An effective way to gain company recognition is to order custom t-shirts with your company name, logo, phone number, and other important information on them. You can use customized apparel to outfit your employees as well as to contribute a sense of professionalism and reliability to your company. In addition to outfitting your company with the custom apparel, you can market your brand by distributing the custom designed clothing to your customers and potential clients.

Ordering custom t-shirts is easy: you can contact a local printer to make them, or you can design and order them online. There are several websites that have t-shirt design interfaces in which you can design and order your t-shirts entirely online. Whatever type of company you choose, however, you will want to make sure that the process they use is screen-printing rather than heat transferring because the prints will last longer and look more professional.

Because printing prices can vary drastically, you should get quotes from several different companies before ordering. The benefits of ordering online include convenience, not having to pay taxes on the goods, and in some cases, complimentary shipping. The benefits of using a local screenprinter include being able to see the goods before you purchase them, and perhaps, speaking directly with the artist. A downside to ordering locally includes having to go to the local screenprinter to place your order and then picking the items up yourself. If you order online, however, you will have the items shipped directly to you. An online screenprinter that we find very reputable for printing company apparel and custom t-shirts is DesignAShirt.com. Check the yellow pages for local printers.

Whether you are ordering locally or online, the entire process from ordering to receiving your apparel should take around 2 weeks. If you need the apparel faster, you can opt for other production and/or shipping methods for additional fees. Some companies can get the goods to you from the time of ordering in as early as three business days.

Ordering your own company t-shirts is not the only way to advertise on apparel. Inquire about sponsoring community events that are coming up in your area. These events may have their own custom t-shirts in addition to other promotional materials that you could have your company logo printed onto if you are helping sponsor it. Such events include fundraisers, sporting events, and school functions. Check your local papers and community newsletters for more information about such community events and sponsorship opportunities.

Kelli Fassbender is a writer and designer for Custom-t-shirts.info. This article is provided courtesy of custom-t-shirts.info and can be reprinted as long as the author and company information is included. Custom-t-shirts.info offers advice for printing, sizing, and pricing custom t-shirts. For more information about custom t-shirts visit: http://www.custom-t-shirts.info.

A great logo can help a business project a positive image while a bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. For many companies, a logo is the only identifiable mark a potential customer may ever see, so it needs to be memorable, descriptive and easily recognizable. If a logo is the company spokesman, how much is it really worth?

Cheap logo designs are all over the Internet - logo designs under $150! $99 logo designs, $75 logo designs, $49 logo designs and even lower! You will easily find a wide range of prices for logo design on the Internet. Be careful of cheap logo design offers, some designers may be using clip art. A logo design that includes a royalty free piece of clip art cannot be copyrighted. That same piece of clip art could be used on dozens of other logo designs. A designers portfolio should be displayed and there should be a wide variety of logo samples. At $49 each, do all of the logos look the same? Do the majority of them have block lettering and a swoosh?

Some logo designers charge one flat fee for a logo with no questions asked. Can you imagine Coca-Cola purchasing a logo design for $99? What a deal! Or how about Bob’s bait shop paying $750 for a logo. There goes the budget! All companies are not equal in size, budget and usage. All designs are not equal. Does a swoosh take the same amount of time and effort as creating a detailed motorcycle?

The confusion doesn’t stop there. Some logo designers charge additional costs for extra colors, extra modifications and extra preliminary designs. You have to get your calculator out just to figure the final cost of your logo. Do you really know what you are paying for?

How much is a logo design really worth? Ask Coca-Cola, Polo, Nike, The Hard Rock Cafe, Hallmark or any other company that relies on their logo as their number one spokesman. Not every company is as large as these but every company should have a logo that is easy to identify and stands for the integrity of that business.

A logo design is more valuable to a company than a single spot illustration. An illustration is normally used once or used for a limited campaign, whereas a logo is used for years and is placed on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, web sites, vehicles, buildings and products. Do you see the difference in value to a company? A logo has more value than just the hours spent on creating it. It becomes the companies identity.

With that said, shouldn’t a logo be worth more than just the time involved in creating it? Professional graphic design rates average anywhere from $30 to $75 per hour. If you see a logo design priced at $125 and that designer charges $50 per hour for design work, do you assume that they spent 2.5 hours on your logo? That price would include the time spent to contact you, the research done on your company and competition, the preliminary ideas, the changes, the finalizing of the logo, the file prep for each different format, sending the logo, billing and allowing you to have all rights to the design. So how much time was actually spent creating your logo?

