designIQ

The Perfect Business - What a Dream

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:49:00 GMT

After ten years in business, I hear the same quote from peers and clients; “You have the perfect business." I’ve tried to explain that a perfect business is a dream, and that owning a successful business is much like training for a marathon.

For your first marathon your goal should be to finish and to be able to walk afterwards, but that’s only your first goal. Once you have achieved it, there is always another milestone...a personal record, an ultra, a relay race, an over-night run and even trail running. Some of these races may seem impossible, but similar to running, owning your own business means you’ll never be totally done...and the dream of a perfect business is exactly what it is - a dream!

If we only had something similar to a running calculator for our business with a suggested pace, time to warm up, when to kick into fast paced repetitions, and to know what days to take off for mental and physical recovery, I am sure there would be many more successful businesses. Since such a device does not exist, I’ve equated training for a marathon to a few simple principles for those venturing into owning or simply improving their business.

Do Not Forget Nutrition

What works well for some businesses and people will not work for others. Have the 'nutrition' of your business in place before race day so you don’t bonk. Don’t judge the success of your business by the money you have in the bank. Plan for each race day by reviewing your financial forecasts, listening to customer feedback and evaluating employee morale.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Consistently force yourself to focus on the few critical, proactive activities that produce exponential results. Minutia can be draining on any business. Too much email anyone?

Cross Train

Find partners and team members who are strong where you are weak. Too often, owners preach this statement but don’t act on it.

Last But Not Least...HAVE FUN!

Celebrate your victories. It's too easy and very common to move on to your next goal without realizing or appreciating the win. After all, what's the point of being in business if you can't enjoy it.

Happy Milk Cartons

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:06:00 GMT

In a world where Apple has mastered the art of its brand through packaging, and Target’s fun-loving attitude happily lines the shelves with Method, it’s the design of food staples that has been woefully ignored. When was the last time you picked up a can of Garbanzo beans and thought to yourself "Wow, what a cool can of beans? I love the typography" More often than not, you either grab whatever is cheap, or the tried and tested method of buying what mom always bought.

There is a glint of hope. No, it wasn’t another of Target’s latest package designs. You won’t find it in the snack or candy aisles, where there are often glimmers of hope of new package designs. The product we’re talking about is Soy Milk. 8th Continent’s Soy Milk doesn’t just make you smile. It’s adorable cuteness is enough to make you want to pick it up, hug it, and jump into a world brightly colored with crayons. Thumbs up to a much needed update to a neglected package, thumbs down to the taste of soy milk in general. But that’s just a personal opinion. www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/shiny_happy_soymilk.php

Age Distribution on Social Network Sites

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:29:00 GMT

People often think of social media as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. And that it specifically targets 13 to 30 year-olds. In the wake of the social media storm, they may have been correct, but now social media has become a marketing tool that targets a much broader, more inclusive age demographic. With all the social network sites popping up, it is difficult to decide which site is going to work best for your campaign’s age demographic. The last thing you would want to do is promote your investment and insurance company on a networking site that’s largely populated by children and teenagers that have no interest in your services.

We came across some research (courtesy of pingdom.com) that recently charted the age distribution on several social network sites. Not only review a wealth of useable sites, but we are now armed with information providing greater visibility to our target markets. It is important to note here that age demographics are already provided by all the networking sites, though in lesser or greater amounts depending on the site. While the 25-44 year olds have a dominant presence on social networking sites, it is certainly interesting to see that the over 65-year olds are on all the social networking sites as well. Grandma and grandpa aren’t as technologically-illiterate as you thought!

Following the World Cup on Twitter

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:39:00 GMT

Ever wonder how to follow an item or story of interest on Twitter? Well here's your chance. I just finished reading Mashable.com's article: "How to Follow the 2010 World Cup on Twitter" and it makes for a very interesting read.

Even if you are not interested in soccer, and you really should be, but even if you're not, this blog post is a great lesson for anyone who wants to follow any event or story that is unfolding on Twitter. And thousands do each day.

