the best creative ideas ever

Video is king. The opportunities video offers businesses for genuine marketing is growing exponentially. Video has had its place in the marketing world for quite some time, but it's been evolving and you need to take advantage of it.  Here's what you can expect to come from video and how you can grow with it:

When building or defining a brand it's natural to want to include everything. Especially if you're an entrepreneur and your brand is basically you. There's a lot that you want to communicate, and you want to make sure that people understand it.

Overhauling the look feel, or even name of your brand is a big deal. So much so that many brands struggle to pull the trigger a rebrand — often to the detriment of their bottom line.

Sign up! Reserve your spot! Download now! We all encounter a ton of call-to-action (CTA) buttons every day. But which ones do we actually click? And what motivates us to click some but not others?

Whitespace. Loved by designers, and loved to be filled by website owners. Though you may not realize it, blank space can actually be a good thing for a website. Kind of like the best friend you didn’t realize you missed until you don’t have them anymore.

How many times have you opened an email newsletter only to delete it two seconds later? Or even worse, just delete it without even clicking open — which you've done the past 10 times? It happens to all of us. But why? One reason is that the newsletter just isn't interesting enough to catch your attention. In our overly busy, exceedingly digital lives, we simply don't have time for cluttered, visually flat emails that don't immediately pique our interest. 

When it comes to frustrations, we know that commercial real estate brokers and firms have limited time and resources to create well-composed photos. We get it. They come to us often with questions about the best way to photograph their space to appeal to their target audience.

Overhauling your brand can help refresh your brand's image. Done well, it brings you up to date and into focus. Done poorly, it can do away with years of carefully developed brand equity and consumer recognition.

Great brands evoke something in consumers. When consumers feel something about a brand, they're more engaged, more loyal, and more likely to take action.

Naming your company is probably one of the biggest branding challenges you'll face. How do you come up with a name that reflects who you are, what you do and what you stand for? A name that becomes an icon of your category, while also leaving room for growth and expansion?

Simplifying your brand is like decluttering your house. You know it's going to be good for you, but like that awesome kitchen gadget you bought on late night TV maybe you really will use one day. Here's our advice for kitchen gadgets and cluttered brands: if in doubt, throw it out.

Our clients are often completely on board with simplification until it comes to pulling the trigger. Sometimes they're worried about brand equity with an old style, communicating their offerings, not showcasing every little detail or being heard with less. Simplifying your brand may seem like a risk, but it's actually the best investment you'll ever make. Here's why. 

Simplicity arises from understanding. Simple brands aren't unfinished or unsophisticated. They're brands with absolute clarity of purpose.

Simple branding evokes rather than describes. It inspires rather than convinces. It's stripped-back, iconic and authentic. And it's linked with brand success.

Once you go simple, you never go back. Let's take a look at some of the places simplicity is taking over.

The Classic Networking Tool is Still With Us - And Is Just as Important Today 

In today’s digital world, more content is being created — in exponential numbers. That means less is being published the old-fashioned way. There’s less paper and more computer files. This could be good in a lot of ways, but it’s also changing the dynamics of building business relationships. 

Too often simplicity is equated with being easy or undemanding. In fact, simplicity is the opposite. It's not about cutting corners or dumbing things down. It's a purposeful decluttering. It's the outcome of thoroughly considering a problem and its solution — and providing only what is needed.

’Tis the season! You know, that time of year to start sending out holiday trinkets to all your favorite clients? (C’mon, you know you’ve got them!) 

Along with the gift, you’ll want to include a holiday card that is eye catching, yet still nails your brand message. After all, conveying brand messaging is always a top goal in collateral, and that shouldn’t change when it comes to holiday cards and seasonal email blasts. 

tīˈpäɡrəfē/

noun

1. the style and appearance of printed matter.

   • the art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it.

As a designer, I spend a lot of time choosing the perfect type face for brands for established corporations. The reality is they all require a well thought out typeface strategy for their marketing collateral to evoke a certain brand look and feel.

So in the spirit of Halloween here are my top scary bad fonts to absolutely put to rest, and scary good fonts to consider when creating any type of collateral for your brand. For fun we tied these fonts (both good and bad) into Halloween rhymes. 

Here are some of the best and worst fonts for branding...

Students form their perceptions of brand image, identity and meaning before enrolling at a university — and they continue to evolve during and after graduation.

The Best Seven Seconds You’ll Ever Send – Why Email Signatures Matter

One of our favorite questions to ask a new branding client is, “If you have seven seconds to tell your story, what would you say?” With internet speeds approaching warp speed, we are no longer managing emails at the pace of dial-up. The average person’s attention span is less than 3 seconds probably shorter and with the flurry of emails that get sent daily, no one has time to digest a lengthy, link-filled and graphically styled email signature. Here are a few ways to keep your email signature simple while still serving your business goals and objectives for the long haul.

Has your brand messaging kept up with your business? Does it reflect who you are now and what makes your company different and better? The following are four key topics that will show you if your brand content is working for or against you.

How your brand looks, matters.