Category Archives: Graphic Design Tips
A great business card is a powerful budget marketing tactic
I’ve asked some of my favorite bloggers to guest blog and provide us with some of their favorite creative and affordable marketing tips.
Check out what Deborah Brody has to say about making the most of your business cards.
In this age of smart phone bumps and cloud-based contact lists, it may seem a bit old-fashioned to advocate for the business card. But the business card should be the ace player in your budget marketing arsenal. A business card is cheap (relatively speaking), portable and useful. It gets your information right into the hands (and hopefully, databases) of the people you connect with. Done well, a business card keeps you connected with your prospects and brings you business.
However, not any old business card will do. You should spend time (and money) to get this little piece of marketing real estate done right. If someone picks up your business card from a pile of cards, it should be immediately obvious who you are and what you do. Following are some tips to make the most of your business cards.
Spend the money to get professional graphic design. You could do this as part of a letterhead and/or logo package, if you are just starting out. You aren’t like everybody else, so why have a non-customized card? Make sure to use your colors, logo and maybe even an image.
Print your cards professionally, on good paper stock. Nothing says unprofessional more than flimsy cards printed on your ink jet printer. There are many online, digital printers that will do your cards for a fraction of the price you would pay a traditional offset printer, while making them look spectacular.
Make the best use of the space you have. This means using the back of the card, perhaps to list your services, provide your bio, offer a discount code or even have a version of your card in a different language.
Include as much information as possible, thinking of what would be relevant to someone looking to do business with you.
Information that must be on the business card includes:
- Your name and title
- Organization or business name
- Website
- Email address
- Phone/Mobile
- Address
- Tagline and/or short description of what your organization does (if not obvious from the name)
Other items you may consider adding:
- Twitter handle
- LinkedIn information
- Testimonials from clients
- Skype information
Finally, a word about design: Some folks get uber creative with their business cards, and in some cases, that helps to bolster their brand or show off their design chops. However, weird card shapes may be a conversation starter or be more memorable, but they are less likely to fit in conventional card holders or card scanners. Keep that in mind. Same goes for the layout. I prefer a horizontal layout, since that is how most cards are read.
Deborah Brody, principal of Deborah Brody Marketing Communications, is a marketing writer and consultant. Read more at www.deborahbrody.com and follow her on Twitter at @DBMC .
The 2013 Color of the Year is Emerald
We are thrilled to learn that a lovely emerald green PANTONE® 17-5641 has been proclaimed the 2013 Color of the Year. It’s very close in color to the logo of one of our favorite clients, PRofessional Solutions, LLC. And of course, the Fletcher Prince logo is a close relative in this green family. In fact, green is just one of our all-time favorite colors.
As you may know, the color experts at Pantone select a color of the year annually. It is fascinating how they observe trends, events, sociological influences, and the Zeitgeist of the moment to come up with just the right shade.
The Meaning of Emerald Green
According to Pantone: “Emerald, a vivid, verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight, as well as promoting balance and harmony. Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. It’s also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity – no other color conveys regeneration more than green. For centuries, many countries have chosen green to represent healing and unity.”
Growth, renewal and prosperity. That all sounds good to me!
How People Respond to the Color Emerald Green
“Green is the most abundant hue in nature – the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”
Emerald Green Products Coming in 2013
Look for this luscious color in fashion, cosmetics, nail colors, home interiors and furnishings, and design schemes. The limited edition 2013 Color of the Year beauty collection features a variety of Sephora products in Emerald, including eye shadow, nail polish and accessories. JCPenney will offer Pantone bedding, pillows, bath towels and accessories in Emerald beginning Feb. 1, 2013.
Let’s Hear From You
How will Emerald Green inspire your graphic design concepts now and in the new year?
Related articles
- The hue of 2013? Pantone picks the ‘color of prosperity’ (thelook.today.com)
Graphic design for your business or nonprofit
Looking for a graphic designer for your next print or online marketing project? Look no farther than your friends at Fletcher Prince.
David Hyson has more than 20 years of graphic design, photography, and print management experience, for clients such as CSC, Deloitte Touche, Starbucks, Sprint, Lockheed Martin, and many others, as well as for Fletcher Prince clients, including PRofessional Solutions, LLC and Keenan PR.