My conclusion is that a logo is much more valuable to a company than a standard illustration so the price should reflect the added value. Many professional graphic designers would be hard pressed to create a top notch illustration for under $150 let alone a creative, well designed logo. So beware of logos priced under $150, you may get what you pay for.

There’s even more confusion about logo pricing. Some designers base their logo rates on several of these factors:

Logo Modifications - You could get charged for each time you want a change or modification to your logo. If a logo designer asks the right questions, does the research and stays in close communication with the client there should be no need for major changes during the creation of a logo design. Be a good communicator and explain to the logo designer exactly what you want your logo to be saying about your business. As a designer, you should get signed approval for each modification showing that the client was in agreement at the time.

Extra Colors - Printers charge more for extra colors. If a logo designer charges more for a two color logo than they do for a three color logo, get a detailed explanation as to why. It only takes the click of a mouse to add an extra color. In today’s world there is very little need for color separations so there should be no need for a designer to charge by the color.

Preliminary Designs - A few choices is good, to many choices is overkill. A logo designer should be able to decide for you the correct amount of preliminary designs it will require to create your perfect logo. Be leary of eight, ten and more initial designs. How much time could actually be spent on each design? If you don’t like your first two or three designs you can easily request two or three more.

If you are on a committe or a board, I assure you that you do not want to present ten logos to ten different people. You may never get down to a winning design.

On the other hand, if you need an additional presentation of logos due to a complete change in direction on the companies part, there should be an extra fee. An example would be asking for a yellow duck logo design and changing your mind to a red dog design once the logos are presented to you.

Adding an identity program to your logo is a legitimate cost. Designing the business card, letterhead and envelope layouts are normally a higher priced package. You should receive camera ready files for each design.

There is a standard reference for pricing graphic design and corporate identity projects. It is Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, published by the Graphic Artists Guild. Any logo designer can purchase the book. A professional graphic designer would have a tough time supporting a family and a studio designing all of their logos below $200.

I’m not writing this to give exact prices for a logo design because each logo designers circumstances are different. Amateur logo designers charge much less to get their feet wet, but slowly increase their rates as they gain experience and creativity.

The standard logo design rates are based on two major components, company size and application or distribution size. The majority of logo designs created over the Internet are created for small companies and individuals with limited application and distribution uses. Fortune 500 companies normally pay much higher logo design rates and use advertising agencies.

My conclusion is that the value of a logo should be based on a few important criteria:
1. Experience of the logo designer
2. Size & budget of the company using the logo
3. Scope and usage of the logo
4. Difficulty of the design

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a top quality, professional logo design.

What’s included with your logo? The worst part of paying for a cheap logo is finding out that you were not sent the correct file formats for printing and web. You will then have to pay another graphic designer or printer to create the correct files. Be aware of what file types you will be needing and ask your logo designer what file types are included in their price.

The most common file types needed are AI (Illustrator) and EPS for most professional print jobs. These are vector format files. These files should be in a CMYK color format. Vector art allows you to reduce or enlarge a design to ANY size without losing detail or clarity.

For home use and some print jobs you will need TIFF and BMP files. These are pixel files and should have a DPI (dots per inch) of at least 300 dpi. 600-1200 dpi is best for professional printing. These type of files lose their detail when enlarged but can be reduced.

The last file types you will need would be JPEG and GIF. These are pixel files and are used for web design. They should be in a RGB color format. Be aware that not all colors translate well on the Internet, especially GIF files. Ask if the logo designer used web safe colors. You should receive crisp 72 dpi files for the Internet. A GIF file should be transparent if you do not want a white box around it when displayed on your page.

Be sure and ask your logo designer about your logo colors. Ask them for the Pantone PMS color numbers for each color. You will need this information each time your logo is printed. This insures that you get the exact same colors with every printer that you use.

Will you get your files over the Internet or will you receive a CD? Try to get a CD, it is much easier to take that to your local printer. Ask your designer how long they keep your logo on file in case you lose your versions later down the road.

You should also receive all rights (copyrights) to your logo. Since a logo is a companies identity you will need to own all rights to get a trademark. Ask for this in writing if you have any doubts.

Ask for the background on the logo designer you choose, you should at the very least know their name. Do they have a degree? How long have they designed logos? Is this their profession or a hobby? Where is there portfolio? Can you contact their other clients? Can you speak to them directly? With the amount of software available today and the invention of the Internet, any sixteen year old kid can start his own logo design company.

