Every project brings a lesson. Every lesson contributes to perspective. The blog Re)verb is our perspective – on work and life. Be notified (through RSS) when it's updated. Be heard by posting a comment to an entry.
October 26, 2010
T-minus 7 weeks
It all started because I wanted a project that required me to peruse and purchase lots of the brightly colored specialty papers that I saw at my favorite art supply store.
And now, 13 years into the tradition, it's time again to think ...
H O L I D A Y C A R D S !
Every fall, I make the personal cards my husband and I send out. I spend several weekends working on them ... first designing, then creating the elements and finally assembling them.
These little creations are important to me for three reasons.
First, I enjoy a creative outlet outside of the office.This can be tougher than you think for a graphic designer – really, why spend weekends doing the same thing you do all week? But my cards are often the only personal artistic project I have all year.
I also refuse to turn the joy of the holiday greeting into a chore. Taking time to make these cards slows me down, in a good way. By starting in October, the card creation becomes a quiet simmer that builds up to the holiday madness of December.
Finally, it is fulfilling to create a personal year-end wish for my family and friends that ties back to my profession. There is a long tradition of artists creating handmade cards. I am proud to have my own little place in it.
* * * * * * * *
Holiday 2007:Cut paper – often with a few 3-dimensional additions
– is my preferred medium
Holiday 2005: Sometimes our cat makes it
into the design
Holiday 2002:My niece chose the
paper and helped with the design
* * * * * * * *
Last year, the Smithsonian had an exhibition of handmade holiday cards. Following are some favorites:
Screen-print by Noche Crist, 1962
Screen-print by Frederick Hammersley, no date
Mixed media collage by Julia Thecla, 1975
If you want to see more inspiration, go to Smithsonian.com/cards
October 12, 2010
Gap: You like us! You really do like us!
Talk about artful dodging: The statement issued this morning by Gap, Inc. announcing its decision to scrap a newly designed logo is the embodiment of spin.
In recent weeks, the new Gap logo brought howls of criticism, mostly due to its unremarkable design. Today’s statement today makes a breathtaking leap in logic, equating that criticism to brand love. As in: It’s not that you hated our new logo – it’s that you love our old logo so much, you can’t bear for us to change it.
In the first paragraph, Gap President Marka Hansen purports to have received an “outpouring of comments … in support of the iconic blue box logo.” This outpouring reflects “how much energy there is around our brand” and how customers “are passionate about our blue box logo.”
OK, so we haven’t read all of the comments posted online and air-mailed to Gap. But the real story, online and off, has been one of alarm, not ardor. The new logo was supposed to be communicating – what again?
Loyal Gap customers are passionate about their experience with the product and company, not the logo. Loyal customers will embrace an updated identity if the update is a step forward.
So we wonder what an inspired Gap logo design might have accomplished for the company. At the very least, it would not have brought today’s exercise in disingenuousness.
August 25, 2010
Now that you have our attention...
In this Age of Distraction, it’s harder than ever to capture people’s attention. I was reminded of this recently through two communications I encountered.
The first was a greeting card from a large, well-known non-profit. The envelope appeared to be addressed in handwritten ball-point ink. Inside was a personal note, signed by the president of the organization:
“We haven’t heard from you in a while. I hope you are well. Your support is sorely missed, and the need is still great. Please, can you help us again?”
A closer look revealed that the envelope and personal note were both computer generated, using one of the more evolved “handwriting” fonts.
I hope you are well. Five words of apparent sincerity. Presented deceptively in fake handwriting.
A day earlier, I’d come across another communication that caught my attention while driving: A small outdoor sign that read, “1-Day Sale.”
Come to think of it, I had seen the same sign a week earlier. And maybe even a week before that. In several different places around our community. Subconsciously, it had registered as a Macy’s event – furniture or mattresses, I’m guessing.
So I sought out these signs. They weren’t for Macy’s – they pitched a brand of “jazz” exercise. The “one day” special changed as the offer was extended. All of the signs were staked in public land areas of the roadway.
While two very different examples, both communications succeeded in cutting through the everyday fog of messages. They got our attention. But at what cost to their brands?
