In the history of the universe, the world has never been so saturated. Since the first amoeba crawled out of its hole, we have never had so much information available at our fingertips (literally). This information overload is both a humongous blessing and a curse. On one hand, we can Google the answer to pretty much any question you might have and you never have to sing a line from THAT song that you “just can’t remember the name of” to random strangers in a bar ever again, you can just Google the lyrics. Likewise, if you’re not feeling design inspiration, you can dive into Google looking for more design brilliance; you will inevitably fall deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole until you realize you are on page 32 of the image search and you are far more confused and lack direction even more than when you began. Around […]
What the Font? Psychology and Your Logo
There may not be much to a name, a rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but the font you use for your rose had better be right on the money or your audience will think it stinks. Sorry, we kind of butchered Shakespeare there, but it did help us make our point. Font psychology is a real thing and you need to put it to work in your font design or your audience is going hate it and not know why. At its core, font psychology is the study of how using typography can actually affect memories, thoughts, emotions, and yes – behaviours. Throughout history (well, more since the time of the printing press) people have attached a variety of feelings to different fonts. We could get into semiotics here, but instead of boring you to death, we’ll easily illustrate our point with one word: Papyrus. Did […]
Hashtag-Palooza! Instagram Engagement in 2019
The summer season is not just for frolicking in the sun and drinking mimosas on patios. It’s also the time when Instagram (or ultimately Facebook) starts tweaking their programs or algorithm and then pretends that they didn’t change a thing. It’s also the time when social media marketers tend to get their best content (depending on the industry) and when we have the hardest time getting the engagement numbers. You know the drill, people are away on holidays and checking their phones and Instagram feeds less and less, sometimes they are even completely avoiding it altogether. Between summer vacation and Instagram (not) tweaking their rhythm, it can be a truly frustrating time for businesses. Thankfully, we always have hashtags to our rescue, it’s all just a matter of finding the exact right hashtags for your business and knowing how to use them properly. Hashtag Follows First things first. Before we […]
Charter Your Way To The Next Level Of Graphic Design
Graphic designers are pretty much always in demand. Designers all seem to have a mother’s cousins best friend that needs a design project done. Whether it’s a logo project for a small business or a billboard for a multi-million-dollar conglomerate, design projects sometimes have a habit of falling from the sky – unfortunately, creativity doesn’t necessarily work the same way. So how do you keep creative while staying on track? With a project charter, or project brief. Whether you call it a charter, a brief, or any one of the project management synonyms for it, developing one can stop your design from going completely catawampus or making your client question your taste. A charter can help focus and ground your design, and guide your creativity with everything from your mood board to the typography. If you want to keep your design on the straight and narrow, but you’re not sure […]
Manage Your Social Media Without Losing Your Mind
Does the thought of logging into Facebook or opening your Insta make you break out into a cold sweat? Having a certified anxiety attack about managing your social media isn’t a productive (or happy) way to live. You don’t have to mindlessly waste hours of your time every day in platforms designed to keep you interested. Would you believe us if we told you that there is a better way? You can manage a thriving social media presence without breaking out into hives about it. It’s really all about strategizing and planning your time, energy, and content. Be Strategic Yes, we are always banging the strategy drum, but that’s because it is a drum worth banging. Having a solid strategy will save your time, your energy, and most importantly, your sanity. What does success look like to you? How are you going to benefit your customer or client? What are […]
Fail Proof Your Social Media Presence
Everyone, their dog, and their grandmas have some form of social media presence. For a business, especially in certain industries, it is almost commercial suicide to not have a Facebook page at the very least. That being said, just because customers demand a social media presence, doesn’t mean that everyone knows how to properly manage their networks. The lack of confidence leads to one of two things, either catastrophic errors or being paralyzed by fear and not posting at all. We don’t want you to be making amateur mistakes, we want to build your confidence and help you make your social media bulletproof with a few failproof tips. Be Visual If your company lives on Instagram, you already know that pictures and videos are life. If you are more of a Facebook or Twitter company, we may still have to drill it into your head: word posts are not your […]
Building Trust With Your Target Market
Unless you’ve known someone for a long time, the words “trust me” probably throw up a massive red flag. There are very few people who inspire trust right out of the gate and there are even fewer brands who can receive consumer trust without earning it through tireless efforts. The more obviously a company tries to earn your trust, the less likely they are to earn it. Of course, just like a relationship requires trust to keep it healthy, so does the consumer relationship – especially now that more and more people are completing the entire purchase cycle online, without ever seeing a person. Even Uber and Airbnb all began requiring consumers to place a high level of trust in their effectiveness as a business. Even new businesses need to be able to build some goodwill with potential clients and there are some pretty easy ways of building that bridge. […]