Here's a link to the article. Happy reading. http://mashable.com/2010/06/09/follow-world-cup-twitter/#

Creating Email Subject Lines That Get Read

Mon, 17 May 2010 02:31:00 GMT

I recently re-read a the white paper, "Rethinking the Relationship Between Subject Line Length and Email Performance: A New Perspective on Subject Line Design," detailing some of the more important considerations that marketers should be thinking about. Here are four tips you can use to increase your subject line effectiveness.

1) Front-load your subject lines with the most important or relevant information.
Take a look at the messages in your inbox, and you'll soon see, it's a strategy that few marketers embrace. The biggest problem is with ordering information. If you've only got 38 to 47 characters-the average number of characters that show up in the subject line of 57% of all U.S. e-mail recipients' e-mail programs-you need to put the most important information to the left.

Use urgency and relevance as a guide. Is your offer or newsletter time sensitive? Put that up front. Make sure your brand is in the first few words. However, if your company has multiple brands or categories, lead with what's most recognizable and important to your target audience.

2) Keep the subject line as short as possible to deliver the message.
Epsilon's research shows that shorter subject lines have higher click-through and open rates. You're looking to pack the most information you can into the smallest number of words while avoiding words that have a sensationalist slant, such as "free" or "discount." Your messages need to be rooted in your customers' expectations," Mabley said.

3) Test the subject lines.
"At the minimum, you should be performing an A/B test on every message that goes out," he said. "The general rule is you can test 10% of your list in order to figure out which option is a better one." This is how you're going to figure out if your front-loaded data should be the brand name or the actual benefit to the recipient, and it's something that may change on a day-to-day and message-to-message basis, he said.

Your messages should also go through a spam filter or email tester so you know how likely it is that an ISP will consider your message to be spam.

4) Dynamically personalize the subject line.
This is something that's simple to do, and shows that you know who you are e-mailing and what they are looking for. "Whether you use their first or last name or their company's name, it makes it more personal and provides better reception," Mabley said.

Some of these suggestions may be difficult to follow for a variety of reasons, but they are simple and effective enough that they should be headed for every campaign you undertake.

Get Your Email Blasts Authenticated & Delivered...Just Watch Your Reputation

Sun, 16 May 2010 20:46:00 GMT

We've been delivering email blasts for clients for some time. They'll provide us with their lists and we use our service to develop & design the email, test it, deliver it and finally report on it. But too often the lists they provide have been used with 3rd party delivery systems, their own proprietary email blast engines or a combination of services. This can create a huge gap in their email reputation; decreasing the effectiveness of their email blast campaigns. Authentication can help.

Email authentication validates the identity of the email sender and improves the likelihood of your email campaign getting through to your intended targets. When your email is sent, the receiving server checks with DNS servers to see if there are authentication records for your email's domain name. There are three methods or technologies that serve as the gatekeepers for authentication. They are SPF, DKIM and Sender ID. Besides the email sender identity, these systems check complaints, unsubscribe practices and other variables to build an authentication database on your company or domain. This database determines whether your email is delivered or not.

No matter who you use for sending your email campaigns, make sure that they are using authentication to help ensure delivery. In most cases, your service provider will automatically identify and remove bounces, unsubscribes and complaints. However, we are seeing that once a company changes providers, they simply download the entire list, provide it to the new service provider and begin sending to everyone on the list. From what we have previously discussed, this can wreak havoc on your reputation and decrease your email campaign effectiveness.

If you are changing providers, make sure you provide them with only the vetted names from your database and not all of the names. it will help with authentication as well with your email reputation.

Stephanie Krinetz Selected for Arizona Woman Magazine's Who's Who in Business Award

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:03:00 GMT

Stephanie Krinetz, Principal of Graphique Communications Design, has been selected for inclusion in the 2010 Arizona Woman Who's Who in Business annual publication as a ranking Graphic Design Firm. Available in June, the publication is distributed to 15,000 influential business women and men in decision-making capacities throughout the Valley. Pickup a copy and check Stephanie out when the issue comes out.

