F5 Graphic Design

The Holiday Post

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:57:33 -0600

Two things I have now, that I wish I had 5 months ago:

1) Rain. While it’s great to finally have some moisture, it would have been nice to have a few rainy days to break up the 100 degree streaks over the summer.

Surprisingly, our solar Christmas lights have performed better than I expected through these grey, overcast days.

2) Star Wars the Old Republic. It’s a little difficult to dedicate the time needed to defend the Galactic Republic when you’re busy with the end of the year design rush.

That said, I do greatly appreciate my clients. You guys have been awesome, and I hope to see all of you again after the holidays!

Thoughts on Art & Copy

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:01:03 -0500

I need some kind of background noise when working on a logo or illustration, and Netflix is always happy to oblige. On my most recent logo project, I came across the documentary Art & Copy, which seemed appropriate.

The documentary focuses on the inspiration and effects of advertising, through interviews with George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Rine, and others; peppered with statistics about advertising and clips of some of the more famous ads (Where’s the Beef, Just Do It, Got Milk, etc.)

Now, I’m going to stop right here and point out that this documentary does not deal with the “dark side of advertising”, much to the lament of a large portion of Netflix reviewers. There’s no mention of the cult of consumerism, or women’s body issues, or anything else that, quite frankly, you could find in plenty of other documentaries.

What it does touch on (and what I found interesting), is the integration of advertising into our culture, and the effect it has on the viewer, and sometimes the client. There were two stories touching on these effects that I found interesting: Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign, and the initial awareness campaign for Tommy Hilfiger.

In the later, George Lois convinced Tommy Hilfiger to run a campaign equating his new clothing line with the top names in men’s fashion at the time: Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Calvin Klein.

In the documentary, Tommy admits that he was deeply embraced by the arrogance of the advertising campaign, but he also notes that because of the campaign, he worked harder than ever to live up to those standards, and that his business probably wouldn’t be where it was today if it weren’t for that initial ad.

The discussion on Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign was equally interesting in hearing about the feedback the agency received over the campaign. People were writing to say that the campaign had inspired them to loose weight, ask for that promotion, move in with their boyfriend/girlfriend, all because of an ad designed to sell sports equipment. It’s interesting to think that advertising can actually have a positive (albeit, unintentional) effect, in addition to just promoting a product.

Overall, I liked the documentary. The cinematography was well done, it was interesting to hear some of the stories behind these famous campaigns, and I was more than a little envious seeing some of the spectacular buildings these agencies occupy. Plus, as a graphic designer, it was nice to see a documentary about advertising that wasn’t laser-focused on the negative side effects.

The few things I would have liked to see though:
1) A little more insight into the creative process. Dealing with rejection, balancing ingenuity with practicality, maybe some insight from the people working “in the trenches” on some of these famous campaigns, etc.
2) Thoughts/feelings on new media options. While print media and television ads are important, I would have liked a little bit of information on the challenges of dealing with advertising with the advent of the Internet.

Anyways, you can check out Art & Copy for yourself on Netflix streaming. And on some magical day when I have extra time, I’ll put together a proper theme for my Tumblr blog, and clean up the website version.

An Experiment

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:59:31 -0500

So, lately there seems to be a lot of talk about the health problems associated with sitting down all day and staring at a computer monitor for extended periods of time.

This was concerning to me because I spend a rather large portion of my time in front of the computer: working, reading Twitter/Fark/Blogs, playing games, etc. And to be totally honest, I’m not the most active person in the world. Or in Wichita. Or even on my block comprised largely of the elderly.

So, I decided to try a new approach to my daily work schedule, with the help of Breaker.

The plan is simple: Work for an hour, then take a ten minute break. Rinse, repeat.

During the 10 minute break, I get away from the computer and try to do something halfway active: yoga, lifting some of the hilariously tiny dumbells (I am Jack’s complete lack of upper body strength…) , trying some of those stability ball exercises (and being thankful that only my dog can see me), or just getting up and walking around the house a bit. It’s not much, but you have to start somewhere right?

The results so far:
1) Increased productivity. This sounds odd because I’m taking a lot more breaks, but I’m finding that I’m laser-focused during that hour, because I know that there’s a break coming up.

