But as soon as the wrapping paper is recycled and the last gallon of eggnog is chugged, it will be time to think about New Year’s resolutions.

Maybe you’re planning to hit the gym more, or you’re trying a new hobby. Or maybe you’re just carving out some time to breathe.

Along with your other personal resolutions, the new year is also a good time to take a look at your marketing strategy. It might need an overhaul, too. Here are three resolutions to make (and keep!) for your business marketing  in 2012.

1. Stop the identity crisis.

What’s your brand? What are you known for? What should it be?

Do members of your company know what that personality is? Do you? The new year is the perfect time to take a closer look at the way you are portraying your brand in marketing materials, especially social media. You need to define the identity of your brand, and stick with it. Are you using a consistent color scheme? Do your social media updates have a similar voice, even when they’re made by different people? And if you already have a brand guideline in place, take the time to review it. Is it working?

2.  Manage your money.

How are you allocating your marketing dollars? Consider your marketing budget, and decide if money spent on print advertising or Yellow Pages space might be better spent on email and social media marketing. (And we’re not just saying that because those are services we offer. Ok, maybe we are.) Now is a great time to think about who your audience is and how they get their information. Is your customer base made up of people who mainly use the Internet? Maybe you’ll decide to spread your budget over print and Web marketing, or maybe you’ll decide to take it all online. (And while we’re on the subject, why aren’t you blogging yet?

A new year is a perfect time to start a blog for your business. Creating original, engaging content that people want to read and share will drive clicks to your site–clicks that can lead to potential leads. Yes, this will mean an investment of time and money,  but it’s just that: an investment.)

3. Meet more people.

Yes, we’re living in the age of social media, but there’s still no substitute for face-to-face action. Resolve to attend and schedule networking and social events to build leads and simply get out into your community. You’ll feel more connected to the business community, and people can put a face to the brand. It might feel tough to squeeze networking into your busy day, but did you know that having a vibrant social network (the real life kind) might actually help you live longer? This one is a resolution double whammy.

We can help you with branding, creating a social media strategy, and overhauling your website or building one from scratch. We’d love to talk about your big plans for the new year, so get in touch with us here or via Twitter or Facebook. Comment at your own risk.

Earlier this year, we launched a new site for DataRisk, a Portsmouth, NH company that helps business manage risk. When it came to redesigning their look, the risk specialists weren’t taking any chances. They chose to put their online and design needs in Vital’s hands.

The new site is the perfect place for potential clients and individuals to get started and learn more about DataRisk’s services.

When DataRisk came to us, they wanted a design firm to tie all of their branding together with an polished and professional look.

Vital Design’s creative team produced an  effective business website that has everything DataRisk needs to go toe-to-toe with their larger competitors online.

Visitors to the site will find information about risk management consulting, specialized brokerages and executive personal lines of insurance; as well as resources, news and information about the DataRisk team.

Current and potential clients can connect to DataRisk with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with icons on the homepage. They can also sign up for DataRisk’s newsletter with a simple form, powered by MailChimp.

What do you think? Questions? Comments? Connect with us by email or in comments below!

The NHFF recently announced the winners of their 2011 sweepstakes. The grand prize winner Dan Young received a night’s stay at the Ale House Inn on Bow Street and two VIP passes to the NH Film Festival, and 10 runners-up will get pairs of weekend passes to the festival. NHFF used a combination of on-site promotion, social media marketing on Facebook and Twitter and an email marketing campaign to promote the contest.

This is a great promotion for two reasons–it gets the word out, and it also draws in people who might not otherwise go to a film festival. Some film buffs might not have known about the festival at all, while other casual movie lovers might have thought it wasn’t their cup of tea. If you won a free ticket, though, why not check it out? And because NHFF provides such a quality product–an amazing weekend of film during the beautiful New Hampshire fall–they hook new devotees with these promotions.

