For designers, our bible of colour has always been the long established Pantone matching system. These colour swatch books are universally accepted as the industry standard for ink. In fact, Pantone is so popular, it is used as the global standard for choosing and matching colours in every country. It's almost like a universal language for designers.

For years, Pantone has been expanding their reach beyond just ink. They have evolved into other markets such as web, fashion, home, paints and interiors. And now, it seems they are getting into the hotel business.

Yes, you can now find all your favourite colours prominently displayed at the Pantone Hotel, located in Brussels, Belgium. The hotel offers you a variety of Pantone matched rooms, just choose a colour. In addition, they have used Pantone colours in almost every feature, from the exterior of the building, right down to the room key.

Now, not only did the hotel go so far as to use Pantone colours and the Pantone name, but they also stayed true to the Pantone brand itself. Everything from the familiar colour blocks, to the font itself, look EXACTLY like the Pantone products. The only question is, will designers want to sleep in a room that reminds them of work? Next time you're in Europe, a mere 89 euros will get you a beautiful Pantone 186 room. Hmmm, I wonder if the room numbers match the ink colours? If you go, let me know!

Check out the hotel: http://www.pantonehotel.com/

Though the temperature lately has probably got you thinking of wearing the least amount of clothing possible, let me introduce you to the phenomenon that is Threadless. Threadless is a community-centered online apparel store where members of the Threadless community submit t-shirt designs online; the designs are then put to a public vote. A small percentage of submitted designs are selected for printing and sold through an online store. Creators of the winning designs receive a prize of cash and store credit.

The Threadless phenomenon reaches beyond just voting for T-shirt designs. The site also hosts blogs, Threadless TV, and interviews with designers, all the while fostering self-expression and originality from its contributors. Commonly the most successful designs boast interesting conceptualization, attractive colour schemes, and unique illustration styles or techniques - and a cheeky tagline doesn't usually hurt either. This outlet for designers is just another way graphic design is being encompassed in to the everyday, no media being left out. So maybe it's time to upgrade your tuxedo t-shirt afterall..

And no excuses, there really is a shirt design for almost everyone.. Here are a few that remind me of the guys in the office:

"I Thought the Future Would Have More Beep Boop Sounds"

"Nutritious Breakfast"

"Revenge Of The Sushi"

And my personal favorite:

"Real Bear Hugs Are Often Fatal"

Since my brain has been buzzing with website design so far this week, I thought I'd share what I've discovered when it comes to web buttons.

Certain web buttons can help to make or break the design of your web page. And there's a lot to consider. For instance, do you want to keep it relatively simplistic with a button that properly uses subtle drop shadows and maybe a tad of beveling? Maybe you'd rather have a bold, and eye-catching button in an interesting shape for maximum attention? Or do you want a techy-looking button that's coloured vibrantly with gloss and sheen, and reversed type? Regardless of what you're after, there seem to be a few proven techniques that give your button a better chance of appealing to your website user. I've summarized a few below, but to educate yourself completely and to see good web button design in action, visit http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/10/13/call-to-action-buttons-examples-and-best-practices/.

1. Get attention with scale - Generally in web design the size of an element in comparison to that of surrounding elements indicates it's importance. So make the decision first thing when it comes to determining the importance of your button because this will directly affect how you should scale it.

2. Get attention with prominent positioning - Catch the viewer's eye by being particular where you place your button. Positioning a button in a prominent area like in a space with a lot of contrast or placed near the top with your navigation menu bar will lead to more clicking activity.

3. Use whitespace - Whitespace can give your page elements differentiation so ensure your button has some breathing room. This will make your button stand out and be more obvious to your users.

4. Be smart with colour - Your button will jump off the page with the proper use of contrasting colours so make sure the button doesn't blend in with the hues of your background or other nearby elements.

Finally, one of my own to add:
5. Less is more! - Don't go overboard with multiple effects, textures, patterns, embossing, outer glows, crazy outlines and whatever else you're itching to try. Better to lean towards simplicity and let the content speak for itself then to practically yell "CLICK HERE" and give the viewer a migraine..!

Did you know that the trusted company of Yellow Pages, best known for creating business directories that double as booster seats, has finally worked up the nerve to rebrand? That's right, apparently the recent popular opinion of Yellow Pages being "a great place to advertise if you're in the business of selling walking sticks, mobility scooters or perhaps buggy whips" has finally lead to the complete overhaul of the company's logo, branding, marketing strategy and advertising campaign.

Logo-wise, most notable of all the changes is the absence of actual pages in the business' identity. However Yellow Pages’ iconic walking fingers remain for brand recognition. Additional alterations include the logo shape, as it's changed from a square to something much more iPhone app-like that, according to reps, better represents Yellow Pages' new multi-platform business approach, featuring Yellow Pages-branded web production services and smartphone applications. Even the yellow hue as been readdressed, appearing as a more "radioactive, fluorescent tinge" that has been described as "crisper, lighter, purer … more yellow."

