Truly Inspired Inspiration Boards

One of my clients once sent me a picture of a dish towel, a cartoon, a chair, some fabric she found at her favorite store, and a ring she liked from Etsy. While these things may seem disconnected, she wanted to communicate her visual inspiration as I sat down to create a logo for her photography business. We had already talked about her values. We hashed out how she wanted to be perceived in her industry. She had shared her vision and growth plan. All of that helped me create a logo that was the perfect fit for her brand and her company.

I often tell my clients that I want them to send me points of inspiration. My brides send me pictures of lighting, receptions, swatches of bridesmaid dress fabric and linens. They tell me about their favorite pair of shoes and about how they met their fiance. Each of these bits of their story help inspire me when I’m designing stationery for their celebration.

Similarly, clients developing logos send me images that represent the values and personality of their brand. I get everything from cereal advertisements, pieces of clothing, and furniture, to drawings and landscape photographs. Each of these elements helps me to understand what images mean to them and how they want to express themselves and their brand.

In the world of wedding blogs, inspiration boards are all the rage. Bloggers choose a number of images that fit into a theme and present them together to inspire their readers. Some of my favorite inspiration boards include those from Green Wedding Shoes, Gloria McCune, and Inspired by This.

Here is a pink board from Green Wedding Shoes.

photo credits: top row - martha stewart, Chris Nicholls. next row: j crew dress, martha stewart, invitation by oh my deer via once wed. bottom row: duston todd, flickr, darling dexter, gourmet

Whether you are planning a wedding, starting a new business, or recreating yourself, an inspiration board can be a great place to begin. Gather images, textures, and ideas from lots of industries and mediums. While I love it when a bride comes with any visual stimuli, I think it is important to keep things personal. The more intentional you can be about your choices, the better end product will be. A pretty pink palette is wonderful but if it also tells part of your story and connects to who you are, it will be even more meaningful.

Don’t feel like you have to interpret the inspiration board. When you hire professionals, they should be able to pick out themes and patterns. Hopefully the inspiration board will be a jumping off point for your uniquely designed masterpieces.

If you’re having trouble, try scouring visually stimulating sites like flickr, Etsy, istockphoto, clipart.com, and Google image search. Be sure to look outside of your own industry or genre to expose yourself to a variety of ideas. Take your own pictures. Include sketches. Add images from art, fashion, interior design, and anything else that inspires you or tells part of your story.

Please keep in mind that I am not encouraging you to rip off the ideas of others. It is one thing to say that you like the imagery or emotion that a logo evokes. It is another to copy it.

What inspires your celebration or brand?

Inspired by Color

Every project we take on has one thing in common. While we use our layout skills and sense of proportion in everything from wedding invitations to websites, there is no doubt that our best tool is color. Color can set the tone or make a good project go bad quickly. People perceive bad use of color more readily than any other design flaw.

Color is the foundation of the design process for us. Because different colors have different meanings, we don’t usually present logo designs across the rainbow to our clients. We match their brand with an appropriate color scheme. We want the chosen colors to evoke and strengthen the ideas they want to express. We also want to be thoughtful about where the logo will appear. Especially because color is perceived differently around the world, color selection must account for a company’s long-term goals as well as their current place in the market.

Because color matters, it is also a paramount concern in our invitation work as well. While our brides and event planners generally choose their color schemes before they bring us in on the project, presenting color consistently is essential for success. Guests at an event may not hold the invitation up to the napkin to make sure it is the same shade but if we can get close, why wouldn’t we?

Successful color selection and execution depends a lot on communication. While color perception might have far-reaching consistency within a culture, describing color isn’t always that easy. For this reason, we encourage our clients to adopt one of our favorite friends throughout their branding or event planning process. Pantone has universalized color. Their system of swatch books have revolutionized consistency in ink colors, fashion, and home decor.

For companies wanting color consistency across multiple formats, choose a Pantone color and stick with it. While web colors aren’t always the same as ink colors, having a Pantone color as the target will help serve as a goal. Throughout the design process, don’t be afraid to whip out one of these handy tools. While slight variation can still occur, having a benchmark will help everyone stay on the same page. If you are planning an event, check out The Dessy Group’s Pantone swatches that you can give to vendors and designers involved in your process.

For another perspecitve on successful use of color for logo design, check out Brian Hoff’s post on flexibility.

Images from Pantone and The Dessy Group

7 Questions to Answer Before Creating a New Website

Your website is a powerful tool for telling a story about your business. When clients come to us for website design or redesign, we encourage them to think about how to use this tool in the most effective way possible. Here are seven questions you should ask yourself before diving into the process.

1. Who will view your website?
New customers? Past or recurring clients? Referral sources? Investors? Knowing who will be looking you up can influence what to focus on.

2. Are you happy with your current brand and aesthetic?
Many of our clients come to us for website design but end up taking the opportunity to completely rebrand. If you aren’t happy with your current look and company personality, don’t build a website on that shaky foundation.

