Are you maximizing your Acrobat software?

You don't have to be a techie to understand this post despite my getting a bit too professorial and technical at times. This is about software you likely already own but may be unaware of its hidden potential. That application is Adobe Acrobat.

Since I've made the move to CS5 which includes the updated version of Acrobat Professional, it has taught me just how wonderful I had it using CS3 with Acrobat 8 Professional. Is Acrobat 9 & 10 that much better? Not really. It was only until CS5 did I started to appreciate the feature rich set of tools that Acrobat has. I had most of those features as far back as CS3 and didn't even know it.

One of the best things about Adobe's Creative Suite is how well integrated each application is. But now that I've begun to experiment and develop more with Acrobat Professional I can appreciate that integration even more. With Acrobat Professional I've recently created interactive slideshows, embedded video links into documents, designed live interactive invoices and order forms, added multiple layers using forms and fields for print control etc etc. It is simply incredible what Acrobat can do relative to other applications. So while most people are simply using PDF's as their standard professional document distribution format, I'm digging even deeper into Acrobats more hidden gems; using it as a traceable distribution means for surveys and as a marketing feedback mechanism. Can Acrobat Pro do that? Yes it can. You can distribute your documents, gather, organize and document your metrics all with the most advanced document development tools on the planet.

Time permitting I'll bring some examples to the blog.

Green Product Ad

Creating a product ad is something we do all the time. However, creating a "Green" product ad is definitely something we can get behind. Not only did we take a strong liking to the product, but we also have a strong affinity for the cause. Additionally, this project was one where product photography, nature photography, and graphic design merged seamlessly.

Each day in our offices and in our homes we look for new ways to save energy, minimize waste, and use more energy efficient equipment. It's not a task we have to do, it's a privilege that we want to do because we know with every step we improve the quality of life not only for ourselves but for our environment.

Upon first viewing this brand, we immediately knew which image and product we wanted to start with. As this promotion evolves, we will include a more comprehensive promotional package and expand the graphical content. In the meantime, we're just pleased to be able to promote a product that we believe in for a cause where everybody wins. 

Choosing and Designing Your Organizational Logo

Choosing Your Organization’s Logo

We’ve all seen the triumphs and the failures over the years; logos that say nothing of a company’s business, logos that are too abstract to mean anything, logos that are too generic or cartoonish; logos that are overly ornate. Unfortunately there are even logos that might be offensive or racy in nature. Iconography and symbolism are the very heart of communication. Before structured speech and language, symbolism has guided our perception of the world. In our time and in our businesses and institutions, guiding our strategic communications is the duty and responsibility of the Marketing Manager and/or Content or Branding Manager. It may be a shared responsibility among your staff or more appropriately you have a dedicated full-time individual or group handling your branding. I’ve outlined some very basic criteria I believe every logo should have despite the industry, despite the person at the helm of your communications' strategy, despite the company or the market it serves. These things are:

Transferability

Transferability is no small think to have when choosing a logo. It constitutes the entirety of the physical components of the logo design such as legibility, color, styling, layout, size, etc. Transferability essentially means that the designer and/or organization have considered how this logo might be rendered in and on alternative media. How will it appear on an envelope or letterhead? Will it cause placement problems on the website? Are the colors standardized? Are the colors webs safe? Is the logo legible on textiles? These considerations are hugely important. Most people consider a logo use in a singular media like a business card or letterhead, but they have not considered how well it will carry onto other media. How many logos have you seen look beautiful on a website but horrible on a sign or on apparel?

Understanding the market placement limitations of your logo is essential is maximizing its use. Remember a logo is your organization’s identity - its face and what people will see before anything else. Prior to meeting you or what products or services you offer your logo and other print materials is your first impression. Does your high end clothing boutique logo makes you look like a small town country store?  That’s ok if a country store is the meaning you want to convey. Does your bank logo say that you are serious and conservative or playful and risky? These considerations lead us into Relevancy.

Relevance

Relevancy requires a bit of research into understanding your market and your competitors. Are bright colors suitable for an insurance company and what psychological perceptions will these colors have on my prospective clients? Color theory is a huge component of design and rightfully so. Cultures respond to color in different ways and can often be offended by or put off by the use of colors in certain context. Color transferability is hugely relevant in your logos design as well. Choosing colors that can be carried from textiles to plastic or from paper to steel is a major consideration. You can’t accept a logo that looks plum on a business card and eggplant on a sign. You will lose brand equity and as such your visual communications’ identity is not nearly as secure as it could have been. Your business will be perceived as serious with drastic variances and a lack of consistency in your marketing materials.

But as aforementioned, color is a huge component of establishing relevancy and appropriateness to industry norms. It’s ok to break the rules if it falls within the confines of your organizational strategy and marketing objectives. Purple and gold with red stripes are quite striking together. However, improperly utilized the three colors may not bode well for an investment banker logo. Who will take you serious? Are you the circus or a financial institution?