While the jury is still out on the overall success of the redesign, no one can fault the company for their lack of guts. In a world full of businesses that would rather hide behind a familiar logo and traditional branding, the fact that Yellow Pages followed through once the need for a redesign was recognized deserves major kudos. The transformation of a primarily print brand into a company fit to compete in the cutthroat digital world which is no easy feat, so though there may be critics, Yellow Pages should be proud that they have so far handled the transition with a measure of finesse.

See some of Yellow Pages' finesse in action as their new advertising is widely well-accepted so far. View a few of their ads below and let us know if you're for or against this new side of Yellow Pages.

As a designer, it's important to stay on top of the latest colour trends, and be aware of how they're being applied today. It's been shown that over 80% of visual information is related to colour, and that can be seen in design trends and traditions. Designs that want to invoke a sense of trust and strength traditionally use blue (see Sears, Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Dell, IBM, etc.) Add in a bit of red to the mix to ramp up the technological and futuristic aspect of the design with purple or magenta tones (think Sony, Nokia, Verizon, and T-Mobile). Green is used to communicate ideas of nature and environmentalism (recycling, BP), while red has always brought with it a sense or energy and immediacy used most prominently in the fast food industry (McDonalds, Wendy's), but brought in whenever ideas of speed, service and sales abound (K-Mart, Johnson and Johnson, Canon, Safeway, Shell, Target). There's a great image here originally from Wired magazine, showing the sheer volume of companies battling for ownership of the blue spectrum - a sense of longevity, trustworthiness and strength is incredibly valuable in the marketplace.

As an increasing number of companies battle over a limited spectrum, an interesting phenomena is developing. People aren't simply seeing colours any longer. What used to be "firetruck red" to many is becoming "Coke red." There's GAP blue, and Starbucks green. T-Mobile is now famous for its ownership of the colour Magenta. Yep, if you use the color magenta around anything to do with phones, communication, digital media, or the internet, prepare to be taken to court. Even the names of colours are becoming property. UPS trademarked the slogan "What can Brown do for you?" Owens-Corning, an insulation company, has registered the term "PINK."

Considering all of this, it's easy to see how colour is an incredibly important aspect of your brand, and yet so many companies tend to ignore it. Back when I worked at a printing company, we'd see hundreds of business people come in to print off signage, letterheads and presentations, all with varying shades of their corporate colour. Do some research into your colours, and make sure you or your designers choose a proper colour palette for your identity. Make sure you get specific CMYK colour values as well as Pantone values for your colours, and follow through by creating a brand strategy guide, outlining the placement, sizing, and colour usage of your logo. Finally, bring your brand across all levels of your business, internal and external, to ensure you have a solid identity.

Being the youngest in the office, when nostalgic stories, references to past events, pop culture - you name it, really! - are traded by my co-workers across the lunch table, a few of these anecdotes are a little over my head... okay, well most of them. It's not like I can help being part of the MTV Generation..!

But stumbling upon this spoof YouTube video highlighting the wonders of MS Paint did bring back some fond memories of a simpler time playing Oregon Trail on my original Macintosh computer in my school computer lab, way back in 1999; something my fellow employees can probably relate to - regardless of the fact that I was in grade 4 at the time.

We've come a long way from the spray paint can, the 12 swatch colours, and the pathetic eraser tool. And thank goodness we have, because without the development of Photoshop for image editing, Illustrator for vector logos, and the many other software programs available for the design industry, my career field of choice would be drastically different.

I think I can speak for all when I say good riddance to MS Paint design if the below photo is any indication of the program's achievements...

And to all would-be client/designers: Step away from the paint bucket!

Here's the YouTube video, if you yourself are feeling nostalgic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxx2KcPWWZg

Mike and I were in the McDonald's drive-thru last week on our daily lunch excursion when we spotted an advertisement for McDonaldland cookies. We were instantly flooded with long-lost childhood memories of the tasty snack, and we decided to add a box to our order. Imagine our surprise and sadness when we returned to the office to find that the vessel that contained these wonderful culinary delights was not the same from our childhood, namely a sturdy box with bright hues, bubbly fonts, and colourful characters, but rather a minimalistic, one-colour plastic pouch adorned with Ronald McDonald's mugshot. Something was not right in McDonaldland. Where was the rest of the gang? Where was the sneaky Hamburgler, bumbling Grimace (who's a giant taste-bud, by the way), authoritative Mayor McCheese (my favorite), or the obligatory-but-utterly-boring Birdie? The cookies were still shaped to represent the various mascot faces, but any hint as to who or what you were about to digest could only be garnered from hazy memory.

