What I Love About Small Businesses.

Small businesses are typically on a shoestring budget and love to learn do-it-yourself methods, marketing and professional design is one of the first things they cut when the budget gets tight and because of this, my workload is subject to many ups and downs, so it surprises many of my professional network when they learn that small businesses are 80% of my clientele. Now I am not saying that if a larger company wants to work with me that I will turn them away, but I do focus most of my efforts on the onsie and twosie type shops.

Why?
I see that small businesses struggle with their marketing, with keeping their business image consistent and coming up with a professional design that really separates them from their main competitors. It is becoming more common for companies who are a part of my industry to shoot up their rates, exclude the smaller guys with smaller projects, who ask more questions and are inconsistent in their marketing needs.

I can’t imagine dropping my small guys. I LOVE my small guys. Small businesses are emotionally invested in their company, many times creating partnerships with family members and or childhood friends. Small businesses have a great passion for their companies, truly believe in their product and market it with all their heart and soul. I love to hear about the stories behind the start of a small business and how they got to where they are right now. When talking about a new idea, I like to see the light in their eyes and hear the excitement in their voice. I like to get to know my clients to have a complete understanding of their personality and their business goals. Many of these characteristics that small business owners obtain are few and far between when dealing in Corporate America. Corporate America is so focused on the bottom line, they loose the passion that stems from owning your own business. I think the TV show Undercover Boss is a great example of this. Large companies loose sight of their roots and forget what matters to the little guys, which creates a huge disconnect between the two.

I myself am a small business owner, I have stable growth and pride myself on quality. I am individually owned and only use outside resources when it will benefit my clients. I am a big proponent of why pay for something when you can get it for free? I want to help my clients design marketing materials and to develop websites that not only mean something, but that they are proud of. I strive to give my clients flexibility, to allow them to be as much a part of the creative process as they want to be. Feeling boxed into your choices is uncomfortable for anyone, especially a small business owner who is typically wearing many of the hats needed in their business. One thing that stands out to me about small business owners is the heart behind the business.

What I am here to do is offer choices, allow my clients to be as involved as they like to be and only hire me when they NEED ME. I don't believe in retainer fees or monthly packages that may or may not include services that you will use. Working with the small guys is a great passion of mine, as I truly believe that all businesses deserve the right to professional design for an affordable price and to not pay for something that they really don't need.

Tasha Lee Design, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Auto Zone Gets Girly

Can car care products be marketed directly to women, or at the very least be gender-neutral? Check out this branding exercise by design student Vinh Pho, which makes AutoZone products seem as if they were being sold out of Bath & Body Works.


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Oscars pushing its envelope

Previously just dressed-up office supply issue, this year's Academy Awards' winners' envelopes are now custom-designed by Marc Friedland Couture Communications.

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jcpenny Boxes It Up

J. C. Penney Company is now jcpenney, and it has a new logo to match, the first redesign in its 40-year-history.

The letters "jcp" are emphasized in the new design. The Helvetica letters are placed off-center in a red box; the remainder of the name is shown breaking free of the box, symbolic of the company breaking out into new retail areas. The box and initial letters are also used alone, such as in the company's avatar. (At this writing, the old logo was still in use on the jcp website, and predictions are that the new design will be rolled out formally in advertising shown during the Academy Awards on February 27.)

The redesign comes on the heels of a recent redesign of the Sears logo—which was also set in a high x-height sans serif. Some say the redesign was in response to burgeoning sales at more contemporary competitors such as Macy's and Kohl's.

Who designed the new mark? From the company's web site: "To choose a new logo design, jcpenney sought submissions that reflect a wide range of perspectives. Participants included the Company's associates, several design agencies, and two art schools – University of Cincinnati and Rhode Island School of Design – that collectively submitted over 200 designs for consideration. The winning design was provided by Luke Langhus, a third-year graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati, who chose to reintroduce jcpenney's iconic red box – a symbol he has long associated with the national retailer. Langhus developed a versatile logo that preserves the company's namesake but can be modified to showcase the 'jcp' independently, given his intent to ensure it would resonate with constantly connected digital consumers who often use abbreviations."

jcpenney.net


Graphic Designer Portfolio, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Graphic Design Questions? Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Green Award for Green Challenge

Stan Gellman Graphic Design concepted, designed and produced the three dimensional award given by the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association to winners of its annual Green Business Challenge. Awards were given to 58 companies across the metropolitan region who successfully completed the challenge. These participants compiled a scorecard of requirements to form green teams, reduce waste, conserve water and energy, improve indoor air quality, and provide clean transportation options. The Stan Gellman firm made sure the award itself was as close as possible to 100% green; for example, printing was done on 100% rapidly renewable bamboo which is FSC certified.

