Sarah Spoelstra's Design Blog

Why You Should Jump on the Brand Wagon

Jump on the Brand Wagon!

You’re serious about your business, so you should look like you are. And in a rough economy, it’s even more important to hold onto the market share you’ve worked so hard for over the years. So dig your heels in and brand your business like you mean it. By branding your business, product, or service you will not only keep market share you have, but you very well may gain some. So here’s how not to get left in the dust.

Live and Learn

Start by observing those who are doing it right. According to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2010 Rankings, Coca-Cola, Apple, and Disney are in the top 10. Don’t copy them, but use them for inspiration. No matter how big or small your company, you can learn a thing or two from these behemoth brands and apply it to your own business.

Stick to Your Guns…

Remember, when it comes to branding, consistency is key. 75% of consumers buy on their emotional connections to a brand. With recent faux pas such as Gap and JCPenny’s logo redesigns, brand value is finally being given the credit it’s due.

A Brand is More than a Logo

It’s an experience. Although, the design and “look” of your brand is essential, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Experience is what builds the emotional connection to your brand. Your design should reflect and invoke that experience. Think of the first time you drank a bottle of Coke. I bet you can almost taste it and you think about those little fizzy bubbles. Man, I feel warm and fuzzy already. As branding pertains to graphic design—paper choices, color, your logo, imagery, fonts, etc. can all help you support and build up your brand to evoke the emotional response you want in the consumer’s mind.

Say It Loud and Proud

Decide who you are and who you want to be and own it! Are you prestigious, technologically savvy, reliable, or trendy? Every consumer touch point, from the look of your product on the shelf , your customer service, your marketing materials, the product in the consumer’s hands, or even your Facebook page needs to communicate who you are consistently and support what you stand for. So say it loud and proud!

Think Small

Narrow your focus and become the expert within your niché. Think about Noodles and Company, who offers guess what? Noodles and pasta dishes. Its’ hungry customers are conditioned to come in looking for that ooey-gooey mac ‘n’ cheese at reasonable price . Or, if pasta isn’t your dish, think about Chipotle, who wraps up one awesome burrito. From the time you walk in to the time you walk out you know you’ve eaten at Chipotle from the music selection playing overhead to the crumpled up tinfoil next to your soda cup. They do a great job of keeping their brand consistent.

So, I’m challenging you to get out there and really identify what you want in your brand, and partner up with a good graphic designer to help you get a leg up on your competition. Get on the brand wagon and hold on for the ride!

Logo Development: Alpha Hydrox

Published April 11, 2011 Branding , graphic design , Logos Leave a Comment
Tags: alpha hydrox, beauty, cosmetics, graphic design, graphic designer, logo, logo development, skin care, skincare

In the last blog post we talked about how the creative process works. In this post I’d like to show you and demystify the logo development process a bit. I was an in-house designer for a little over a decade before I took the leap to my own design firm. No matter whether you’re serving in-house clients or on your own the process remains the same.

Some Background Info

One company I worked for was Scott’s Liquid Gold. They manufacture household cleaners and chemicals along with a skincare line called Alpha Hydrox. It was HUGE product line in the 80s and is gaining momentum again. I was part of a committee of women in those days dedicated to product development. We decided it was high time we updated the Alpha Hydrox logo to revitalize the brand and attract new users. The demographic was mainly women 35+, but most current users fell into the boomer category. The color red had to stay, as it was getting some great brand recognition from the red box at the shelf level. So with this in mind I worked with my art director, Mary Lou Egan, at the time to come up with a new logo…

The first round of sketches…

In the first round of sketches I like to get all the mind clutter out and the ideas on paper. This helps me sort through them and decide what I’ll take to the computer to explore further. I usually don’t show the client these sketches as some of the thumbnails serve more as a reference to an idea and look better in my head than on paper. I find it’s better to develop the idea first a bit and then present it to the client as a possible avenue to pursue. It makes more sense when it’s been refined a bit rather than just a thumbnail sketch.

Alpha Hydrox Thumbnails—The Good, the bad, and the ugly. This is just a snapshot of the sketches. As you can see there are some mundane ideas in there but also some shiny nuggets that needed polishing. Click the image to enlarge.

Execution

Once I’ve sorted through the clutter it’s time to take these ideas to the computer to start executing them and see if they pan out and communicate the brand effectively. Again, I tend to filter these a bit when presenting to my clients, some of them don’t hit the mark like I thought. During the first round of concepts I explore and experiment with different font choices and treatments, color combinations, illustration styles, shapes, etc.

