I was reading a very engaging story on infographics in the current issue of Smithsonian and thought it might be relevant to share my perspective on this subject. The story begins with a summary of how infographics and data visualization have influenced events throughout history. Incredibly, it’s a very old, dating back 8,000 years. However,…
I was reading a post on mashable.com this morning and saw a list of design rules for nonprofits that I thought would be appropriate to share in this post. These tips were gathered from designers and creatives who work with nonprofits. The original post included 10 rules, but I think these eight are the most important:…
Last year, digital marketing accounted for 25% of all marketing dollars spent. And according to a Gartner survey, that will rise to 33% this year. As a nonprofit, it's essential to plan and implement your digital marketing strategies in areas considered most important in 2015. Based on an article in the Huffington Post, here are some predicted areas for…
Third in a series of posts highlighting the importance of strategic design in today's economy. It is inspired by the book "the Strategic Designer" by David Holston. Charles Eames, one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, stated that effective design cannot depend solely on a designer's preferences. Instead, it should be strongly…
Second in a series of posts highlighting the importance of strategic design in today's economy. It is inspired by the book "the Strategic Designer" by David Holston. The title says it all. It's all about the client and the problem he/she wants to solve. As a designer, this can be challenging. We put our years…
First in a series of posts highlighting the importance of strategic design in today's economy. It is inspired by the book "the Strategic Designer" by David Holston. I just finished an enlightening and thoughtful book on the strategic importance of design in business today. I'm going to share with you some of what I believe…
Email marketing can give you a ROI that exceeds any other marketing channel — $43 in return for every dollar invested. For a comparison, non-catalog direct mail returns about $15 for every dollar and catalog direct mail returns about $7 (according to DMA’s Power of Direct economic impact study). For tips and in-depth email marketing…
You know the old question "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?". From a marketing and design perspective, this is a particularly relevant question to ask. If your marketing/design message is not heard, does it make a sound? No, probably not.…
To me, typography has a voice. It can be forceful. Timid. Upscale. Cheap. Persistent. Animated. This is somewhat subjective and can vary depending on the viewers' perspective. It is, however, a significant part of how you communicate to your audience. And finding the right voice for your company or organization takes careful thought and…
Successful design generally follows a path. The path normally takes these steps: Problem definition and research Concept/idea development Design development Execution Evaluation Seems simple, right? However, along the way the path has forks that will influence the design. Influences like trends, business operations, clients' opinions, and the end users/viewers' opinions all factor into the direction…