The sweepstakes also drives clicks and interest to the Ale House Inn which–you guessed it–was completely booked up for the festival weekend. The Ale House is a small boutique hotel that opened in 2009, and stands to benefit from giveaways like this that generate a lot of online sharing and word-of-mouth. (It’s also the first hotel in the world to offer iPads in every room–how cool is that?)

So, to recap: This giveaway brought attention (and clicks) to two very cool organizations by offering a chance to win free passes and a night at a trendy hotel. Even entrants who didn’t win learned more about the NHFF and the Ale House, and many of them probably turned out to enjoy the festival anyway. Those who did win may have discovered a new favorite fall tradition. This very same principle can work for your business.

We should mention that there are quite a few rules that govern online contests and giveaways, so before you post your giveaway, make sure it’s legal!

Step 1 – Vehicle Wrap Make/Model/Year

In this case we dealt with a 2008 Hyundai Accent for our friends at Nerd 1-1. The Hyundai ended up being a great model for our first foray into the vehicle wrap world, mostly due to it being relatively small and sleek– so that initial urge to make the graphic design look like a street racer actually worked!

Why is this important?

Beyond the obvious reasons, you will need the specifics. You can skewer the links below to try and find a pre-built Adobe® Illustrator® artboard template.

Step 2 – Download or Build Your Vehicle Wrap Template

Using the resources listed below; along with anything Google might find for you. Try your best to find a pre-built Template of the exact make and model of your vehicle.

• 6000 Free Car Outlines
• The Bad Wrap
• Car & Truck Pro Vehicle Outlines 2009
• Digital Auto

*Special thanks to Jacob Cass of Just Creative Design for compiling this list of resources.

Step 2.5 – Building The Vehicle Wrap Template

Time to get out the digital camera.

Shoot both sides, the rear end, the hood, and if you can – the roof – at the highest resolution possible. This way if you need to drag the design into Photoshop you’ll have something to work with. Next you will need to trace every nook and cranny on the body of your vehicle.  Remember that every slight angle, bevel, and piece of molding needs to be accounted for in the design, so spare no details. Once you’re done, the template should look something like this:

Step 3 – Applying Your Graphic Design

OK, all of the technical junk is out of the way and you can start to have some fun. In our case, the requested vehicle wrap only needed to reflect the company branding, which is (thankfully) all vector based. So Illustrator© it is!

Create A New Layer

Just to make life easier on the printer and to better organize the design.

Wrapping The Graphics

The original outline of your template works similar to a die-cut in traditional printing, and you are free to let your colors hang as far over the edge as you would like. In fact, if the design is meant to wrap around the edge you will have to do this. Think of it like a bleed.

Dealing with subtle grooves in the body of the vehicle can be a bit tricky if you don’t have real-world access to the vehicle. You will want to go outside and look at just how deep the grooves might be, because your straight line stripe may not look so straight once it goes up and over that door panel molding. Just be aware of this.

Step 4 – Saving Your File

Now that your design is placed on its own layer – on top of the outline template – you are all set to save your file. It may throw you off that the file size is so small and that the document is only 8.5 x 11 but this is intentional as the printer will just want your entire source file. They will blow it up and do the heavy lifting for you. Oh and be kind, save in Legacy, not every printer is using CS5.5.

Now Sit Back and Revel in (Y)Our Work.

But there are so many reasons your small to medium-sized business can benefit from a blog that you might be crazy if you didn’t consider it.

If you own or run a small to medium-sized business, I bet you can feel the economy improving. As people start to spend more, your business is ready to capitalize. Customers need and want your services.

Maybe you have a Yellow Page ad. Or you get leads every few months from your networking group. The prospects trickle in. Maybe your website sends leads once in a while.

But what you really want is a steady stream of prospects who find you online.

Because there’s a good chance that every single day, potential clients are looking for your services, products or expertise. The trouble is, they may not know you’re out there.

That’s why you need a business blog.