Screen shot in Adobe Illustrator of Alpha Hydrox Logo Concepts. As you can see, I really try to evolve each idea into something more tangible. Click image to enlarge.

Refinement

Once I’ve gotten some solid ideas knocked out it’s time to present them to the client. This is where we talk and collaborate about whether or not we’re headed in the right direction, what revisions and tweaks we’d like to see, and which avenues we want to explore more. I think it’s very important to get your client’s input to ensure they feel like they are part of the process and have put their personal touch on the logo or project.

Alpha Hydrox Concepts Refined

Getting down to the Nitty Gritty

Next in the revision process we drill down even further and narrow down it to one or two logos to explore completely.

Alpha Hydrox Logo Color Exploration

The End

In the end there is one solution that rises to the top. Their new logo sets the tone for their brand and identity. And after the all is said and done, the client can feel confident in the logo we have developed because they were part of the process.

Alpha Hydrox Final Logo applied to the product.

What are Your Favorite iPad Apps?

Published February 28, 2011 Apps , graphic design , iPad , Productivity , Technology Leave a Comment
Tags: apps, cnn, dr. Seuss, favorite apps, games, iPad, netflix, PDF reader Pro, penultimate, productivity, review, scrabble, soundnote, starbucks mobile, tom the taking cat

I recently got an iPad, and have discovered a whole new world of fun with apps. Here’s a few of the favorites I’ve stumbled on, in no particular order. What’s yours?

PenUltimate App Icon

1. Penultimate ($1.99)

I bought a stylus for my iPad just because of this app. I love it because it works great as a sketchbook. I can email a PDF to a client to communicate an idea, or send it to myself to explore my thoughts further or just squirrel it away for another day. It has a few different colors you can sketch in—black and two shades of gray, blue, red, and green and an eraser tool. You can choose from graph, lined, or plain paper and a couple of different pen widths. My other favorite feature of this app is you can save multiple notebooks. So I can store my own personal sketches and then have a separate one for each of my clients.

2. Scrabble ($9.99)

This classic board game comes to life on your iPad. My favorite feature on this app is challenging my Facebook friends to a friendly duel of words in Scrabble. But, if you just can’t wait for some action, you can also play the computer. In one mode, you can pass your iPad around and play with friends in person or you can all bring your iPads together and do a “Party Play”. You can also duel it out on a local network. Ah, the crossword possibilities.

3. Netflix (FREE – subscription required)

Since we have forgone our plethora of cable channels for economic reasons this app has made the switch from 200 channels to 20 a lot easier. Shows I wished I had watched or never even heard of I now enjoy watching via the iPad, instantly and commercial-free.

4. Starbucks Card Mobile (FREE)

Technically this is an iPhone app, but it works on the iPad. I love that I can reload my Starbucks card from here and not have to go to the website and type in my password every time. I can check my card balance and see if I’m close to getting a free drink. Or if you have an iPhone you can use it to pay. It also helps me find the closest Starbucks. Anything that makes my life easier is awesome.

5. CNN (FREE)

Again, now that we’ve downsized our cable this is surprisingly one of the channels I miss. I can catch up on the news by watching short videos or reading articles any time I want.

6. SoundNote ($4.99)

This is another great app for taking notes. You can record your voice, use a stylus to write, or type in notes with a keyboard. I primarily use it to record time spent on client’s projects, create to-do lists, or record random thoughts, etc. The only drawbacks are, it can be a little tiresome typing with the virtual keyboard and the audio portion doesn’t dictate what you’re saying. Overall though I’ve found this app very useful and I like the clean layout and design.

7. Any Dr. Seuss Book (FREE-$3.99 a book)

Our family is big into Dr. Seuss so it only makes sense we’d be totally into the app. They have really brought the books to life with interesting voices, sound effects, and Ken Burns-style video compositions. These books have an autoplay feature that has come in handy on road trips or at friends houses when our 2 1/2 year old gets a little antsy. Or if you’d rather there is a “read to me” and “read it myself” mode. I love that you can tap on any parts of the pictures and then words relating to the subject you tapped on will pop up enabling my daughter to interact and learn the words.