In closing let me say that the information above is a personal opinion and is taken from years of searching logo design web sites and reading books on graphic design. The prices and information I have explained here only pertain to the work of graphic designers, not advertising agencies. An advertising agency handles logo design on a larger scale and incorporates an entire corporate identity service. Their logo design rates are many times higher than a graphic designers.

Curtis D. Tucker is one of the leading cartoon logo designers online today. His company, The Curtoons Cartoon Company, specializes in helping individuals and small businesses create fantastic looking cartoon logos and characters. The Curtoons cartoon portfolio contains over 200 cartoon designs and can be seen at http://www.curtoons.com

Curtis can be reached 7 days a week at 580.977.9947.

My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them. A logo emerged: simple, elegant, with the right feeling for my business. I took the ideas from the stamps and played with Photoshop on the computer until I had created an original business logo that felt totally right.

Luckily for me, in my day job I worked among some of the top designers in the world at the Department of Architecture at MIT. An elegant Italian Ph.D. student named Maria was doing me the favor of giving me feedback on my business logo. She loved it! That was reassuring, but what really helped was what she said next.

“And this can be your color scheme, too! You can get green boxes, or white bags or boxes with green ribbons, and make all your packaging match up with this. Oh, it will be so pretty!”

This started the wheels turning for me. Until then, I had gone with a rich, sparkly look. My display had used deep colors: black velvet, sheer purple fabric with silver snowflakes, and black velvet displays. Using this logo, and getting the advice from Maria, meant that I would need to go in a different direction.

I decided that the color scheme for everything in my business would be the colors of my logo: lime green, white and grey. First I designed business cards that were professionally printed on white glossy cardstock. Then I designed my website in these and coordinating colors.

For packaging, I used kraft boxes with round logo stickers, then moved to organza bags in white and pale lime green. I gradually changed my show setup so I had the perfect color tablecloths in pale lime green, with white and black displays and fixtures; even my tent is green. I also added a little color and whimsy in the form of bright bowls from which I hung flowerpot creatures purchased from a crafts shop. The creatures have proven so popular that I bought extra to resell at shows!

Little by little I continue to improve my setup, making it more elegant and professional. Each time I set up, I receive many compliments on the setup itself, and it does attract customers. People find the color scheme peaceful and inviting, and it doesn’t compete with the jewelry. I also found this when I designed a brochure. The jewelry is quite colorful, and the subtlety of my color scheme provides a good background for it.

My advice for when you are setting up a business logo, website and/or booth is to find a color scheme that matches you and the feeling you want your business to convey. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different pieces to get the look you want; it has taken me three years to get to this point, and it’s still developing. You may want it to be as colorful as the rainbow or as sophisticated as basic black. Whatever it is, the important thing is to be consistent. That way, people will start to recognize the look of your business and remember you, helping to build business over time.

Author Susan Midlarsky of Aspiring Arts handcrafts jewelry with stones that harmonize well and are beneficial to the human body, color combinations that are connected to refinement, and sometimes offerings from nature. She has also recently started making glass beads; you can see her progress at her online blog. Susan loves the magical glow people feel upon finding a piece of jewelry that suits them or fills a need.

Many home improvement contractors attempt to use advertising to expand their client base and increase profits. Whether it be yellow pages, mailers, ads, or valpak; for many it’s a total waste of time and money. Why do so many contractors achieve less than desired results from their advertising dollars? The answer: They’re doing it the wrong way!

There are two types of advertising. One is a complete waste of money. The other is highly effective, yet very few people know about it.

Brand Marketing, or "image advertising" is a total waste of money. It’s easy to recognize. This is the sort of "getting your name out there" advertising we all see everyday. It is the type of advertising that only works for companies that have millions of dollars in their budget.

The advertiser tries to relay an image about how great the company is. They use large (expensive) ads with fancy logos, graphics, and colors to try to convince the prospect that the company is more professional, stronger, more trustworthy and competent than its competitors. It tries to make people feel that this is a company they should trust to do business with.

The problem is, the focus of this advertising is all me, me, me. The advertiser is suggesting you buy from him without actually telling the prospect what’s in it for them. The essence of the sales message is "buy from me because I’m telling you I’m a great company.” Specific, compelling reasons for a person to pick up the phone and call the advertiser are never given.

Fortunately for you, most of your competition doesn’t know this, so it continues to produce this drivel.

Let your competition waste its money on "image advertising,” and instead spend yours on advertising that creates calls from people who are ready, willing, and able to hire you to remodel their homes or offices. This type of advertising is called direct response.