All of us here at Graphique would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Stephanie on all her hard work and endless networking, which in no small part got her recognized by Arizona Woman's Magazine. Way to go girl! I mean woman.

Vote Graphique Communications Design for Ranking Arizona 2011

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:04:00 GMT

HERE'S HOW:

1) Visit: http://rankingaz.azbigmedia.com/index.php
2) Search by NAME to vote
3) Type in GRAPHIQUE...you’ll see it come up in 5 categories.
4) Vote for us in Advertising, Graphic Design & Internet Marketing.
Or all 5 if you have the time. You can only do 1 at a time.
5) Type in your EMAIL address
6) Click CAST MY VOTE
7) Repeat

Thank You!

The 'Printed Hyperlink'. The Latest Innovation in Advertising and Marketing.

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:04:00 GMT

I’ve been in the design and branding business for about 20 years now. Yikes! And a lot has changed. When I began, the Web was an infant that no one knew how to control. TV, radio and print ruled. Since then, the Internet has flourished into the monster it is today. Innovations have been utilizing it as their springboard everyday. If only we knew how how to use these innovations effectively right out of the gate. Most don’t come with instruction manuals. But I do see one new marketing and design innovation, finally hitting the US, that is well worth some attention. And it’s not on the Web; it’s in print!

Yes, you heard me right. Print. That old sawhorse that hasn’t had an innovation in it since direct-to-plate. Yippie! I’m talking about BeeTaggs, QR Codes and Datamatrix. You may have seen them on some magazine’s here or there. Or maybe not. As a basic description, they are square versions of UPC codes. Each version has its uses, data limitations, designs and looks. So what, you ask? UPC codes have been around forever. The difference is that these codes can be read by mobile phones; transporting the owner to an online destination. I prefer to think of them as ‘Printed Hyperlinks’.

So what, you ask again, and more impatiently this time? The benefits and uses include:

- Print campaigns and contests that take you to a website with the click or wave of your phone
- Not having to remember or scribble down website or email addresses
- Instant digital communication of business card information
- Creating additional buzz with your existing campaigns
- And anything else you can dream up

We’re all looking for a leg up these days in the crowded marketing world. We spend an inordinate amount of time scouring over all of the new innovations or sites trying to figure out how to exploit them. Well, here’s one innovation that seems useful, fun and pretty straight forward. No instructions necessary.

Drop-Down Menus in Modern Website Design

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:37:00 GMT

A new twist on an old element of website navigation.

How well a website is navigated by the end-user is ultimately the truest test of its success. In my day-to-day travels around the internet I find too often you get some pretty horrible uses of drop-down menus. Mistakenly, web designers often feel the only way to provide navigation to a website with ‘deep content’ is to have drop-down menus that often go 2-3 levels deep. This may have been a by-product of slow, page-load times due to low bandwidth. End-users didn’t have the patience to wait for a page to load only to find out what they want is still a few clicks away. Now that broadband use is so prevalent and search sites like Google and Bing are often the fastest way to get direct access to content, web designers are using the drop-down less and less.

If you study modern website navigation you’ll find that many sites still need this navigation element, they just use it differently. Amazon uses it sparingly to allow you to ‘browse’ if needed, but a seasoned Amazon shopper will go straight to the search box. Other forward thinking web designers have taken a new approach, using what many in the industry have dubbed the ‘Mega Drop-Down’. This new approach provides more navigation options for the users, and options are often organized in groups to emphasize connections among items. Like it’s predecessor, the aim of the mega drop-down is to provide a tool for digging into the sections of the website in a clever and tidy way.

A simple example can be found on the website developed for Aviary.com, an online software company. The menu here creates a graphical way for users to differentiate several online product offerings. For me, it promotes discovery as well.