Mascots have been selling products and services with charm and smile for years (Bibendum, the Michelin Man, was created in 1894 and is still going strong), and many that we know and love today were born during the mascot golden age of the 1950s and 60s, when companies sought to add personality to their business, and instill trust and familiarity within the consumer. As a graphic designer, I would absolutely love a chance to work with a team to develop or revamp a corporate mascot but, unfortunately, times change, and mascots aren't in favor like they used to be. There are some mascots, however, who have recently been given a new chance at life and have been given a timely reboot, bringing sometimes effective, sometimes disturbing results.

Jack from Jack in the Box: Created in 1951, Jack was simply a clown head atop the franchise signs, with little to no personality. In 1980 the company decided to reject its image, become more "mature" and do away with Jack altogether. Finally, in the mid-90s, following a major food contamination crisis, they rebranded again and brought Jack back, this time in an ironic, humorous business-suit-wearing executive, that helped raise sales and gain brand notoriety.

The King, from Burger King: Originally part of the sign of the first Burger King restaurant in Miami, Florida in 1955, the king had many different representations throughout the years, including a role as the "Marvelous, Magical Burger King" in the late 70s, who wore Victorian garb and performed magic tricks. In 2003 the Miami advertising firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky took over the advertising and decided to use a 70s era over sized King head found on eBay, originally meant as a brainstorming prop, to reboot the brand. Now, after a few years of humorous viral marketing starring a creepy and disturbing king head, Burger King has a mascot powerhouse loved by its target market, and featured on shows like The Tonight Show and the Simpsons.

So how 'bout it, McDonalds? Ronald has always been a strong part of the brand, but when will you bring back the rest of the gang and give them the camera time they deserve? Or, barring that, when will Ronald himself get another reboot? Perhaps creepy, ironic, and modern, just like your competition?

On second thought, scratch that idea. You're fine just the way you are, Ronald.
What about you, dear reader? Who are your favorite mascots?

Branding is a mandatory but risky process. Change is seldom welcome, especially when it can cost a lot to implement, and many careful considerations are made to ensure the brand is a success. Whether caused by lack of vision, poor planning or simply bad luck, here are three companies that set the standard for failed branding this past decade.

New Vegemite Product Name Leaves a Bitter Aftertaste

In June 2009, Kraft released a new, cheesy version of their iconic Australian food spread, Vegemite. To coincide with the release of this new recipe, Kraft ran a competition to give it a name. They received over 48,000 submissions, and each was reviewed by a panel of marketing and communication experts. Three months later, during a popular televised sporting event, Kraft announced that the new Vegemite product would be called...drumroll please...iSnack 2.0. Yep, a panel of marketing experts thought a great way to appeal to a younger market would be to capitalize on the popularity of Apple's iPod and iPhone...4 years after the trademark was assigned to Apple, and a full two years after the world was fed up with the tech-fueled iProduct naming phenomenon.

Just four days later, after a flood of criticism through opinion columns and social networking sites, Kraft declared it would drop the name, as it wasn't "resonating with success or favour." After another online poll asking the public to choose from six potential names, the product was finally renamed "Vegemite Cheesybite." Only later was it revealed that the Cheesybite name had narrowly won out over "none of the above."

Tropicana Has Consumers Seeing Red Over the Rebrand of Their Pure Premium Orange Juice

For many years, Tropicana has used the very recognizable image of a straw stuck in an orange to communicate their message of fresh, straight-from-the-orange juice. It was easily identified and did a great job communicating their brand and its values. So why did Tropicana choose to do away with the straw and orange and rebrand their Pure Premium line? That question was on the mind of many consumers when the new packaging was released at the beginning of 2009.

The iconic orange and straw was replaced by a generic glass of orange juice, prompting many bewildered consumers to comment that Tropicana had lost its identity - it now looked more like an uninspiring, generic store brand, rather than the premium brand it truly was. An attempt to modernize and clean up a slightly dated look managed to strip the brand of much of its personality.

Sales plummeted 20% between January 1 and February 22. On February 23, less than two months after the new packaging had been on the market, Tropicana announced it would scrap the new packaging.

Royal Mail Delivers a Royally Disastrous Rebrand

In March 2001, Royal Mail, the UK's Post Office founded in 1635, changed its name to Consignia. Sixteen months later, after a reported £1.1bn loss and the departure of its chief executive, it was announced Consignia would rename itself Royal Mail, thus securing its place in the annals of disastrous rebranding history.