Direct Response Advertising

Any advertising, in any media, can be direct response. The difference between direct response and brand marketing is that direct response is designed to produce an emotional response in the customer. It directs people to take action - an immediate response. This action could be a visit, call, purchasing decision, whatever.

In contrast, institutional advertising produces an emotional appeal to the ego of the person writing the ad. It’s all me, me, me. At best, institutional advertising produces results sometime in the future (which may not arrive in time to benefit you, given today’s hyper-competitive market).

Direct response doesn’t waste time or space making empty boasts about the company. It concentrates on results now. It does this by telling a complete sales story. It is precise and compelling, focusing on your customer, not you. Furthermore, because it always makes a specific offer, its results are easily measurable and countable.

A good direct response ad contains all of the following:

1. A big, bold, powerful headline that attracts readership of the ad.

2. Interesting copy that tells the reader right up front, "what’s in it for me."

3. Benefits that are expressed clear, evocative, and specific terms, not vague generalities. Avoid unproven claims of "the best" or "number one.”

4. A specific offer.

5. A response device to respond to the offer. The prospect must be told exactly how to respond to the offer. It could be a phone call, mailing in a coupon, etc.

6. A deadline or cut-off date stated so that the prospect knows when to respond by.

If you incorporate these direct response elements into your advertising, you’ll be light years ahead of your competition. They’ll still be scratching their head, trying to figure out what you are doing while you’re fielding more leads and your profits soar.

Knowing the difference between brand marketing and direct response advertising is a key weapon in today’s ultra-competitive market. You need to make the decision: are you going to feed your ego or feed your wallet? Though it may make you feel good about your company, fancy logos, catchy slogans and "name recognition" advertising is wasteful and unprofitable. Maximize the effectiveness of your advertising dollars by creating ads that provide specific clear benefits to the customer.

Tyrell MacGregor is Managing Director of FootBridge Media, a Referral Marketing Company that specializes in client newsletter templates and website marketing solutions for home improvement contractors. Visit them at http://www.footbridgemedia.com

We have come a long way from the time when only professionals could replicate CDs and DVDs. With the advent of blank media and the technology to duplicate it or burn it, almost anyone can now make their own CD. The ability to place digital media on a disc has changed how we both use and view this type of media today. It has taken only a few years for CDs to take over the spot once exclusively held by cassettes. Video and music cassettes are becoming dinosaurs before our very eyes. In time, our children may even view them like we used to view vinyl records and 8-tracks!

But where do you find CD and DVD replication and packaging services? Any large city worth it’s salt will have these types of duplication services. It is also very easy to find companies on the Internet that do this kind of business, and in fact, specialize in it. The world of CD and DVD duplication is wide open with many options for businesses and individuals.

For companies that simply need many CDs or DVDs replicated, there is a thriving market for duplication towers that don’t need a PC to be operated. They are the perfect choice for a business that needs to copy a lot of media without all the fuss and expense. Any good computer or large electronics store should have this type of hardware, and if not, should be able to point you in the right direction.

If you are in the music or video business and want to replicate your CD or DVD for sale to the public, some very good companies that oversee the entire process, from replication to artworks and graphics on the CD to creative packaging options are common. They specialize in helping those in the entertainment industry. They provide the technology needed for this service. Instead of burning the CD or DVD, they use a more permanent “glass press” method. They also have the creativeness to make the CD a custom design with mass appeal. They also help with the packaging so that it stands out from the rest.

Perhaps the advent of all these businesses that replicate and package CDs and DVDs mean that just about anyone can now produce their work and have it copied for friends and family or on a much larger scale. This is a great way for independent musicians and others to have an outlet for their work so that it will be heard and seen. It can have a professional look that will impress people to give it a listen or look-see. For people who are serious about their career in the entertainment business, this could not be better, and the good news is that you don’t have to look far to find a company that will do the job right.

Bob Hett offers simple and concise information for those interested in cd and dvd duplication. Get the answers that you are seeking at http://www.cdduplicationcenter.info

This is not a how-to design a logo. This is a guide to educate you on how an experienced designer can help you through a project whose outcome you will need to live with for years. Learn how greatly the symbolic significance of your corporate identity can impact your business. To say anyone can design a logo is to say anyone can design a 53 story high rise. Here are some key lessons that will tell you if you’re choosing the right architect for your corporate identity!

Simple Definition- On The Surface

A logo design is composed of one or more elements of shape, type, and thematically chosen colors. In a glance, it conveys a substantial amount of information to the viewer, much in the form of short gut feelings that aren’t vocalized —good, hesitant, authoritative, dignified, classy, upscale, expertise, cheap…the list is endless.