2) Generally, I feel a bit better. This is only week 2 of the new system, but I’m finding I have a lot more energy throughout the day, and the searing pain in my wrists/back seems to be a bit more manageable.

I’ll continue this little experiment in the coming months - we’ll see if these results last, or if I lapse back into my couch-potato ways.

On the Care and Feeding of Designers

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:08:00 -0500

The above was sent to me from a friend who works in the programming field, but I think it applies to graphic designers too.

While some of the clients from hell stories are, in fact, tales of Satan’s minions walking amongst us, most of these stories could have been prevented with proper communication, and effectively managing expectations. And that is a large part of our job as designers - to make sure that our clients understand exactly what the process will be, and how we will manage any bumps in the road.

But there are a few things that you, as clients can do to help ensure that your project runs smoothly:

1) Make sure our primary contact is somebody who can make a decision. Adding a middleman turns the process into a game of telephone - where both your feedback, and the designer’s explanations are being filtered through a third party, increasing the chances of miscommunication. It’s best to either work with the designer directly, or grant the middleman the authority to make these decisions on your behalf.

2) Let us know if there are multiple people who will need to sign off. If the entire board of directors will need to approve the logo design, it’s better that we know that ahead of time - instead of getting to the “final” draft only to discover that Bob and Maria really think the company should go with a traditional look, rather than modern.

If we know about this potential situation ahead of time, we can build in extra time for the whole group to discuss, and plan to meet with the group as a whole during the planning stages.

3) Take the time to answer questions/emails completely. If you’re busy, a quick note that says you’ll get back to us later is more than enough.

4) Don’t be afraid to tell us when something is going wrong. It doesn’t matter if the designer interpreted your ideas wrong, or if you’ve realized that perhaps you really didn’t want to use a unicorn as your company mascot. It’s better to point out these issues right away, rather than letting them fester beneath the surface.

That’s all I’ve got for today folks. Here’s to (hopefully) the end of 100+ degree weather here in the Midwest!

6 Things on a Hot Day in June

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:02:32 -0500

So, I need to write a new blog post. But, the weather is unbearably hot here in the Midwest, which makes the crafting of witty and coherent blog posts difficult. (You can be certain in the winter that I will be blaming my lack of wit and charm on the cold seeping into my poorly insulated house from the ‘70s)

Therefore, I’m going to take a page from The Pioneer Woman’s blog, and make a list of things.

1) The Rob Zombie Woolite commercial amuses me more than it should

2) I’m getting dangerously close to ending my love affair with Firefox. Sorry Mozilla, we’ve had some great times, but Chrome consistently appears to be faster, and I feel like an abused woman when I keep going back to you. And Internet Explorer, please stop calling me. You were a high school fling when I didn’t know any better, and I’ve moved on.

3) My husband has spent the last several days putting together a rather complex storyline and map for a Dungeons and Dragons game. My husband is a nerd.

4) I’m more than a little excited for the Star Wars Old Republic MMO. Okay, so I’m a nerd too.

5) As a designer, I feel a little guilty for having Ad Block installed, and for living without the comforting embrace of cable television. I’m missing out on potentially fabulous branding campaigns! But I’m also avoiding the annoying Spangles jingles, and therefore preserving my sanity.

6) A little reading material for lunch today: 5 Copywriting Errors that Can Ruin a Company Website

Why your business (still) needs to be online

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:10:04 -0500

Yesterday, I was on the hunt for a dog groomer. Not for my beloved dachshund Rascal, but for my houseguest for the next 10 days: Dozer. Dozer is my grandmother’s dog, and it was apparent less than 15 minutes after his arrival that he seriously needed a bath and a good haircut.

So, as the average consumer, I started out by consulting my sources.

My mother suggested a groomer that she frequented, but they were located in Derby, which is a long, 30-minute drive from my home in West Wichita. So, I searched for the groomer online to see if they were worth actually firing up my car.

And… I found nothing. No website. No posting of their business hours. No social media accounts. No answers to my many questions:

What did they charge?
Did they towel dry the dogs, or put them in cages with blow dryers?
Was nail trimming included, or was that extra?
How did they deal with difficult dogs (as it turned out, Dozer did great)

Now, I could have called their business to ask, but I’m not a fan of that approach. For one, there’s a good chance that I’ll forget a question I have while on the phone. Additionally, I tend to feel as though once I’m on the phone, I have to give them my business. Which makes shopping around difficult.