Because a blog can be a marketing tool. Say it with me, “Our blog is a marketing tool.” It can build your credibility, help your search engine optimization, and allow you to build trust and relationships with customers by communicating and connecting with them regularly. And it could be argued that a blog will do more for your business than a traditional website (especially if you have to pay a developer anytime you want to make changes). It can also help you set up an automatic newsletter that gets sent through email.

What is a business blog?

You may still think of a blog (short for web log) as a personal journal or diary that details your exciting adventures with your cat or your remarkable video gaming exploits.

Maybe that was the case 10 or 15 years ago. But at this point, you could argue that the term “blog” should just be replaced with “easily updateable website.” If you’re more comfortable thinking of your company’s blog as a news section, that’s ok. Because a blog is just a way to provide regular updates to your audience. It is simple enough to use that it can be updated by you or by your internal staff. One of the most common blogging platforms is WordPress, which is slightly more complicated than Microsoft Word. Just be sure your blog is integrated into your site under your website so it ends up having an address of something like www.ourcompany.com/blog (this is very important for search).

A blog for your business can take on whatever form you make it. You can define how you use it. It can be just a news channel where you post press releases. But it should be much more. It should be a way to share what you know, as well as a way to share your company’s culture and encourage your customers and audience to join in and interact with you.

Will a blog will help my business get found on Google?

One of the biggest benefits of a blog for your business is that each new post becomes a new page on your website – as long as your blog is set up properly. It’s no secret that Google, Bing and other search engines return to crawl your site when you have new content. And you can target each of those new pages for certain search terms. Want to be found for a term like “New real estate listings in NH” or “business blog development in the NH Seacoast“? ; ) Write a post about it.

You can also share each new blog post through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon. The people who follow you in those areas (as well as their friends and followers) can easily share those posts with their friends and followers. We’re talking exponential exposure here.

So each time you create a new post, you’re not only offering valuable content (hopefully) that builds your credibility, you’re also creating shareable content that will generate inbound links to your site for the terms you want to be found for. Building these inbound links to your site is a huge portion of search engine optimization, which is what pushes you to the top of Google results.

Think about that. Are you paying a company for search engine optimization (SEO) services? Or paying them to build landing pages to capture leads? Those are great things to do, but if you had a business blog, you could target a specific search term in each post you wrote. You could write posts aimed at certain keywords that perhaps your competitors are being found for or are overlooking.

What do you think? Have you considered a business blog? Already have one? Let us know what you think below and be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed to get regular Vital posts when they’re fresh.

Consistent and accurate branding can be a huge factor in stimulating consistent growth for your company. For Sperry Tents Seacoast, founded in 2006, developing a recognizable, distinguished brand – including logo design but also messaging and identity – for our high-end event tent company has been important for our marketing and word-of-mouth referrals. Sperry offers sail-cloth canvas tents that are hand-sewn and crafted by master sailmakers.

But our branding goes well beyond having consistent colors and a professional logo on everything we put out. Our brand is about relationships, how we work with people, and how our representatives present themselves. In addition to the great graphic design Vital provides, we’ve used three key elements for building our brand:

High resolution photos of our event tents

We partner with photographers and are happy to pay for the best shots of our tents, flooring, and lighting in action. We have a vast library of photos to choose from whenever we need to produce marketing materials, a website or an email.

Clean, professional uniforms, vehicles and signage

The Sperry brand means respectful, professional employees who are courteous and treat our clients’ property as if it was their own – but better. You’ll never see a Sperry employee on a job site without a tucked-in collared shirt or a jacket featuring the Sperry logo. Additionally, our trucks are clean, well-maintained and always feature consistent Sperry signage and logos.

Attention to customer service

Sperry Tents Seacoast always has a manager on-site who can make decisions quickly to answer customer questions and take care of concerns. It might be more lucrative in the short-term for us to have fewer staff at each event. But it would be a mistake – and a disservice to our customers – in the long run.

