astrid wehling – designer notes from a large island

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

A cool product launch

Last Thursday was the first day of the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show in Queensland, Australasia's most significant marine lifestyle event.

One of my clients, 12 Volt Outlet Pty Ltd, used that opportunity to launch it's most recent product 'Ozefridge', a smart and efficient refrigeration system for yachts, powerboats and recreational vehicles. Developed and manufactured in Australia, Ozefridge already had some great media response over the last months, but what was still missing, was a proper 'face', a brand.

While not all designers like to work on technical products, I enjoy it. Should developing brochures and catalogues for chain saws, drills and other power tools during my very first employment have started that interest in all things not really self-explanatory?

The first element I developed together with 12 Volt Outlet was the product logo. It needed to have a technical touch and feel and had to look professional and fine in colour, in black or even engraved.

Out of a selection of 3, this was the winner. The grill on top of each refrigeration unit, resembling a target, was an ideal subject for the icon within the logo.

I developed the tagline together with the client, which was actually a straightforward and easy process.

It was pretty clear from the beginning that the accompanying brochure would have to contain a lot of copy and technical information. A smart structure, bright colours and an eyecatching cover photo makes it easier for customers to read through the text and to pick up all information relevant to them.
The format - A4, folded to DL size, with general information on the outside and all technical information on the inside – proved to be an ideal size to go into product boxes and especially for a mail out.

 

Right now I am developing additional material. Advertising campaigns in special interest magazines, POS material, packaging and digital marketing will help to grow this brand. Stay tuned.

You have to love the details – Designing multi-page documents

for Pakka Marketing, 2008; 12 page property sales bochure

What are multi-page documents?
Large brochures, company profiles, sales brochures, annual reports, catalogues, conference programs. I love working on them. 

What do I do after I get a brief and contents from the client?
I develop a structure, organise and (if necessary) edit the copy, source stock images or direct a photoshooting. I bring everything together, polish the pages. Find the little bit that will be different to make the piece stand out from the competition, be it a different shape, fold or finish, all that while staying within the budget. I present, work with the client on their corrections, prepare the artwork and overlook the printing.

Does it have to be a printed brochure?
Brochures are still an important marketing instrument and will always be. They are much more present at the point of business than a website, customers have easy offline access to all necessary information and a well designed brochure is always good in communicating corporate values or supporting a sales pitch. But with most jobs I also supply a PDF version of the brochure for the web.

What multi-page job do I still remember?
Most of them - but I definitely won't forget a catalogue for power tools in the 90ies - lawn mowers, brushcutters, hedge trimmers, etc. 48 pages, only three months time from the first meeting to printing, photo shootings at various outdoor locations (in unpredictable German spring weather), lots and lots of tables, text and prices.
I loved it. Did I say that before?

for Axon Garside & Company, Hamburg, 1997, 48 page power tool catalogue

Is print in advertising a dying thing?

No. Not at all.

Of course, we can't deny that newspaper numbers are in decline, that online advertising is the 'must have' at the moment. But the magazine market is still big and surveys show that people still love to read a magazine or a newspaper in bed, at the beach or in the bathroom. Not so pleasant and cosy with a laptop, I would say.

Apart from advertising in magazines – there is much more to print. I am thinking more of all the collaterals in marketing – company profiles, sales brochures, presentation folders, product brochures or outdoor advertising. Print collaterals are powerful tools which can't be neglected just because of the powerful presence and buzz of online advertising.

Bodo Peters Telecommunication, Company Profile

Don't underestimate the benefits of a positive tactile and visual experience that comes with paperquality and format, colours and the finishing (think varnishing, embossing, die-cutting, to name a few). A monitor can't give that. You won't even get the guarantee that your e-brochure looks the same on two different monitors.

There is a lot of noise out there in the world wide web, but I don't want to say that online advertising is overrated. Not at all, it's an exciting time right now. I only say that well-designed brochures or annual reports, business cards or sales material give a company extra prestige that lasts and is not gone with one click.

Presentationfolder Inset Interior, Interior Designers; c/o Pakka Marketing

A Product Brochure or a Poster? Both.

The Strand Agencies Group represents exclusive Australian furniture and lighting brands. For one of their outdoor furniture brands we developed an A3 sales brochure that folds down to a postcard size for easy mailing.