astrid wehling – designer notes from a large island

Marketing Material for a Financial Risk Advisor

After a rebranding in 2011, Protecht Pty Ltd, Specialists in Financial and Operational Risk Management, needed marketing collaterals for conferences, trainings and expos.

Together, we developed a presentation folder, a wrapper to bundle information and fact sheets which were printed and collated inhouse.
The client didn't like the common business card slits in presentation folders, so an extra cardboard sheet for business cards was the solution.

The colours, the cleaness and the crisp look of the designs maintain the consistency with already existing material as logo and website and ensure immediate recognition.

The folder is printed on Rives Design stock, a cardboard with linen structure. The knife used is custom made as no knife available through printers gave us the certain edge we were looking for.

A banner, used at conferences and expos, shows Protecht's four main areas of expertise.

A company sign, cut from brushed stainless steel and the logo engraved, completed the rebranding process.

 

 

 

Art and Photography

For almost 10 years I'm designing catalogues and invitations for art exhibitions, mainly ceramics. The quality of photos sent in by the artists has improved immensely over the time as most artists now use the services of professional photographers.

But for those who are still taking their own photos or who want to improve their skills: here are a few things you should know if you want your photo being published:

• Use a tripod.

• Leave enough space around the object - include more background. If the object on the photo sits too close to the edge of the photo, the image can't be used for full page images if you want to show the complete object. A full page image always requires extra space around the edges for bleed and you don't want two or three millimetres being cut off your artwork.

• Watch out for weird looking shadows, they might distract from the object and kill the whole image.

• The same goes for too many and too strong reflections. Try to avoid flash.

• Avoid busy backgrounds, even if your studio or kitchen looks interesting. But a busy background will distract from the main focus in the photo.

• Should your photo include a 'horizon' e.g. a table's edge or a floor edge, make sure it's straight.

• Centre your object unless you are using an interesting angle for artistic purposes.

• If you are using a paper background, make sure it's not dirty or ripped (photoshop can fix a lot, but that would lead to higher pre-press costs)

• If you are taking photos of your art in an exhibition, focus on your object, unless showing blurry people in the background is intentional and part of the arrangement.

• Make sure the digital file is large enough for printing. I often see images that look great on screen but turn out only as big as a stamp when printed in the correct resolution. Offset printing requires 250 ppi* or 300 ppi* photoshop files. An A5 .psd file can easily end up being 12 MB large.

• When you save your .psd file into a jpg to send it off, try to save it only once as each re-saving will compress the image more, which affects the quality.

Happy Snapping!


• ppi = pixels per inch; very often wrongly called dpi (dots per inch).

Jolly times ahead

7 weeks until Melbourne Cup Day, here in Australia the (inofficial) start into the Jolly Season. Christmas party bookings are on the agenda again for most businesses.
No, no, I will not start complaining about the fact that christmas cards have turned up in the shops by Mid-September. I am actually glad for early reminders.

Instead I thought I just show some of the invites I did in the past. Not all for Christmas though.

Company Anniversary I

 

Company Anniversary II

 

Christmas

 

Piano Concert and Swiss National Day Celebration

 

Cocktail Reception

 

What you do for a living is not be creative. Everyone is creative.*

 
 
* This post's headline is a quote by Seth Godin, successful entrepreneur and book author. When I first read it, my initial thought was: "WHAT? I'm a Graphic Designer, of course what I do is being creative."
But I realised what he meant when I read the second part of that quote: "What you do for a living is to ship."

He is right. No client wants you to come back to him with just über-creative ideas. He wants you to come back with a product, that works for him and his business in his market. And he wants you to deliver on time. Within budget. If on top the concept is unique, eyecatching and headturning, the better.

To achieve this, being on time, within budget and creative, you will need experience. Experience in what's possible and what not. What to trash and what to keep – you need to know when to stop adding elements to the design. Who to work with – think: copywriters, printers, photographers. You need to know how to speak their language.

You need discipline and you also need to ask it from others who you work with.

You are flying the plane or sailing the ship. It comes down to you when a job gets wrong (sounds scary, I know). But it gives you a satisfactory feeling when everything works out perfect.

photo: www.istockphoto.com

The Logo Stress Test

After you've designed a logo that

... represents the business or product it was designed for
... stands out from the competition
... is unique and distinctive

Does your logo still purvey the intent of the design when:

... in black & white?
... printed on an m&m?
... embossed?
... stitched on fabric?
... printed in a black and white newspaper?
... faxed? (yes, there are still companies using the fax)

10 years of designing the Journal of Australian Ceramics

Designing the Journal of Australian Ceramics (formerly known as 'Pottery in Australia') has been one of my first big jobs after arriving in Australia. Little did I know about the world of ceramics back then.

