally printed, then the answer is no. Most printers won’t even accept artwork in MS Word.

Microsoft PowerPoint. Ditto. It’s a slideshow application. While you will be able to print slides on your desktop printer. Professional printing is a no-go.

Microsoft Publisher. Publisher is a page layout app that can be professionally printed provided some snags are overcome. A huge snag is that many printers will not accept Publisher files. If they do, printing may be successful if color space, bleeds, image format and resolution, fonts, and final file format are handled properly.

Bottom line. These applications are not for creating or printing professional artwork. Professional graphic designers do not use them.

Professional graphics applications largely revolve around the Adobe Suite of products. While there are other applications from other manufacturers, the Adobe Suite is the most widely used. Here I’ll cover a few of the apps.

• Photoshop – a pixel based, photo processing/drawing app. (resolution dependent)
• Illustrator – a vector based drawing app. (not resolution dependent)
• InDesign – a page layout app where assets from Photoshop and Illustrator are combined.
• Fonts – though behind the scenes, fonts are applications also.

So, a brochure may be created something like this.

1. Draw any logos or graphics in Adobe Illustrator (vector drawing application).
2. Color correct, crop, size photos in Adobe Photoshop (pixel based image processing application).
3. Import logos, graphics and photos into Adobe InDesign (page layout application). Set up bleeds, page sizes and orientation. Position and typeset the text. Slide in all the graphic assets, backgrounds, etc.
4. Collect all the fonts and visual assets and save in the format the printer requested.
5. Send to professional printer. Print, trim, fold and like magic you have a brochure.

For more information about graphic design terminology visit our online glossary and our FAQ pages. If you can’t find what you need to know contact us so we can add it.

Among the endless information resources we now have available at our fingertips are review sites such as Google Places, Yelp, CitySearch, and TripAdvisor. As business owners we have to be aware of the upside as well as the downside of engaging in any of these resources. While consumers may love the idea of getting third party reviews of local entertainment venues or service providers, those business owners have to realize that they are putting themselves at risk of receiving negative along with positive feedback both of which could easily affect their bottom lines.

Of course, positive reviews combined with the location-finding functionality of these sites can be a boon. Research conducted by Harvard Business School Assistant Professor, Michael Luca, shows that for restaurants each ratings star added on a Yelp review translates to anywhere from a five percent to nine percent positive effect on revenues. In regard to Yelp, Luca says, “The question is, is this a good thing or a bad thing? If the ratings are capturing real quality, then that’s a force for good. To the extent that there is gaming or non-representative views, that’s a problem.”

The problem with anonymous reviews is that it is difficult to know if they are honest and reliable. There have been accusations that some businesses game the system by recruiting people to submit good reviews for them and bad reviews for competitors. In the end, however, businesses who list on these sites should regard their presence as opportunities not only for enjoying rave reviews, but also for quickly turning any negative feedback – legitimate or not – into positive experiences.

We want to know what you think. Are consumers submitting reviews about your business? Tell us about your experience.

Have you ever looked at an ad, brochure or postcard and become disoriented and cross-eyed? Have you wondered, “Where am I supposed to look?”

The problem is probably that some basic design principles were ignored. If the designer had considered contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity, white space, typography and color theory, your eyes would be focused on the advertiser’s message.

The principles listed above are simple and really make a difference. For example,

1. Contrast – Use large type with small or a bright color with a muted one.
2. Repetition – Repeat a graphic element in different sizes or locations.
3. Alignment – Don’t center justify everything, try right or left and stick to it.
4. Proximity – Group like elements together. For example, put your services together in a list, put your contact information together in a block.
5. White Space – Don’t fill up every inch with text and graphics. Leave some blank space so the piece can breathe.
6. Typography – Don’t use 6 different fonts. Use 2 or maybe 3 if the third is used very sparingly.
7. Color Theory – Don’t feel the need to use red, blue, green and yellow for your headlines, body copy and graphics. Black type works too. Make sure colors work together.

Professional graphic designers will use these principles at the outset before they even start to get creative. The result will be artwork that makes a great impression, captures people’s interest and gives the advertiser an opportunity to deliver his message.

OK, I think we all know that the Internet is an important tool that businesses should be using for marketing purposes. Most businesses have websites and many are now using Facebook and Twitter just to mention two social media platforms. Of course, now Google’s G+ is also attracting attention and I’m sure more platforms are on the way.

Another online communication tool that has become popular is blogging.

Blogging can
1. Increase your visibility among global audiences 24/7
2. Enhance your reputation as an authority in your field
3. Build trust among those within your industry
4. Build a following of current and potential clients
5. Establish and build your brand
6. Start conversations among people whom otherwise you would never reach
7. Get your business found by search engines

Blogging can be used to spread your latest product news and offerings. But, it requires the commitment of time and perhaps a small investment. Blog articles don’t write themselves and a blog that is not constantly updated is no blog at all. A posting once every six months won’t accomplish any of the things I’ve mentioned. A frequency of once a week or even once a day may be needed for blogging to be effective. You’ll also need to build anticipation for each post leading readers back to your site time and again. Once a schedule is decided upon, a good blogger must adhere to it. So, don’t begin blogging if you are not committed for the long run.

One of the key things blogging can do is start conversations with people who might become future colleagues or customers. Be mindful of the tone. Keep it simple, conversational without using insider jargon or buzz words. Encouraging feedback is a great way to get people talking. But, remember that responding to all feedback is key. The conversation will be over if you don’t respond in a timely fashion. If done properly, readers will feel that you are truly listening to them.

Like any marketing strategy, return on investment must be considered. Since blogging requires more time than money, it could be a profitable investment. So, if you have the will and the time, try it. Begin blogging.

This will piggy back on last month’s issue where we warned about downloading images from the web and trying to print them.

For this discussion we’ll assume our images are all in 8 bit mode and the dimensions are 1” x 1”. Note that web images only require 72 pixels per inch of resolution, while printable images require at least 300 pixels per inch of resolution.

So let’s play with our 1” x 1” image. If the file is 72 ppi that means that it has 72 pixels across and 72 pixels down. At 300 ppi it’s 300×300. Both files are still 1” x 1”. Which do you think will look better when professionally printed? The 300 ppi file has over 80,000 more pixels than the 72 ppi version!

Let’s say we want to turn out 1” x 1”, 72 ppi file into 300 ppi. There are two things we can do, and chances are neither will be any good to us. We can,

1) Change the resolution to 300 ppi WITHOUT UPSAMPLING. The result is a 300 ppi file. But, instead of 1” x 1”, the image is only .24” x .24”. So, we’ve created a 300 ppi file without creating any new pixels but the file may be to small for us to use.

2) Change the resolution to 300 ppi WITH UPSAMPLING. Upsampling means that the software is going to create new pixels out of thin air based on surrounding pixels. Now we have a 300 ppi that is still 1” x 1”. But, what have we done? We’ve created a jaggy, fuzzy image that will not look good when it is printed. AVOID UPSAMPLING AT ALL COSTS.

Resolution and dimensions go hand in hand, so be careful when changing either.

Another note, pixels per inch and dots per inch refer to two different things though they transfer directly. PPI refers to file/image resolution while DPI refers to printer resolution.

For more information about graphic design terminology visit our online glossary and our FAQ pages. If you can’t find what you need to know contact us so we can add it.