Branding a Relationship
When you think of your favorite brands, there is often a very specific relationship that we all have with them.
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Always Keep Learning
Sometimes when we get to a certain level in our development of a skill, we just… stop learning. We stop trying to absorb new information. We stop trying to be better than we were yesterday. We decide that we know enough and sometimes, that even turns into a toxic mentality. Sometimes, that means we look at new styles and trends and look down our noses […]
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Freshening the Brand
When you’re the designer in charge of maintaining a client’s brand through regular use in projects like social media posts, print flyers, postcards, etc., there are multiple responsibilities on your shoulders. You have the responsibility to not only maintain that brand, but to regularly refresh it. And in refreshing it, to not give in to the temptation to salt the proverbial Earth where the elements […]
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Managing Creativity in the “New Normal”
When I returned to my office to work again after having been working, like many of us, from home for 3 months, things were exactly as I had left them. Even my page-a-day PEANUTS desk calendar still had the page from Monday, March 16th at the top. It was a comic of Snoopy on his doghouse writing one of his many far-fetched books. When I […]
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Familiar Fonts
When designing a logo, or any kind of graphic design project that uses fonts, there’s a pitfall that many people fall into (designers included) that can create a disruptive or even unintentionally funny situation. And it’s one that is focused on your choice of typefaces. When designing a logo, or using fonts in any significant way, the ones you choose will do much of the […]
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Brand Maintenance
Sometimes as designers and marketers, we don’t get to create the brands we work on. Instead, we inherit them from other creatives whole cloth. Logos, fonts, color palates and existing marketing assets are often handed down from the client for us to work with. Other times, it’s little more than an existing logo and a smile. Regardless, it’s an existing brand and, suddenly, your task […]
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What is Graphic Design?
Many people have asked me to define Graphic Design. It’s tricky. The question is kind of like asking, “What is a doctor?” There are doctors who do routine work and there are innovators, which is a good way to think about it. It’s about telling a story, creating an ambiance, and a personal statement which surpasses the spoken word. It is an avenue for amazingly […]
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Identifying and Overcoming Style
Every designer has a style – a recognizable set of elements that makes their work recognizable as theirs; a certain way they balance type and graphic icons; a certain way they design graphic elements; such a recognizable look to their designs that those who know their work can look at it and say “That’s them, alright!” I know as a designer that I do. I […]
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
When working on a brand design over an extended period, it becomes inevitable that change will eventually need to happen. Sometimes this is a sweeping change involving a complete re-branding. Redesigning logos and branding elements from scratch with an eye on complete reinvention. This is a strategy employed best when the old brand simply didn’t work; the logo never connected with its intended target, the message was muddy, unclear and, as […]
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I Can’t Read That: The Importance of Design Clarity
The words “I can’t read that” are the bane of many a graphic designer. But it’s one of the single more important pieces of criticism of a design you can get. When designing a logo, clarity is vitally important. Clarity, not only of intent but of the literal variety as well. Oftentimes when designing a logo, in our excitement of trying to find or create […]
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