SBS Design Blog

Why You Should Jump on the Brand Wagon

Sarah Spoelstra — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:47:32 PDT

You’re serious about your business, so you should look like you are. And in a rough economy, it’s even more important to hold onto the market share you’ve worked so hard for over the years. So dig your heels in and brand your business like you mean it. By branding your business, product, or service you [...]

Logo Development: Alpha Hydrox

Sarah Spoelstra — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 05:30:16 PDT

In the last blog post we talked about how the creative process works. In this post I’d like to show you and demystify the logo development process a bit. I was an in-house designer for a little over a decade before I took the leap to my own design firm. No matter whether you’re serving [...]

What are Your Favorite iPad Apps?

Sarah Spoelstra — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:15:54 PST

I recently got an iPad, and have discovered a whole new world of fun with apps. Here’s a few of the favorites I’ve stumbled on, in no particular order. What’s yours? 1. Penultimate ($1.99) I bought a stylus for my iPad just because of this app. I love it because it works great as a [...]

The Creative Process, How does it work?

Sarah Spoelstra — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:07:49 PST

How does the creative process work? Do ideas just float down from somewhere in the sky and you pluck them out? Believe it or not, there really is a method to the madness. Well, at least there is to my creative madness…here’s how it works for me. Ingestion When faced with a design dilemma I [...]

Facebook Privacy Settings—Keep it to yourself, or not…

Sarah Spoelstra — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:41:57 PST

Have you ever became a friend with someone on Facebook to only later regret it and wish you could just un-friend them and slip away unnoitced? Or you don’t necessarily want your boss to know that you’ve been rockin’ it out at Pink Flyod concerts or cuttin’ a rug at the club on the weekends? [...]

Social Media—The Golden Rules

Sarah Spoelstra — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:44:46 PST

Treat others as you want to be treated. Live by that rule in the Social Media sphere and apply a little common sense and you should be just fine. But just in case you need some specifics here’s a few little golden nuggets to guide you along the social media path. 1. Social Media is [...]

I Heart Comic Sans

Sarah Spoelstra — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:29:14 PDT

Have you ever noticed a flash horror and disgust in your designer’s twinkling eye when you speak the phrase “Comic Sans”? Does your designer start sweating profusely, give you a sarcastic smirk, or start choking violently at the utterance of these syllables? These are normal side effects for a graphic designer experiencing the situation. But [...]

This should give you a chuckle

Sarah Spoelstra — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:11:31 PDT

What terrible business jargon do you need unsucked today? Unsuck it Filed under: Business, Jargon, Marketing, Product Development Tagged: acronymns, Business, jargon, unsuck

Working from Home—5 Tips for Balancing Work and Life

Sarah Spoelstra — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:15 PST

One of the daily challenges I face working at home is balancing work and life. This is especially hard now that my husband and I work for the same company. Sometimes our pillow talk seems more like a brainstorming session rather than a wind down from the day. Luckily, we’re not in the same department and [...]

A New Direction…

Sarah Spoelstra — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:39:39 PST

I’ve decided to take the blog in a new direction and start fresh. I’m working on making all my social media outlets have the same look and feel. My vision for this blog is to give advice to potential clients on how to design better in their daily lives and help them communicate better with [...]