Billed as a "modern, meaningful and entirely appropriate" name suited to its goal of becoming an international postal operator, the new name failed to mask the company's pre-existing financial issues and set the stage for a poorly-planned, misdirected attempt at restructuring. When asked what the new company name meant, Consignia's chief executive said it evoked the word consign, “mean[ing] to trust to the care of. Which is what our customers do each day.” Not long after, his answer changed: “The name doesn’t actually mean anything.” A complete rebrand is difficult enough without such confusion and flippancy among its leaders.

Though the rebrand might have indeed been modern, it failed to consider its 260 years of history and culture, and lost its connection with the people.

So what have we learned? A rebrand needs to clearly reflect who you are and what you offer in a timely, relevant way. Your core values and key messages must be communicated with the same or more vitality and transparency as the original brand you are seeking to replace. Today's consumers want honesty, integrity, and respectability in their brands, and shallow, blatant attempts to pander to consumers through trends will be immediately identified and criticized. Learn how you're seen by your customers and identify the best ways to realign your branding with your company goals without destroying your reputation. Do your market research – talk with partners, suppliers, staff, and customers. After all, these are the groups who will be interacting with this brand for years to come.

Being relatively fresh from art school I'm fortunate to still remember the material ingrained in me while at college (well at least for the most part). One of the most applicable lessons, one that I'm sure you've heard before, was the tried and true 'less is more'. In most cases I would have to wholeheartedly agree; in the early days of design school it seemed like a competition as to who could out do each other with the use of drop shadows, embossing, script fonts, italics, and what ever else you could fit on the page. However a contradiction to this old adage came to mind this afternoon as I was thinking of one of my favorite design sites...

he drop cap is a design element that has almost disappeared off the face of the design world in years past, but is making a come back as artists, typographers and designers revamp the stuffy, ornate drop caps of the past into hipper more contemporary alternatives.

Take at look at Jessica Hische's Daily Drop Cap blog (www.dailydropcap.com) and tell me you're not a fan of bringing this ancient design trend back. I'm so in love with some of her letterforms, I'm considering wall papering my bedroom with them Here's a few more for your viewing pleasure.

"Make it more red." I've heard that request more than a few times in my design career, and everyone means something different. You could be looking at a colour comprised of 100% yellow and 100% magenta (the two colours that combine to produce red in process printing) and you'll still hear that request. "I can't," you plead, "it's as red as it can be!"

The problem lies in the fascinating (at least for designers) world of the colour spectrum, and different people's perception of colour. We each have an image in our head of what the ideal shade of red looks like, and that can lead to a lot of confusion when working on a design. Rob, our programmer, considers absolute red to be the RGB value FF0000, which is correct on an RGB backlit screen. I consider absolute red in printing terms - 100% yellow, 100% magenta. My old design director from a newspaper considered absolute red to be Pantone 186C. The average person would consider absolute red to be the same colour as an apple, a fire engine, etc.

Consider our language as well. A quick lookup of red in the thesaurus yields about 26 usable results, 11 of which could be considered primary shades: Falu Red, Scarlet, Carnelian, Venetian Red, Sangria, Maroon, Carmine, Vermillion, Burgundy, Persimmon and Magenta. A few years ago my wife bought a lovely red coat that was a wonderful scarlet. Now, a few years later, red coats are back in style, but in a slightly darker, understated Venetian red. Lucky for us, she cares more about literature than fashion or colour, so the (slightly) unfashionable red will continue to be worn for some time. Extra money will continue to be spent on books rather than the latest season's fashions.

Now add to this the fact that as many as 50% of women and 8% of men may have a genetic condition called Tetrachromacy, giving them four photopigments rather than three, and thus allowing them to see 99 million more colours than the average person.

Take a look at the two different reds above for a visual example. To many people they look exactly the same, however they're different by 4 dE (Delta-E) and specially trained or gifted eyes can perceive the difference.

Red is very seldom red.

Here at Studiothink, we love food. Designers fight each other (safely with Nerf guns, of course) for the chance to design our next food packaging project. Contests are planned and held to see who can cook the tastiest chili, or bake the better cookie. Many lunch hours are spent swapping reviews of local restaurants, wines, and recipes. I've even been known to dig through Mike's lunchbox and evaluate the packaging of his granola bars and yogurt.

Our love for food and, subsequently, need of a diet plan has led us to many websites to peruse the menus or count the calories of our favorite local grub. Doing so has led us to several websites for well-established restaurants that are surprisingly lacking in content, design, and implementation. Here are just a few restaurant websites that, for whatever reason, aren't using the full potential of their branding, reputation, and design.

Subway Restaurants - http://www.subway.com
Outdated and strangely cluttered, this website does very little to connect with Subway's current campaign or long-term company culture. Multiple bright colours compete for importance while wall-to-wall text on the inside pages, poorly placed images and lack of any layout or organized flow confuses users. A flash feature advertising their latest promo sits awkwardly on the page trying its best to attract our attention. This site seems to ignore customers and primarily speak to potential franchise owners, doing little to express the culture and character of Subway and their products.