Tasha Lee Design, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Green Patriot Posters

Edited by Edward Morris, Dmitri Siegel, this book brings together posters and design promoting sustainability and the fight against climate change as well as essays by Michael Bierut, Steven Heller, Edward Morris and Dmitri Siegel about the history and the state of the poster as a vehicle for political messages and propanda. The publisher is Metropolis Books.

Tasha Lee Design, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

When Free Is Good ...

To run your business it costs money, where you choose to spend your money is what makes the difference in your bottom line. There are many services out there that are FREE to you, but when used correctly, make a BIG IMPACT in your business, but not in your pocketbook. By utilizing a combination of paid and unpaid services you will make a bold statement with your clients.

Here are some No Cost/Low Cost Resources for you to get off the ground running in your marketing efforts:

MailChimp
Many of consumers have heard of the email newsletter service, Constant Contact, I have discovered MailChimp in the past year or so and canceled my CC account after being a loyal customer for over 3 years. What is so cool about MailChimp is that they have ALL the same features (plus some) as CC, but is FREE! With all your monthly savings, you can now head over to your local design shop and receive a custom newsletter template to be streamlined with all your marketing efforts.

Blogger/WordPress
These are two very common blogging platforms out in the internet world. What is cool about these, is that just by blogging a mere one time a week, you can dramatically increase your google ranking. Make sure you are blogging with intent though and that your posts are related to your products or services. Each time you blog, your site will be indexed and your keywords will start climbing up, up and up. Many blogs have templates to choose from, but by hiring a graphic designer, your blog can look as though it is an extension of your website and online visitors won't even know you are using a third party site.

Google Analytics
This system is a must have for any online business. By keeping track of your web traffic, you will know what online visitors are interested in, you can create specialized online marketing campaigns and learn what does and doesn't work without paying the big bucks! You just need to spend some time learning how to read your site metrics and what they mean.

Twitter/Facebook/linkedIN
Social media can make a HUGE impact on your credibility. Along with posting helpful information that isn't always focused on sell, sell, selling to your followers. Social media is helpful in creating another touch point with your clients and keeping you in the forefront.

skype
Businesses are all about saving time and money and using skype will help you do just that. You will have the option to have face to face business meeting with a client who is out of state, on the opposite coastline or overseas. With the video feature, you not only see the person face to face, but have the flexibility in showing products or demonstrating services.




DropBox/You Send It
Occassionally, I need to send a really big file to a client who doesn't possess the convenience of an FTP. These file transfer services present a quick and easy way to get the job done without jumping in the car and delivering a CD or popping it in the mail.

With any marketing effort, keep in mind that consistency is key. Not only in the use of your logo, but also with the use of your business colors, fonts and image choices. Staying consistent will only strengthen your brand recognition and help you stand out in the multitude of campaigns you are competing against.

Tasha Lee Design, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You're in a Slump

GET MOTIVATED!

1. Have one goal.
2. Find inspiration.
3. Get excited.
4. Build anticipation
5. Post your goal.
6. Commit publicly.
7. Think about it daily.
8. Get support.
9. Realize that there's an ebb and flow.
10. Stick with it.
11. Start small. Really small.
12. Build on small successes.
13. Read about it daily.
14. Call for help when your motivation ebbs.
15. Think about the benefits, not the difficulties.
16. Squash negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

Tasha Lee Design, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

The U.S. Postal Service Is Dying. Why Not Radically Rebrand It?

Could a new identity save the United States Postal Service? The idea is not so far–fetched: The postal services in Belgium and other countries have taken on rebrands that better reflect their new capabilities as they compete against commercial shopping competitors.

And is retro the way to go?

Snail mail use keeps dropping, and now the U.S. Postal Service wants to save a bunch of cash by slashing Saturday delivery. Will a new look help rescue the agency? D.C. designer Matt Chase has a wacky proposal: Rebrand the USPS to evoke the very anachronisms that are costing it billions.

read more

Illustrating The World Cup

The South African illustration house, Am I Collective, scored a creative coup when it was commissioned to create 32 murals for ESPN's 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign via Wieden+Kennedy. The 32 murals celebrate each of the 32 teams that will be competing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. ESPN owns the broadcasting rights to the event in a number of territories including the USA. See them all in one place at... 9 Gag

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

NEW CHEVROLET BRAND

Chevrolet has introduced a new mini–car brand, Baojun, to China. Baojun is the Chinese word for "treasured horse."