Last years redesign of the White House website also gave us a good use of the mega drop-down. A very simple execution that gives the website a more modern feel and lets the public find information on what is ultimately a very content-rich website.

A more complex example can be found at the Porsche North America website. You can see in the example below that the web designer has created a useful navigation tool for the entire Porsche line of cars. It becomes a way to see the entire structure at a glance without ever having to click to a new page.

One of the the most advanced uses of the mega drop-down can be found at the Phillips USA website. Considering the diversity of their product line, a hybrid-style menu like this was a genius move and very forward thinking in its application. While it does use Flash to achieve this effect, it manages to keep the user engaged with simple, icon-driven menus to drive you through the product lines quickly. Below, you can see the home page before you click and then the menu that comes up after.

So the drop-down menu is not dead. Web designers have found situational uses for it that create functionality for delving into deep website content. Drop-down menus do in fact organize content into small, uncluttered elements, but if not done correctly, they can be just as bad as a messy layout. Use them wisely and your customers will thank you for it!

There are a few more examples listed below to further illustrate best practices in drop-down menu design. Feel free to provide your own example links in the comments.

Food Network - http://www.foodnetwork.com
Action Envelope - http://www.actionenvelope.com
Samsung USA - http://www.samsung.com/us/
Boxee TV - http://www.boxee.tv

Google’s Super Bowl Ad - Success or Failure?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:48:00 GMT

Like most things, the success of the Google’s first-ever foray into branding and advertising on TV will take time to assess. There will be those who claim ‘genius’ on the part of Google. Others, like myself, were left a little confused.

The commercial is simply a closeup of the Google home page set to some background piano. The person searching, possibly a male, is searching phrases related to France: getting a job in France, moving to France, eating in France, romance in France, long distance relationships, etc. We then hear a baby cry in the background and the search becomes one for how to put a crib together...which doesn’t really makes sense since cribs tend to come with instructions. And all cribs are different, so even if you did not have the instructions, I would expect specifying the brand and model of crib would be crucial.

Putting all that aside, I believe they wanted us to feel that Google is with you throughout your life journey. From moving to a new place, meeting someone and starting a family. However, I took it that the person performing the searches took a job in France, had an affair there, and is now back in the US, stuck at home with his wife and baby.

Cheater!

Welcome to designIQ - The Official Graphique Blog

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:14:00 GMT

Hello and thanks for visiting designIQ, the official blog from Graphique Communications Design focusing on the worlds of marketing, web design, print design, new and traditional media. I’m Doron Krinetz, Principal, Creative Director and all around good chum here at Graphique. This year marks our 10th year in the design and marketing biz. And what better way to celebrate, then to finally get off our duffs, design a new website and start blogging. Check our new site out when you have a moment.

In case you are new to the fold, Graphique designs websites, advertising and print collateral for businesses small and large. Over the years we've developed SEO, branding, marketing and social media skill sets. Our ultimate goal as a company is to deliver custom marketing and design solutions that are aesthetically and functionally engaging, and drive ROI.

It is with that goal in mind that we decided to launch designIQ. On our blog, we hope to provide insight, create arguments, develop relationships, enlighten, learn, review and discuss all that is related to marketing and graphic design in both old and new media.

You’ll be hearing from my partner in crime, and in life, Stephanie Krinetz. As Principal of Graphique, Stephanie is pretty much the face of the company. Or at least the prettier face. She is both a marketing guru and quintessential networker. And there’s Curtiss, our Senior Web Designer and resident Mac fanboy. He will be keeping all of us up-to-date on some of the latest Internet trends and technologies that can help your business. And who would I be if I weren’t putting in my 2 cents. You’ll be hearing from me as often as I can tear myself away from ‘24’. C’mon, the new season just started.

We also expect to hear from you as well…clients, peers, and everyone else interested in our viewpoints and willing to share their own. Please visit our Comment Form Guidelines, there are not too many. Just keep it clean, pertinent, fun and of course, real!

Thanks for reading,
Doron Krinetz