Eventually I settled on Dawnte’s Dog Grooming. They had a simple, but informative website, and excellent reviews. And I must say, they did an excellent job.

TLDR Business Lesson – Get a website. Get online. Get more business. Simple!

Designer Matchmaker

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:55:39 -0500

Designer Matchmaker:

I was sent to this excellent article about the process of finding a designer via @KrisSchindler, and I just hard to share.

Be sure to read the rest of the posts in the series as well, they’re chock-full of good information.

One Size Fits None

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:09:00 -0600

A while back, I watched with voyeuristic interest as several designers engaged in a heated argument about the price of a logo in the safe embrace of internet anonymity. Several excellent points were made from both sides, but I was rubbed the wrong way by the derision exhibited by some posters at the idea that any business would ever dare to want a logo for less than $2000 or so.

Now, I want to make it very clear that I’m not advocating that we, as designers should devalue our work. There’s quite enough of that going on already. But perhaps, we need to rethink our approach a bit, and get rid of this “one size fits all” attitude towards clients.

Fictitious business owner “John, the guy who mows lawns and trims trees” doesn’t need market research. He doesn’t care about establishing a PMS Color to use in his branding materials. Hell, he’s not even sure what “branding materials” are at this point. All he knows is that he’s scared. Scared about how he’s going to pay his bills this month. Scared that heavy rains will leave nothing but mud-soaked yards behind. And right now, all John really wants is a nice logo to put on his business cards to make him look halfway professional.

Now, in a few years – when John becomes John, CEO of Lawncare LLC, his situation will be different. He’ll want a recognizable brand to mark his fleet of vans. He’ll want a solid marketing message for his social media efforts. He’ll want to upgrade that simple logo he got when he was just starting out. And odds are good that he’ll go back to the designer who helped him out when he was first getting on his feet.

Every business has different needs based on their situation – so why treat them as if they’re all the same? Services can be scaled or tiered. Product features can be reduced. In the end, you might just end up with a solid business relationship that will pay off in the long term.

A Business Lesson from Las Vegas

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:57:20 -0600

My husband and I decided to go to Las Vegas recently, because that’s what you do when you’re young and only have a couple of days to take off.

Upon our arrival in Sin City, we quickly discovered that through the simple act of getting married, we had entered some sort of super target market in Las Vegas. Everywhere we went, there were agents lurking in the crowds. These agents all looked the same: attractive, female, sporting freshly pressed business suits – and all of them watching the throngs of people passing them by with a hawk-like intensity. I’m relatively certain these women could spot a wedding band from half a block away.

As we walked down the strip, these women would come out of nowhere, blocking our path and attempting to corner us. They’d ask if we were married, and then offer us all sorts of fabulous gifts. Free dinners, show tickets, cash to gamble with. All of these things could be ours if we would just come out to their hotel for [mumbles], which will only take [mumbles]. For such a [mumbles] time investment, we were crazy not to take them up on this amazing offer!

The first time this happened, we were polite and apologetically explained that we wouldn’t be able to take them up on their offer. By the fifth occurrence, my husband and I were pretending not to speak English. Somewhere around the thirteenth time, after one of the agents physically pushed us towards their booth, we had resorted to running across the street every time we spotted another woman in a suit.

On one of these rapid escape ploys, we opted to duck into a shop in the Venetian, which turned out to be a magic shop. When the salesman approached us, I cringed at the thought of yet another sales pitch – but he was absolutely perfect. He showed us a few really cool magic tricks, told us what the price was for each (without any commentary whatsoever) and then left us alone until we had questions. Not surprisingly, we ended up making a purchase in his store.

Now, for the business lesson I promised.

Full disclosure here: More and more, I am becoming a huge cheapskate. My Christmas presents are currently wrapped in brown craft paper because I didn’t want to buy any actual wrapping paper. We flew out to Vegas through Minneapolis, and returned through Atlanta because I didn’t want to fork over the cash for a direct flight. Additionally, I love free schwag. And coupons. And coupons that get me free schwag. The point is, if even I’m turning down your free offers, you’re doing something horribly horribly wrong.