Ask us about
- Logo design
- Brochures, newsletters, and annual reports
- Print advertisements
- Direct mail pieces
- Convention and exhibit materials
- Exterior and interior signage
- Social media logos and backgrounds
- Blog design and headers
- Website design and development
A birthday interview with Fletcher Prince creative director David Hyson
Happy Birthday, David Hyson! Today’s blog post is dedicated to him. The Washington Business Journal publishes “Executive Profiles” each week, so I “borrowed” some of their interview questions to provide you with this revealing look at Fletcher Prince’s funny, irreverent, and often enigmatic creative director…
Tell us about yourself, David. Ever since I can remember, I have made things: art, sculpture, furniture, gardens, food, you name it! Also, I’ve always loved books. Good writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, has always been a passion. Even though my college training was in Industrial Design, I was attracted to graphic design because it is a hybrid of design and words. My first real job out of college was working on a magazine, but I moved quickly into marketing communications and advertising where I’ve been ever since.
Education? Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design.
What was your first job? Graphic Designer, National Recreation and Park Association.
Family? Wife: Orion, son: Morgan, 24, and daughter: Emily, 21. Two cats: Tako and Leo. We live in Bethesda, MD.
What’s the biggest misconception you deal with in your work? What I do is always easy and fun.
What’s the one thing you wish everyone knew about your job? To do it well requires time, effort. and experience, as well as talent.
What’s your next big goal? Figuring out my next big goal.
What’s your biggest current challenge? Acting my age.
What are you like to work for? Impossible.
Best lesson from a mentor? If you know you can do better, start over and do it better.
Best business decision? Getting out of the agency environment and going freelance.
Hardest lesson learned? In some businesses, bigger isn’t better.
Your most interesting project? Designing a two-story exhibit for a trade show in Geneva, Switzerland.
Client you want to have? A luxury hotel and resort company.
How do you recover from failure? I get busy with a small creative project that has a predictable (and happy) outcome.
True Confessions….
Who would play you in a movie about you? Johnny Depp.
Guilty pleasure? Craft cocktails.
What is your greatest extravagance? Getting married and having two children.
If I had $1 million, I would: Retire to a small island in the Caribbean.
If you could trade places with a person for a day, who would it be? Beck (the musician).
Personality in high school? I’d rather forget.
Favorite book? A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich.
What would you do if not this? Bartender at an upscale restaurant.
What is your favorite vacation spot? Caribbean.
Favorite restaurant for business or pleasure? The Capital Grille.
Favorite hobbies? Woodworking, gardening, cooking.
Favorite movie? Casablanca.
Favorite movie star? Johnny Depp.
Favorite place outside of the office? American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.
One thing you cannot do without each day: Coffee.
What do most people not know about you? I can’t answer that.
Pet peeve? Big SUVs.
What’s on your iPod? Alabama Shakes, Miles Davis, Beethoven.
Graphic design tutorial: intro to color theory (video)
Karen Kavett explains the basics of color theory.
How working with a graphic designer is like ordering a cheeseburger
At Fletcher Prince, occasionally we work with people who have not worked with graphic designers before. It takes a little educating to help them understand that they are a partner in the creative process, especially when it comes to logo design, which is one of the most challenging of all graphic design assignments.
Here’s an imaginary story I came up with to illustrate how a graphic design project can be a partnership.
So, imagine, that Joe hears that the “Fletcher Prince Cafe” has amazing burgers. 
He decides to to have lunch there. ”Mary,” the server comes over. (I really did wait tables in college, by the way.)
Joe says, “My friends say you’ve got great burgers. Please bring me a burger.”
Mary replies, “Sure! How would you like that prepared?”
Joe considers, and admits, “Well, I really don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I just know I need a burger.”
“Okay,” Mary says. “How about this? I will bring you three choices and then you can select one. We’ll charge you for the burger you like best.” That sounds good to Joe.
So Mary returns shortly with a plain burger, a cheese burger, and a veggie burger.
“Hmm,” reflects Joe. “These all look good, but they are not quite what I had in mind. Can I see the cheeseburger with a whole wheat bun?”
“Certainly,” Mary replies. She returns with the revised burger. Joe considers all the burgers, including the revised one.
“It is almost there, I think,” he tells her. “Is it possible to add pickles?” “Of course,” answers Mary. She returns with pickles on the cheeseburger.
Joe considers. “Well, that looks really good. That IS what I THOUGHT I wanted, at first. But now I am having second thoughts. Maybe what I want is not a cheeseburger, after all. Maybe what I am in the mood for is a piece of your chocolate cake.”
“That’s fine,” says Mary. “I will bring you chocolate cake. But I must ask you to pay for the burger you ordered. We put a lot of work into trying to deliver what you asked for.”
Do you think Mary was justified in asking for payment for the burger? I hope you said yes!
Our logo fee generally includes three designs, and an explanation of why the designer created those designs in that way. The client gets to pick the one he or she likes best, and then they have up to two revisions for that design that are also included in the fee. Any additional revisions are billed.