3. What information do your viewers need to find on your website?
Including your portfolio, contact information, philosophy, and services might be essential. Perhaps your clients want to see video interviews, a calendar of your events, a place to buy your products, and a downloadable map too. Think about the most frequent phone calls and emails you field. Can you include this information on your site at all so your clients can find it without contacting you?

4. How will people find your website?
Many of our clients are concerned with SEO but have businesses that are based on a small tightly-knit community. If your ideal clients find you on Facebook, through a friend, or directly from your business card, it may not be important for you to focus a lot on getting in Google’s good graces.

5. What do you want customers to do in response to your online presence?
How will you utilize a call to action on your site? Do you want clients to call you? Should they be able to schedule an appointment online? How will your client take the next step? Your website should clearly facilitate steps that lead to sales.

6. How often will your site change?
If you plan to update content or pictures often, consider having your website built on a platform that allows you to make the changes yourself. If you aren’t technically savvy, you’ll need to consider the cost of adding to and changing your site regularly to keep the content fresh and relevant.

7. What are your goals for the site?
Do you want increased revenue? How much? Is the purpose of the site increasing brand awareness? How will that be measured? What will a successful website do for your business? What are must-haves in order to accomplish this?

Call for Graphic Design Intern

Hear ye! Hear ye! We’re looking for a stellar Fall Graphic Design Intern.

Internship Objectives
• provide intern with exposure to the world of web design, printing, and invitation arts
• help intern understand the potential, limitations, and guidelines for creating stellar invitations and other printed pieces
• expose intern to elements of business ownership, help them determine their strengths and weaknesses
• create new unique designs for the innovation companies and our clients

Structure
• intern will work at the innovation companies for 10 hours per week for the length of their semester/quarter
• weekly meetings will be held to explain new projects, discuss completed projects, and evaluate skill set

Requirements
• must have killer design skills and a unique sense of style
• must have excellent knowledge and execution of indesign, illustrator, and photoshop for mac
• must be dependable, reliable, and on-time. late or incomplete work is unacceptable.
• graphic design and/or illustration major preferred
• illustration skills highly recommended
• experience with typography a plus
• must provide three references from employers and/or professors
• internship is unpaid

Application
Interested parties should send samples, their resume and references to jon@theinnovationcompanies.com no later than september 23, 2009

New View on Calligraphy as Art

I have always enjoyed a nice hand-addressed envelope. I encourage my clients to use calligraphers to make sure their invitations get noticed the moment they arrive. I use calligraphers myself at every opportunity. I have even commissioned calligraphers to make spectacular monograms, awards, and other one-of-a-kind pieces and gifts. I must admit, however, that I have not contemplated calligraphy as art enough.

Two weeks ago I set out to expose myself to calligraphy from a new perspective. I wanted to see calligraphy in a new light. I took my own advice and attended an exhibit at Soka University. Sea of Ink: Calligraphic Expressions in America opened my eyes to the art of calligraphy.

While most of the exhibit used languages that I could not read, I was struck by how much a understood just from the shape stroke of the characters. Powerful imagery was poured into each of these pieces. I decided to share a few pictures to show what I mean.

Mary Bryan’s “Great Wisdom is Like Being Foolish” and Carm Fogt’s “Loud Yell”
Mary Bryan’s “Resist”, Carm Fogt’s “Deep Dream”

My favorite artist of the exhibit was Chau Thuy. Here are his works “No Le Slavery,” “Belief and Ideal,” and “Thuyen Nhan Boat People.”

I also enjoyed exploring Soka University a little. They have beautiful grounds (perfect for an engagement session) with an expansive fountain. I also loved this fixture in the gallery. It reminded me of Dale Chihuly.

After the exhibit, I asked a few calligraphers to tell a little more about their work. Check back tomorrow for some of their advice.

Design Inspiration: Books

Alright, I’ll admit it. I’m a book nerd. I love reading. To myself, to my husband, listening to other people read to me (seriously, sometimes I have friends come over to read to me). I get excited about books. My latest library find is Art Without Borders by Ben-Ami Scharfstein. Haven’t delved in yet but I can’t wait to read this “philosophical exporation of art and humanity.”

I must say, however, that I was attracted to it not only by its title and content. It was on the “New Book” shelf at the library. It was so shiny and perfect. In fact, I think I may the first person to have checked it out {happy sigh}. Somehow that knowledge makes the read more enjoyable. You might say that I’ve judged this book by its cover. And you would be right.

I’m unashamed about judging other books by their covers as well. Today’s Shoot from the Hip post inspired me. I will definitely become a regular visitor to The Book Cover Archive. Not only a place to see new titles (which I might actually read)… such good design inspiration too.

I was also stoked to see The Pelican Project at things magazine. This documentation of the chronology of Pelican book covers warmed my heart. Considering the countless hours I spent with a Penguin Classic paperback in college, I was glad to see documentation of the evolution of cover art. Books like these aren’t just parts of our culture and conversation, they hold a place in our collective aesthetic as well.

A snap of my own beloved collection.