Your logo is a symbol that will stand on every piece of printed or electronic collateral for at least the next 10 years. Remember that thought. Changing your logo in a year because you don’t like it breeds confusion and mistrust that spreads like weeds within your audience. Many people over look that fact when they have a logo designed from the Internet for $25.

Your identity is an extension of your business that communicates visually, through appearance, and emotionally, through symbolism. Curtailing or ignoring thought, revision, and growth in the design process will hurt your finished product and corporate image. A good graphic artist will lead you through the design process. He or she will help visualize your company as the world sees you.

"I’m not creative," "I can’t draw," "Make it green cause green is my favorite color and I’m the boss and it’s my logo!" If you find yourself thinking along these lines, you’re pretty normal so don’t worry! If your passion and talent lie in matching the perfect violin to a young blossoming talent that walks into your music store, you’re probably not going to do your own corporate tax returns.

Tax returns are done every year. Your logo, the heart and soul of your business is created once. It’s part of you, and is the face of your business the world will see. Let a graphic artist, whose own passion is design, help you with what they do best. It’s well worth the investment. Let’s look at why…

In the following we’ll discuss some obvious and not so obvious things a logo communicates and illustrate by examples you’ll recognize. You will have a greater understanding of how much power your little icon can potentially have.

Logos: The Obvious Characteristics

From a usability and visibility standpoint there a several key factors that must be built into the design. Your logo must be clear and simple enough that it does not lose meaning when reproduced at different sizes, specifically smaller. If it is too cluttered and muddy on your business card your first impression will be a disappointment to a potential client.

It must not lose meaning when reproduced in one color. The Internet and online marketing let you produce things in blazing colorful glory without extra cost. However, don’t forget those equally important other places your logo will be seen like packaging, shopping bags, faxes, Xeroxes, newspapers, business cards, brochures and letterhead. Those are important items in building brand loyalty and recognition to your product. If they don’t look sharp, neither will your image, and neither will your sales.

Logos: The Quiet, Harmonic Subtle Qualities Often Overlooked

Your logo is a symbol of your company’s ideals, practices and missions. A well- developed, carefully sculpted logo can inspire vision, stability and comfort. Your image can make a viewer feel he or she is in the best, most experienced hands. With this visual interaction you are building a trust with your audience.

Instill trust and a solid foundation

A logo can build trust and credibility. When you see a company’s logo, even briefly, you feel something. That something can make you uneasy and worried about what you’ll get for your money, or it can make you feel safe. How about McDonald’s? (Fat grams and calories aside for a moment), when you see the Golden Arches, most people think good, fun, always-know-what-to-expect-even-in-a-strange-land hamburger. If you are lost in a foreign country, sighting the McDonald’s Logo creates a sense of familiarity and relief.

How about a black circle with two little circles on either side, toward the top. Mickey. (Yes, that might make some mom and dad’s feel faint at the ticket prices), but beyond that, there’s an unparalleled, magical feeling of childhood, laughter and joy. What powerful emotion from three, joined, black circles that transcends language and culture.

If we say your logo is a symbol, by definition it represents the heart and root system of your company. The ultimate goal is for your audience to feel and understand your business on an emotional level and remember it. Sometimes logos can have an abstract relationship, sometimes right in your face. Either way, they must make sense and uniquely tie into your business. If you buy a pair of sneakers with a swoosh on them, do you have any doubt that they will wear out too soon, be uncomfortable, or a waste of money?

Show you are proactive and visionary

Say you’re in the market for a luxury car. You are probably less worried about the obnoxious sales people and more attune to advertising you’ve seen. Which companies immediately come to mind when you think of precision, perfection and technological achievement?

Logos like Jaguar, Mercedes, or BMW convey enough inherent sense of forward thinking that they can appear as the only element on a billboard. There is a confidence you’re in a class of superior engineering, advanced technology, and luxurious style compared to low and mid range automobiles. And even more intriguing, if you’re an owner or in the market for one, doesn’t seeing that particular logo reinforce those ideals to you? How can a little silver kitty on the front of a hood evoke such deep emotional reactions?

Portray confidence and expertise

Calvin Klein, Ralph Loren, and Coca-Cola are recognizable from across a room. With each, you know purchased products are consistent in quality. I’d suggest the most obviously confident is Calvin Klein. But it works, doesn’t it? The smell of CK cologne might trigger a good (maybe bad!) memory for you. Who in real life is more confident than the perfect underwear models that seem to be in endless production? If they don’t radiate self-confidence to that corporation, I’m at a loss for what does!