10 years, 3 offices, a magazine title and and an editor change later and I'm still loving it.
Every 3 to 4 month a big folder of photos and stories is waiting to go into the next magazine. 3 weeks of layouting and relayouting, discussing, discarding and developing new ideas end up in the big last question: "And what goes on the cover?" Sometimes you have a hero shot straightaway, sometimes it's a last minute Eureka moment.

Today we work with the best photographers, writers and proofreader from Australia to bring the most exiting and inspiring stories about ceramics to the large community of ceramicists and art lovers worldwide.

2001

2011

Oh, and did I mention the great coffee, pastries and curries that come with working with that wonderful team? Thanks for 10 amazing years!

 

 

Early Influences – Otl Aicher (1922 – 1991)

photo: Toby Barnes, Otl Aicher Pool @ flickr

Otl Aicher was one of Germany's leading designers whose work was a big influence on my education. Hi main focus was on crisp, clear visual language and legibility, stripped of all arty and unnecessary things. His believe was that a good design is a design which works in reality and which serves everyday life and human being.*

Otl Aicher was the director of the "Hochschule für Gestaltung" in Ulm, which in the beginning was leaning heavily towards the Bauhaus and, over the time, developed own design principles, now famously known as "The Ulm Model".
Together with his colleagues, Otl Aicher designed the corporate identity of Lufthansa and was involved in product design for the electrical appliance company Braun. The HfG defined what we call today "Visual Communication"

After the Ulmer Hochschule für Gestaltung had to be closed for political reasons, Otl Aicher was commissioned as the head designer for the Olympic Games 1972 in Munich. This was - in the eyes of the design community - his biggest achievement, as these were the first Olympic Games in Germany after Hitler's 1936 Games in Berlin. Aicher had to create an image that had to correct everything the image of the Berlin Games had presented to the world.
The pictograms he developed as part of the Olympic design are stillin use worldwide today.

photo: Toby Barnes, Otl Aicher Pool @ flickr
photo: alphanumeric, Otl Aicher Pool @ flickr

Later on he created Corporate Identities for institutions and banks like ZDF, Dresdner Bank, Sparkasse and Westdeutsche Landesbank, Munich Airport, Deutsche Airbus.
His font Rotis, developed in 1988, is today one of the world's best known and recognized fonts.

Just by coincidence some of my teachers at Uni and my first employer were students of Aicher and huge fans of his meticulous and exact designs.
His specific way to utilise grids and to work with white space became pretty soon second nature to us.

I remember, that in my first job after uni, when we worked on brochures for Deutsche Airbus/Aerospace, my boss flew regularly from the North of Germany to Rotis in the South to have Otl Aicher checked the artwork and to give us his OK (not always easy to get).

Deutsche Aerospace/Airbus brochure, 1990

For those early brochures we were only allowed to use the colours red and black - full colour came only later. The planes for example were drawn by hand and angles had to be on 45º.  And we could be sure that each time Aicher would find elements which were one millimeter out of line within seconds.

Deutsche Aerospace/Airbus brochures, 1990/91

I'm using more colour today and I can't always implement Aichers strict design rules, but I am still fascinated by his work and his way of thinking.

 

PS: I just got send this link which shows London's design consultancy Bibliothèque's collection of Aicher's 72 Olympics work:

http://www.bibliothequedesign.com/projects/exhibition-and-environment/72-Otl-Aicher/

* (http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20070102/the-olympic-feats-of-otl-aicher)

How seriously do you take your business?

Recently I came across an Irish website called tweak.com where customers can buy logos and brochure templates online. Quick and easy – you pick an image, insert your company name, pay and you can download your logo. Or you buy a PDF for a brochure or newsletter and just insert the text.

A lot has been written about crowdsourcing, templates and instant online logo creators. I have to admit - it looks tempting to someone who just started a business on a low budget. It might be the right thing for someone who doesn't care about longterm strategies and solid brand building. But using these services can have serious consequences.


Just a few thoughts:

How sure can you be that one of your competitors doesn't buy the same logo / brochure / newsletter?

Did you know that you can't  trademark a logo that has been created through that website?

How sure can you be that the logo ideas, which are sold on this or other crowdsourcing websites are unique enough to prevent any legal trouble later down the track?

Are your copywriting skills so good that your brochure will stand out? That it can sit next to the same brochure (with all the same colours and the same images) at a business event? Only that the other brochure is for a completely different company? Or worse – your competitor?

How good are your marketing skills that you can change a generic brochure template into a personalised and effective marketing tool?

Can you afford to spend hours online to go through all templates, download the template, insert your copy which you've written earlier, find a printer and deal with the printer?

?

Or do you prefer to work on your business and leave the rest to specialists? And use your spare time on the weekend for nicer things?

I've used the word 'customer' in the first paragraph on purpose, because customers buy off the shelf or from a catalogue.

