Use Type Like a Pro—Part 1

One of the fastest ways to make your communications look unprofessional is by poor use of type. Here are three mistakes Jim Godfrey identifies that every pro should avoid:

1. Two spaces between sentences. Once upon a time, typewriters used a monospaced typeface. Since all of the letters were the same width, it became customary to add an extra space at the end of a sentence to call attention to a new sentence. This was never the practice of professional typesetters, who always used one space. (If you're doubting this, find an old book and see for yourself.) Since most typefaces on our computers vary in width, unsightly gaps appear if two spaces are used--so retrain yourself to use just one space after a sentence.
2. Failing to kern display type. Nothing bellows "I'm an amateur!" quite like display type that hasn't been properly kerned. Unseemly gaps can impede readability by distracting the reader. The kerning tables of some typefaces are great, but the human eye is divine. Remember that we read shapes--not individual letters--so kern accordingly.
3. Using a hyphen instead of an en dash. A hyphen is great for a hyphenated word, but an en dash can be used to indicate a range of numbers or a duration of time instead of the word "to": the 8–10 Commandments, not 8-10 Commandments.  

—From "Thou Shalt Not" by Jim Godfrey, published in the July 2011 issue of How magazine.

Pick Easy-to-Read Typefaces for Body Copy

We read words by shapes—not individual characters—and our reading has a natural rhythm. An alphabet such as Futura Light (below, top) with widely varying character widths disrupts this rhythm—making it harder to read.

When designing printed material, select a body text typeface with similar character widths. Your readers will thank you.  

From Before & After Magazine, What's the Right Typeface for Text

2011 Web Trends Part 1

While Web design is always evolving, we're seeing these trends in 2011:

Simple Color Schemes—It's popular to use only two or three colors in your site design and then use a lot of shades or tints.

Mobile Ready—Forecasters are predicting that smartphones will outsell personal computers this year, so it's becoming increasingly important to design with mobile viewing in mind.

Design for Touch Screens, Not Mice—Now that more and more people are using smartphones or iPads for their browsing, traditional means of navigation such as drop-down menus may not work so well in these new mediums.

Depth Perception—Layer objects, drop shadows and other 3D effects to create dimension in your site.

Large Photographic Backgrounds—Large, high quality photos are becoming more popular. Arresting photos capture attention quickly and draw your viewer into your site.

Article Source

Color Counsel: A Monochromatic Scheme Can Be Chic

A monochromatic color scheme uses shades (created by adding black to a color) and tints (created by adding white) of a single color resulting in a clean and elegant look. This color palette is soothing to the eyes and works especially well with green or blue hues. It is easy to get right and has a sense of authority to it. The primary color can also be used with neutral colors like black, white or gray.

The only downfall to a monochromatic color scheme is that it lacks the contrast of a complementary color scheme and is not as vibrant. But don't be afraid to try this when you're wanting a sophisticated but cost-effective look.

How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint: Rule 1

Keep it Simple

PowerPoint slides shouldn't steal the show—nor should they be a complete script for the presenter. They are meant to emphasize your key points in a visual way.

To give your point emphasis, float it in a sea of white space. Remember that the less information you put on your slide, the more clearly your message will come across to your audience.

Resist the temptation to resort to slide after slide with bullet points, also—since studies suggest that this format is one of the fastest ways to lose your audience.

For example,  look at these two slides from a presentation by João Paulo Alves on simplicity:

See how powerful white space can be.

If you are trying to communicate too much visually, simplify your message in order to communicate your key points.

We'd like to hear your thoughts on great presentations you've seen—or on how you're improving your own presentations.

Color Psychology—The Color White Can Sometimes be Right

"White is not a mere absence of color, it is a shining and affirmative thing..." —G. K. Chesterton

White most often represents purity, clarity, innocence and simplicity. It expresses silence, the suspension of hostility and peace. White is a conciliatory color. The human eye is very sensitive to even minute differences in whiteness, and as it does have an ample presence, white should not be considered to be a neutral color. It may be considered a clean, spotless, sterile color, but it is not warm.

• White: pure, clean, elegant, essential, pristine, spotless, innocent, silent, lightweight, airy, bright, ethereal, clarity, simplicity (sterile, cold, clinical)

Source

How to Stretch Your Photo Budget

We'll give this a C grade. Lots of busy details detract from its message.