SOURCE: Logo Lounge

WHY THE Y MADE THE SWITCH

Catching up on the public's common parlance of many years, the YMCA has ma

de the formal brand change to the Y. From the organization’s web site:

"This new brand announcement represents a transition in the correct way to refer to the Y in writing. "The Y" should be used whenever referring to the collective organization. "The" should be lowercase unless it is used at the beginning of a sentence. YMCA should be used when referring to a specific location, i.e., "The YMCA of Greater Louisville."

With this switch comes a new logo—part arrow, part letter, part icon—and a bright color scheme, all courtesy of Siegel+Gale. It's the sixth logo since the group’s inception, and its first revise since 1967. The new design is grounded in the Y's (yes, it's a bit odd) new trifold focus on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.

SOURCE: ymca.net

HISTORY OF THE Y'S LOGO

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Protect Your Health

Try to find health insurance. I know that, depending on where you live, health insurance might be hard to find. Freelancers are notorious for not having health coverage. But, if you don’t have adequate coverage, you’re more likely to avoid getting the treatment that you really need when you’re sick.

Get enough rest. It’s important to schedule regular breaks and time off. While working lots of hours may seem like a really good idea at first and may even lead to more income at first, no one can sustain a crazy pace forever. Eventually all of those extra hours will lead to stress, burnout, or illness.

Eat properly. Business Owners often take trips to the local coffee shop to provide them with a change of pace, meet a client, etc. While getting out and about from time to time is a good idea, unfortunately the fare found at your local coffee shop is not always the healthiest. If this is a problem for you, try to identify a few healthy food choices at your coffee shop and stick to those.

Engage in exercise. Most business owners work on the computer to provide some sort of service to their clients. This means that most of us are fairly sedentary. Unless we make a special effort, we won’t get any exercise. Unfortunately, studies have shown that a sedentary lifestyle is not healthy, so make that effort to get enough exercise.

Take steps to manage your stress. Owning your own business can be stressful, and continued stress can leave you feeling run down and make you more susceptible to illnesses. Take the time to identify what causes stress for you. Find ways to reduce your stressors.

SOURCE: Freelance Folder

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Starbucks BYOC

Bring your own cup. This concept was the big winner of a competition sponsored by Starbucks to gather ideas for reducing non-recyclable paper cup. The idea, using an in store chalkboard, would encourage customers to bring their own cups for possible free drinks. The three honorable mentions are also ideas that encourage customer reuse, but one did includes a rice-based reusable cup, and the five "community picks" are a mix of biodegradable, recyclable and collapsible cups.

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

PUMA thinks out of the {shoe}box

PUMA has unveiled the next step in its long-term sustainability program, introducing a sustainable packaging and distribution system by renowned industrial designer Yves Behar. Behar, of San Francisco based fuseproject, designed a "Clever Little Bag" to replace the ever present cardboard shoebox with a reusable shoe bag that protects each pair from damage. As a result of the 65% paper reduction though the "Clever Little Bag" concept, PUMA claims it will cut water, energy and diesel consumption on the manufacturing level by more than 60% a year.

SOURCE: www.fuseproject.com

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

3 Proposal Follow-up Tips

Before you submit a proposal, you’re in an ongoing dialog with your prospects, e-mailing back and forth. Then, with some, as soon as you submit the proposal, silence reigns and you never hear from them again. That’s the “black hole.” If this happens to you, know that you’re not alone.

People are so busy these days that they rarely take the time to let you know what happened. It’s discourteous and unprofessional, but it’s becoming the norm. Whether there was a shift in their priorities or they awarded the project to someone else, you may never find out. Sometimes you have to accept that fact.

However, don’t disappear into that black hole yourself. Stay in the game. Here are three ways to do that:

1. Leave a final message. If it’s clear that the project isn’t going to happen within the time frame you’d anticipated, don’t just slink away. Put some closure to the process by leaving a final voice mail message along these lines: “I haven’t heard from you, so I don’t know what happened with the proposal we sent, but it looks like it’s not going to happen within the time frame we discussed. So I just wanted to let you know that we’re still interested in pursuing this if and when you are. I will touch base again in a month.” Then send that same message via e-mail, so they have it in writing (and because they just may respond to it).