Know your market is by far the most paramount of Relevancy. Understand the demographics of those you serve and provide to. Consider the cultural and gender aspects of design. After random self-designed market surveys, I’ve found on nearly every design that even men and women respond differently to colors, web and page design completely different on occasion with logos and other materials and iconography. Most recently, a logo design survey revealed that women preferred more elegant typefaces, swooshing lines, curves and bold colors while men were more attracted to strong positive vs. negative spaces and geometric shapes with simple colors. No surprise really but what if you were opening a business tailored to men and was leaning toward elegant bold colors; definitely know your market and your industry and understand the responsibility you hold as a designer and/or an organization.

Responsibility

DO NOT OFFEND! Be sure that whatever you choose in your design that you take care not to use overly suggestive, racial, cultural or offensive language or iconography. Your business is your own but consider the implications your business will have on society as a whole. Understand your social and ethical responsibilities. Just because a design isn’t offensive to you doesn’t mean it may not be to someone else.

Consider the example of a popular International parcel company we likely all know. Upon attempting to permeate a foreign market they had considerable trouble gaining a foothold on any considerable market share. Business was suffering significantly, yet all preliminary studies suggested that this market would substantially expand their business; all studies except one which would have revealed that certain colors in certain cultures are omens of bad luck and are often considered offensive. Now consider how many delivery vans you have to repaint to serve this market. Of course, there were other considerations the research revealed that needed to be addressed but this is an example of having cultural, racial and social sensibilities toward other people. Understand the perceptions associated symbolism and iconography. 

Perseverance

Can you change or alter your logo every few years? Sure you can but it’s not smart. Your logo establishes your identification in the marketplace. Changing it every few years diminishes if not totally undermines your visibility and the ability for your organization to be recognized. It also suggests deception and that your company may not be a viable one.  No one wants to establish a business relationship with an organization that looks like their going out of business and re-opening a new one every five years. Yet, logo updates and visual communication overhauls are rare but sometimes necessary particularly when a market has grown and customers are more diverse than they originally were. 

Make sure your visual communications’ identity is as timeless, strong, responsible, and relevant as they can be. You are being measured, compared, benchmarked, perceived and summed before you ever get to say hello.

Author: Wil Randolph (Visual Communications' Specialist)

Graphic Design

Marketing

Branding

Advertising

Photography

The New Trend: Brand Deterioration with Haste Design

It's a scary thing to realize; that everywhere you look technology is making multimedia, photography, website design and other marketing and creative specialist tools available to Joe Blow down the street. But not how you might think. I welcome technology. It is at the very heart of marketing, advertising and design industries. It is the means by which my work gets done. But are we abandoning the fundamental principles of good business and design with technology. Are we building websites without regard to the mechanism of business such as branding, marketing, strategy development, a business or marketing plan? We are and it is a terrifying realization when technology has made a task that required a Masters Degree five years ago and turned it into child's play with a couple of clicks. You hardly need to know web programming anymore with the onslaught of CMS options. You don't need special training in darkrooms to do photography anymore; just click and stitch; copy, past, and publish. 


What does all this mean really? It means our sensibilities toward good market strategy is inversely proportionate to our technological advancement in the tools that implements that strategy. When taking a properly exposed photograph is as easy as clicking without thinking about composition, where does the artistry lie? You inherit an Internet with literally billions of photographs that mean or accomplishes nothing. With thousands of sites popping up on the Internet everyday from everyone with a computer loaded with templates, where is the branding strategy, how does the business get customers, does the business have a marketing plan or a business plan? How does that site build your brand? If you're still reading you're beginning to see what's happening. Our own faster, smaller, cheaper, yesterday mentality is devaluing our economic infrastructure and our ability to develop true skills. While that same mentality attributed to economic growth and opportunities for many, our misapplication or failure to understand the implications of our new toys will lead to a gross devaluation of our organizational identity. 


I applaud the photographer who hasn't completely abandoned film. He or she understands the process, has developed an eye for lighting, a talent for perspective, and an intuition for composition. I respect the draftsman who still has parallel bars and a full set of drafting pens and pencils with protractors. I adore the graphic designer who has spent a few years in sales, advertising, marketing, and business development to understand the components of good design. When did it become smart to hold a contest to whomever produces the best new logo design for a company? That's appalling and downright terrifying. What happened to the professionals that understand the business, the market, and the psychology of true marketing and advertising; the professional that understand ROI and demographic studies?


We're abandoning basic business principles for speed and cost and it ends up costing more in the end. It's time to go back to basics and get a grasp for bottom up economics and business practices. 

Sircus Magazine Cover Design Concept by heliosimaging