How To Impress, Not Stress, During The Holidays

When it comes to holiday business greeting cards, to send or not to send is the question. Once you have decided to send, you then have to determine who to include on your list, what kind of business greeting card to choose, and how to address the envelope.

Business greeting cards can:

Use proper business greeting card etiquette. What is a well-meaning gesture can offend the people you want to impress when it is not done properly. (more…)

Buying the perfect corporate gift for your clients has never been easier with the availability of products online and retail. However, with the vast selection of gift ideas comes a dizzying array of choices. Before you set out to find the perfect corporate gift for your clients, know the essentials of corporate gift buying.

Corporate gift giving is on the rise, up to 71% in 2005, according to OPEN from American Express(SM) 2005 Semi-Annual Small Business Monitor. The Monitor rates the top corporate gifts as:

Before you run out and buy the “tried and true” corporate gift, consider these 8 essentials of buying business gifts. (more…)

The time is quickly approaching when companies around the country will switch gears from talking about the company summer picnic to discussions of holiday greeting card preparation. This can be a tedious task, especially if you are with a large company, but one that pays off just by sending a thoughtful gesture. There are numerous ways to decrease the stress levels that you may have endured in the past just by following a few simple steps. (more…)

By JAN NORMAN

The Orange County Register

Sending greeting cards for the year-end holidays is a great way to strengthen business relationships, but it’s also a way to commit embarrassing blunders, according to greeting card executive Marc Wagenheim.

“The card-sending season is full of potential etiquette pitfalls,” said Wagenheim, product development director for Hallmark Business Expressions, a subsidiary of Kansas City-based Hallmark Cards with more than 140 holiday card designs. (more…)

A good brochure must communicate a summary of your business along with a visual feel of who you are. Don’t give away too much information. Leave the customer wanting to learn more about your company. Here are some tips for designing an effective brochure:

1) First, you need to settle on a marketing strategy. What position are you taking with this brochure? Ask yourself some of these questions:
• What do I want my brochure to achieve?
• Who is my target audience and what do they want from me?
• How are we unique from our perceived competitors?
• What are some personal values that play a part in the way we conduct business on a day-to-day basis?

2) Decide on the look of your brochure.
• Use strong contrasts in colors, typefaces, spacing and sizing; if two elements are not exactly the same, make sure they are very different, otherwise it will look like a mistake rather than a technique to try and get your attention.
• Make sure the alignment is strong with sharp, defined edges.
• Mixing alignments (centered, flush left, etc.) conveys a haphazard message and makes the information difficult to follow.
• Repetition is a key element that, when used correctly, can create a unified look and feel to your brochure along with reinforcing your company’s name, logo, slogan, etc.
• Try repeating colors, spatial arrangements, and key words.
• Avoid using ALL CAPS; it gets a lower response than upper and lower case.
• A strong headline paired with an attractive graphic on the front cover can make your brochure appealing and enticing.
• Don’t forget your goal is to get the brochure opened.

*Don’t forget some very important things!
Include the benefits to the customer; use ?you? and ?your?; keep it personal. Use power words such as, New, Free, Save, Now, Easy, Proven, and Results. Remind the reader to seek you out in the future by including your contact information; motivate them to call, visit, or place an order.

Meredith, NH, June 01, 2007 –(PR.com)– Shawn Dixon, of Birchtree Creative Services, has recently been selected for inclusion in this year’s LogoLounge Book 4. LogoLounge carefully reviews submissions, from all over the world, and is the internet’s largest database of logos – over 65,000 to date.

The book, now in its fourth volume, is published every 18 months and judges this year, include Louis Lygo of Wolff Olins, Jerry Kuyper of Jerry Kuyper Partners, Jason Schulte of Office, Gaby de Abreu of Switch Branding & Design, Haley Johnson of Haley Johnson Design, Neville Brody of Research Studios, Janet Martin of Communication Arts, Inc., and Chris Campbell of Interbrand. The new book will be released by Rockport Publishers in February of 2008.

(more…)

Watch it work:

http://www.watchacrobat8.com/

 The Chinatown Film Festival needs the help of talented young students! We want to involve university and school students in our one-of-a-kind cultural event by providing young people the opportunity to create our signature logo. The CFF will be holding a logo design contest starting March 23rd, 2007 and ending June 30th, 2007. The design with the most innovation and creativity will become the official logo of the CFF. This means that your work will be featured throughout the entire festival, the CFF website, and any other materials produced by the CFF.
    The logo will be our festival’s visual representation, the symbolic face of our hopes and goals. It will be a vital part of the CFF’s success and will appear in major media coverage of our event. As the CFF continues to grow, our logo will be internationally synonymous with not just the events of our festival, but the purpose of our festival: connecting cultures in new and exciting ways.
     (more…)

The Academy of Art University’s annual Spring Show is the place to be Thursday, May 24 to meet graphic designers, creative directors, industry professionals and students, and the public is invited to attend. The works of the School of Graphic Design’s emerging talent will be showcased. A deluxe, airplane-hangar-sized venue is this year’s new location for the festivities so there will be plenty of room to celebrate the future of art and design.

Student scholarships will be awarded by a distinguished panel of judges: Camilla Bravo (Judging Chair) of Kodak Gallery, San Francisco, David Salanitro of Design Ranconteur at Large, Marc English of Marc English Design, Houston, Marc Woollard of IDEO, San Francisco, Jim Mousner of Origins, Houston, and Ray Ueno of Savage Space, Seattle.

When: Thursday, May 24th

Where: 601 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA (Shuttle service will be available to the Spring Show from the Academy of Art University at 79 New Montgomery.)

Time: 3pm design industry and media preview; 7pm general public; 8pm student scholarships announced; 8:30pm evening reception

For more details visit http://media.academyart.edu/gr/springshow/

Just a reminder that the popular American Graphic Design Awards entry

deadline is Friday, May 18.

You can get more information or download an entry form at…

http://gdusa.com/contests/agda2.php