Shell Graphix

It is one thing to have a logo – it is another to have a successful corporate image. The more dots you can connect for potential clients (and existing ones) the more successful your business will be. Below are five tips on how to achieve this:

1. Carry your logo colours through into your marketing materials – website, brochures, stationery.
2. Find a theme that suits your business and stick with it – if you are slightly quirky or creative, let it shine through, if you are corporate and serious make sure your materials match. This helps send the right message to your audience and will appeal to the people you want to work with.
3. Create an awareness – the more your branding and logo is seen, the more comfortable others become with your company. Familiar is comforting.
4. Be sure to keep it simple – the less detail there is to remember the more effective it is.
5. Set yourself a marketing budget – and keep in mind, you usually get out what you put in.

Bonus tip: If you decide to refresh your corporate image make sure you link the old to the new so you dont leave confusion.

While the recession hits hard on many industries, the smaller, stronger businesses tend to leap forward. Clients who previously had funds to burn in the marketing department are all of a sudden aware that each dollar must count. They tend to consider smaller agencies and often discover an attention to detail and willingness to go the extra mile that they potentially weren’t getting before. Suddenly meetings with ten creative minds turns into one or two and it begins to run even smoother than before. All of a sudden, there is an up side, they have found someone to listen and care like never before.

There are three sure ways to maintain steady business even in a recession: produce quality work, ensure prices are competitive and communicate with your client.

After 7 years of trading Shell Graphix continues to increase in popularity and this is a direct result of these elements. Word of mouth does not lie and it becomes a necessity to ensure we offer top notch service to our existing clients as well as those referred to ensure everyone remains happy.

Here are the keys to offering unbeatable service to your clients:

1. Communication – If you ask the right questions, you are more likely to get it right the first time. The ability to think on your feet is crucial, especially when meeting with a prospective client.
2. Flexibility – When clients are not sure where to invest their minimal design budget, try to offer solutions that will ensure they don’t cut corners and still make them look like a million dollars. You can offer repayment plans, suggest alternative ideas to push their budget further, create multi-purpose pieces.
3. Reliability – If you promise a job by a certain day or time, make sure you follow through with the goods. If the unforeseen steps in make sure you keep the client updated and well informed. They will appreciate the courtesy and you will rest easier knowing you have a little more time.
4. Individuality – Clients often have ideas that have been done a thousand times before. This is where your creative mind needs to step in and take control. Try suggesting different ideas to get their mind on your creative track. They will be happy you have taken the time to think more about their project, and you get to be more creative. Each job is only as creative as you make it.
5. Professionalism – If you treat your clients with dignity and respect there is a good chance that will be reciprocated. First impressions count and this includes the way you look, sound and act. While designers may not need to wear suits and ties it is important to dress to impress – it may well be the final element that sways a potential client to choose you. Besides, if you look good you feel good and confidence plays a vital role.

If you are after a 9 to 5 job where you can stop thinking about work at night and on weekends, then running your own graphic or web design agency is not for you. It is a constant commitment and it is near impossible to shut off and stop thinking about what exciting project you get to create next!

Having a website is a great step towards creating a professional business image. Having a productive website which works on many levels is an entirely different challenge. Many companies tend to underestimate the power of the internet and how persuasive a well thought out website can be. With the right combination of information, visual impact and structure you will outshine your competitors and give confidence to potential clients causing them to chase after you/your services. Here are a few tips just to get you on the right path.

Website Tip One – Colour

Try to select a colour scheme that matches your corporate colours and logo. If you can build recognition by a strong colour set as well as an easily recognised logo it makes your company even easier to spot from a far. It will also unify your website making it more aesthetically pleasing. If people like what they see they are more likely to visit for longer, share with friends and return time and again. Matching your website colour scheme through all of your print marketing materials is also a very smart idea.

Website Tip Two – Navigation

An easy to navigate website is essential. It is important to make visitors feel like they can click through to any page and still return back to their starting point. Keeping relevant information together is also smart and helps improve browsing ease. Many studies show that website visitors only remain on any given website for a limited number of minutes and clicks so it is important to place your most important details in an easy to locate spot and reduce clicks where ever possible. Once you have drawn your audience in they are more likely to stay longer. With a large amount of space on hand some are inclined to put every scrap of information they can find on their website, but try to keep it short, simple and to the point. People tend to be visual and get bored with copious amounts of text.

Website Tip Three – Style

The sky is the limit when it comes to website design. It is easy to just look like any number of template websites but in the end it is your unique features that will make you stand out from the other millions of websites. Try to think of a design style that has something different and special. Use high quality (web optimised) images that add colour and life to your website. A mix of relative images will draw the eye and makes reading paragraphs of text easier. Make sure your images compliment your colour scheme and that they work together. It is hard to leave a website when it looks great and you are keen to know more!