All of these things and many more have helped Sperry build a brand that clients often know before they even see our high-quality canvas tents or hear about our attention to customer service. In short, many of our prospective clients, whether brides-to-be or event and wedding planners, understand that the Sperry brand is a promise of high-end quality as well as a high level of personal customer service.

Sperry has worked closely with Vital Design to help translate the quality products and services we offer into what has become our Sperry brand. But it wasn’t always this way.

The beginning for Sperry was a fast grass roots growth fueled mostly by word-of-mouth referral. As we continued to grow, we looked to organize our unique services and customized approach into a uniform message for consumers and vendors alike. Vital has helped us establish a recognized brand with a clear promise. They’ve also helped translate this promise to our website, our social outposts, and our print and Web advertising.

In the events industry, it is extremely important to stay current and maintain relationships with everyone involved in the event planning process. Our social media and Web presence has also enabled us to keep the conversation alive with vendors and with brides-to-be.

To stay competitive and to really carve out a niche in your industry, a strong, established brand is essential. It’s the face of your company – the first thing prospective clients and your community see. A consistent messaging and brand strategy is about building relationships, trust and credibility so your audience and customers know what to expect from you.

Ideas on simple, authentic ways to build your brand? Please comment below!

There’s nothing more frustrating than filling out an Adobe PDF form then realizing you can’t save it.

Recently, one of our clients had this problem on a PDF form we’d created for him. It seems like a hiccup that should have an easy fix. But the link that should explain it on Adobe’s site was broken. (They’ve since fixed it.) But you know when we find a good solution, we try to share it. (See posts like, “Creating a Facebook Page With Custom HTML” or a “How to Rotate Photoshop Brushes.” )

After testing the template several times internally, we delivered the branded, updateable document and our client tried it out too. He was psyched. But when it came time to save a new proposal, he couldn’t save a copy of the template with his new data entered. Here is how we were able to set up his document so he could save form data – complete with colorful, easy to follow graphics:

These few short steps will enable you to save an Adobe Acrobat form in Adobe Acrobat Pro so users fill out forms and save their entered data in Adobe Reader.

1. Open your doc in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

2. Under “Advanced” on the tool bar, click “Enable Usage Rights in Adobe Reader…”

3. Click “Save Now” and save your document with a different name.

4. Close the existing document and open the new one that you just saved.

Now you too can set up Adobe PDF forms in Adobe Acrobat Professional so people with Adobe Acrobat Reader will be able to actually save them!

No, Vital Design’s blog is not on the cutting room floor. And it hasn’t been censored.

We’ve just been a bit busy the past two months designing, laying out, programming, writing, tweeting, conducting public relations and procuring print for the New Hampshire Film Festival.

Vital has been fortunate to be NHFF’s exclusive marketing partner since 2004 when the fest moved to Portsmouth, NH. We put a lot of time, energy, and creativity (not to mention sleep deprivation) into NHFF. It’s a blockbuster project for us.

We start designing brand elements by January and work on it when we can until we really ramp up around August. A lot of the content we use, such as film titles, panelists, and venues, is not available until a few weeks before the fest. That means we spend a lot of September and October working late, without stunt doubles.

But it was worth it last weekend, when NHFF had its most successful year to date, drawing nearly 9,000 people (up from 6,000 in ’08). Now that we’ve caught up on our sleep, it’s a good time to discuss how NHFF’s design has evolved and improved the past six years. In that time, ten designers have contributed. One constant has been Art Director Scott O. Holt III.

When the fest started, it was known as the New Hampshire Film Expo. In those NHFX days, marketing collateral included a logo, a poster, ads, and passes. In 2009, our marketing to-dos included a website, public relations, large banners, national advertising, email marketing, a 68-page program, t-shirts, a printed and online schedule, tote bags, and social media marketing.

2003

Although we did not design this, it’s the oldest logo we have on file and the version that was being used when we took over the project.

2004

We were concerned that the 2003 logo looked too similar to branding at the time for Boston alternative radio station WFNX. So we cut the grunge factor and adapted for the screen with clean typography.