We'll give this an A. Strong focal point, good composition, professional.

Think you can’t afford professional photography? Here are some ways to stretch your budget:

1. Consider hiring a photographer with a journalistic background who can shoot candids that are compelling. These require less set-up, thereby reducing cost, and add an air of authenticity to your images.
2. Set up a one- or two-day shoot that attempts to capture a variety of images that can be used in a many ways. These digital assets can be cropped differently, treated differently, and used in different applications—while still giving your organization a professional image.
3. Mix stock images with custom images to create a high quality piece. If you select images with similar characteristics and lighting, you can give the illusion of using all-custom images.
4. Negotiate a price that includes full use rights when you do hire a professional photographer. This will ensure that you can use them in various applications.
5. Plan to update your library every two years to ensure that you have fresh, high quality images with which to work.

Photos create a far more powerful first impression than words. Remember that although you can’t quantify it, there’s a cost to your organization when it appears unprofessional, careless, second rate or outdated because of poor images.

Image 1 source, Image 2 source

Client Showcase—St. Anthony North 40-Year Collateral Piece

This is the final piece in a campaign to promote St. Anthony North Hospital's achievements via its 40-year anniversary. This printed piece serves as both a direct mail and a brochure that tells the hospital's story and casts a vision for its future. The campaign theme, "We," celebrates the team's efforts in reaching this milestone, while creating enthusiasm for the hospital's future. It pairs well with the employee video, where we build on a reality-style production to show what "we" means. 

The campaign included transit, outdoor boards, mall displays, building banners, kinetic typography, Web content, videos, and print ads. 

The focus of the messaging was not just about their accomplishments and plans for the future, but was a way to celebrate the achievements of the team, which always infuses energy into an organization.

We can't wait to see what they do together in the next 40 years.

How are you celebrating the achievements of the people who make your business successful? What company do you know that does this well?



Color Psychology—Blue is the Color of Calm and Constancy

"Blue very profoundly develops the element of calm." —Vasily Kandinsky

Maybe there's a reason that blue is the #1 choice for corporate branding and identity, as many hope to cash in on the intrinsic belief that blue represents constancy, quality and achievement. It's also safe, secure and calming—and universally liked.

Blue often brings to mind the serenity of a clear, cloudless sky, a calm sea and a feeling of familiarity. 

Blue became the color of respected honors, like the blue ribbon of quality and skill.  It is also a popular color that is safe—and less controversial than some others.

They're probably out there, but we've rarely met a male executive who didn't like blue.

• Light Blue: calm, quiet, patient, peaceful, cool, water, clean
• Sky Blue: calming, cool, heavenly, constant true, tranquil, trusting, serene, expansive, open
• Bright Blue: electric, energy, brisk, vibrant, flags, stirring, impressive, aquatic, exhilarating
• Periwinkle: genial, lively, sprightly, convivial, cordial
• Deep Blue: credible, authoritative, basic, conservative, classic, strong, reliable, traditional, uniforms, service, nautical, loyal, confident, professional, introspective (can also be seen as aloof, distant, melancholy)

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Color Shift and New Design Directions Characterize 2011 Logo Trends

Like fashion, design trends are dynamic. Logolounge.com lists these trends in their 2011 report on logo trends:

• Soft gradients 

•  Monoline

• Series Logos

• Brown and grey are being seen more frequently as replacements for the neutral black.

• Loopys

For the full report, click here.

Sometimes change is an improvement, and sometimes it's a step backwards. Which of these trends do you think work best?

Color Psychology—The Hidden Meanings in Purple

The most magical and intriguing color, purple pairs meditative blue with explosive red. It is a complex color and not often appreciated by left brained, analytical thinkers. Purple is often a great alternate when either blue or red seem an obvious choice.

Purple is often an acquired taste, like many of the flowers and foods that bear it's hue. In ancient times, only the very wealthy could afford to buy purple garments, as the dyes were extracted from tiny mollusks and it took about 336,000 of the tiny snails to yield one ounce of dye. Thus purple became the color of kings, queens, nobles and wealthy, powerful patrons. The color also took on certain mystical, heavenly, transcendental or spiritual properties.

