Dizzy Gillespie famously said of his work in jazz music, “It’s taken me all my life to learn what notes not to play.” Such is the art of jazz improv, and such is the art in writing copy for marketing materials.
The holidays are upon us. As companies begin creating custom holiday cards to send to their clients/customers, vendors and other business partners, it’s important to keep in mind that there should be the right balance between looking like a holiday greeting and not offending recipients who are of different faiths.
How can you approach this task with tact and respect to avoid offending anyone who will receive one of your company holiday cards? A simple way to avoid unintentionally upsetting anyone is to have a strong understanding of what holiday imagery is associated with a specific faith. Some are obvious – most people know that “Merry Christmas” is related to Christianity.
Lately, as I drive to work each morning, I’ve been noticing a lot of signage – a lot of poor signage. Those small yard signs that you see at the intersections usually advertising a fair, church function or some sort of liquidation sale are so crammed full of information that you can’t even read it when you’re at the stop light 10 feet away. So, it got me thinking that perhaps some tips on effective sign and display design would be a good topic for my next blog post…
Signage is a very affordable means of advertising. There is a lot more to designing both indoor and outdoor signage than sometimes meets the eye. Most people don’t realize that there are many questions and factors that should be taken into consideration before and during the design process.
The challenge of generating broad appeal is the reason why designers exist. Making things “pretty” is nice, but design is more than aesthetics. It is the means by which we marry strategic messages with effective visual communication vehicles. Here’s what we’re looking for to make that union a happy, successful one:
Few organizations work so hard to discover and define the why—their reason for being…the motivation behind their every action. But this is what truly motivates nearly every purchasing decision. Whether buying a car or hiring a consultant, we are motivated not by the ingredients on the tin, but by what the experience will be and how it will ultimately change our lives.
