The Right Logo For You

March 9th, 2010 by Jim Knake
jim

By Jim Knake

The right logo for your business is important. A logo is instant branding and is one of the first things people see about your business. Being in the advertising business for as long as I have, you see a lot of good a lot of  bad. Just take a drive around your neighborhood and look at the signs business owners put up. What does it tell you about what they do? Does it have to tell you anything? Which ones do you like and which ones are just plain terrible.
There are two schools of thought out there. One is that your logo needs to convey what you do and the other is that is must be eye catching. In my opinion, both are correct! It just depends on what it is that you do. For example, If you are trying to get your business known worldwide, You may just want an image, Pepsi has that. It is simple and non descript. Don’t be married to the logo forever, The Pepsi logo changes over time, you may want to change with the times as well. What looked good in 1978 may look really terrible in 2010. If you are a more local company, you don’t need that big branding symbol, but you do need something that shows you are a legitimate company. I have seen many logos that scream, “My 12 year old son designed it” or “I liked this font and did it in Publisher”. Ugh!!! That’s all well and good if you are the only store with your services in town, but if you have any competition, you need to look more professional.
One of the most important things is to be original, don’t take what someone else has done and copy it and also don’t use fonts straight out of the computer font library, tweak them so it is original to you and please, please, please do not use Brush Script or Zapf Chancery or I will come find you and remove them from your hard drive.
Thank you… This has been a public service announcement from Rooks Advertising.
Creative without strategy is called ‘art.’ Creative with strategy is called ‘advertising.’ – Jef I. Richards

The right logo for your business is important. A logo is instant branding and is one of the first things people see about your business. Being in the advertising business for as long as I have, you see a lot of good a lot of  bad. Just take a drive around your neighborhood and look at the signs business owners put up. What does it tell you about what they do? Does it have to tell you anything? Which ones do you like and which ones are just plain terrible.

There are two schools of thought out there. One is that your logo needs to convey what you do and the other is that is must be eye catching. In my opinion, both are correct! It just depends on what it is that you do. For example, If you are trying to get your business known worldwide, You may just want an image, Pepsi has that. It is simple and non descript. Don’t be married to the logo forever, The Pepsi logo changes over time, you may want to change with the times as well. What looked good in 1978 may look really terrible in 2010. If you are a more local company, you don’t need that big branding symbol, but you do need something that shows you are a legitimate company. I have seen many logos that scream, “My 12 year old son designed it” or “I liked this font and did it in Publisher”. Ugh!!! That’s all well and good if you are the only store with your services in town, but if you have any competition, you need to look more professional.

One of the most important things is to be original, don’t take what someone else has done and copy it and also don’t use fonts straight out of the computer font library, tweak them so it is original to you and please, please, please do not use Brush Script or Zapf Chancery or I will come find you and remove them from your hard drive.

Thank you… This has been a public service announcement from Rooks Advertising.

Creative without strategy is called ‘art.’ Creative with strategy is called ‘advertising.’ – Jef I. Richards

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What is good design?

February 12th, 2010 by Jim Knake
jim

By Jim Knake

What is good for one person may not be good for another. Design is an art and like all art is subjective. The question that should be asked for advertising purposes is, what will catch the viewers eye? Mostly, it is a call to action as the main point. Why should someone choose your business over someone elses? Are your prices lower? Do you have what others don’t? Are you open later or have longer hours? These are main points that can catch a readers eye. When designing an ad, less is more. The more complicated an ad is, the less likely that the reader will actually look at it. People have short attention spans, therefore, get them in quick. Hook them with a great opening line or clever graphic, then build on that with what you can offer them, that the competition can’t.

When building an ad, the more you cram into the space and the more cluttered the ad is, the more likely a viewer will pass over the ad. Don’t put in all the deals you have, select the best ones or the ones you think people will want. Clean, Clear and Confident. That is what you want to portray to potential clients.

Many people run one or two ads and ask "why am I not getting any calls?" Unless you have an "Unbelievable Deal" You may not see a quick return on an ad. Frequency in newspapers or magazines is what builds a client base and brand. They may not see your ad the first or second time, maybe they saw it but it wasn’t something they needed. The more they see your ad, the more likely they are to remember your name, By the fifth time seeing your ad, they may now relate your company to the service. Once they know you for that, the more likely they will be to call you once they need your services.
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