8. Tom the Talking Cat (FREE-$2.99)

This is super silly app but is a big hit with our daughter. Tom the Talking Cat will “listen” to what you say and repeat it back to you in his high pitched “kitty” voice. You can get the free version which is ad supported or an ad free version with a few extra features—where Tom tries to eat a bird, throw a pie at you, and scratches the screen.

9. PDF Reader Pro ($3.99)

I used this app the other day to present some logos to a client. It allows me to view any PDF on my iPad, and comes in really handy for me since I’m a graphic designer and use PDFs all the time. Some nice features are:

You can download PDF email attachments
Email PDFs directly from the application
Wifi web sharing (so you can easily transfer your PDF files)
The 4.1 version now supports highlights and annotations which is great for marking up a PDF with comments and communicating with clients.

Some cons to the app are the subtle contrast in colors don’t display real well and PMS/Pantone colors display way off so do rely on it for color accuracy.

The Creative Process, How does it work?

Published February 3, 2011 Branding , graphic design , Innovation , Product Development , The Creative Process Leave a Comment
Tags: Brainstoroming, creative, creativity, eureka moment, executing ideas, how does it work, ideas, ideation, ingesting, making ideas happen, the creative process

How does the creative process work? Do ideas just float down from somewhere in the sky and you pluck them out? Believe it or not, there really is a method to the madness. Well, at least there is to my creative madness…here’s how it works for me.

Ingestion

When faced with a design dilemma I immerse myself in my subject whether it be packaging for wrinkle cream or a logo for a caulking product. I go into what I call my “ingest” mode. Even when I’m not “clocked-in” I’m subconsciously working on the design problem at hand and searching for its’ remedy. In this mode, I’m ingesting information, categorizing it, and working through a plethora of possible solutions. By nature I love to observe the world around me and pull in ideas from everywhere—client input, nature, music, magazines, the playground, the grocery store, crafting, my travels, TV, book stores, interactions with friends and family, the internet, life experiences, reading books, people watching at Starbucks, the cityscape, on walks, or whatever—you get the picture, it comes from everywhere. During “ingestion”, another method I employ is brainstorming related words to spark my imagination and get my creative juices flowing. Often I’ll write pages of words that relate to my subject, which in turn, helps me to: organize my thoughts, evolve an idea, purge the excess from my head, and have a list to use later for reference, etc. I also like to research what the client’s competition is doing to see what’s working and what’s not in that particular market segment.

Eureka!

While I’m marinating and fully submerging my mind during ingestion—EUREKA! Ideas start popping like little kernels of popcorn in my head and I rush off to my sketchbook or iPad to get them down before they are lost in the creative abyss. Often the best ideas come to me while I’m in the shower, relaxing with the family, or otherwise disengaged. If I feel stuck, I find it best to step back for a little while and then come back to it with clearer and uncluttered mind. In this stage, I have all the pieces, they just need to put together in a way that is new and fresh. One needs to be open to ideas in this stage. From this rush of ideas there are a few golden nuggets that will need to be refined when executed.

Execution

After those few golden nugget ideas have formed, I translate them from a sketch to a more refined digital concept on the computer, where I refine and flush them out, and tweak them again and again to make sure they work, filtering out some ideas and letting the créme de la créme concepts rise to the top. During the execution stage I have some rough draft ideas to present to the client and then we collaborate and hammer out the details. At this point, it’s important to get your client’s input to either confirm you are on the right track to move ahead or decide whether or not a different avenue of thought needs to be pursued. After this point, you refine the concept and then revise until the client is happy.

I find that I use this creative process whether I’m tackling a design problem or trying to come up with ideas for how to renovate the bathroom. With a little practice, you can apply it to whatever your current predicament is as well. You are creative, you just have to unleash it.

Social Media—The Golden Rules

Published November 9, 2010 Branding , Business , graphic design , Social Media 2 Comments
Tags: Ettiquette, facebook, golden rules, linkedin, Social Media, twitter

Treat others as you want to be treated. Live by that rule in the Social Media sphere and apply a little common sense and you should be just fine. But just in case you need some specifics here’s a few little golden nuggets to guide you along the social media path.

1. Social Media is the real world too.
Transparency is abound is Social Media and networking, whether you’re using it to market your product, business, or purely for personal entertainment and enjoyment. Remember, just because you’re behind a computer and not face-to-face with someone doesn’t mean the same rules don’t apply. Like Vegas, what you say in cyberspace stays in cyberspace. So don’t post or say anything you wouldn’t say out loud and proud in the “real world”, otherwise it may come back to haunt you. Think of yourself as a brand if you will, what you put out there is how current and potential employers, clients, mates, friends, and family will precieve you as and associate you with. The beauty of SM is you can control this. This isn’t to say you can’t be yourself, it’s crucial to infuse your personality and uniqueness into your SM communications to stand out of the crowd, just be aware of the image you’re projecting to others.

2. Mind your Manners.
You weren’t raised in the woods, so introduce yourself, whether you know someone or not. Granted you may not have to introduce yourself to your Aunt Tootie on Facebook, but just as in real life someone may remember your face and not your name or where they know from, so be polite. If someone sends you a message, reply back. Fill out your bio or profile information. Tell me why should I follow, like, or friend you? Include the five Ws—the who, what, when, where, why in your bio or profile. If someone sends you a message, reply back. Do personalize messages and don’t use automated services to send out mass messages, channel your inner Martha Stewart.

3. Play Nice.
Keep your tone positive and upbeat and avoid complaining and negativity. Don’t post photos of your friends and associates they wouldn’t want online either. C’mon does everyone really need to see those crazy pictures from your college days?

4. The Grammar Police
Check your spelling and grammar. Do U really have to B typing things like this? We Rn’t in junior high anymore so don’t be writing like UR. K? It’s hard to read and undermines your credibility. It’s fine to abbreviate when necessary but not everyone is a text messaging guru.

5. Be Generous
This is a biggie. Social media is all about connecting and sharing information, be generous with your knowledge. If you’re looking to promote your business you can offer up advice on forums and discussion groups that you have a genuine interest and knowledge base in. Don’t shamelessly post countless self-promotional bits about how great you or your brand or service is. This is just plain annoying, it’s kind of like dating, don’t make it all about you or you won’t get another chance. Instead, create a value by interacting with your community. Listen. This not only allows you to connect on a more personal level with your customer base it also builds trust and relationships with those customers. You get what you give, consider it Social Media karma. Social Media is a long term commitment and it takes time to build a following. This isn’t “Field of Dreams”, if you build it will come. You have to bring something to table that your audience can take away with them. Add value and they will come.

6. Don’t Ask For Followers.
You don’t go out on the street shouting will anyone out there be my friend?! This just looks desperate and really what good will it do you or your business? If it’s just numbers and not people that are genuinely interested in you or your brand?

7. Don’t SPAM.
Do I really need to say more?

8. Be Honest.
Transparency is what makes the Social Media world go ’round. If you pretend to be someone else to sabotage another person or company, for example being an unhappy customer, you’ll lose any respect and trust you had to begin with. Again, it just goes back to the golden rule—treat others the way you want to be treated.

9. When in Doubt Don’t Push the Button
If you’re in doubt as to whether you should post or share something don’t. Trust your gut. Avoid posting when you are upset, overly tired and cranky, been drinking, etc. Not everything that pops into your pretty little head needs to shared with the masses.

I Heart Comic Sans

Published August 31, 2010 Branding , graphic design , packaging , Typography Leave a Comment
Tags: Branding, comic sans, typography

Have you ever noticed a flash horror and disgust in your designer’s twinkling eye when you speak the phrase “Comic Sans”? Does your designer start sweating profusely, give you a sarcastic smirk, or start choking violently at the utterance of these syllables? These are normal side effects for a graphic designer experiencing the situation. But why such a violent, defensive, primal response to the font? What is about this friendly, sweet and innocent typeface you’ve grown to love and cherish over time that invokes such a volitile viscreal reaction? What is torturing this individual so about this font?

Let’s start by defining what a graphic designer is. A graphic designer is a problem solver, a communicator and an organizer of a visual information. They use a variety of methods to visually communicate an idea, message, or a story using logos, photography, illustration, typography, colors, etc. Notice, typography in there? Now what the heck is typography, you ask?

Typography, according to Wikipedi, ” is the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).”

These definitions have everything to do with your designer’s reaction. It’s not your designer’s fault and it’s not the font’s fault so what’s the big hoopla about?

1. It’s overused and abused.
Comic Sans has been and will be used and abused on various types of media from printed pieces, signage, power presentations, how-to videos, and invitations to packaging and for every kind of business you can think of. Try going one day without out seeing the darn little bugger popping up somewhere. Because of this, ask yourself how will using this typeface differentiate your brand or message? Will it tell a story about your brand or company different that the one it’s telling for Joe’s Sandwich Shop? Will it grab your audiences’ attention? Consider these points, especially when it’s trying to tell a story for someone else? Typography should offer support for and communicate your story, message, or brand not blend it into the woodwork.