Compare this with: Mr. Sub (http://www.mrsub.ca). Clean, organized, and attractive with a solid, well-chosen colour scheme. The food is front and centre, and they don't try to shove too much information your way, giving visitors the option to choose to view the customer or franchisee information.

KFC Canada - http://www.kfc.ca
When I asked around the office for suggestions for this article, both Mike and Rob immediately offered "KFC Canada!" It seems both were feeling a hankering for KFC lately and went to the website to browse the various ways they could get their chicken fix when the search had to come to a quick and sad end: the website has no menu at all. A garbled image of the colonel? Sure. Quick, meaningless links to advertising? Check. A menu and pricing? Who needs that? Their latest food feature goes to a nicely designed website, and their careers page is obviously extended from the US site, but as it stands, kfc.ca is a woefully empty site that squanders a lot of potential.

Compare this with: KFC USA (http://www.kfc.com). Though similar in design, the US website of KFC is lightyears ahead of the Canadian version. First, a menu. Not the most in-depth, but at least it shows you your options. Next, a key feature many consumer-oriented websites should have - opportunities for interactivity: Join the "Grilled Nation", tweet about KFC products to win a prize, or order things online. More content, stronger call-outs, and a flash feature allow this site to communicate effectively.

Sammy J. Peppers - http://www.sjpeppers.com
Though not as large as the two previous restaurants, SJP boasts 7 locations in Lower Mainland and has been established for over 13 years, so there's no excuse for not making the most of their website. Where are the lifestyle shots? Young, happy models smiling around a table? Young, smiling servers offering you a seat? Closely cropped shots of delicious food? Sammy J. Peppers has a lot of character and culture to work with, but it is sadly lacking in this site. Another no-no: Menus only offered in PDF format. Users want to access information as quickly as possible, and forcing them to download and open a PDF is an unnecessary step. Keep a well-designed, easy-to-access menu on the website itself, and provide a PDF for those who want the option of printing it out.

Compare this with: Nearly any other local restaurant. Earls, Cactus Club, White Spot, Milestones - they all share the same qualities of a great restaurant website. Bright, beautiful photos of food, friends, and fun, a well designed interface, attractive graphics, and an easy-to-read menu.

The point here isn't to overly criticize someone else's design, but rather to point out a mistake many companies make when creating a website. Don't just get a website for the sake of being online. Figure out who your customers are, what they're looking for, and how you can connect with them using your company's culture and branding. Our goal is not to pick on people, but to make the web a better place.

Courtesy of a Tweet from @vedrashko, I bring you one of the coolest billboards I've seen in a long time. Outdoor advertising is a dying art and more creativity/fresh-thinking like this is needed to save it from the scrap heap of advertising (where it will join pop-up ads, animated gif banners, and drive-in movie theater intermission jingles).

Logo design is a powerful tool in business. But logo creation is not about just throwing together a word mark, some clip art and a snazzy tagline. There is an extreme amount of thought involved if you wish to have an identity that is memorable. Cleverness seems to help a lot. Take a look at these two examples.. I think you just might recognize them.

FedEx may seem to be a neatly coloured word mark, but if you look closer you may notice the arrow made out of the whitespace between the 'E' and the 'x'. Coincidence? I don't think so. In this case the arrow speaks of the company's movement and speed, but if the viewer doesn't see it, that's okay, it's still a powerful logo.

Amazon’s logo is super clean and simple; a plain black font with a yellow arrow. But two little details make this logo clever. The arrow starts at “a” and ends at “z”, indicating that you can find anything on Amazon.com, from A to Z; the cute brush stroke makes the arrow look like a smile with a hidden message – shopping on Amazon will bring a smile to your face.

So now that you've seen a few of the clever strategies out there, I challenge you to try your hand at identifying those memorable logos you see day in and day out at www.guessthelogo.com and pick up a few more tricks to try out with your own corporate identity.

Pinch-hitting for the design team today since they're all tied up with major projects; hopefully I can be just as entertaining as them. The topic for today was actually given to me by Dave, so don't worry - I'm not going to ruin the design blog with my marketing brain. Who knows, maybe I'll enjoy it so much I'll make like David Caruso and leave my successful marketing career for a life as graphic designer (although, I'm sure I'd have as much success in my new career as Caruso did in his film career. Anyone remember Jade? Anyone?).

We've been talking a lot in the office the last few weeks about left-brain and right-brain thinkers, and how to communicate with both. Specifically, how difficult it is to translate right brain concepts (numbers, figures) into something that is easily digestible for the general public.

