My Current Web Design Job will be Obsolete…Kinda
There are great resources out there for small businesses and start-ups to build their own websites. There are templates and content management systems that are easy to use and look great. Sound like if companies can build their own sites, graphic designers won’t really be needed? Yes and no. Yes. For some companies, they just […]
Don't Give us the Solution.
A great tip for clients when dealing with graphic designers is to present the problem, not the solution when giving feedback. For instance, we hear “Make the logo bigger” because it isn’t standing out enough. We need to hear “The logo isn’t standing out enough.” Perhaps the logo could be moved, the layout could be […]
Anatomy of a Website Redesign
As a web designer, it’s crazy that we’ve had the same site for years without an over-haul. We’ve always gotten compliments on it, so we’ve just been revising and adding to it as it is. Finally, enough is enough. What is wrong with the old site Sure in 2005, this was the state of the […]
Take Yourself out of the Equation
As a graphic designer, I ask my clients to take themselves out of the equation and let me look at their marketing from their client’s point of view. Don’t tell them what you want to say…tell them what they need to hear or want to hear. Maybe they don’t care what your mission is, but […]
Don't Make the Mistake of Looking at Successful Branding if You are a Start-up
Designers and marketing experts all bow down to Nike, Apple, and others due to their great branding that has lead to their success…Don’t make that mistake. The logos we all know and love are not the logos companies had as successful start-ups. Apple’s original logo was Newton sitting under a tree. Nike was a brand […]
Chicago Graphic Design Firm
Chicago graphic design firm. Chicago marketing firm. Why repeat “keywords” online? It’s called search engine optimization or SEO for short. Chicago graphic design firms and chicago marketing firms are keyed into these terms as the will drive business to your site. As you can see, I’m repeated the terms chicago design firm, chicago graphic design […]
Starting a Business – With No Design Budget
Ideally, you have a good sized marketing budget when starting a business. Getting clients is what starting a business is all about…it’s a given that you can do the work or provide the product, or you wouldn’t be starting a business. You need to market your business. These days, it’s harder to get a business […]
Why do you have a career page on you website if you aren't hiring?
I’d advised clients to put a “careers” page on their websites even if they aren’t hiring. Why would you do this? Why do you want job hunters calling you just to turn them down? The answer is simple…The page is for potential clients, not really for job seekers. I want to work with a company […]
Do Your Own Homework
My wife is a high school English teacher. From time to time, she asks me help her check papers handed in for plagiarism. 90 percent of the time, I find the original source online in under a minute. It may be a song lyric, a poem, or a news story, but the lazy student thinks […]
