Collaborating Creates Delicious Results
Earlier this year, I got some help from our readers as I worked on a logo design for My Doorstep Deliveries.
With your input we narrowed down the choices and came up with a logo our client truly loved.
Next we were asked to develop a brochure, owner Danielle could drop off with prospective clients which would give them a feel for the services she offered. The challenge was to develop a piece which would be appealing to her clients ( primarily seniors) and yet still convey the essence of her bubbly personality.
For some reason, I couldn’t find the right balance, and relied once again on creative input and collaboration, this time from Heather our graphic design intern. Working together, building off each other’s ideas, we have developed something our client loves.
I have really enjoyed having other designers on the team this summer, and I am glad Heather will be hanging around through the fall!
Business Card Makeover – The Final Winner!
The business card makeover contest has been a lot of fun. We have seen a number of cards which really needed a makeover. Along the way, we have been able to help several business owners.
This month, our intern Dan took the lead on the redesign. Here is what he had to say about the process.
Although it may be popular, a business card doesn’t need to be a bright color or have a flashy gradient to stand out.
Sometimes, just a strong images can really catch someone’s eyes and portray something about the business at the same time. I’m not endorsing the use of stock photos on business cards, but select graphics, used correctly, can add a nice touch.
While experimenting with the design, for this month’s winner Wire2U, I made a graphic of the AC plug (of which I was kind of proud). I liked it so much, I started looking at other cables to include. Each of the cables which appear on the card is was created from an actual cablet I found laying around my house or at the office.
These cables make the business card more noticeable and interesting, while appealing to people, such as myself, who live with cluttered rooms with countless confusing cables. As for the color scheme, I used yellow to attract attention, but added navy to keep a professional and trustworthy image. Be sure to ask the winner, Pat Seal, for his business card to see it in person the next time you run into him at a Rainmaker Event.
Unfortunately, there is some bad news in this post too. As much as we have enjoyed ridding the world of ugly business cards this will be the last business card makeover .
But, a good brand is constantly evolving, so stay tuned to here and on our facebook fanpage, because there are new things are just around the corner.
Vote for Your Favorite
Entries are now closed, but you can still vote for your favorite by selecting the link below. Be sure to pick the card you believe most deserves to win!
Taking SEO Into Your Own Hands
Every once in a while, we get a client who doesn’t just talk about wanting the best ranked website in their field, they are committed to going the extra mile to stand head and shoulders above their competitors. Dr. Jeff Yoder of Meridian Chiropractic is one of those clients. Dr. Yoder understands the importance of measuring each and every marketing effort he puts forth when trying to reach clients.
When we build sites in WordPress, we do several things to improve the overall search rankings of a site. We use All-In-One SEO to title pages. We work with the clients to develop a list of key words to be used in their posts. And then, after we build the site we train our clients how to manage their sites. Once complete, the responsibility is theirs to continue creating fresh, relevant content to maximize their SEO efforts. It’s important that clients create new blog posts and use the tools we give them to put their websites in the best position to be successful.
Often, our clients adopt a set it and forget it attitude. However, Dr. Yoder has continued to challenge us to find additional ways to help increase his visibility on the keywords he wants to build his SEO strategy around.
He caters to busy professionals who need a chiropractor located in downtown Indianapolis. For him, the words “Indianapolis chiropractor“, “downtown chiropractor“, and “Meridian Chiropractic” are keywords Dr. Yoder wants his site strongly associated with.
Dr. Yoder has been tracking his progress from obscurity to visibility on search engines. He has seen progress and we now as he continues to ad fresh content and optimize each new post for search engines, his rankings will continue to improve.
We always love when clients take an active role in their marketing success. It’s that drive that separates most successful business owners from the pack.
Biz Card Makeover: Inspiration
We’ve been talking a lot lately about what makes a bad business card: hard to read, printed on computer paper, and just plain ugly. So it’s about time we show you some examples of good design. Draw inspiration from these examples, but remember your card should ultimately reflect who you are, not just look cool and flashy.
All photos are drawn from this great article. Check it out for dozens of more examples of great cards, as well as some tips on designing your own card.
Simple Business Card Designs Can Be Beautiful
A good business card doesn’t have to be crazy and avant garde: classy and elegant work well, too.
.
Unusual Shapes Can Create a Striking Design for Your Card
When you have a bit more in your business card budget, try playing around with shapes for a slightly different feel.
You can keep the standard business card size, but bring a whole new sensibility to your card. These designs are memorable, but remember your production cost will be much higher.
Want a New Design for Your Business Card?
If any of these beautiful business cards have inspired you to make a change give us a call. We would love to help!
We Have a Winner!
Humans are very receptive to color. For instance, red makes us think of heat, fire, and passion. But it can also make us think of danger and blood. Blue is a calming color, associated with wisdom and trustworthiness. It’s also strongly connected with masculinity and is highly favored by men.
