Heart of Sharing with United Way: How Can a Designer Help?
Day of Caring / Heart of Sharing Last Thursday, I volunteered with nearly 90 other creative professionals with United Way’s Day of Caring/Heart of Sharing Day. Designers, web developers, marketing specialists, photographers, writers and PR specialists were partnered with Portland area non-profits to give free, personalized advice to help them achieve their marketing goals. The sessions were 90-minutes long and each non-profit was assigned a team of creatives to help […]
Read More...Rebranding Blackwater: Your Brand is Much More than Your Name & Logo
Blackwater’s reputation and brand Blackwater is a private security and military company that has won numerous government contracts to support the US military. While fulfilling their contracts in Iraq, they ended up under hostile fire and also inflicting harm on innocent Iraqi civillians. Many remember, with a shudder, hearing about several of Blackwater’s stand-offs and skirmishes that led to fatal shootings in 2007. With a history like that, it’s understandable […]
Read More...Appropriate Design: When It's Better to Think Inside the Box
Like many graphic designers, at some point I’ve probably promoted my services as “unique.” I often promise to deliver “creative” solutions. But sometimes we need to build on people’s expectations and design in ways that are appropriate, rather than just doing something different. I thought about this today as I was walking home from work. I was walking by an old brownstone-type building that is on a historic block in […]
Read More...How to Keep your Brand Looking Fresh
In my last post, I wrote about the importance of consistency in branding. However, I want to take the time to also talk about ways to keep your identity and branding from looking stale. Probably the most important thing to keep in mind is that your brand is a living entity and will experience growth and change. The key is to have enough elements remain consistent that you can play […]
Read More...Why Consistency Is So Important to Branding
You’ve probably heard it before, but in case you haven’t: it’s important to be consistent with your branding to have it be most effective. What does consistency mean? From a designer’s perspective, it means: Using the same business name, logo, and/or logotype. Typesetting the name and other elements in a fixed fashion. Choosing a couple of typefaces and using them all the time. Read these tips about working with fonts. […]
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