Blogs

How can a faith-based non-profit organization survive in this down economy when businesses and individuals are cutting back even on the essentials? It’s time to get creative. Circumstances may have changed, but the people who are helped by what you do or provide still need you and your services – maybe even more. The same old newsletter or annual giving letter to the usual donors is no longer enough. Here are a few things to do that might even help you grow in this economy:

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I know after I write this that I will officially be an old fart. 

But I can’t help it. After being in the business for over 25 years, I have earned it.

Back when you had to walk to design school in the snow, uphill, both ways, with no shoes because you couldn’t afford them, people got into this business because they loved it. Loved to draw, design, create new things. There was a passion for what we were doing. We had no idea (at least I didn’t) whether or not we could make a decent living at it, but the passion for doing it drove us. And the idea of leaving at five o’clock never even occurred to us. We loved what we were doing and couldn’t believe we were getting paid for it. Not everybody, but most it seemed.  » Read more

Maybe it’s just because my Mother is an English teacher, but one of my pet-peeves is misspelled words. It’s not uncommon for me to see them on a daily basis – in newspapers, books, Web sites, etc. – but it is especially upsetting to me when I see these errors in advertising.

Misspellings in ads make me second-guess whoever or whatever is being advertised. Does the represented company not care enough about its public presence to spell-check its materials? Does that company’s ad/design agency not have a system in place to double-check – or even triple-check – advertisements for their clients?

I know nobody is perfect – mistakes certainly happen – but in today’s age of technology, spell-check is something that everybody has access to. Even if every Word-processing program doesn’t have it, there are hundreds of Web sites that provide the same service.» Read more

It’s a cliché that we have all used: It’s the same difference. It makes no sense, but it makes perfect sense. How can it be the same, but yet still be different? When it comes to branding, the answer is in a clear consistent message with a fresh delivery.

We all understand the importance of consistency in all areas of our life. The way we treat our friends and family. The way we manage our time. The way we conduct our business. We also understand the importance of variety and keeping things fresh and new.» Read more

One of the first things that most graphic designers learned in college was the art of conceptualizing, and the process one must go through in order to make a successful composition.

While creatives go through many different forms of brainstorming, the process of the word list can be overlooked in the face of deadlines. The word list is a simple creative exercise, in which a designer takes a word, or group of words, and then thinks of as many words as they can that relate to that first word. The process let's the mind wander down different paths that it might otherwise not go.

Exercises such as the word list are designed to make creatives slow down and truly realize a project's potential.

I came to this realization myself recently. I was brought in on a brainwoo project, and was given the artistic freedom to see what I could come up without restrictions.» Read more