Website Tip Four – Loading Time

Most people are short on patience. If your website takes a long time to load (display) you will find most of your visitors will leave before they even get access or the full image. This is often the case with Flash websites, introduction pages and website which run from cheap hosting locations. Whilst $5.00 a month for hosting seems like a bargain, there is usually a reason it is cheap and whilst you don’t need to spent top dollars to gain a reliable host company, somewhere closer to the $14.95 a month mark is more realistic and you do get what you pay for. Using local hosting services (within your country) makes websites load quicker and you can rest assured you are not cutting down on potential visitors. Flash introduction pages are great but only for the first time. Companies spend thousands of dollars on flash projects and most people skip them in search of actual content and information. These funds could be better spent on customer-friendly features which enrich their time on the website rather than bells and whistles that serve little purpose. Flash also cuts down your audience base because not everyone has flash plugins to make them work. Javascript works well for animation and more people have the ability to load it.

Website Tip Five – Search Engine Optimisation

You have the perfect website. It looks stunning. Everyone you show it to LOVES it. But… no one can find it.

The best website design you can ever achieve includes website optimisation and compliance. This means that your website passes W3C compliance, uses CSS and other approved coding methods, your search engine optimisation is all white hat and your website displays properly on all platforms (all browser types and sizes and portable devices). Website optimisation is important and even if you don’t have the budget for professional SEO you can help improve your website rankings on places like Google and Yahoo by inserting relevant information and keeping your website up to date. Content is king and the more relative your information is, the better results you will have when people search for your services and/or products. Blogs and News boards are a good way to keep your website frequently updated plus they can be followed via RSS feeds.

At Shell Graphix we ensure all of these tips play a large roll in every website we create. Our clients have seen phenomenal results which further cements how valuable these key elements really are.

Common paper sizes

 

A0 – 841 x 1189
A1 – 594 x 841

A2 – 420 x 594

A3 – 297 x 420

A4 – 210 x 297

A5 – 148 x 210

A6 – 105 x 148

 

Measurements are in mm.

 

Spot and Full Colour Printing

 

A common misconception is that spot colour printing is more cost effective than full colour printing. These days full colour printing is just as economical (sometimes more so) as most printers are setup primarily for full colour printing. Full colour allows your design to really grab attention and reach its full potential. Spot colour is perfect for projects that require a specific colour set but many clients still think that they should purposefully restrict their colour selection to gain a cost advantage. This is just not the case anymore. That aside, if you are going to do something you might as well do it right the first time and not cut corners! You will be glad you did.

 

Resolution and Colour

 

When printing you should always ensure your images are high resolution. The difference between print quality and web quality is that web is designed to load quickly and is usually reduced in quality and/or size. The common website image resolution used is 72dpi. When it comes to printing you need to ensure images are at 300dpi in the full size you want to print in. Anything smaller results in blurry or unclear images and spoils the print project. Printing also relies on the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) combination whilst computer viewing uses RGB (red, green, blue). Ensure you convert your images to suit the platform you are working with.

 

Paper Stock

 

Paper comes with different finishes which can be divided into glossy/shiny or matte. They also come in different weights. To top these elements off you can also add a gloss or matte cello glaze to finish off. This can act as a level of protection and add life to a print project. It also adds to the end finish and quality. To give you some examples that you may have seen previously – business cards are often printed on a 300 – 350gsm stock, this is quite a firm card stock and are at times finished off with a gloss or matt cello which adds a super-glossy/shiny finish or smooth texture. You will also find if a cello glazed business card goes through the washing machine that it will still be in tact at the end (maybe in two halves but not in a million pieces like a tissue or piece of paper)! Standard promotional brochures are typically printed on a 130gsm standard glossy paper stock. This is the most economical option and most commercial printers have bulk quantities in stock for generic runs.

 

For those with larger budgets there is the option of specialized paper stocks. Companies like Doggett, Raleigh and various other paper stockists supply a comprehensive range of options including textured, environmental and coloured. This is a wonderful idea for pieces that have a long life span or need to make a huge impact and demand attention.

 

Digital V’s Offset Printing

Generally digital is the cost effective option for print runs of 500 or less. You do not need such a high resolution for digital and it has a faster turn-around. Offset is the way to go if you want a high quality finish, print more than 500 copies and usually takes around 5 business days to produce. Offset printing does require correct file setup, high resolution and CMYK setup.

 

 

You don’t necessarily need a logo that is “better” than your competition but you do need to be more memorable. Remember, the objective is that your logo will be around for a very long time, you want to look at something you love!

 

1. Practicality

If you cant use it large, small, in colour, in mono, for web or for print it is just not going to work. A multi-purpose logo is the key to long-term use.

 

2. Recognition

If your audience cant tell what you do or who you are at a quick glance you have missed the mark. Make it relative and integrate what you do within your image. You attract more wanted attention.

 

3. Distinctive

Thorough industry research is a must. You don’t want to accidentally look like your no.1 competitor. Nor do you want to look totally different. You want to nail the areas they have missed thereby taking their spot in first place.

 

4. Simplistic

Less is more when it comes to a logo. If it is too busy no one will look twice or remember it. Think McDonalds, coca cola, BP, nike… they know what works.

 

5. Longevity

A good logo needs to look past current trends and remain flexible enough to live through the next 20 years. This window of time should be adequate to burn the icon into millions of memories.

 

Whether it is a logo re-design or a fresh new corporate branding you need to keep these 5 elements in mind when making your final decisions. It is always worth the heartache to get it right the FIRST time. You want your logo to be around for a long time and to be taken as seriously as any of the other huge corporate brands orbiting the business world.

 

More samples of before and after: