Color is a magical element that gives feeling and emotion to art, design, and advertising. By understanding color meaning, (or the psychology of color) you can choose the right color to support and emphasize your design. A dominant color or overall color scheme can determine the tone of your document. Certain colors will help your product, corporate document, or advertisement attract specific target audiences and evoke desired responses. The information below provides generally accepted guidelines on the symbolic meanings of color and how you can use color more effectively in your marketing pieces. The meaning of the color yellow (including…
Attending my first MEGA event was a wonderful experience for me. Here you can see Mark Victor Hansen interviewing me on the main stage during my giveaway–I am wearing my “magic hat.” I gave away a copy of my book, “Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal” along with $280 in bonuses. The lucky winner climbed over tables to race up to the stage to get my book! If YOU are interested in ordering my book, click here: www.BuyAppealMarketing.com As an exhibitor, I was given a breakout session. Mine was called “Graphics Wizardry: Turn Your Branding Concepts into Designs that Magnetize…
A flyer is an inexpensive and highly effective way to grab attention in a very busy marketplace. How do you make your flyer stand out in the crowd? Here are some techniques that professional designers use to make flyers “pop.” 1. Write a snappy headline or title. Make it memorable, unusual or provocative using a few carefully chosen powerful words. Popular titles contain one or more of these words: Easy, The Secrets to, Unlock, Finally, Insider, Time Sensitive, How to, Free Bonuses, Now You Can, Discover, Proven. 2. Use colorful or striking graphics. One large image will have more impact…
Everyone’s got ’em. You likely see the “Nike swoosh” logo everywhere you go. And you know the Texaco station at the corner by its distinctive “star.” So, you’re thinking, “My company needs a logo, too.” Maybe you want to design your own logo too. Why create a logo for your company? Because a logo: — visually represents your company in a graphic form (a picture is worth a thousand words, remember?) — instantly communicates your company’s essence: what it does and what it stands for — complements your company’s ongoing identity package so your customers can recognize it year after…
The way a book interior is designed has a part in whether the book will sell or not. A customer will not read—or buy—a book that is designed in a way that is difficult to read. If the type in your book is too small, or the spaces between the lines are too narrow, many prospective customers will move on to another book. Your goal with book design is to create an interior that is inviting, pleasing, and easy to read. This involves good use of fonts, word spacing, leading, line length, and alignment. Here are some techniques that professional…
According to The Wall Street Journal, “The average bookstore browser who picks up a book spends eight seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds reading the back.” You can’t tell — but you can sell — a book by its cover.” Here are a few powerful book cover design techniques that professional book designers use: The Essential Elements For Your Front Cover The front cover presents your book title, subtitle, and your name. Golden opportunities often overlooked are including endorsements and short testimonials from VIPs. Think of your cover like a billboard. The best designs communicate the book’s…
Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor’s business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding. But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers. Let’s say you have been traveling around town without your morning coffee and are getting just a little…
It’s almost 5 o’clock on Friday afternoon. Do you know where your newest marketing pieces are? If you’re a small business owner, they may be buried on your desk because you’ve got so many other important details to handle. Or they’re still sitting on your assistant’s desk where she’s staring at them hopelessly. She’s an admin assistant, for heaven’s sake, not a designer, and she knows what she’s produced so far is not very memorable or effective. All of us would like to think our product is so good, our services so unique, they’ll simply sell themselves. Not so! Strong…
It’s the trade show of the year, and you’re poised to meet, greet and network up a storm because the precise buyers for your product or services are here. Business card? Check. Sales brochures? Check. Product samples, informational literature, or other appropriate peripherals? Check. But wait. Let’s go back to item #1 – both in the list above and the all-important first step in creating a strong, lasting and favorable impression. In other words, what you looked like or said may not be remembered when potential customers are back home, but your business card will be in the pile he’ll…
Do the marketing pieces you send out lack pizzazz and personality? Are they capturing the clients you want to work with? As your company’s in-house graphics person–perhaps more by default than by intention–you’re pressed to be a jack/jill-of-all-trades. You want to do a great job of producing promotional pieces, but you have little time to learn advanced design and marketing skills. Your ongoing challenge is learning to do a little more to get a lot better results–quickly and painlessly. How can you improve them? What Techniques Can You Apply NOW? Take these 5 design/marketing tips to heart. Using them consistently…