One growing trend is to throw out the antiquated bar graph/line graph/pie chart mentality, and start approaching data design with an eye for creativity. Better, more attractively designed graphs lead to better retention and comprehension. If you're communicating something important, try to do it in a way that is attention grabbing and memorable, and no, pie charts won't cut it (even if they're 3D).

Because we think this is such a cool step forward, we wanted to highlight some of the amazing work we've seen done lately. If you have any favourite examples, feel free to share them with us in the comments section.

One of the things we love to work on is packaging design. I'm not sure why. It could be the thrill of knowing the design is seen directly by the consumer. It could be the strategic thinking needed to figure out how we are going to grab the attention of the target audience. Or it could be the challenge of working with a complicated dieline, inks and materials. Any way we look at it, it's always an office favorite.

As a designer, it's difficult to peruse the grocery store without stopping to analyze new design. Sometimes I'll stop to look even if the design is bad. I mean, bad packaging design? Who is this company? I can't imagine releasing a product to market that wasn't professionally designed. Especially when so many of our buying decisions are made based on the packaging alone. Come on, I can't be the only one who buys crackers I've never tasted before just because they come in a cool package? Or tried new toothpaste because the box said it would make my teeth whiter than the other guys (and the Dental Association thinks so too)? Or picked out a new wine only because the label had a funkier label than the one next to it?

The impact of packaging design on a consumer is huge, and in my perfectly designed world, everyone would produce beautiful packaging for me to spend my money on. And, spending my money on your product is really what you want me to do isn't it?

For some great eye candy, I love to visit www.thedieline.com. Beautiful design everywhere you look, what more could a girl ask for?

It seems that the amount of printed material out there has been shrinking over the years, often with good reason: With an increasing focus on green practices, printed materials can be seen as wasteful and hazardous to the environment. Websites and other interactive media have eliminated the need for copious amounts of hard-copy sales material and, in a world where most information we need is obtained through a two minute search on our iPhone or Blackberry, brochures, catalogues and flyers are often consigned to the recycling bin as quickly as spam email.

So why write an article about 5 ways to get the most from your printed material? While it's true that the abundance of digital information has made a lot of printed material extraneous, it also provides new challenges and opportunities for companies when it comes time to produce an actual printed piece. Print is quickly becoming the exception rather than the rule, and there's never been a more important time to ensure your printed material is the best it can be.

With that in mind, here are our 5 tips:

1. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
Your printed piece must have a reason for being. Ensure you have a headline and that your message is clear, short and to-the-point. Ask yourself if this information is best communicated through print, online, or both? If your material would be easier to use online or in digital form, your customers will sense it and not bother with the hard-copy version.

2. STAND OUT
With many companies moving most of their material to digital format, print has become the path for the out-of-touch and the desperate in the mind of many consumers. Separate yourself from the junk mail and trashy flyers of others by investing a little more in your printing. Use an extra-thick stock, bonus points if it's recycled. Use a spot varnish, or an extra spot colour to make it more eye-catching. Explore the possibilities of embossing, blind embossing, die-cutting or non-standard sizes. Print has a tangible quality that is lacking in digital material – invest a few more dollars and invite your customer to touch, hold and feel the printed material, not just read it. You'll see a higher return on your investment.

3. FOCUS
Too many companies make the mistake of trying to say too much in one piece. Don't overwhelm the reader with huge blocks of text, starbursts, or superfluous information. Keep it clean, simple, and to the point, with a carefully chosen headline, a small amount of text, and a lot of white space. If you have more to say, do so elsewhere in another printed work or in a digital companion piece.
What if you could engage users in a story for about half the time, yet have them remember about 34 percent more of the content? That’s exactly what one test showed. Spending less than two hours rewriting and reformatting a story about New York City restaurants really paid off according to a recent study: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070312ruel/

4. USE A GOOD PRINTER
Great design is only half the battle, and too many great designs have been squandered through the use of shoddy printers. Make sure that your printer is reputable, high quality, up to date, and cares about your business, and always get a proof! Ask the designer if they know a good printing service, and never settle for a printer just because they're the cheapest.

5. CALL TO ACTION
A proper call to action goes hand in hand with a good headline. Make sure your customer understands what the next step is, and make it easy for them to take it. Don't forget to put alternate means of communication as well. Want them to call? Make the phone number large and easy to find, but ensure your web address is also prominent. Don't forget a physical address either – it helps the reader feel more confident about your company and its services.

Got enough money to buy Photoshop, and a solid six months experience using MS Paint? Perhaps your work could be good enough to get featured on one of our favourite sites: Photoshop Disasters!