People will argue Coke is better than Pepsi or vice versa. It really doesn’t matter because both are regarded as the best cola drinks made. Either one far surpasses any of the knock off brands. They are experts in their field. So how does a designer create an image like these for your company?

How does a designer begin? Every creative professional has his or her own methods, but the initial premise and ultimate journey is the same.

Design Is A Process

Research

It is impossible to find parallels of symbolism and create a logo identity without learning about the company, interacting with its employees, understanding the products and services, and examining the competition.

Here a designer starts to understand what ideals the corporate image must convey and what makes the company unique. Now, how to communicate those thoughts, feelings, and ideals onto paper.

Brainstorming/Draft

I usually carry a small tablet around with me when I’m working on a logo design. I sit at lunch, at red lights, and through the day sketching, scribbling, jotting down thoughts that pop into my head. These aren’t anything for show, but quick ideas that usually springboard to new ones. Eventually one common thread stands out and I’ll extrapolate some tighter focused ideas around that theme.

Revision

This is the most important process of design. This is where shapes and words combine into life. Here is where ideas evolve into concrete concepts. These concepts are further reworked, poked and prodded, transformed into more detailed, individual entities. A new idea may still enter into the mix, but results become much more refined and defined.

At a point when gut instinct and some outside opinions say, "That’s a keeper!" I’ll present the top three concepts to the client. I may offer some thoughts about color or other added aesthetic enhancements, but I’m more interested in conveying the underlying meaning of the symbol, and how I think it would speak to an audience and drive the company forward.

Conclusion

I strongly suggest you let an experienced designer help you with your logo development. It’s not unreasonable to pay several thousand dollars for a design. That design should, however, take more than two days to develop and a lot of interaction and explanation! But you have to live with the results and they should be nothing less than great.

When interviewing several graphic artists, ask them how they develop a logo. What steps do they take? Their way might be a bit different than this article, but the general thought should be the same. You’re business is probably your most valued investment. Help the world believe that too by having a logo that conveys it.

Name recognition, building trust, and brand loyalty take time. All of the companies talked about were new once too. And, all are innovators with their own unique, wonderfully expressive faces to the world.

John Krycek is the owner and creative director of http://www.themouseworks.ca theMouseworks.ca. Read additional articles on logo design and identity creation and graphic and web design in easy, non-technical, up front English!

“It’s the same old tissue, honey, it doesn’t make a difference, ok? It’s still going to work the same way”, my exasperated husband hissed into my ear as I grabbed cartons after cartons of some ‘designer’ tissue. DESIGNER TISSUE! Hah, can you even hear me say that? I can’t believe I actually wrote ‘designer tissue’. So, yes, for a graphic designer and writer who knows all about the kind of effort one puts into packaging and branding products, I sure fell for it. All the hoopla. The shenanigans. The ‘suck ‘em in with good copy and fab color combo’. Hey, I am still a consumer, remember that. I am entitled to fall for nice packaging, I have a prevailing right to be human.

But they are so pretty…the packaging. I swear!

They have the ‘nature lover’ packaging, the ‘fruity’ packaging, the ‘woman on the go’ packaging, and then they have the ‘kids’ packaging. I grabbed 4 of each design packages and made a run for the counter with them with my screaming kids and exasperated husband running after me in slow motion. It was definitely a ‘die-hard’ moment. You know, when the hero is running away from a bunch of wild bad men with machine guns, and they’re shooting at your feet or something…and there’s an explosion behind you…and everything happens in ssslllloooowwwww mmmmooooottttttiiiioooonnnnn.

Well, in this case, I was running for checkout with boxes of tissue paper with fancy packaging designs on them. If I didn’t like the packaging designs so much, I would find it comical enough. But I am dead serious. In fact, I loved the packaging designs so much, after using up all the tissues in the boxes, I would cut out the designs and place it into my ‘must keep for reference’ clear folder. I don’t keep a lot of stuff in there because I am pretty selective about the designs that I like, but these packaging designs made the cut. They definitely did.

You see, this is the kind of thing that happens when you put some effort into making your packaging design. Yeah, we all have this in the back of our heads…. “Hey, it’s PACKAGING! It’s what’s INSIDE that count. They’re going to THROW the PACKAGING away. So, why spend so much money on the packaging?” Maybe you’re also thinking that the money should go towards developing better quality products…for faster shipment options…or maybe the money should go towards spending potential clients to expensive dinners in Italian restaurants. It’s your call, really.

