Posts Tagged graphic design

best creative clip I’ve ever seen on YouTube

Posted by Chris Houchens in advertising on July 27, 2008

You see, it’s funny because it’s true. I’ve never designed a stop sign, but I have been in discussions that were frighteningly like these.

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proof shame

Posted by Chris Houchens in advertising, marketing on February 29, 2008

Let me first say that I have made many mistakes. A few have been made in life and many more have been made in my marketing efforts. I have approved print jobs with both minor and egregious errors. I have designed and sent ads to a publisher with misspellings. And this blog has been known to have more than the occasional typo. (Although, a copy editor friend is now reading the blog so I’m more careful than I used to be.)

As you go through the day, more than likely you’ll see a few mistakes in marketing pieces. Most of them come through hastily written signage, employees not using common sense, or the dangerous combination of minimum wage and brand messages. I’ve even provided photographic evidence of poor proofs here before. In fact, the problem has gotten so bad that we’ve come to the point that you get a write up in the New York Times because you know how to use punctuation on a sign.

It’s easy to find these singular errors. But occasionally, you’ll find an example where they just backed the dump truck up and let it all go. There’s a new restaurant in my hometown that has been publishing its menu in the local paper for the past few days. And it’s bad.

My wife is an adjunct college English professor and she took it to her night class. The students found copious amounts of misspellings, punctuation errors, and things that just made no sense. Here’s the ad, but because of the poor design and small type, you really can’t read it. But while trying to find an online copy of the menu to show you, I did find that the restaurant has already become a local laughingstock because of others who have noted the horrible job on the ad and menu.

This is not nitpicking. This is being in control of your marketing. There’s no reason for it. Shame on the newspaper and salesperson for letting such a horrible thing be published on behalf of a client. Shame on the graphic designer who didn’t proof the work. And shame on the owners for not taking responsibility for their own marketing and image.

If a company is not going to take the time and effort to properly craft the marketing messages that they’re paying for, how bad are the other aspects of the marketing experience I’m going to have with the company going to be? As you can see in the laughingstock link, shoddy craftsmanship in preparing a menu spills over in the preparation and quality of the food on the menu as well.

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hey taxi!

Posted by Chris Houchens in marketing on October 19, 2007

Sometimes the product IS the logo. If you’re lucky enough to be caught in that position, don’t mess with it. But bureaucracy is not that smart.

In what is a sure fire example of the crap that can be produced by committee, New York has unveiled a logo for New York taxis.

new york city taxi logo
Never mind that the logo is not needed. They went the extra step to make it hideous.

How can you use three typefaces in only seven characters?

Am I in Boston? Why is the Boston T symbol showing up in the middle?

And as one commenter on a New York Times blog wrote — “it looks like someone used a dime-store stencil.”

The sad part about the whole logo is that it probably started as a good one since the original ideas came from Smart Design, the same group that puts together the smooth designs of Oxo proucts. But, as Tim Manners posted on Reveries, — “Rather than settling on one idea, the committee decided to go with all of them.”

Several more problems are outlined in this New York Times blog post along with commentary and alternative designs from some smart designers.

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Budget Eye

Posted by Chris Houchens in advertising on September 18, 2007

Most of the people that DON’T have an eye for good design are also the same people that DO control advertising purse strings.

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No Go Logo

Posted by Chris Houchens in branding, marketing on June 6, 2007

There’s been quite a bit of online conversation and critique about the 2012 Olympic logo.

Great comments from Hugh who was actually there when it was unveiled.

And Seth had some great advice for people who speak jargon-ese to detract from the fact that they just ripped you off. And he really hit the nail on the head with a post about logos in general.

Here’s the thing — Advertising and graphic design are subjective. I personally don’t like this logo. Maybe you do. And criticism like this is going to happen all day in these fields.

But what does need to be considered is the big picture. So maybe you don’t like the color or the font, but will it help gain market share?

I had a client a few years ago who hired me to develop a marketing plan for his company. I discovered that while he was balking at my plans and my fees, he had paid a branding company an outlandish fee to come up with a logo and name for the company. And this happens all the time. Too many times, business strains at the gnat and swallows the camel when it comes to marketing. Spend your marketing dollars on the tires and engine of marketing — not on the upholstery and the radio.

It’s true that you need a good logo. And you don’t need to go the cheap route with it or try to do it yourself with clipart and MS Word. But you also don’t need to shell out $800,000 for anything that could easily be emailed to you.

The truest test is that if your graphic identity is giving people epileptic seizures as the 2012 Olympic one apparently is, perhaps it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

BONUS::It seems the British people could have done a better job. If you take out the photo-based ones, 2012 logos done by BBC News readers here and here are pretty good. (of course, that’s my subjective opinion)

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Apprentice Marketing

Posted by Chris Houchens in advertising, marketing on March 21, 2006

I thought there might not be any teachable moments in marketing with this season of The Apprentice. But then last night, the tide changed with 3 good marketing points.

1) I preach to clients and speaking audiences all the time about one of the most recurrent marketing sins that I see…the novel on a billboard. With a billboard, you get one thought and one thought only. It has to be straightforward and so simple that a child could comprehend it without thinking. What you see so many times are billboards and other outdoor media that have the old mentality of “we paid for this space so we need to use all of it“.