You may wonder, well, what if the client doesn’t like any of the three designs? That doesn’t happen very often, but if it did, the client would still be responsible for payment. They contracted for three options and two revisions at a fixed fee. The graphic design work was still done.
It’s up to the client to look at a designer’s portfolio, check references, and have discussions with the designer before the project is undertaken. Those steps help ensure that the result will be satisfactory.
The client has to trust in the process somewhat, but more importantly, the client should make sure the designer has all the information he or she needs to deliver the logo as desired. Just like Joe could have been more specific about what he wanted on his burger, or considered his needs and preferences more carefully before ordering.
Fortunately, we don’t have these misunderstandings with our paying clients — probably because we make these terms crystal clear before we begin work, and we put the terms in writing. In the worst case scenario, we have a 50% kill fee (the deposit we collect up front for all our contracted fixed fee work), because we recognize that we have done our part to make the project work out. But we have not yet had to enforce it, thank goodness.
The next time you are thinking about hiring a graphic designer, think about my Joe and Mary story. Keep in mind that your valuable input and your ongoing communication with the designer is a vital (and fun!) part of the creative process and helps produce a successful graphic design outcome.
How to get over losing Picnik
I had a really hard time with losing Picnik, the photo editing application that comes with a Flickr membership. I had even paid for the premium service. I had a lot of fun with it. I made a little money, too.
Even more importantly, it allowed me to do a lot of Photoshop-like things without having to learn Photoshop. Which I am going to to do one of these days. Just not today. Okay, maybe not ever. Not when I have a a Photoshop genius as a business partner.
But, I am not going to ask David to Photoshop every image I feel like playing with.
That’s what was so great about Picnik. It was so easy a non-designer could use it. Until Google bought it. And killed it. They do that sometimes. Makes me crazy.
Flickr replaced Picnik with Aviary. Aviary doesn’t always load. That never happened with Picnik. So in my experience, 75% of the time I want to edit a photo in Flickr with Aviary, I can just forget it. And when it does load, it has no where as many cool features as Flickr once did. It’s just not worth it.
Google tries to appease us all about the murder of Picnik with a Google + application called — oh, I don’t care what it’s called. I tried it and it stinks. And I don’t want to upload client pictures I’m “polishing” to my Google + profile. Some photo edits I do are private!
So I was a sulky camper until I discovered — ta dah! — PicMonkey. PicMonkey is free to use. You don’t have to even register.
Let me say that again, because even I did not believe it first. You do not have to register to use this app. Unbelievable.
PicMonkey has a lot of the features Picnik had, including some I used to have to pay for. Like cosmetic features! I love adding highlights to hair, whitening teeth, adding a little lip tint or blush. And there some new features, like fun overlays, to explore. I loves it. I do!
Check out PicMonkey! It’s easy and fun to use, and is a great way to crop, embellish, and alter your favorite photographs.
Related articles
- Picnik to shut down this week, replacements emerge (agbeat.com)
- Picnik’s over – photo-editing website closes, but plenty of others available (digitaltrends.com)
- Picnik is going away, but there’s always PicMonkey (examiner.com)
Design challenge: Facebook Timeline Cover Images
The profile image/logo has a prominent placement within the Timeline cover image. As we design branded Covers, we find it is best to work with the profile image rather than fight with it.
This reminds me of a time I was watching my dad finish a painting. He was getting ready to put in his signature. I asked him if he always put it in the same place. He said, no, you have to find a “home” for the signature in the painting. So the size, location, and color of the signature would vary from painting to painting.
I was thinking about this in relation to the Timelines Cover images. The profile image really needs to have a “home” within the Cover image.
In this example for Rink Strategic Communications, the colors of the image work with the logo. For example, the black in Susan’s camisole anchors with the black in her logo — it also calls attention to her as the important person in the photograph (besides the fact that she is in the center
Could a tagline have also been included here in the Cover? Maybe, but I think the text would have been too busy and would have competed with the R. What you want for many Facebook Cover images is a compelling photograph or design that complements the profile image. With Facebook Timeline Covers, you have to know when to walk away.
When planning the Timeline image for other clients, I also look at the Cover in terms of balance and composition. For example, there is a good space in the upper right corner. You don’t want to crowd the left side too much, since the profile picture is there.
That is the approach we took with this design for the Keenan PR Facebook Page. This is basically a banner ad she already (created by another designer) that she liked that we reworked for her as a Timeline Cover.