But this is what I have to tell you, as a graphic designer and consumer. The more effort you put into designing your packaging, more customers will stop and take a look at your packaging or what’s inside the packaging. Now, does it make sense for me to say now that when they stop and take notice of your packaging, your chance of getting them to buy your product increases? Exactly.

You see, the role of packaging is to grab the consumer’s attention. And without an electrifying packaging, consumers are going to walk past the heaps and heaps of other competitor products…and yours…without even knowing you’re there! Your product is sitting there on a shelf, for goodness sake, and the only weapon you have is to have a nice packaging. Once they stop and take a look, you’ve won the first round.

Think about it!

Marsha Maung is a freelance work at home graphic designer and copy writer. She focused on below-the-line advertising and marketing. More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com and http://www.creativejooz.com

Individuality… uniqueness… Identification. "This above all: to thine own self be true."

What do all of the above have in common? They all translate into the meaning of ‘identity’. Without it, we have no representation of our own characteristics or behaviour. Without it we remain nameless. Without it, we are in fact - lost.

In an age of increasing identity theft, its importance cannot be denied. Victims of this type of theft have lost parts of themselves that are difficult or which they may never be able to retrieve. The losses are much more substantial. They include loss of money; loss of good credit ratings and the most debilitating of them all; loss of one’s reputation. In the consequential aftermath of this crime, victims are denied loans; educational opportunities; and job offers. Some have even been arrested for crimes they didn’t commit.

It is much easier than most people realize, for fraudulent persons to access and steal one’s identity. MEL Research, in its ‘bin raidin’ project found that 77% of UK households discard sensitive financial documents, such as bank statements and utility bills, without first shredding them. Another report, with its research aimed at traveling executives, found that tons of personal financial information can be found on the desktops of airport lounge personal computers. These desktop-saved documents describe multi-million dollar deals, inclusive of profit margins and lowest bid values.

Credit and ATM card fraud is the most widespread of them all. They are also the most popular. With the increasing use of purchasing-via-the-internet, consumers put themselves and their money in a vulnerable position. Not all sites offer a ‘secure-shopping’ feature. More often than not, these are the ones that ‘capture’ and ‘re-use’ personal data. ATM fraud is not always easy to spot. Commercial banks should raise more awareness on how to identify (no pun intended) card slots that have been tampered with. These false slots are also used to ‘capture’ and ‘re-use’ an individual’s information.

Further to depleting a person’s monetary account, this type of information can also be used for kidnapping – where hefty balances can be seen.

The use of identity surrounds us in our daily lives. We have identifying usernames and passwords. We join groups that support of help us to seek our ethnic identity. Our modes of dressing are statements of who we are. Employees are mandated to wear ID cards.

The product and corporate branding of identity is no different. Nowadays, business cards are a point of entry for placing someone in an electronic database. You business name must gain your potential customer’s interest and trust (they can trust that your card is a true representation of yourself and your business). And yes, image is everything. Just as books are judged by their covers, so too can business people be judged by their cards.

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Rondon – Identity -2-

‘Branding’ is one’s identity in the marketplace. It should been done properly. Business cards, Letterheads, Labels and Compliments slips should be treated as one ‘branding’ entity. What’s the use of having your business card in one design and all other supporting stationery in another? Consistency is the cornerstone of professionalism.

Because of the intricate emotional and societal issues that encircle the exchange of business cards, psychology and design are also co-related. There is always a tinge of anticipation when giving and receiving business cards. The giver hopes that his/her card will not be dismissed into the unseen depths of someone’s wallet (agh!!) or worse, thrown away (double agh!!). The receiver sees a person’s business card as the answer to their specific problem; the item or service that they had been seeking.

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People are always more comfortable when they’re being themselves. They are also more trustworthy and their businesses more profitable. Shouldn’t your identity, then, be packaged just right?

Written for Goodprint Ltd, providors of instant online business cards and matching stationery via their website http://www.goodprint.co.uk

A client of mine once called after I had given a presentation to him about his company’s brand. He was calling to say we needed to change the shade of taupe we had all agreed upon for the firm’s logo.

I was surprised to hear this busy man talking taupe, convinced he had more important things to attend to. I found it particularly strange because just that day, he had approved the color scheme.

As the conversation progressed, he confessed that his wife didn’t like the color. She had experimented with that very shade of taupe for their living room curtains and hated it. Ignoring our strong suggestion to the contrary, the color was changed.

