A few weeks ago, I ran across Confessions of a Designer: Quotes from the World of Design by Anneke Short and have said, or at least thought, each and every one of them.
Taking a proactive approach to your graphic projects will save you time and money in the long run, and will result in higher quality design with less stress.
When beginning any branding campaign, logo or advertising design project, it is beneficial to consider a few pre-design questions to guide your graphic designer in the creation process. Good design is imperative, but if it does not communicate an effective message about your business or product, even the best looking logo will fall short.
Save your graphic designer time (and save yourself money) by answering the following questions:
A creative advertising campaign can help raise awareness, pull in clients you never would have reached before, and may just land your business all over the social media sphere, seen by people who may never have heard of your business.
Small details, such as the Twitter Home icon solidify your brand and subtly bring your brand into the forefront of the minds of your clients. It gives your company a thought-out look, and communicates to your customers that you are intentional in everything you do.
Your marketing items represent your business. Don’t let your clients’ perception of you be based on the work of a discount designer.
Increasing blog readership and community takes more than just setting up a Facebook fan page and posting links. It takes work. Hard work. It takes knowing your audience, determining the answers to these eight questions and boosting your social media platform. It takes having purpose, a schedule and making your page social.
When trying to determine if you need a Facebook fan page for your blog, consider the following:
Meant to be more comical than helpful, the following chart will give you a basic overview of how the most popular social media sites are perceived among the general population:
When it comes to social media marketing, many businesses assume that starting a Facebook page or Twitter account and periodically posting information is enough. Social media avenues become nothing more than an information dump or, worse yet, just another method of spamming one’s clients.
Consider making the following changes to boost your social media platforms:
A brand is an experience, not just an image. Putting resources and energy behind developing the graphic portion of a your brand is important, but you should not fail to develop your most important branding asset: your employees.
I am passionate about making a lasting impact on the world so 10% of the money I earn from each project will be donated to provide clean water wells in third world countries through 