We flipped the image so the Silver Anvil award is on the right, and we moved the text and changed the font. So, the result is a more balanced composition that works with her logo, which is her profile image. See how the logo points at the message and the award? Cool, huh? That was almost accidental
This is also a good example (we didn’t design) from Constant Contact UK that gives the profile image a “home” in the Timeline Cover and makes good use of that upper right corner/sweet spot… You can tell this image was designed expressly for Facebook.
There is also a really nice flow, composition, and a great match between the Cover image and the profile image in this example from Manchester United (we did not design this one, either).
Look, by contrast, at this one from the New York Times. I suppose with that red staircase that it’s an interesting photograph. But does it make a good Timeline image? In my opinion, no. Nothing about the image communicates anything about the attributes (or a single attribute) of the New York Times (other than they have a lot of employees and a really cool staircase). It’s not memorable. It doesn’t play nicely with the profile image. I think they should give this one another shot….
Facebook is a fun and friendly environment, and it has a certain cool factor. Being overly corporate on Facebook would be a mistake just as it would be a mistake to use business jargon at a backyard barbecue. Brands have a real opportunity with these Facebook Page Timeline Covers. It’s worthwhile to design them well — to delight the viewer, as well as convey a message.
Related articles
- Time to Update Your Facebook Page with a New Cover (fletcher-prince.com)
Time to Update Your Facebook Page with a New Cover
Remember back in September when I blogged that Facebook would most likely shift Pages to the Timelines format? Well, that day is here. You can implement the changes right now, or spend the next few weeks getting ready for them, because the changes will go into effect for all Pages on March 30, 2012.
To illustrate, here is what the Fletcher Prince Facebook Page looked like before the changes:
Fletcher Prince Facebook Page -- Former Layout
And here is the Fletcher Prince Facebook Page after the changes that will take place for all Pages on March 30 (you can go ahead and change your Page now).
Fletcher Prince Facebook Page with the new Cover image
Are you ready? The main thing you are going to need right away is a branded Cover. You have a month to work with, and we are ready to help you. Depending on the complexity of your design, we can create a new Page Cover image for your Facebook Page for about $125 to $375, estimated.
The new Page format is visual and wide. The look of your page will change. Photos will be getting top billing, by default, and as you may know, photos are what get engagement on Facebook Pages. The photo that is featured on your Page front is the most recent photo you posted on your wall, in landscape format. So that is something to consider.
The first two “tabs” you have on your Page will be featured most prominently with thumbnails, and the rest of your links will have a click through, so pick the two tabs you like best and move them to the top of the list of your tabs.
Facebook Restrictions about Page Covers
There are some restrictions from Facebook about the Cover image. You may not put a call to action in the Cover image — you cannot say or suggest someone “like” the Page or share the Page. Facebook specifically restricts this. You cannot include price or purchase information, or any kind of promotional wording.
Choose a Cover image — or have us create one for you, because we would love to do that! — that is a creative and original photograph that sums up what your Page is about. For example, if you were a realtor, it might be an image of homes. If your Page was for a restaurant, it might be some menu items or the restaurant interior. If your Page is for a product, it might be an image of people using your product.
While you don’t want to get overly promotional, there’s no rule that says you can’t change your Cover from time to time. So, think about seasonal and holiday versions of your Covers, if that is appropriate for your brand. We will offer that design service for Page owners who would like that option.
Please contact us to update your Facebook Page Cover Image, and your client’s Facebook Pages. And remember: we also create branded Google + Page banner images, LinkedIn Business Profile banner images, new YouTube layout graphics, blog headers, Twitter profiles, and more. We can create a whole suite of branded social media images for you.
The 2012 Color of the Year is Tangerine Tango
Every year, the color company Pantone selects a “color of the year” that reflects and influences the latest design trends. Drawing on inspiration such as traveling art exhibits, fashion, cinema, and even news events, Pantone comes up with a color that they feel is reflective of the feeling of moment. The color of the year appears in fashion, home accessories, and even websites. The color of 2012 is Tangerine Tango, a bright orange with a bit of red in it, a color that may be inspired by the the energy society is trying to summon as it grapples with the economic recession, political tensions, and environmental concerns.
“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
I can vouch for the energy of the color. Two years ago, I painted my bathroom this color and it wakes me up just walking in there in the morning!
Pantone is partnering with Sephora this spring to release a collection of cosmetics based on the color of the year, including eye shadow, lipstick, lip gloss, and nail polish, and will be available beginning March 2012.
Look for Tangerine Tango in everything from bridesmaid dresses to throw pillows and purses. Maybe even logos, brochures and websites!
Are you inspired by color in your marketing work? How do you decide on the right colors for your projects?