What does this 20 year old story have to do with anything? Most people think of branding as a pretty logo. Instead, branding embodies the entire customer experience, with the logo merely acting as the visual mark.

The brand experience should reflect the soul of the company. More important than whether or not you "really like" everything about it, your brand should represent your company’s "image attributes."

Image attributes are adjectives and descriptive phrases that capture the essence of a company and their creative project. They describe the core values of an organization, the feeling that a brand should evoke or the essential goals of a Web site.

At the start of a project, I work with my clients to elucidate a set of brief terms to identify the basic precepts of their project. These image attributes become a list that we can all agree on, easy-to-remember reference points that help everyone on the team, both client and developer, stay on target throughout the process.

Developing them may be the most important exercise of the project, because it helps ensure that the final result—the brand identity or Web site—embodies those descriptors. For every project, I have many levels of goals, but as long as my work reflects the image attributes on presentation day, I have done my job.

So what do image attributes have to do with my client’s wife who doesn’t like taupe? One of the most common mistakes in purchasing creative services is that clients judge results based on personal likes and dislikes.

Unlike choosing a curtain color for your living room or buying artwork for the space over your fireplace, creative choices related to business have nothing to do with your (or your spouse’s!) personal preferences. They have everything to do with solving your business problems and improving your customers’ experience.

Many clients think they have to “like” the artwork that creative services firms produce for them. But what if those clients’ likes and dislikes don’t line up with their corporate needs? What if they aren’t qualified to determine what works visually for their firm? By agreeing on image attributes that will guide and gauge the outcome of an assignment, we assure ourselves that the end result achieves the business goals that we set at the beginning.

Look at brands that work: Coke, Nike, Apple Computer; their brands on packaging and products, Web sites and brochures, carry a simple, compelling visual message that elicit very specific feelings in their audience. Whether or not people like the red used in the Coke lettering or the simple apple icon used by Apple Computer, they are compelling and significant icons that evoke strong recognition and often positive feeling.

That’s what a brand is about: embodying the attributes of your company or product. Everything else is window dressing.

Kara Brook is the founder and President of Brook Group, LTD, a Web design firm devoted to online branding and customer experience design. For more FREE branding resources, visit http://www.brookgroup.com/brand. To learn more about Brook Group’s branding services, visit http://www.brookgroup.com/branding.

Corporate gifts with logo are perhaps the most popular and widely used of all corporate gift ideas. Of course, it makes perfect sense. If your company wants to give its employees or customers a gift, then obviously you want them to remember you. What better way to make your company stand out in your customers’ memories than to give them a corporate gift sporting your company’s logo? Corporate gifts with logos are an excellent idea for almost any occasion, because almost any corporate gift you can think of can be imprinted with your company’s logo.

Common Corporate Gifts With Logo
Some of the most popular corporate gifts with a company logo include pens, note pads, caps, and key chains. But, there are a lot of other great corporate gifts available such as mugs, t-shirts, flashlights, office supplies of all kinds, and even computer accessories like mouse pads. All of these are items that can easily be produced with a company logo, so get creative! What are some items that people need and use daily? These are the best options, because they’ll be looked at every day, and so will your logo.

Imprinting A Logo
Depending on which corporate gift item you choose, there are some guidelines for the best way to imprint your logo. Usually, the corporate gift items you choose will already be manufactured, and your company logo is only imprinted on the quantity you order. So, typically there are some restrictions on the numbers of colors you can use in your logo and the size at which the logo can be imprinted on the item. The exact guidelines will vary from item to item, and they will also depend on the company you purchase your corporate gifts from.

In most cases, your logo will be no larger than an inch or two, so you want to choose a version of your company logo that is simplified enough that it will be very legible at this size. Also, you will probably be limited by the number of colors you are allowed to use in the logo for your corporate gifts. As a general rule, limit the number of colors you use in your logo to two. This way, the people to whom you give your corporate gift will know at a glance what is imprinted on it without having to study it for very long. These colors should also be in contrast with the predominate color of the corporate gift. For instance, if you decide to give away caps as a corporate gift with your logo, and the cap is blue, a good color for the logo might be white or yellow. Dark colors like red or black would be bad choices because they won’t stand out against the blue fabric of the cap.

Giving away corporate gifts with logo is most effective when you’re giving your employees or customers something they will look at and use on a regular basis. Imprinting your logo large enough to be legible and in colors that stand out will make your corporate identity more recognizable too. If you follow these guidelines when choosing any corporate gift with logo, you can’t go wrong.

For more great ideas on corporate gift giving solutions, visit Corporate Gift Ideas Guide