Logos for today's economy

My friend Darrin sent me these logos. Hilarious! Logos for the times. Enjoy.

NEF 2008 Year-To-Date Brochure

Our motto this year is to keep it simple. Clean, smart and clever design has more power in this noisy marketing environment. For this brochure, we took the iconic part of NEF’s logo, a house, and blew it up until you couldn’t recognize it on the cover. However, once you open the brochure the house is revealed. (Not giving all the answers to your reader on your brochure cover will entice them to open it up). NEF is offering new services that will secure their future in this business climate. They are getting back down to the core basics, a clean slate. A clean design, a fresh piece of paper and their logo creates a perfect metaphor.

Design by Paul Rand

Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated.

Paul Rand

Rules of the Road: Love Your Clients

In these hard times, you want to do everything possible to hold onto your best clients.

GIFTS Everybody loves to open presents whatever the occasion. You don’t have to break the bank either. Treat your top 3 clients to a Valentine’s Day gift of those candy hearts with the sayings on them. Send a packet of seeds to celebrate the first day of spring. Mail a birthday card.

DISCOUNTS Money talks. Offer a discount on your products or services. Remember to add an expiration date. We’re currently offering to print 250 business cards or 250 post cards for free when you hire us to design them.

SHARE NETWORK CONTACTS Chances are that business is slow for your clients, too. Offer to assist by sharing contacts in your network, or forwarding information about your clients’ businesses to the people in your network.

GUEST BLOG Blogging benefits everyone in subtle ways. Search engines rank your web site higher the more you broadcast yourself on the internet. Invite your best clients to write guest blog posts for your blog as a way of building higher SEO ranking.

From the archives: So what is Graphic Design?

My definition of graphic design is to visually combine groups of information into a clever and original concept by using elements such as photography, illustration, and typography for the benefit of my clients. From the design of a subway map, to a logo, to a menu, to an annual report, graphic design creates a structure for information so the audience can better understand it.

Graphic design is how to creatively and visually connect client and audience. If done well, it stand out from the noise.

I have been a designer for corporate America since 1987 and graphic design has not been an easy medium to explain to my clients or convince them of the value. It’s not tangible like photography or copy writing.

Lately, it seems to me that graphic design, to a certain extent, has become dispensable and undervalued at a critical time in communication history. The creative presentation of information is as important as the content itself.

Writing this blog and sharing my experiences are my attempt to create a better understanding of graphic design, its value and my love for this creative medium.

Comments are welcome!

GET SET? Get Free business cards from Namaro

Get ready to take on the marketing challenges of 2009 by redefining your company’s personality. Send a confident message to your customers that you are ready for business by refreshing your existing logo or designing a new one.

Our process for logo design begins with careful consideration of what your company does, how you’d like your company to be perceived by your customers and how to differentiate your company from the competition. Armed with this key information, we will create several sketch designs, review your feedback and refine one sketch into your beautiful new logo.

Hire us to design or update a logo and we’ll print 250 business cards for you for FREE! Call 845-876-3009 or email us (Subject line: Free cards) at nrobbins@namaro.com

Font of the month: Ecofont

A font that uses less ink. It’s a free download. Very interesting concept. Go green baby!

READY? Get a free 1 hour marketing consultation from Namaro

Go ahead and take your business in a new direction. In the face of these challenging economic times, it’s hard to know how to create an effective marketing campaign. At Namaro, we can give you a new set of directions.

Benefit from our experience. Set up an appointment with us, bring an overview of your current marketing communications and a set of your most important questions and we will help you develop a new road map for your business.

Take advantage of our offer for a FREE 1-hour marketing consultation. Call 845-876-3009 or email us (Subject line: Free 1 hour) at nrobbins@namaro.com

GO FOR IT. Get Free printed postcards from Namaro

Get set to send your message out there in more ways than one. You cannot limit your marketing to the internet. Your customers will respond positively to an eye-catching postcard. It will lead them to your online presence and it will also give you something to hand out, other than a business card, when you are networking.

Hire us to design a postcard and we’ll print 250 standard (4-1/4” x 6”) postcards for you for FREE! Call 845-876-3009 or email us (Subject line: Free postcards) at nrobbins@namaro.com

Brand repositioning 101: Free outline

Recently I developed this outline to help someone better communicate how to go about repositioning a brand. I hope it's helpful to you and please pass it on. And hey, if you need a new brand, think of Namaro ;)

Simply, brand positioning creates a specific place in the market for your brand and product offerings. It reaches a certain type of consumer or customer and delivers benefits that meet the needs of key target groups. The brand positioning of a company seeks to further distance itself from competitors based on a host of items.

1—Determining the Current Status of the Brand:
• Understand the company and brand
• Explore key issues, opportunities, and challenges
• What differentiates your company and brand from the competition?
• What are the equity drivers of the company and brand?
• What are the historical ways to communicate the company and brand equity to consumers and customers alike?
• Who is the current target customer base?
• What is his/her profile?
• What are the reasons for being a customer?

2—What Does the Brand Stand for Today?
• Understand current consumer perceptions and needs of your brand.
• Determine how far to move your brand without alienating customers and loyalty base.
• Identify how to position your brand to attract new users and ultimately convert them into loyal customers.
• Direct-to-consumer interviews "Why do they select your brand?" and "What was the key decision-making element?"
• Identify needs, both unmet and met in industry, determine the delights and dissatisfiers of your brand.