Clients get into a meaningful working relationship with their designers and marketing professionals. That relationship is not a one way street, but a dialogue and work in progress. Professional designers know their clients' businesses and their marketing and advertising needs. They know the market and last but not least they know how professional design can help their clients to grow their business. 

It's not about costs, it's about investment.

photos: www.sxc.hu ; www.istockphoto.com

Marketing Collateral

Consistency in design is one important part of branding success – the others being authenticity, responsibility and engagement (© Nicole Armstrong, More than a logo)

Following are some samples of marketing collateral for Sydney company TouchMarketing.com.au
I already spoke about their logo earlier, highlighting the importance of vector based designs: Scaling logos with a 3D look

For the business cards we developed a fold up card with information about the business, contact details and even a small section for recipients to add notes. The finish being spot UV varnish and silver foil. This card still attracts a lot of attention.

The logo often sits on a portrait format shape with round corners, eg with Facebook or Twitter. The red swirls have now become part of the brand.

Presentation slide templates

Pull Up Banner 

Website Background

 

Branding Essentials

Mosaic Financial Group is a boutique financial services provider in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. Whilst there already was an existing logo and some collaterals, the necessity for a comprehensive branding strategy became clear when the business moved into new premises.

The following first elements as signage, stationery, presentation folder and blank inserts (which will be used inhouse on a laser printer) were developed in collaboration with TouchMarketing.com.au

 

Who's that guy? About stockphotos and choices.

I'm pretty sure you've met him before. A distinguished, grey haired business man, silver framed glasses, light blue shirt and always smiling. You must have met him before as he is working in so many businesses around the country.

At least I got the impression that he is working in lots of places, when I go by all the company brochures, newsletters and websites his image is in.
As is his colleague, that friendly smiling girl with long brown hair, who is always wearing a headset.

Looking for stockphotos to illustrate a brochure or a website is a regular part of a designer's work. 10 – 15 years ago we had to go through huge catalogues, order a transparency for quite a lot of money, scan it in and then send it back to the stock photo bank. Most of these transparencies were of high quality and professional photos.

Today we mainly go through online image banks. Their images range from high profile and very professional images down to freeware.
There are image banks like istockphoto.com who offer a broad selection from low priced photos to expensive ones. You can tell the difference just by looking at them. Images who have the 'wow-effect' are usually more expensive.

I'm not saying that stock photos aren't any good. Not at all. One of the photographers who works exclusively for image banks, Yuri Arcurs, is one of the world's famous microstock photographers, he sells around 2000 licences per day. And his photos are great and professional. He has set a certain 'look' for microstock images you would certainly recognize in a second. And he offers a large variety of images. As hundreds of other photographers do.

What I don't like is seeing the same face of the same model in so many publications. I don't know if it's laziness or if designers and clients are so used to these images and therefore like them, that they don't want to look any further for alternatives.
'To like something' is not a good way to start working on a concept.
 
It certainly won't help you and your business image if the man, whose photo is in your 'About us' section on your website, is the same guy who appears on many other websites. It makes you and your business exchangeable and faceless although you are showing good looking people.

So if you can't afford to have your own photos taken by a professional photographer, at least ask your designer to spend a little bit more time to look for the right stockphotos for your business and not just click on the first good looking image on the first page.

Happy New Year!

Bertie and friends (detail), Belgian Chocolate, cocoa butter, h: 28cm
work and photo: Irianna Kanellopoulou, 2008

Ok, I admit, this Australian Summer has been a very relaxing one so far. First Christmas, than New Year. And as most of my clients have been away on holiday during the month of January, nothing really pushed me into full work mode until this week.

I might also be under the influence of the upcoming Year of the Rabbit (3 February 2011 – 22 January 2012). According to the Chinese, the Year of the Rabbit is a year where you can catch your breath and calm your nerves. The focus should be on creativity, beautification projects and peaceful lifestyles to make this coming year a successful one.
I was born in a Year of the Rabbit, so that's perfectly fine with me. I've already started with a new branding project, some brochures for self development courses and there's lots more in the pipeline for the upcoming months.

A very calming effect on me had the rabbits in the photo above. Created by Australian ceramicist Irianna Kanellopoulou in 2008, they were not made from clay, but from Belgian Chocolate and were fully edible.
More rabbits from Irianna can be seen here - but I wouldn't try to eat those:
Brenda May Gallery

A good and successful year to everyone!

December Quote

Step by step towards building a brand

It's not done with a logo and business card alone. Small and micro businesses have to build their brand as much as any large company. Visual consistency  and keeping the same tone is an important part in any successful branding.

Following a strategic approach and ensuring that the brand is visible in all advertising material doesn't need to be expensive. After starting with a logo and a card a few months ago, this German client was then looking for a brochure, outdoor signage and gift vouchers to help promoting her business and getting new patients.

