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I recently had a client (a photographer based in Howell, Michigan) tell me that she didn’t want to offend me when she let me know what she liked or didn’t like about the drafts of her new logo. My response was that ultimately, it’s her logo, not mine. I want my clients to give me their honest opinion. This exchange got me to thinking though – about the interesting position a graphic artist is placed in creating work for someone else.
While all artists would dream of some sort of creative freedom whereby we can create what we like to create just how we like to create it, the truth is that art history is littered with art done for commercial gain of one sort or another. Like it or not, even the great masters had patrons. Michelangelo is quoted in Vasari’s Lives of the Artists as saying “I cannot live under pressures from patrons, let alone paint.”
But he created some truly remarkable works of art for the equivalent of clients.
For the modern graphic artist, the challenge is learning to let go of your work and realize that part of what can be rewarding about our job is not just what we create, but how well we can meld our vision and creation with the needs and wants of our clients. Because ultimately, what is even more rewarding than looking at my screen and personally really loving what I’ve created is hearing a client say that they really love it.
Everyone needs to be inspired by something – be it an incredible act of bravery, the beauty of a sunset as you drive across South Dakota or the laugh of a small child. Working in the arts, I have the wonderful opportunity to draw on inspiration and actually create something from it.
This week’s inspiration comes from my family’s camping trip in south central Michigan this last weekend. After battling mosquitoes and a reticent two year old, we were driving home to Howell in a very out of the way zig zag navigational style. Although we wanted to get home, we didn’t mind the long drive because it was very pretty. It was one of those days where the light from the sun works just right with the clouds and makes the colors around you just pop. The surrounding farmland consisted of green and gold rolling hills accented with the occasional brick red barn, and the sky was this awesome crisp blue gray. That deep green, gold, red and gray blue were a wonderful color combination – a modified primary colors found together naturally, and I’ve decided that I’m going to use it for a graphic design project as soon as I find a client whose needs and personality will work with them.
Will post the result of this color inspiration soon. Where do you find your inspiration?
(Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera out to get a picture of the inspirational scene, but it was similar to the above scene)
Last night we had a hard time putting my two year old to bed, and when finally we thought he was down… the ice cream truck started its music filled march through our usually quiet Michigan neighborhood. And because I had bought him an ice cream earlier in the week, even half asleep, he heard the music and recognized what it was. It was only a matter of time before he was out of his room and a little voice peeped, “Hear that guys? The ice cream guy’s in our driveway”.
While on the one hand it was incredibly annoying for the ice cream truck to be making its rounds after 9:00 at night. It got me to thinking about how effective the “brand recognition” strategy for ice cream trucks is. Granted, I don’t know how profitable it is to sell bomb pops out of a van, but it’s definitely a business everyone (even a two year old) can recognize instantly.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could all find that same sort of instant identification with our clients? One way of helping this is to maintain a consistent identity throughout your marketing materials. While they don’t need to be identical, there definitely needs to be a theme that runs throughout them. Whether your potential customers see an ad, your website, tradeshow materials or even your online profile you need that special something that sticks out as yours and connects it all together. This is just as important for a small business or entrepreneur as it is for a large corporation.
What are some of the most effective ways you’ve seen for companies to become recognizable? Have you found a way for your company to work as a Pied Piper for your clients?
Ice Cream Truck
Ever think about how one color seems to come into vogue and then pop up everywhere from the clothing on display in department stores, to appliances? There is actually a company (Pantone) that comes up with what colors are going to be the next new thing. How’s that for a job?
For example, they decided that mimosa is the offical color of 2009. Wanna know what color mimosa is? Think about the yummy orange juice and champagne drink – it’s a rich yellow. Really a very nice color and I’m going to make it a point to use it in a design real soon.
What makes it the offical color of 2009? According to the folks at Pantone, “In a time of economic uncertainty and political change, optimism is paramount and no other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow.”
Check it out and let me know… Does the color mimosa provide you with a hopeful and reassured feeling? I know it makes me want to go get some champagne and orange juice… yummy…
My two month old son talks to ducks – these very cute little wallpaper border ducks that sit right above his changing table. He can be crying and upset and I’ll set him down and he’ll turn his head toward the wall, smile and coo at those goofy ducks – oblivious to the world around him. What does this have to do with marketing? Well, partly I’m just looking for an excuse to share the duck talking with anyone who will listen since I think it’s cute, but it also makes me think of how everyone has a special audience that they’re ultimately looking for to share their story.
Every business needs to focus on who it is they’re trying to reach with their marketing and whether or not their efforts are actually reaching those people. This means looking at where you’re advertising and who reads or see it. It also means taking a hard look at the literal look of your materials and making sure that the graphic design actually appeals to your target market.
Examples… If your company primarily does business with other businesses, you probably shouldn’t be advertising in anything meant to target consumers. You should really take a hard look at whether TV or radio spots, ads in the coupon books we all get in the mail or even yellow pages are really where you should be focusing your efforts. Advertising sales people can be tenacious and you need to be armed with the knowledge of who you want to reach before you talk to them so that you don’t end up paying to talk to the wrong people.
As for the actual look of your materials once you find how to target your market… If you’re a new restaurant looking to attract hungry people looking for a bargain on their food, your materials are going to look different than a day spa’s. If you’re that new restaurant, you don’t want your materials to be really attractive, yet turn off clientele by making your business appear too expensive. While you might really like the clean minimalist look, you need to think about whether or not that aesthetic is going to appeal to who you want to be talking to. Similarly, if you’re that day spa, you want to make sure your materials are going to be sophisticated enough to appeal to the clients with extra money to spend on pampering. A qualified graphic designer can help you decide on the right aesthetic for your market.