The internationally known and respected charity reached me with a falsely personalized sentiment.
The jazz exercise studio reached me where I didn’t want to see them – outdoors, on property I own and share with everyone else.
Connecting is crucial. But how you connect is just as important.
May 3, 2010
PowerPoint doesn’t have to be the enemy
I got a half-hearted chuckle out of last week’s New York Times’ article, “We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint.” The article provides several vignettes of military leaders lamenting the program’s limitations. Commanders are concerned that critical thinking and analysis are lost or downplayed in the bulleted lists on slides. General Petraeus, head of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, says PowerPoint briefings are “just agony,” and other officials joke about purposely using the program to lull the media to sleep during briefings, so they are less likely to ask questions.
While the idea of our military missing key points because of bad PowerPoint is serious, we laugh and we understand, because all of us have sat through way too many mind-numbingly bad PowerPoint presentations.
But the article fell short in explaining why these presentations aren’t as effective as they could be. The bottom line is that PowerPoint isn’t the enemy. It’s our lack of understanding of how to best utilize this presentation tool that hurts us.
That’s the key – PowerPoint is only a tool. The real presenter is still the person talking to the audience. Here are five truths that optimize the use of PowerPoint for any presentation:
- PowerPoint isn’t meant to carry the speaker. Use words to accentuate main points, not to list every single thing that is being said.
- PowerPoint is visual, so let’s see pictures! Diagrams, charts and photographs help the audience visualize what is being said. They also break the monotony of the presentation, keeping the audience engaged.
- Keep it simple. This includes the template design as well as the content shown. The audience should stay focused on the speaker and what is being said instead of trying to figure out a complicated slide.
- Use contrasting colors. Because different projectors skew color in different ways, make sure there is enough contrast between type and background so that they won’t blend into each other if a projector alters the colors.
- Make type large enough to be legible from the back of the room.
Remember: PowerPoint can’t make a bad presentation better, but it can make a good presentation great. Understanding the strengths – and limitations – of PowerPoint will help ensure that you’ll never be accused of putting your audiences to sleep.
April 22, 2010
Earth Day Redux
"The Earth is wise. It has given itself into the keeping of all, and all are therefore accountable for it."
- Alice Walker
One year ago, we were offered the opportunity to help the paper company Appleton Coated publish a practical guide on how to practice sustainability when developing print communications.
Published on Earth Day 2009, The Green Outlook opened our eyes – and our business – to changes we could make and conversations we could have with our clients about moving towards more sustainable communications.
Fast forward to Earth Day 2010: How has Resonance contributed to the green conversation in the last 12 months? What more can we do? How can you join us?
For starters, 99.5% of our print projects are now on FSC-certified paper. So the paper we used on almost every project was tracked from the forest where it was harvested through the final print process to assure that it originated in eco-friendly practices. Our specifications are also for paper manufactured in the U.S., meaning the footprint eliminates overseas transportation.
We’re now using alternative energy, too, on 75% of our client publications. This helped us save an estimated 60 trees and 20,000 gallons of water along with a reduction of 18,000 lbs of CO2 emissions – just from Resonance clients in the last year alone! And the cost different to use these energy sources is minimal, with very little upcharge. For instance, a print run of 2,500 brochures will likely have added charges of just a few hundred dollars – a very small percentage of the overall creative and printing costs.
We’re committed to even more environmentally sound options:
- We're paying more attention to optimal use of press sheets. For instance, evaluating self cover options to save the additional run of a cover sheet saves not just paper, but also printer plates, energy and ink from additional press time.
- We're increasingly opting for digital printing where it makes sense, not just because these print runs are smaller, but also to save printer plates, paper and ink.
As we help our clients adopt these practices, they join the growing list of organizations that understand that the status quo is changing. Consumers are becoming more engaged in the environmental conversation and our clients are finding benefits from promoting their stewardship.
Sharing these developments isn’t intended to be an exercise in self-congratulation. Rather, we’ve come to recognize that the individual change all of us bring about, one project at a time, is the way towards a more sustainable future.
And when we see that the small steps that Resonance takes are multiplied by thousands of other marketing firms also taking steps forward, we can see that real change is happening.
Onward!