So take a look at your logo and your business card. Are you using the right colors to attract the audience that you want? For instance, if you’re an accountant who uses purple in your logo, you’ve chosen a color that’s most attractive to children, who may not be in the market for book keeping services. Instead, you may want to choose a deep green, which subconsciously makes people think of money.
Taylor’s redesign of Andrew Carson’s card for our June Makeover makes great use of color theory. He moved from Andrew’s monochromatic and slightly dull design to a gunmetal blue. This color pays homage to Andrew’s military background, but also ties in with his etiquette consulting business: blue is trustworthy, peacefully, and appeals to the mind rather than emotions.
We’ll be continuing our Business Card Makeover for one more month, so there’s still time to breathe some new life into your card. Just fill out the form below, and you could be a winner.
Pick the Winner for the June Business Card Makeover
As we continue our crusade to rid the world of ugly business cards–one card at a time, we are ready to pick and June winner. As you are considering which oneto vote for, let’s talk about professionalism. Your business card is a selling tool. Is it projecting an accurate image of who you are and what you do?
Take a minute and view your card through the eyes of a prospective client or more importantly a referral partner. Are they going to be comfortable passing on your card to their best client?
If you’re a lawyer, for instance, your card should probably not be using Comic Sans MS font (Actually, no one should be using it). But conversely, if you’re a wedding planner, you might want to shy away from the traditional, and extremely common Times New Roman.
Your branding is more than just the font selection. All the elements of your card including the colors, images ( please avoid any of the clip art available from Microsoft), the size and shape of the card, and the weight of the paper all contribute to the image your brand conveys.
Here’s the latest batch of cards vying for your votes. Pick the one you believe deserves this month’s free business card makeover!
Carpenters Rule and Door Step Deliveries
Over the last few months, we have had several great projects helping new business owners name their companies and the create graphics to support the brands.
Part of what made the projects so much fun was our experiments with crowd sourcing as we asked for input on the names and the designs.
With your help we have named two companies, a grocery delivery service for seniors: Doorstep Deliveries and a carpentry business: Carpenters Rule.
We even solicited a bit of input on the logos, so we thought you would enjoy seeing the final versions.
Revenge of the Little Blue Bird
By now most of you have heard something about an oil spill in the Gulf Coast. The spill, one belonging to British Petroleum, has been a PR disaster for the company. A few days ago, Lorraine wrote a post displaying some of the “redone” BP logos angry folks had designed, spurred on by Greenpeace.
While that is certainly a creative way to lambaste BP, I found another outlet one dissatisfied opponent of BP’s crisis 
management has decided to utilize: Twitter.
Fans of PR news will be familiar with BPGlobalPR, a fake Twitter account that has been set up to mock BP’s response to the oil spill. As one article on Time Magazine’s website states:
BPGlobalPR, a fake Twitter account that apparently went live a week ago today, is now being regularly updated with messages that mock BP’s response to the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Poking fun at everything from the firm’s corporate profits to its ongoing struggles in shutting off the oil stream, BPGlobalPR has already attracted more than 25,000 followers. And the number keeps ticking upwards.
Tweets from the account range from poignant to hilarious, for instance:
- I’ve gotta say, at night the gulf really doesn’t look that bad.
- A bird just stole my sandwich! You deserve everything you get, nature!!!
- Feeling down? Why not take a long drive and blow off some steam?
- Lots of people blaming this on Bush or Obama. Pph, we wish.
- The truth is Presidents don’t have any control over what we do.
What do you think about they way social media is being used to criticize BP? Is this a sign of things to come? Will other companies face the same fate if they disappoint their customers and the general public?
And what, if any response should BP take?
Straightening A Crooked Image
Many of the small businesses we work with, come to us with a “crooked image” . Just like patients visiting a chiropractor, they are walking around, conducting business, just not doing it well.
This was the case with Dr. Jeff Yoder, owner of Meridian Chiropractic Clinic. With a well established practice, his branding did not represent the professionalism of his practice.
He had a simple logo for his practice, which he used on business cards and letterhead. It was not, however, included in his website design, which featured only a generic spine image, that could have belonged to any doctor.
With a practice, serving primarily a professional community ( lawyers and accountants who spend too many hours sitting at their desks) we wanted to give him a fresh, distinctive look that would appeal to this audience.
Starting with new text treatment his company name presented some interesting challenges from a design standpoint. The long middle word made the stacking of the three words seem odd. The initials by themselves MCC looked too much like a local cafeteria.
We finally settled on a design which featured just the “M” in a distinctive font. The addition of a little yellow really brought a some life to the design. Once we finalized the logo, the banner came together very quickly. Then Allison took over an finished the design of the website.