2005

We modified the logo slightly by using an image from a film countdown shot.

2006

The logo was updated with a 3D lens in the Web 2.0 style that was just becoming popular. In 2006 we also took on the festival program for the first time. The cover is one of the key marketing pieces, since all festival attendees will pick up a program at some point during the weekend. We branched out into larger graphics and added local interest with the lighthouse.

2007

This was the year the expo grew up and became a full-fledged festival. We switched over to a fall palette and introduced the new logo with the reel and seagull. We flushed out the branding with the striking silhouette of the Portsmouth skyline. The classic ’07 look is still a favorite among some involved with the festival.

2008

In ’08 we continued with the fall colors and skyline, but added the contemplative festival-goer reflecting on a recent screening in Prescott Park. We introduced the eye-catching ’08. The ’08 T-shirts were the best yet!

2009

This year we added some visual interest with the angled typography, interlocking ’09 logo, and diagonal stripes. The background texture

and color combination give everything a warm retro feel and continues in the appropriately New England autumn color palette.

And check out our design in action! What a shot! Award-winning Producer and Director Chase Bailey, left, is interviewed by NECN’s Lauren Collins. At right is Actress Ann Cusack, star of Chase’s film “Crooked Lane” which won Chase this year’s NH Filmmaker of the Year Granny Award. Oh, is that Vital Design listed on that poster? Nice! And check out those T-shirts!

Crisp fall nights loom on the horizon as we wind down the dog days of August. This time of year means football, for many. Of course, geography plays a large part in determining which brand of football. Being part of the growing contingent of football fans in the states that follows the European version – the one played with feet – I’d like to examine the influence of modern design on the rebranding of football clubs in Europe. You can think of them as soccer clubs if you’d like, I can assure you no one in this group will mock you publicly.

ARSENAL FC

We start with the rebrand of the club I have a firsthand knowledge and love for: Arsenal FC. I remember when the new crest debuted. You might have thought someone dropped a bomb on the stadium and sold all the players, according to some in the blogosphere who saw this as a clear abomination and betrayal of the club’s history and heritage. Given time, however, people get over their disdain for change and embrace a new look. Minimizing design isn’t always the answer, but it has been a successful trend in modern updates of brands from corporate to sport, and here I feel it works quite well. The previous crest was far too ornate, and busy. The update displays a modern font and a simplified eastern facing cannon that signifies a commitment to progressively moving forward. All told, a resounding success as far as this designer is concerned. Of course I teeter on the brink of bias, but I digress. A-

BOLTON WANDERERS FC

Moving on To Bolton, a truly detestable side with a moderately detestable crest. This upgrade is subtle and preserves their previous typography adding little whispy streamers instead of the stately ribbon of the previous effort. This upgrade isn’t particularly bad as it’s understated enough, I’m simply not a fan of the logo to begin with. And anything that evokes the memory of Will Ferrell’s floor dance performance in “Old School” can’t be a good representation for any club looking to establish their identity. D+

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Let’s jump countries on our European tour over to Germany to check on Borussia’s update to their classic BVB crest. Punching up the yellow really leaves an impression. The typography has been updated nicely to make the crest symmetrical and sophisticated. It’s simple but memorable. A

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC

Being an Arsenal supporter, Tottenham falls under the category of nemesis. The clubs are separated in North London by four miles and a wealth of good fortune. That said, as much as it pains me to say so, the update of the club’s crest is a fantastic improvement. The simplification of the “cockerel,” (their birds not mine) came off perfectly. They dumped the lions and Latin and inserted a retro football in the place of the club’s initials. I think the color, lines, and look of this update to the crest are nearly flawless leaving you with a simple and sophisticated improvement. For that they receive high marks. A+

PARIS ST. GERMAIN FC

Onto France where we take a look at the updates in Paris. PSG did a nice job cleaning up what was otherwise a little murky. The black strokes on the old logo were harsh, and the typography appears messy jetting off the icon as it does. The upgrade addresses these issues nicely, even if the baby crib under the Eiffel Tower is a little curious. B-