A Designer’s View of SEO

A lot of my clients want to know about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Several clients have recently asked if I can get them “to the top of Google.” While I can appreciate that the top of the list may feel good, it might not be the best goal for every site. Here are a few points to consider in the process:

No. 1: Decide if you even need to worry about Search Engine Optimization.
•Does your target customer even use search engines (like Google, Yahoo, etc.) to find your website? Or do they find your company through networking, personal referrals, direct links from other sites, advertisement, the signature line of your email, etc.?
•Does your target customer search specifically for your business or do they search for your type of service or product? Do they type in “Gladstone’s Pizza Shack” or just “pizza” or “Chicago-style pizza”?
•Does your target customer even use random internet searches to find businesses like yours that they will purchase from? Do you want to field lots of potentially dead leads? Do you want to position your company as a commodity or as a specialty or boutique business?

No. 2: Create compelling content.
Search engines don’t use magical formulas. You can’t trick them or bribe them. They deliver sites with useful, relevant information to the search topic.
•Include detailed and useful information about your products, services, background, biographies, and service. Craft your marketing message to include all the information your target customer wants to know.
•Consider hiring a copy writer to make sure your message is clear, relevant, and search-engine friendly.

No. 3: Get linked up.
Search engines are a popularity contest. They determine what is useful and relevant to a particular topic by counting how many other sites link to your site.
•Again, compelling, relevant content is the best way to get others to link to you. If you have great content, people will point others to your site. If you don’t, they won’t.
•Asking random people to link to you (and vice versa) is virtually useless. Only link to sites that you think are relevant to whatever you are discussing. Don’t solicit links. Just create a great site that people want to link to.
•Don’t forget to link to other sites from your site. The best way to get to the top of the list in a particular field may be to create links to all of your top competitors. If that doesn’t serve your overall marketing plan, consider creating content with links to sites your target customer will find helpful in their decision-making and education process.

No. 4: Decide what design format is best for you.
Most search engines like HTML but it isn’t necessarily the best way to present every product or business. Weigh your priorities to make sure that you create a site that showcases your work best.
•Flash-based sites have dynamic design. Your images can fade in an out, you can present slideshows. You can incorporate visual elements that create an experience for your audience. This might be a great option for photographers, architects, and others whose main objective in a website is to provide the best visual presentation of their product.
•Flash, however, isn’t search engine friendly. HTML sites can’t provide the transitional aesthetic of flash but can entice those search engine robots to come over and have a peak. For service-based businesses, HTML sites might be a better choice. Any site with a lot of text, or with text that you want to be searchable, should use HTML.
•Hybrid sites (that include Flash and HTML) may be a good solution for companies that want to use the benefits of Flash and HTML

No. 5: Consider adding a Blog
Weblogs allow companies to add fresh content, talk about relevant issues in their industry, attract links, and demonstrate their expertise.
•Consider adding a blog if you can and will updated it regularly.
•Make sure the aesthetic of your blog matches your website. Creating a consistent experience for your customer will help them remember your company.

The Man Behind Gill Sans

I’ve recently become fascinated by typography. The shape of letters and their arrangement in a space can have a dramatic impact on the end aesthetic. Finding the right font for the job is one of my favorite pursuits. I won’t claim that my study is very deep but I certainly enjoy a good font.

Don’t miss this month’s newsletter from MyFonts. Their interview of Eric Gill, the creator of the popular font Gill Sans, definitely promotes enthusiasm for the art of lettering.

The Why of Design

Posted by Allison Howell
As I’ve contemplated my new position here at The Innovation Companies, I’ve been very influenced by AIGA’s Why Design booklet. I have been helped in the past by their position on speculative work and standards of professional practice but I was struck by this little booklet on the value of design.

For most of my career, I have been focused on wedding invitations. I met with brides to help them come up with an invitation and stationery that would be a good fit for their celebration. I’ve always been interested in the collaboration that occurs– bringing together elements of their personality, their new life together, and the aesthetic of their celebration. I think that stationery can do a lot to unify an event. When a guest sees a thank you card that reminds her of the menus and the invitation, she gets a sense of cohesion, a sense of the whole.

More recently, I have had the privilege of working with several small business owners to design logos and identity marks. The process of finding out about these individuals, their values, and what they want to communicate about their business has been fascinating. I love the process of creating a physical manifestation of their brand that communicates so much about who they are. It is so gratifying to hear their first reaction and then tweaking every element until it is just right. Seeing it come to life in stationery, web design, and other packaging completes the experience for me.

I find the process of design to be more about defining and solving a problem than anything else. To be able to understand the need of my client and then create something that is a great fit is one of my great joys. “You totally got me” and “This is exactly want I wanted even though I didn’t know I wanted it” are two favorite responses to my work. The process of design can be so much more than doodling and type layout. It is really about collaborating to create solutions and value. As AIGA’s Why booklet says “When we become participants in the process of designing, we can drive new value–economic, social, and aesthetic.”

Now that I am working for The Innovation Companies and am not on my own anymore, many friends and colleagues have asked what it is exactly that I do as the Director of Business Development. My answer has been sales, concept design, client meetings…. I think my new answer is going to be collaborative problem solving through design.