2. It’s was meant for Comic strips.
It was designed to imitate comic book lettering and was originally included in Windows ’95. The letter spacing and stylized nature of the type does not make it a pleasing font to read in large blocks of text. It’s a casual font that was modeled after the fonts found in the Dark Knight comic book.

3. There are better alternatives.
Being a designer means forming and planning a visual respresentation of a brand or message. If you do want to have a friendly, casual feel for your company or piece don’t you still want that message to stand out in a sea of Comic Sans? Consider an alternative to Comic Sans that you can own. By owning, I mean your target audience will identify your company or brand with the typeface when they see it.

Check out these graphic designer friendly fonts just to name a few—

Catseye

Primavera

Chowdahead

P22 Platten

Here are a couple additional resources to help explain.

Ban Comic Sans

Typeface Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will

This should give you a chuckle

Published August 25, 2010 Business , Jargon , Marketing , Product Development Leave a Comment
Tags: acronymns, Business, jargon, unsuck

What terrible business jargon do you need unsucked today?
Unsuck it

Working from Home—5 Tips for Balancing Work and Life

Published March 8, 2010 graphic design , home life , Mom , stay-at-home , WAHM , work life , Work-at-home 2 Comments
Tags: balance, contractor, freelance, home, in-house designer, life, stay at home mom, stay-at-home, WAHM, work, work at home mom, Work-at-home

Here is my little cave where the magic takes place.

One of the daily challenges I face working at home is balancing work and life. This is especially hard now that my husband and I work for the same company. Sometimes our pillow talk seems more like a brainstorming session rather than a wind down from the day. Luckily, we’re not in the same department and don’t report to one another. (I believe this is essential to our success—one is not the boss of the other.) So when the line blurs between the home life and work life how do you better define it?

1. Schedule on/off time.
Have business hours and play hours. Being a work-at-home, stay-at-home Mom I try to work during set hours. Usually, 12-3pm and then an hour or so in the evenings. For play time, I use the time my daughter is awake to run errands, go for walks with her, or just goof around. Sometimes I do have to be flexible and a little more creative with my schedule to meet deadlines but I try to make this the exception rather than the norm.

2. Be organized.
Being organized saves time and money for you and your clients no matter your work situation. Doing the upfront work to find a system that works for you and sticking to it will pay off in the long haul and make your job much easier. Take advantage of work “down time” by doing some routine housekeeping—filing paperwork, making yourself a task list, backing up files, etc.

3. Get out of the house!
If you work from home this is must! Whether you go on a walk, go to lunch with a vendor or friend, go to the coffee shop to work, go to the gym or throw a frisbee in the park, just crawl out of your cave and get your rear end out and take in some Vitamin D! A change of scenery will refresh your mind, relax you, and help you be more creative by giving you a much needed break. After all, Ansel Adams didn’t find his inspiration staring at four walls.

4. Get a good support system.
Seek out friends, family, church, an online community, or your dog Lassie that you can lean on for support and vent to when you’ve had a rough day. Put yourself out there and connect with others. When you work from home it’s easy to forget there’s a whole world out there that doesn’t revolve around you and what’s in your head.

5. Let go…
Just breathe. Now, this is going to be hard for some of you, but sometimes the laundry won’t get done, or you won’t vacuum for (God forbid!) 3 weeks, and you won’t cross all you wanted off your to do list, and you won’t respond to all your emails. But guess what?! It’s Ok. Just let go and relax and pick up where you left off the next day. Or on Monday for that matter.

Feel free to comment any tips you may have below.

Update: I ran across this article this morning on CNN there are some nice resources in here for other WAHMs (work at home Moms).

A New Direction…

Published February 22, 2010 graphic design Leave a Comment

I’ve decided to take the blog in a new direction and start fresh. I’m working on making all my social media outlets have the same look and feel. My vision for this blog is to give advice to potential clients on how to design better in their daily lives and help them communicate better with their designers and in turn help designers communicate better with their clients, whether they be in-house or out of house. And to also touch on the challenges and rewards of working from home as a freelancer and stay-at-home Mom.

Sarah Spoelstra's Design Blog