 

When less is more – a logo for a Start-Up

University Stays Pty Ltd is taking a proven European concept to Australia. The start up business provides a platform for University Colleges to advertise their free beds during holidays to tourists and the general public.

When the clients approached me for a new logo, they already had a pretty clear idea on what they wanted to see in the logo: a crest, a bed and the colours red and beige.

It was a smooth design process, that kind of productive teamwork between designer and clients I love.

I am looking forward to the final website www.universitystays.com.au, which is developed by www.numbereleven.com.au

 

First ideas, which later in the process turned out to be too detailed:

 

 

The final result:

 

First steps in branding a new coaching business

"Lime Green", "boutique", "passionate", "memorable" and "exclusive", but "not too corporate" were some of the keywords the client sent back to me with the filled out questionnaire I usually hand out before I start working on a logo.

Hero Coaching is a young and enthusiastic coaching business, focussing on Innovation and Creativity Training, Project and Personal Coaching. Ute, who founded Hero Coaching, had some specific ideas about how she wanted to present her business to her target group:
"... to have a company image that represents what I do, that is intuitively connectable with what I do, that is memorable ...".

During further brainstorming sessions and discussions we settled on more keywords: vivid, flow, development, empowering, break through barriers, a fun delivery.

In the end it took not long to find the icon that symbolises all of what Ute wanted to communicate.

Following the logo and the business cards will be a website, promotional and training material.

 

 

November Quote

 

About Sol Sender

Logo Redesign for a boutique law firm

Dimos Lawyers, a well established boutique commercial law firm from Melbourne, approached me this winter and asked for a logo redesign.

The firm, founded in 1967, had last upgraded their visual identity in the mid 90ies. Over the last 15 years their clientele had changed to more larger corporations and a new and younger generation of clients who might regard the existing identity as too old fashioned.

The new identity had to include the colours grey and blue. The distinctive capital D from the old logo should also be represented in some way. Another requirement was to highlight the founding year.

The first step has been completed now, with the new logo being launched today. More collaterals will follow over the next months.

 

Old logo

 

 

New logo

Stationery

 

 

Highly valued - longterm clients

I think it's about time to introduce and to say thank you to one of my long standing clients, Webasto Product Australia. Webasto is one of the leading manufacturers of innovative products to the transportation industry, as air conditioners, heaters, coolers and sunroofs. With their headquarter located in Germany, Webasto has companies worldwide.

In 2005 I started working on Webasto's advertising and promotional material. Since then we have developed - always according to the company's corporate style guides – advertising campaigns, product sheets, exhibition banners and posters and other below the line material.

Here are a few of the many ads from the last 5 years:

2005

2006

2007

 
2008

2009 

2010

With free pitching no one really wins

 

photo: istockphoto.com

Free pitching has over the last couple of years been associated with open contests on pages like 99design and the like. I don't want to go there, enough has been said about that and all arguments are easily accessible online.

But there is another practice of asking for free pitches, where potential clients ask for unpaid design submissions from a few design studios and promising the job to the 'winner'.

I'm not implying that these clients act this way because they want to get as many as possible ideas without having to pay for it. At least not all of them.

I rather think it's because the whole process of sourcing and choosing a designer is a process too unknown and therefore scary or too time consuming for them. Some might even hope that they might gain more in-depth understanding on the design process on top on getting free samples.

 
 
So, what are the pitfalls?
 

In my opinion the biggest one for the client is an unsatisfying and uneffective outcome. Without a proper consultation, enough time for research and time for developing a concept, a designer won't be able to deliver a proper result.

 

Most requests for a free pitch come with a poorly written brief (if any) and it would be up to the designer to start guessing, trying to work out the context and any strategies the client might have in mind. And all of this within a short timeframe and - don't forget – all for free.

 

Designers - if they run a professional business - can't afford to spend unpaid time on projects they probably won't even get. A design business is not set up in such a way that these costs are factored in. Defining the business communication problem, developing the design solution and reproducing the design solution are all part of the costing. Having the reproduction part alone to finance development and design is just not feasible. Just imagine the margins that have to be factored in for the design business to survive.

 

A designer is not just a designer, but also a consultant. Without an intensive dialogue there are no effective results.

A professional designer will have a professional portfolio to show his experience and case studies. Most of them will be happy to provide referees. Most of them are happy to come in for an informal chat.

 

The Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) and the Design Institute of Australia have a strong opinion against free pitching and can assist their members and the public in any way.  I am happy to send out a checklist to anyone who is in the process of choosing a designer as I am all in for a proper, fair and substantial selection process, a comfortable client-designer relationship and a fruitful outcome for all.

Contact me at design_at_astridwehling.com.au