Enjoy!
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Often we come across companies who absolutely refuse to change their logo. Even if their cousin Fred scribbled the logo on a cocktail napkin in 1974, they feel deeply attached and committed to that logo. And rightly so, a logo is the frontman of marketing, it gets all the glory, and proudly shows itself on signage, letterhead, hats, cars and even the occasional tattoo (I'm still waiting for someone to get a Studiothink tattoo).

As a branding company, we sometimes cringe at the logos we get from clients. A client will want a brand new, cutting edge website that will bring them up to date, and yet want to keep their outdated logo. And really, I can't blame them. In a recent refresh of our own Studiothink logo, I found myself torn and deeply attached to a logo we have had for the past 12 years. I hesitated (for only a few agonizing seconds), pondering on whether it should be changed at all. In the end, my marketing brain got the best of me, and I knew without a doubt that we would be hypocrites not to move with the times.

We aren't the only ones that modify their logos to keep current, it's been done for years by the corporate giants. They too realize the importance of keeping a logo fresh and current. They may retain elements of their old logo to avoid confusing the consumer (as we did as well), but they don't bury their head in the sand and hope for the best, they are proactive in making sure their logo reflects the time period and what is popular in the marketplace.

So my challenge to you is—if Pepsi, Apple, Nike, Starbucks, and even Studiothink can do it, you can too. Discover the secret they have known all along—a logo update is a great way to show your customers that you embrace change, and will be able to adapt to consumer needs and trends. As I discovered, the decision to do it only hurts for the first few seconds—before excitement sets in.

Getty Image's iStockphoto, the popular online discount store for stock photos, video and audio clips, recently announced they're adding a new product category: pre-packaged logos.

Naturally, this has led to a lot of buzz on the web, with a lot of graphic designers outraged, tweeting to the tune of "Oh iStockphoto, how could you?" The faithful seller that many of us have used to provide cost-effective solutions for photography now seems to be encroaching directly on our territory, cheapening and damaging the graphic design industry.

After reading many different opinions on the subject, ranging from euphoric delight, to depressed cries of "not fair," to angry calls to boycott, I have to say that I'm not too worried about this new development. Why?

Well, we've seen this before. When iStockphoto started charging for photos in 2001 there was quite a bit of trepidation among professional photographers claiming that it was the end of their craft as they knew it. Who would buy professional stock photos or, what's more, hire a professional photographer, when they could pay a few bucks for a similar photo online? As it turned out, a lot of people would. Customers understood that, while cheap stock photography was useful for smaller projects, the more expensive, professional photography taken with better lighting, equipment, models, settings, skill and with their individual brand in mind was still worth the investment. You truly get what you pay for.

Now with pre-packaged logos being offered, I think we'll see the same thing. iStockphoto isn't the first online company to offer pre-packaged logos at discount prices – many services have been selling recycled and pre-packaged logos for years through online contests and marketplaces with varying degrees of success. These online pre-made logo services are the next step up from the “make your own logo” websites out there, which in turn are the cousins of the deplorable “make your own logo” software sold back in the late 90s. I suspect that, like that software you now find kicking around in bargain bins at Staples, this service will be used primarily by people who don't understand the value of a professionally crafted identity – the same people who, years earlier, would have created 'logos' with a box of clipart and a copy of Microsoft Word. Customers aren't stupid: most know the difference and, for those who don't, it's our job as marketers and designers to educate them about the importance of identity and show them a better way.

That's not to say I don't see value in these services. I like to think of it as a challenge – with cheaper competition out there, it's up to us to ensure we produce top-quality designs that show we've invested thought, time, consideration and care – qualities you can't usually get from a recycled design.

Plus, sometimes you need a professional brand that strategically communicates your company's values, while other times you just need a nice looking graphic on a very tight budget that you can tack on to a presentation. For the former, contact Studiothink or a similar professional agency. For the latter, head on down to Crazy Getty's Discount Logo Emporium and Warehouse. They've got red logos, they've got green logos, they've got logos in all the colours of the rainbow. They're currently overstocked on pre-made logos and are passing the savings onto yoooooou!

It's been a busy week, and on top of it all, we are hiring for a new designer, which means tons of resumes are coming in. Is it politically correct to say that some of them.....are well, a little more than odd? Now, I understand that it's hard to know what a company is looking for, and that it may be hard to get the attention of the person who is reading through the resumes, but why are so many just plain WRONG. So, as a Friday rant, here are some of my top pet peeves, straight from this weeks resume pile:

1. If it asks for a PDF, why send a MS Word file? And since when does a designer use MS Word anyways?
2. Creepy pictures and drawings are not a selling feature.
3. Who asks for $100 an hour? I mean, I don't even get paid that. Delete.
4. Saying you need to stay in the country is not a good enough reason for an interview.
5. Um, a little too much personal information. See a counselor.
6. I hate those emoticons at the bottom of Hotmail emails. And hate is a pretty strong word.
7. Cover letters that start with the words "Dear Sirs" are not cool. Even "To Whom it May Concern" is pushing it.
8. Commuting from Squamish probably means this won't work out.
9. Why would someone from Wisconsin apply? Is the job market in Wisconsin that saturated?
10.Hello, it's 2009. Spell check.
11. One good portfolio makes up for any lack of education. What amazes me is that so many educated people submit the most god awful portfolios. Time for a career change.
12. Five days at a company is not really "work experience".
13. If you've already submitted a resume, and you've just read this, feel free to resubmit.

