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Buzzword or Not? – Customer Experience

Picture yourself stepping into a lovely Italian vineyard on a sunny afternoon, greeted by picturesque countryside views and the scent of ripe grapes hanging on nearby vines. You’re welcomed by a knowledgeable and friendly sommelier at the entrance of the elegant tasting room, who takes the time to understand your preferences and level of wine […]

Get the Most Out of Your Brand Audit

Consumers buy and engage with brands for many reasons, but many are shocked to find out just how much of our purchases are driven by emotion. Understanding how consumers perceive your brand and what motivates them to buy has never been more important, and misinterpreting those driving factors can have devastating results. One of the […]

Building a More Impactful Email Experience

Huber Engineered Woods was looking for a top-to-bottom email overhaul. The company is well known in the industry for their high-quality industrial products and engineered materials, as well as their educational training resources. Despite being filled with great content, their existing emails weren’t performing well. Most importantly, they weren’t reflective of the high-quality products Huber […]

Send Better Emails – How to Use Data to Drive Your Creative

Everyone wants to believe their marketing emails are performing well and driving conversions, but what if the data tells a different story? Even the most beautifully designed emails can fail if they don’t address the specific needs and actions of the customer.  This blog will walk through how to use analytics to take the guesswork […]

When it Comes to Design Feedback – More is Usually Better

Over the years, one of the most common issues I’ve run into during design projects is lack of feedback. As far as I know, professional graphic designers aren’t known to be overly sensitive creatures, so I’m often puzzled by clients who want to go out of their way to spare my feelings. It may seem […]

Stock Photo Clichés to Avoid at All Costs

You’ve been told not to use stock photography in place of more realistic imagery in your marketing a million times. You may have even gotten really defensive over it, because “stock photos are so clean, so perfect, so BLUE!” (seriously why are so many stock photos the exact same shade of blue?) You may have […]

Kick the Imposter Syndrome

No one wants to say “I was wrong” or “I don’t know how to do that” in a professional setting. No matter what industry you’re in, admiting your own shortcomings is really difficult and frustrating. We don’t want to present ourselves as anything less than perfect, especially to the people paying for our services. Why do so […]

Have Your Designs Expired?

You know it’s time to change a light bulb when you find yourself sitting in the dark. You know it’s time to throw out food when it’s past the expiration date. Unfortunately we don’t get such obvious signs when it’s time for a design to be replaced. There’s no alarm that goes off, so it’s […]

What’s Your Designer REALLY Up To?

Imagine this: you recently hired a designer to brand your new company. You have spent time talking with them about the business and discussing goals and important milestones, and now it’s officially time to kick off the project. It’s an exciting time, and you can’t wait to see results, but then they give you a […]

Three Helpful Tips for New Designers

It’s that time of year again. A fresh batch of new designers will be graduating and venturing out to make the world a better looking and more functional place. If you’re one of these new graphic designers, congratulations! Welcome to what has been referred to as “the best/worst career in the world.” This is a really […]

Reminder: Advertising in the 1950s Had No Chill

The history of American advertising is something that has always fascinated me. It’s amazing to see how much the visual aesthetic evolved as a result of the changing times. Consumer needs were constantly changing due to wars, shifts in the economy, advancements in technology and various other factors. Each decade had its own unique style of […]

Add Human Interaction to Your Marketing

I recently found myself 45 minutes deep in a site dedicated to the spaces where artists and designers work. I didn’t actively seek out this behind the scenes experience, it was entirely by chance that I ended up there. Once I snapped out of it and realized how long I had spent procrastinating on the […]

Your Brand is More Than Black and White

You somehow managed to find yourself on this blog post, you probably already know how important branding is. We’ve discussed the different aspects that come together to form a solid brand, and repeatedly reminded you that a brand is more than just a logo. Sure, logos get all the credit and attention, but there’s another […]

Keeping up with Visual Social Media

Social media is a thing most of us either love or love to hate. The most popular social media platforms are constantly evolving and trying to one-up each other. It can be difficult to keep up at times, and often by the time we figure out and get comfortable with the system the next change rolls […]

License Plate Design: The Good, The Bad and the Boring

Everyone loves a good contest, which is why I got a little excited when I heard Indiana’s BMV was allowing people to vote on our state’s next license plate. I knew not to expect too much since license plate designs tend to fall somewhere between mundane and gaudy, with little room for anything attractive or interesting. […]