2) While designing their losing billboard, Andrea said…”Well, I do most of the graphic design for my company.” At that point, I thought she’d grab Quark and get busy. But instead, she sat behind the graphic artist, pointed at the screen, and said things like “more colors” and “more fonts”. That’s not graphic layout. That’s micro-managing someone who knows more than you do.

3) Anytime you get 3 or more people get together to design an ad, it’s a disaster. Marketing by committee is always a losing proposition.

Bonus Point 4) People from KY are both empathic and strong leaders. Way to go, Charmaine.

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Graphic Artist Burger Flippers

Posted by Chris Houchens in advertising, strategy on December 12, 2005

There are some amazing graphic designers / graphic artists working in the marketing world today. Thier work creates the bridge that pulls the market in and allows delivery of the message.

And then there are some Graphic Burger Flippers.

Huh?

My personal definition of a “burger flipper” is someone who just knows how to do the job they’ve been assigned to do. They can turn on the grill and have enough manual dexterity to hold the spatula. They see that the end result of their job is that they have to flip the burger or drop the fries. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that someone on the other side of the counter has paid for and will consume this food. The end of the journey is getting the burger in the wrapper.

Compare this to the master chef…or the maternal southern lady who owns the best restaurant in town. The dining expereince of the customer is their final goal. They want the person they’re cooking for to have a delightful meal. The end of the journey is a satisfied customer.

There are “burger flippers” in every industry….and in every job. You’ve met them. Clock in….clock out…where’s my check.

Lately, for some reason, I’ve been running across alot of “burger flippers” in the graphic arts arena. I’ll get proofs from a YellowPage publisher or a printing company that would fail any basic graphic layout class. Fundamental items like kerning and basic spell check are blatantly wrong and should have caught before they were sent for me to proof.

The reason for this is a burger flipping graphic artist in a cubicle farm somwhere. My client has paid either hundreds or thousands of dollars for space in a publication or a Yellow Pages. And yet, their ad is only one item in a “”generic template–jam-in-the-info–where’s-the-next-one”" mindset of a burger flipper graphic designer who is doing 50 ads today. He knows how to make Quark/Pagemaker (the grill) work, but he has no idea (or doesn’t care) about how marketing works.

Demand better from these people. You’re making the investment in advertising. For it to work, the ad must be put together well. The best thing to do is to circumnavigate the cubicle farm and hire a good graphics person that understands your entire marketing plan and not just the quick ad copy that was scribbled down by a salesperson who probably didn’t have any idea about what you needed…(see this post about the dangers of marketing salespeople)

If you are a burger flipper or better yet…if you employ burger flippers, start thinking about the end results for your customers. Or, at the very least, have a little pride in your work.

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Lawyer Logos in Love

Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on September 12, 2005

In addition to highlighting a great post I had (if I do say so myself) on Marketing By Committee, Tom Kane over at the Legal Marketing Blog has also pointed out a post I had back in June concerning bad logo work. The trouble pops up when businesses think a combination of PaintShop / Publisher/ WordArt combined with an inkjet makes them graphic designers.

There are lots of things people need to think about with logo development…

  • When you do hire it out…make sure the graphic designer actually knows what they’re doing. I see many businesses pay WAY too much for cookie-cutter designs from “logo design” companies that lurk in the classified sections in the back of business magazines.
  • Logos should pop out at the viewer, but not so much that it’s distracting.
  • Avoid whatever is the design-trend-of-the-moment..as it will make your logo look dated in just a few years.
  • Fax it. A fax transmission will be the toughest punishment any graphic will take. When you fax a logo and it comes through the other side still carrying your identity, it is designed well. Same goes for embroidery.
  • It should convey an unspoken message. Even with no text, someone should be able to look at your logo and be able to broadly describe what the business is about. (i.e. – traditional company, new tech company, etc)…BUT remember that….
  • Simple but bold is the best design. Get too busy and it won’t be effective. Many companies try to make their logo an advertisement. It’s not.
  • Avoid too many colors. 4 color process looks great until you have to pay for it in everything you print. The best logos are one or two colors (again, simple is best)
  • Use vectors. This will make enlargements/reductions much easier (and better looking)
  • Check the legal implications. Spending time/money on designing and printing a logo only to receive a cease and desist letter from someone who thinks your logo is a little too reminiscent of their logo is a headache and a disaster waiting to happen.
  • But the most important thing…and something that I rail and rant about daily is…..Logo does NOT equal Brand. If you think it does, you’ve already lost the battle.

There are several other considerations when developing a logo (too many to go into here). But this list seems to cover the most important to me. Any other thoughts?

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More on Logos

Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on June 22, 2005

You’d think this was a problem (read: mistake) that only very small businesses would have…but I’m seeing it more and more with larger companies.

Unless you know typography and design, you shouldn’t be designing your own logo.

I saw a large medical practice today with a logo that was WordArt.

If you’re designing a flyer for a yard sale..WordArt is OK.
If you’re designing a logo for a multi-million dollar medical practice that’s trying to create a feeling of professionalism…not so good.

As desktop publishing, copiers, and on-demand printing become more available and more affordable. it doesn’t necessarily mean you should do your own stuff.

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UPDATE: More things to keep in mind when working with a logo.

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