• Lavender: romantic, nostalgic, fanciful, lightweight, lightly scented, playful
• Mauve: wistful, sentimental, thoughtful, feminine
• Amethyst: curative, protective, peace of mind
• Blue Purples: contemplative, meditative, spiritual, soul-searching, intuitive, mysterious, enchanting
• Red Purples: sensual, thrilling, intensely exciting, dramatic, creative, witty, expressive
• Deep Purples: visionary, rich, royal, prestigious, subduing, distant, introspective (aloof)

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Client Showcase—North Ridge Medical Practice Steps Ahead of the Competition in their Promotion

This new campaign for North Ridge Medical Practice in Colorado combined direct mail with a mini-animation ad—
allowing for targeted advertising and putting them ahead of their competition by having a more Web-friendly, social media-friendly promotion. The presence of the mini-animation ad also delivers information in a format that consumers are showing preference for.

Physicians who can deliver strong, targeted messages using contemporary media will likely experience immediate growth in their practice if the message is right and the market has pent-up demand. You can see how they've used this on their  Web site—and how it not only brings the Web page to life but reinforces their key brand messages.

Have you seen other physician practices breaking out of the print ad-only approach to promotion?

Sweat the Details and Get a Proof

Your creative project is finished, and now it's time to send it to the vendor for printing or production. But never assume that once it is out the door it doesn't need your attention anymore.

On the contrary, mistakes often occur in production. Here's an example of a recent problem we navigated.

The project below was for a mall display (featured last week on our blog).  As always, we include a printed proof along with the design files, so the production team can see how it should render—and this can often save mistakes in the final stages of a project.

Even then, it isn't uncommon for something to go wrong—which is why we insist on seeing proofs.  In this case, we went through three proofs before getting it right.

In the first, the outside vendor producing the actual display introduced those odd shadows around and across the bottom of the icon where there should have been a drop shadow instead. In the second, they corrected this problem but introduced a new one—the registration was off causing the type to appear blurred. We sent it back with instructions and finally got it resolved in the third round.

Sweating the details at every stage of the project is the only way to ensure that you receive the quality of work your firm aspires to.

Attempt 1: Drop shadow didn't print correctly

Attempt 2: Registration was slightly off resulting in blurred type

Hospital Anniversary Campaign—Mall Displays and Exterior Banner

If you joined us yesterday, you saw the evolution of the icon for our client's 40-year anniversary that is launching this week in Colorado. Here's the winning campaign icon; you can see how it was applied in the designs below.

For the mall displays, we decided to break the rules that suggest using 7-10 words on outdoor advertising. We didn't intend for viewers to read every word on the ad, but instead to walk away with an overall impression of how much St. Anthony does in partnership with its community. 

Note that on the bottom of the display, you'll see a QR code. Viewers can use a smart phone app to scan the code, which takes them to a special 40-year animation (check back later this week to view the animation, or if you click to enlarge the ad you can scan it now). The print ad echoes this design and also features the QR code.

What do you think. Did we meet the goal?

Print Ad

 

Mall Display

As a part of the overall media buy, we like to use a client's facility to communicate, since it's a cost-effective way to reach people already interested in the organization. There are no media buy fees, and it reinforces the campaign message with the staff, who are important advocates. Similar interior banners on stands are located in the two main entrances of the hospital.

Exterior Banner

Check back tomorrow to see what we developed as part of their social media campaign.

Case Study—The Evolution of an Icon for a Hospital Anniversary Campaign

What's a 40-year anniversary about? For St. Anthony North Hospital in Denver, Colo., it is an opportunity to celebrate milestones, honor their staff, confirm their distinctive role and cast a vision for the future.

A combination of outdoor, print and social media provided the platform for communicating their contributions to and partnership with their community. The message—We: You, me and St. Anthony North, Side by side for 40 years—celebrated the past as a shared achievement and staked out their independence as a separate entity from their founding hospital,while still honoring their shared history.

For their campaign which is launching this week, the client wanted an icon that would appear on the various campaign pieces to create continuity. Before we began working on the icon, we established these goals:

1. Must have 40 in it, to clarify the anniversary aspect of the message
2. Must differentiate the hospital from its founding facility, which has a similar name
3. Must be flexible for use in many types of application
4. Must be simple
5. Had to work with the logo and corporate graphic standards

Here's our original idea shown on a sample ad.