AJAX FC

The Dutch national team has one of the coolest brands of all time in the lion’s head. I liked it so much I placed it on the Vital team jerseys for our Tuesday night league. This fondness does not carry across the board in Holland as Amsterdam’s Ajax (eye-axe to those of you confusing it with a cleaning product) upgrade has left me a little conflicted. On the one hand I love the type update, as well as the red border, but I can’t help thinking the update to the Greek Warrior Ajax’s face took simplicity to the precipice and beyond. If we were to agree that the original version was far too detailed to reproduce across multiple forms of media would we then agree that using a fat magic marker to do a quick trace would not be the answer to simplifying the image? I think so. In writing this I’ve learned that supporters have been campaigning to ditch the new crest since its inception in the ’90s due to it being too cold and business like. A campaign that has fallen on deaf ears. Proof positive that you can oversimplify your brand and agitate your target audience. C-

Moving away from the per club breakdown of club crests, I’d like to now move swiftly onto my “FILE UNDER” segment where we take some successful, some not so successful, some legendary and some downright bizarre examples of rebranding from around European football leagues and file them under their appropriate categories.

FILE UNDER “PROGRESS”:

FILE UNDER “STROBE-TASTIC”:

FILE UNDER “MUTANT RABBIES CAT”:

FILE UNDER “FINE WINE AND BIOHAZARD”:

FILE UNDER “LAW SUIT”:

FILE UNDER “INEXPLICABLE”:

FILE UNDER “УРОДСКО!”:

FILE UNDER “Vive Le Résistance!”:

FILE UNDER “YOU AIN’T GO-‘N’ NOWHERE”:

FILE UNDER “LEGENDARY”:

]]> http://www.vtldesign.com/vital-blog/all-things-vital/modern-designs-influence-on-the-world%e2%80%99s-oldest-team-sport/feed/ 10 http://www.vtldesign.com/vital-blog/all-things-vital/top-10-orange-desk-accessories/ http://www.vtldesign.com/vital-blog/all-things-vital/top-10-orange-desk-accessories/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:02:38 +0000 Rachel Swanson http://www.vtldesign.com/vital-blog/?p=821

It’s no secret that Vital Design loves orange.

It’s a main feature of our branding and you’ll find it on our walls, in our logo, on our website and in our gifts to our clients.

Color Wheel Pro says orange represents “enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation” and that’s an accurate description of what we’ve got going on, if we may be so bold.

This orange branding has nearly saturated our workspace. If you swing by to borrow a stapler, it probably will be orange and we’ll invite you to have a seat in the super comfy visitor chair – also orange and pictured at right. We know there are a lot of design companies out there loving the orange like us, sooo we tallied up some of our coolest orange stuff:

Vital’s Top 10 Orange Desk Accessories

1. Le Pen

This sleek and orangey pen is très magnifique! And so much sexier than a Bic.

2. Toy Scooter

What would Barbie say? “OMG, it’ll look so cute at the dream house!”

3. Pantone Orange Coffee Mug

Hot coffee spurs creativity but it’s super creative-making juice when slurped from this Orange 021 C pantone mug.

4. Giant Paper Clip

To dry our giant wet things. You should see the clothes line.

5. Logology

The study of logos. Bound in handsomely smooth burnt orange leather impressed with logos. Very impressive.

6. Somewhat Offensive Tape Dispenser

But much less offensive than the pencil sharpener that featured a prone figurine.

7. Nathan Water Bottle

We could die of thirst without this. Then who would make pretty things for you?

8. Toy Corvette

Smaller than a squash. Mightier than a matchbox.

9. Sparrow Memo Clips

We only have the orange one and it memos us to do all manner of tasks. Kind of tweety too.

10. Behance Action Method Notebook

A week to learn how to use this. A lifetime to master. Cover is soft and impressive, helping us justify higher rates.

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