I understand the economy is rough. I understand, that in a tourism city like Las Vegas there will be a huge push to get people into the new hotels and timeshares. But here’s the secret: in business, you’re not just selling a service or a product. You’re selling trust.

This is true now more than ever. Just like the rest of you, my money is tight, and my time is limited, because I need to make more money to pay my bills. So when I do need to make a purchase, I need to be able to trust the company I’m buying from. If you’re acting like Big Jim, the used car dealer who could lose his shirt at any moment – I don’t want to buy from you. Because for all I know, when I need to buy something else from your company, you may not be around anymore. And then I might have to buy a different product, or search for a different company who can service your product. I don’t like wasting my time or money, any neither do the rest of your potential clients.

Now, if any of the timeshare agents had been wearing any sort of badge identifying who they worked for, and if they’d been able to give me an honest answer about how much time I’d have to give up to listen to their presentation, I may have taken them up on their offer. Because, as previously established: I like free stuff. But instead, they reeked of desperation, becoming visibly angry at me when I turned them down – and their sales pitches were appalling confrontational. There was zero reason for me to trust them, and therefore zero chance of me even listening to their message.

So as we move in to 2011, I implore all of you business owners out there to think a bit more about trust, and what you’re conveying to your potential clients. If they’re actually running across a busy street to get away from you, it may be time to revamp your marketing efforts.

Random Photo Inspiration - courtesy of my little bro

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:44:07 -0600

#140 Small Town – Social Media Ain’t Just an Urban Thang

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:27:12 -0500

As I sat in the historic Ford Theatre for the #140 Conference, I couldn’t help but think back to my initial arrival at college where the majority of my floor was populated with students from Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and other large East/West Coast cities. When they found out I hailed from Kansas, you’d think I’d just announced that I had spent my youth being raised by wild beasts in the African Savannah.

“So, your parents are farmers then?”

“Do you guys even have the internet yet?”

“Do you know what a cellphone is?”

The hilarious part about all of this is that we were attending school in Kansas City. It would have been a short thirty minute drive out of the city to see just how wrong they were.

Imagine if they too had been freezing their butts off in that theatre. They’d be surrounded by cattle ranchers and farmers tapping away on their smartphones that blow my archaic Samsung out of the water. They’d learn about you can program irrigation systems in your Ipad – yes even in the rural backwoods of Kansas. They’d be amazed to find out that there’s a global agricultural community meeting taking place every week on Twitter.

The truth is – those of us in “flyover county” have always been adept with technology. We just use it in different (and innovative) ways.

That’s why it’s so great to see social media taking hold… because we’re already good at it.

We already know the importance of developing a strong relationship with our customers. Ask @BeckyMcCray if she’d dare provide less than stellar service in her town of 5,000. The same concept holds true in modern marketing – one poor review will spread through the internet community like hot gossip in a small town. (See: the Cook’s Source fiasco the other day)

We’ve known for a long time now that community is just a state of mind. It doesn’t matter if your nearest neighbor is 30 feet away, or 30 miles away – you can still engage and connect with them. You can live in a town of 100 people, and still successfully offer a service or a product. Our “community” is within the shared experiences of our lives – whether that happens in the town hall, or on Twitter.

So for all you “social media gurus” out there – if you really want to stay ahead of the curve – keep an eye on the rural communities, the country bumpkins, the “simple farmers”. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about communications.

Y’all come back now, ya hear!

Tricks, Treats and Rebranding

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 10:15:00 -0500

I’ve always loved Halloween, and it’s not just about the delicious thigh-increasing candy. It’s a chance to try on a different identity – terrifying, fantastical, humorous – and if Target’s adult section of Halloween costumes is any indication, Sexy [Mundane Occupation].

It seems appropriate then, to use this day as an excuse to launch my re-designed website. My look may be akin to a funky wig and a half-pound of glitter makeup, but underneath – I’m still the same quirky gal who spends more time obsessing over your brand than you do

As this blog develops, I hope to introduce you all to the girl behind the mask through sketches, works in progress, and musings about the business climate in Wichita; all sprinkled with a dash of randomness. I hope you’ll continue to check in these happenings, and of course – consider me for your next design project. (Hey, I’ve got to promote myself a little bit)

-Robin Fertner

Speaking of Halloween, is anyone else totally creeped out by the new Snickers commercial?