If you’re like most small businesses and entrepreneurs here in Brighton, Michigan, you have limited resources to spend on your advertising and marketing. Make sure that before you spend those resources you have actually found your own ducks, and that you’re communicating in the language that they’ll understand.
Who is your target market and how have you been able to reach them?
Nobody wants their marketing materials to actually cause negative associations for their company, but occasionally it happens.
Examples… A couple years ago there was a commercial for a toothbrush that featured plaque flying 3-d at people in a movie theater. To me, the ad gave me the heebie jeebies. I mean… flying plaque is kinda gross and I don’t want to associate gross with a toothbrush.
A company I used to work for had a corporate tagline of “Transcending the mundane by expanding the possible”. I’m sure some corporate executive thought this was a great tagline… but the problem is that people are forever associating the word mundane with this firm. Even if the actual tagline is saying they’re not mundane, everytime someone thinks this tagline, there it is… mundane.
And the most recent one I saw that really got me to thinking about this… There is currently a commercial airing here in Brighton, Michigan for an insurance agency where the man in the commercial is trying to tell people that this insurance agency has good customer service. Unfortunately, he is trying to accomplish this by repeatedly saying the word “complaint”. Seriously, I’m sure they use the word at least half a dozen times in this commercial. So when people see this ad, they associate this insurance company with complaints even though the ad is meant to say that the company is good at listening and responding to complaints.
My point… be sure that what you’re trying to convey in your marketing isn’t actually hurting you subconsciously with your customers. Although my examples are from fairly large companies, the result of negative associations can be even more detrimental to a small business or entrepreneur. When you’re talking about how your company deals with problems, call them challenges or better yet, opportunities. Complaints are customer service. Cheap is inexpensive, or even better still… affordable. Put a positive spin to your language and don’t gross out your audience.
What do you think? What are some of the worst campaigns you’ve seen that were meant to sell you but ended up leaving a negative association?
The importance of consistency and professionalism in your marketing materials cannot be understated. However, few small business owners or entrepreneurs have the skill set and expertise to consistently create high caliber marketing materials. Most do not have inhouse marketing or graphic design staff andthe cost of hiring a graphic designer or marketing consultant each time you need a flier or ad can be more than many can afford.
Working with a graphic designer you trust to develop templates can provide a cost effective way to produce high quality, consistent marketing materials. The designer provides the look and feel of your documents and you provide the changing content. This approach has worked very well for several of my graphic design clients.
Do you use templates for your marketing materials? If not, why?
Once upon a time, small businesses and entrepeneurs were in large part competing against other “little guys”. Not so anymore. In today’s very tight market, those large firms who used to only go after the equally large clients and projects are now going after your clientelle. And I know this because I used to work in the graphic design and marketing department of one of those big firms here in Michigan. And those “little” jobs that are your bread and butter… well some of those bigger firms think of them as “low hanging fruit” and when times are tough, they go after them to keep the doors open until the bigger jobs come back.
What does this mean for you? Well, in addition to just having more competition, it means that small businesses are now competing with companies that in many cases have full time staff dedicated to marketing and graphic design. And that dedicated marketing staff means that their marketing materials are going to be higher quality than those put out by many small business people. While many small businesses make due with what they or their administrative assistant can put together, those large companies can have their professional graphic designer and marketing staff put together very slick and impressive collateral and proposals.
How do you combat this when it wouldn’t make sense to hire your own in-house marketing staff? Think about utilizing a small graphic design or marketing firm to put together templates that you can use for your day to day marketing, and work even closer with this firm to help you out with those larger projects. This gives you the ability to continue to focus on what you do for your clients while still putting out materials that will help you stand shoulder to shoulder with the big boys.
What do you think? Have you noticed more competition from firms whom you weren’t competing with before?
Online print houses can be a great money saving option for entrepreneurs – if they’re used for printing. However, far too many small business people are using these services to also “design” their marketing collateral. Your marketing collateral should reflect YOUR business and personality. This is especially true with your business card. While a stock photo of an outdoor scene might be pleasant enough, it is incredibly generic – only saying something about you or your business if you happen to be an outdoor outfitter.
A business card with a generic background blends into oblivion with your potential clients. Nothing makes it stand out from the crowd, and even worse, it sends a subliminal message that your business isn’t a serious, “real” business. Think about it, let’s say you get two business cards from a potential service provider – say a financial planner. One of them has a stock photo in the background while the other one has a unique, professional logo or graphic. Which one are you going to take more seriously? Which one looks like it’s associated with a legitimate, established and experienced business professional? Who are you more likely to trust and do business with?
Another downside of using the ready made templates – chances are someone else is using the same one. I was recently at a networking event in Brighton, Michigan where I received the same card, from two individuals in two vastly different businesses. And the graphic design of the card didn’t say anything meaningful about either of them.
Putting together a professional, unique business card doesn’t have to break the bank for a new small business, but it does need to be something that has some time and thought put into it. Pay the small amount extra to upload your own logo or images to that online print house. Strongly consider working with a graphic designer. The one time expense to come up with a card that truly says what you mean to say to potential clients is more than worth it – especially considering the negative message that you might otherwise be portraying. (For more on what your business card needs to contain, read the great article by Marketing coach Tom Harris.)
In today’s highly competetive marketplace, we all need every advantage we can get. Do you want to be the one with the card that blends into the background? What are some of the worst business card “sins” you’ve encountered?