Here's looking forward to next weeks resume pile!

As part of my work experience, I've been involved in companies where the sales and marketing departments had a bit of rough relationship. Basically, the sales guys never really saw the value in marketing and graphic design - the common sentiment was "why bother with making the product look pretty, customers don't care about that stuff".

To some degree that is true, but what those old sales hands failed to consider was that with the right marketing and design, sometimes the look and feel of product can become a selling feature.

Take, for example, music sales. 20 years ago, customers bought music by browsing through store shelves and leafing through album covers (some of our favourites are featured up top). But today, with the advent of file sharing and iTunes, music stores (and therefore, record companies) are having problems generating sales at the retail level.

Some companies have addressed this problem by producing top-notch, stand-out packaging. Collectible album artwork, fold out posters, and exclusive "making-of" DVDs can work to draw customers into the store to get these innovative extras.

A prime example is Metallica's latest album, Death Magnetic. The band hired design giant Turner Duckworth, who created physical CD packaging and liner notes that were so outstanding they won a Grammy for Best Recording Package.

Did it work? 1.8 million physical albums sold makes a pretty convincing argument.

After 10 years in the marketing and graphic design business, we've had the opportunity to create a number of logos for companies across the Lower Mainland. But, despite a portfolio of great logo designs, we still hear random and bizarre excuses from business owners as to why "they don't need a new logo".

One classic we hear is the gem "our customers know us by this logo, and if we change it then we'll lose our reputation in the industry". This is sort of like saying "I can't get rid of my Jheri curls, because then all my friends won't recognize me anymore". Trust us, it's okay to get rid of the greasy pseudo-mullet, and likewise you may want to trade in that Members Only jacket.

Even if your current customers know your logo, what about new customers? It could definitely be a concern if you're trying to convert new prospects with a logo on your product that looks like it belongs on the side of the A-team van. Your branding is one of the first things a potential customer sees about you, and like it or not, first impressions count.

Plus, your logo is only a part of your overall brand. Yes customers will recognize your logo, but they probably know you better for other things, like great customer service, or a quality product, or even the enjoyable relationship they have with you. In other words, you can change your logo and find that people still know and love your product or service for other, better reasons.

Need a real-world example? Hang on - tenuous analogy coming up.

In 2006, the rock band* Journey needed a new lead singer, which of course is always difficult since they are the face of the whole group, and usually the most well-known piece. So who did they hire? Another All-American rock star with teen-idol looks and a flowing ponytail? No, they hired Arnel Pineda, a Filipino lounge singer. Pretty major change, right? But somehow, despite the upheaval to the band's look, Journey's fans found that the music still rocked** as hard, and Arnel & co. have experienced a resurgence in popularity, thanks to the injection of new life.

Don't believe you can change your logo and be better than ever? Trust Journey:

*Perhaps the loosest definition of the term ever
**Definitely the loosest definition ever

On my recent trip to San Francisco there were a few places I knew I absolutely needed to visit: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and 826 Valencia. Not many people have heard of that last one - heck, the people at our hotel just raised an eyebrow when I asked if they knew how I could get to what's billed as San Francisco's only independent pirate supply shop.

Yep, you read right. And if piracy paraphernalia wasn't enough, the story of 826 Valencia made it a must-see for me. Founded by Dave Eggers (author and McSweeney's editor), 826 Valencia is a nonprofit tutoring centre with a twist. The team found the perfect location for their writing workshops but were told that, due to zoning, they were required to also have a storefront. The team decided that a pirate supply store would be best, and all proceeds from the sales would go directly to funding the free student programs!

To clarify, this is not a store that sells pirate toys. This is a store that sells supplies to pirates, like glass eyes, "scurvy begone", eye patches and leeches that cure gangrene. What's more, a local SF-based design agency was given the enviable task of designing the packaging for each product! Pirate supplies, literacy AND great packaging design? Now you can see why 826 Valencia HAD to be on my itinerary.

The shop has been so successful in raising money for the kids, they've since opened other centres in cities across America including Seattle (space travel supply) and New York (super hero supply).

You can learn more and even buy your own pirate supplies at their website: www.826valencia.org