Since the hospital is in Colorado, the first icon was created using rocks—reinforcing this region's beautiful natural resources. However, after gathering feedback, some felt this too abstract, so we went back to the drawing board and came up with some new icons. 

Which one is your favorite icon? Check back next week to see which icon the client chose—and to see a different campaign element featured each day, including the light-hearted employee video.

Color Psychology—Brown Doesn't Have to be Boring

"There is, after all, safety in umbers." —Leatrice Eiseman

Historically, brown has been the color most identified with the earth and hard work. It was seen as pious, economical and industrious by religious and Puritan moralist groups. Brown has been seen as a benign and non-threatening color. Through the years, the color has taken on new meanings. Embraced by sporting enthusiasts, it has come to popularity with hunters, fishers, bikers, hikers and campers. But brown also has the ability to expand appetite—think cappucino, espresso, chocolate mousse, caramel and hot fudge. In addition, brown has captured the fashionable luxury goods market.

Don't be too quick to dismiss brown as boring!

• Tans: rugged, outdoor, rustic, woodsy
• Chocolate/Coffee Brown: delicious, rich, robust, appetizing
• Earth Brown: earthy, grounded, steady, rooted, wholesome, warm, durable, natural, traditional

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Client Showcase—High Impact Brochure Markets Region to Businesses

In this project for the Port of Walla Walla, we made the pictures tell the story on this first-impression piece designed to promote our beautiful region to prospective businesses looking to relocate. Using a high-impact paper and printing technique, the piece went from handsome to stunning—and captured the spirit of this community that pairs history with a strong vision for the future.

If readers pay attention only to the images, headlines, subheads and bullet points, they'll walk away with an accurate and positive view of this area. This is a good example of making key messages apparent in the images and easy-to-browse copy. And for those who desire more, the body text presents a persuasive case for moving one's business here.

We've been so very lucky to be able to work on projects that we care deeply about—and this one holds a special place in our heart because it's for our very own community.

Stop by and see us if you're ever in the area!

Make Your Ad More Readable

We writers love words. But oh, how hard it is to sometimes pare them down.

There is, after all, often much to say about a good product or service. But to make your ad readable:

1. Limit your message to one or two strong points.
 2. Be  accurate and truthful. Readers will disdain your company if they discover you've misled them.
 3. Make the headline do the heavy lifting. Only about five percent of viewers will read your copy—but 30% will read your headline. You can even try grouping the two together.
 4. Make your typeface readable.  Use serif typefaces and avoid reversed type that can be hard to read.

In the ad below, the body copy is too long and too hard to read. Not only is the small copy hard to read in sans serif, but the contrast between the background and text is too low.

Conversely, this ad by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam uses readable body copy. The serif copy is black on a cream background for optimum contrast—and the pairing of the graphic image with the typeface strengthens the message.

Client Work Wins Three Service Industry Awards

The Service Industry Advertising Awards competition results were released this week, and I would like to take a moment to recognize two of our clients and my outstanding team for garnering one Gold Award and two Bronze Awards.

Our friends at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital received a Bronze Award for a two-part print ad series promoting NorthStar Lodge, their cancer treatment center.

 

California-based Gresham Savage Law firm earned Gold and Bronze Awards for their litigation direct mail piece and their 100-Year direct mail piece.

National judges evaluated nearly 2,000 entries for execution, creativity, quality and consumer appeal. The full list of winners can be found here.

Wait! Don’t Use That Typeface!

We love typography. A beautifully shaped letter infuses style and emotion into a simple word in the same way that a beautiful fabric brings life to a garment. It serves as both art and utility.

When a spoken word floats into the air it enters the world bare, without the dress of a correlating visual font. The type selected conveys a mood—anything from dignity or silliness to boldness, strength or power. 

We often know the effects of well-chosen type but can’t explain its power over us to make us feel a certain way.  For example, what kind of connotations do the following fonts have for you?

The selection of typography is no less important than how you dress for an important meeting or presentation. It can make the difference between being perceived as savvy and professional—or as amateur and lacking in credibility. So next time you’re tempted to dash out a memo in Comic Sans, think again. Maybe it’s time to call in an expert who can help you be sure that your font is saying exactly what you want it to say about you.