3—Developing the Brand Position Platform: Where Can We Take It Tomorrow to Grow the Brand?
• How far to grow, expand, and stretch the brand?
• Who do we want our brand to be?
• What is its personality?
• How do we want consumers to think and feel about your brand?
• What benefits will it deliver to the consumer?
• How will we promote the brand?
• Carefully review brand to ensure that it maintains the core values and essence of your brand.
• The new brand positioning will be:

1. Ownable: Unique to the brand
2. Leverageable: Important and relevant to the target
3. Sustainable: To other categories in the future
4. Extendable: Partnership marketing and other marketing programs

• 2 components:

1. Strategic: Developing the brand vision: Today, tomorrow and for the future
2. Creative: Review consumer insights with the goal taking your brand where it should go

• Determine four to five key benefits and potential platforms that are agreed upon by the entire group.
• Go back to key consumers and customers with the purpose of checking back with them to validate the new brand positioning.

4—Refining The Brand Positioning and Management Presentation
• Review and refine the new brand positioning and communicate to all function departments in order to align efforts.
• Incorporate all feedback from consumers, customers, vendors and agencies, to ensure achievable positioning vs. aspirational positioning.
• Present new brand positioning to senior management.
• Endorse the new brand positioning.
• Create brand identity manual which provides a clear direction on the new brand positioning to anyone in the company.
• Bring the new brand positioning to life and apply to marketing, and communications.
• Ensure consistent communication of the brand equity across any medium and by any partner.

5 —Design and Deployment:
• Use four to five key benefits and brand position manual to develop concepts for logo creation.
• Engage senior management in concept development.
• Refine logo concepts to 3 choices and apply to sample marketing vehicles.
• Attain feedback from consumers.
• Present 3 logos and feedback to senior management.
• Refine logo concepts to 2 choices.
• Attain feedback from consumers.
• Present 2 logos and feedback to senior management.
• Refine one logo.
• Apply logo to sample marketing vehicles to present to senior management.
• Endorsement from senior management.
• Incorporate logo into brand identity manual.
• Create database of copywriting, photography, etc.
• Create templates for marketing vehicles.
• Layout, production and deployment of brand.

Graphic Traffic: Why a new blog name?

Graphic Traffic better represents what our blog is and what it will be. The new name conveys the concept of information coming together at an intersection and the reader can read (go) wherever they want to.

At this moment in time, business is at a crossroads and stuck in traffic. Graphic Traffic intends on “green lighting” or “red lighting” roads (new information), get you around the jam (solutions) and on to your destination (results).

The next issue of our blog will further develop the concept. If you have an opinion about this, feel free to comment below. We would love to hear from you.

SHOP SHOP SHOP

So the Dow is at 8,500! Should have spent the money not saved it. Oh well. I have my health, a great husband, a wonderful son, a great company, good friends, great clients, and enthusiasm.

So what does this mean to your company? It's not going to be business as usual in 2009 but this downward spiral is a sign of change and change can be good. Clever ideas and innovative solutions will come out of this slower, belt tightening economy. You watch. It will be a renaissance that takes everything we have learned over the past 25 years of building an economy on a house of cards and reversing it for the better. Much better.

I started my business in 1989 after I had been laid off from a great job at Citibank due to the economy. Even though I knew it was going to be hard to get a business up and running, I did it anyway. I had $20,ooo and no clients. Through a friend, I got my first client who paid me $500 for a logo and I was grateful. The first year, I made no profit but I had no losses. The year after a little better. The 3rd year even better. It took time. I've seen good times and bad ones. If anything I have learned is that enthusiasm, commitment and perseverance wins out.

In 2009, Namaro Graphic Designs will turn 20. As part of our celebration, for the next year Namaro will commit to blogging on subjects that will inspire and help our readers during this uncertain time. So come back often to see what tips and info we gather for you that will help you do your job better, start a new business and get inspired.

For now, Molly, our design and production manager, said it well: If you still can, shop local, shop often, help a friend and let's get the economy going.

Personally, I'm going shopping for some some Vodka.

A check list of marketing tools

• Creativity: If you don’t have it, then you can’t stand out from your competition.
• Print/Web advertising: The right mix will help you succeed.
• eNewsletters: Target a small subscribed list like your existing contacts and new ones from networking.
• Publicity: Distribute a press release about anything happening at your company.
• Word-of-mouth: Clients are the best leads for more work.
• Viral marketing: If done right, it's one of the best ways to reach a huge audience.
• Corporate blog: Sounds scary to lawyers, but if your CEO or sales people each have one, your customers feel personally connected.
• Incentives, Discounts and Give-aways: Is a discount on what you're selling creating the right image to gain new customers? Incentives work better than giving it away and keep your bottom line up.
• SEO: We can't stress it enough, if you're selling products.
• Off-site, storefront and trade shows displays: Being creative will capture your audience quickly.
• Networking and sponsorships: Getting out there is the best way to increase sales, lists, press, word-of-mouth, etc…
• Hi-tech: youtube.com and secondlife.com come to mind.
• Or create your own networking site: check out ning.com.

What is graphic design?

The best definition of graphic design by one of the most famous designers in the world:

Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated.

Paul Rand