Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Christmas in July

Soup kitchen and food pantry supplies often dwindle during the summer months when the Holiday food drive season is long past. Hunger, however, doesn’t go away. In answer to this problem, United Food Bank is conducting a summer food drive, “Christmas in July,” and Visage Creative is excited to participate. Ten percent of our design proceeds from projects started between May 15 and June 30 will go towards the purchase of food to be donated to the United Food Bank.

You can make a difference for people in need in our community simply by starting a new project from May 15 to June 30. Is there a marketing project you’ve been meaning to get to? This is the perfect time! Give us a call today to schedule your next project, and feel good about contributing to a great cause.

You can also help by spreading the word.

© 2007 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Power of Space

There is a common misconception that good use of space is coating every inch of your marketing materials with data. However, even design needs room to breathe.

Think about it. When wandering through a big city maze of concrete and dizzyingly tall buildings, we crave large expanses of sky. In a crowded schedule, we crave an unoccupied moment. Amidst the noise of daily life, we crave silence. A business card crammed with information and images will leave the recipient craving visual respite. If a website, brochure or other marketing piece is too crowded with information, it loses impact. Often, nothing stands out and the piece will be overlooked completely.

A well-designed marketing piece, on the other hand, will include plenty of space and only elements that enhance its purpose. Take web sites, for example. To make the biggest impact, the information must be organized in way that is easy to navigate and visually appealing. This is something we at Visage strive for. However, you don’t have to take our word for it. The following links will take you to some well-known companies that illustrate this principle beautifully:

We also have some great examples in our gallery.

© 2007 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Client Spotlight | Fresh Designs for Desert Dessert Company

Made-to-Order Design
Not all our clients come to us looking for creative ideas. Some already know exactly what they want. Walter E. Barker of Desert Cool Foods, manufacturer of soft serve and specialty beverage mixes for the restaurant industry, already had an established business with a logo and web site. He first came to Visage in 2002 wanting a poster with a cactus that had ice cream cones for the arms. We created a whole desert scene. Later, he asked us to swap out one of the ice cream cones for a slush. That image is now a range of the company’s marketing pieces – business cards, a trade show banner, nutrition information cards, apparel, product brochures, and the first of a series of postcards. Walter provided inspiration, and we designed the postcards and created a unique Desert Cool look.

Walter’s latest venture is Floránce Gourmet Frozen Dessert Mix. He wanted the marketing to evoke the feeling of escaping to a beautiful, worry-free place. We worked with him to develop the tagline, “One taste will take you there,” then set to work composing the setting he imagined – a couple seated at an outdoor table in front of an ice cream shop on the Mediterranean coast. Once the design was completed, it was used for both product labels and a postcard announcing arrival of the new dessert mix.

Rave Reviews
The reaction to all the Desert Cool postcards has been fantastic. People look forward to receiving their next mailing and can spot the company’s marketing pieces right away. Our opinion of the company? Lori Meisner Cleland, president and creative director, summed it up this way, “Walter is a fun client because we never know what he’s going to come up with next. We love bringing his ideas to life.”

© 2007 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Client Kudos | Create the Space


Thanks, Nancy! You can see more of Nancy’s business and web site (which we also designed) at www.createthespace.com.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Client Spotlight | Sharper Image Landscaping

To DIY or not to DIY?

There’s a time to do it yourself and there’s a time to call in the professionals. For those who lack the ability or desire to do their own landscaping, take heart. The subject of our current client spotlight, Sharper Image Landscaping Services, LLC, just might be the cure for your landscape woes. The Chandler, Arizona-based company handles residential and commercial landscape maintenance and installation. They are Desert Botanical certified, meaning they have had extensive training in desert plants and their care, but their services extend to all types of plants and other outdoor amenities such as irrigation, hardscapes (BBQs, firepits, pillars), and lighting – just to name a few.

The Challenge
SI had a growing business even before calling Visage. They also had a logo and a few scattered marketing pieces. But, in order to take their business to the next level, they needed a cohesive look that measured up to the visual attractiveness suggested by their name and the professionalism inherent in their philosophy.

As far as marketing collateral to go with their new image, SI had a tall order to fill. The two sides of their business meant they had both a commercial and a residential audience to reach – two different groups with different needs and questions. For each target group, they would not only require something to give potential clients they met with in person, but also something that could be mailed out. Like any savvy business, they were looking for maximum cost effectiveness. Also high on the list was a flexible piece – they wanted the ability to offer coupons or seasonal promotions and other time-sensitive material without their entire marketing collateral becoming dated and unusable.

All this meant that it was SI’s turn to call in the experts. A friend of the owners recommended they call Visage.

Cost Effectiveness Meets Creativity
Sharper Image presented Visage with their wish list, and we rose to the challenge. First, we integrated their existing logo into a more professional level of branding. We then found a creative solution to meet their needs for attractive, informational, flexible and cost-effective marketing collateral. The answer came in the form of a 6×9 inch presentation folder. Smaller and sleeker than a standard folder, this is the perfect size for mailing in a standard #10 envelope or simply handing to an interested party. The folder is filled with a cover letter and pages on different topics – reasons for choosing SI, services offered, the partnership that began the company, etc. SI can easily tailor the piece to any audience, whether residential or commercial. As the business grows, they can add or replace pages without having to reprint an entire brochure. Finally, Visage created a promotional postcard and a mailing label (which fits both envelopes and packages) that reflects SI’s new business identity.





© 2006 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Branding Basics | Part 1: Branding to Sell

Q | How can you set yourself apart?
A | Branding

So you’re in business. You know what makes your company great and why people should choose you over anyone else. But do your potential clients know that? In a marketplace flooded with products and services of every imaginable description, you have to stand out in order to survive. How can you set yourself apart?

The answer is branding. A company’s branding is a unique identifier like a signature or fingerprint. Good branding sends an intentional message. The more ways you send your message, the stronger your branding. By reiterating that message – in everything from advertising campaigns to the look of your storefront to the packaging of your product or results of your service – you make your voice a little louder and a little more likely to be heard above the din.

Your branding message should include more than just the black-and-white description of the type of business you’re in. It should be the emotional connection that keeps customers coming back. Look at the marketing strategies of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Neither company distinguishes itself through difference in physical properties (neither claims to be sweeter, more bubbly, have a higher concentration of “cola” flavor, etc.), but each has a very different “feel” when it comes to their branding. For example, Coca-Cola portrays itself as “classic” with a logo that has changed very little since the product’s inception over a century ago. Pepsi, on the other hand, reconfigures its logo every few years and markets itself as being for the “next generation.” I would venture to guess that most consumers’ loyalty to either product is based as much (or more) on identification with the brand as it is on taste.

Your company, whether large or small, is – intentionally or unintentionally – sending a message. What is it saying? What would you like it to say? The key is to let everyone know what sets you apart by broadcasting your message through branding.

Stay tuned for “Part 2 | Selling your Brand”

© 2006 Visage Creative Business Services, Inc.

Client Kudos | Desert "Cool" Foods, Inc.

"We have been working with Visage Creative since 2002. Their service levels are exceptional only to be superseded by their creative work. Visage Creative is a go-to company." ~ Walter E. Barker, President & CEO, Desert “Cool” Foods , Inc.