2. Check in to see how it’s going. This is especially important if they did award the project to someone else. Let some time go by, then call to see how it’s going. They may have chosen the low bidder and are paying for it now with low-quality work. If you happen to call and things aren’t going well, you might be the perfect solution to their problems.

3. Stay in touch. Obviously, you shouldn’t stalk your prospects, but you also mustn’t drop out of sight. Let your marketing kick in by staying in touch via an e-mail newsletter or regular postcard mailings to stay top of mind.

SOURCE: HOW Design

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Deforest to Reforest

Philips is back with an update to its much-lauded "Shave Everywhere" work for its Bodygroom razor. TribalDDB got a lot of kudos for its 2006 introduction of the product, a very fun site that introduced the concept of shaving "down there" into the mainstream. Tribal followed up with a crop of "manalogues" in 2008. Philips is back with a new take, although it's not from Tribal. Promo shop Alcone Marketing Group is behind the "Deforest yourself. Reforest the world" campaign, which tries to enliven the idea by linking personal hedge-trimming with adding greenery back to the planet. Philips will plant one tree for each Bodygroom sold through the end of June, up to 75,000. The centerpiece is a Web app that lets you customize a furry avatar for use as a Twitter or Facebook profile picture or desktop wallpaper. It's somewhat like what Deep Focus did on "Mad Men Yourself." The question is when this genre, which hearkens back to "Elf Yourself" and "Simpsonize Me," begins to get tired.

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The merger of United Airlines with Continental has many ramifications. One of them is that the company will kill the "U’ logo designed by the legendary Saul Bass. It is expected that, though the name will be United, the graphics will be based on Continental’s typography and symbol.

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Politicians have occasionally attempted to campaign against baggy pants. Even President Obama, when a candidate, urged young black men to pull up their pants. Now New York state senator Eric Adams is putting up billboards in Brooklyn NY in an attempt to “Stop the sag” as well as a video in which he slots baggy pants into a chronology of negative racial stereotyping. Adams, a black retired police captain first elected in 2006, tapped his campaign coffers for $2,000 to put up the billboards and to make a YouTube video.

SOURCE: GD USA

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Stop The Sag

Politicians have occasionally attempted to campaign against baggy pants. Even President Obama, when a candidate, urged young black men to pull up their pants. Now New York state senator Eric Adams is putting up billboards in Brooklyn NY in an attempt to “Stop the sag” as well as a video in which he slots baggy pants into a chronology of negative racial stereotyping. Adams, a black retired police captain first elected in 2006, tapped his campaign coffers for $2,000 to put up the billboards and to make a YouTube video.

SOURCE: GD USA

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Time Flies

To recognize its 10th anniversary, Real Simple is offering “the gift of time” to its harried readers. Inside the April issue, that means time-saving tips such as quick-cook dinners, while the cover addresses the issue conceptually. “Time is a very intangible thing — there isn't a picture of time, and there isn't a particular image that comes to mind,” says the magazine's creative director, Janet Froelich. She decided to commission clocks from industrial designers; shown here is one of the outcomes, Harry Allen's yellow clock with one hand, which reads “Past” on the top and “Future” below.

SOURCE: GD USA

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Passing with Flying Colors

Pantone's New iPhone App

Everyone from graphic designer's to industrial designers can now have access to all the PANTONE Color Libraries without carrying around bulky guides, and users can easily create harmonious color palettes by finding complementary, analogous and triadic combinations for slected colors. And not only that, colors can also be extracted from images taken by the iPhone's built in camera and matched to the closest Pantone color.

Palettes can be share with other iPhone users or emailed as color patches or application-ready swatch files for the Adobe Creative Suite, etc. Visit www.mypantone.com for more info.

SOURCE: Layers Digital Magazine

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How to Ask for a Referral Without Sounding Like a Jerk

It’s a lousy truth, but if you want referrals, you have to ask for them. No matter how great your work is, no matter how wonderful you are, most clients aren’t thinking about referring you to anyone.

Why Clients Don’t Give You a Referral

Did you ever wonder why your clients don’t give you more referrals?

It’s not because they’re mean or because they don’t want you to succeed; it’s because giving you a referral never crosses their minds.

I’ve seen this happen with my own two eyes. In the company I used to work for, we contracted out our design services to a very talented guy. He would come in to the office to present his work, and he was always great to talk to and fun to have around. He put out quality work, too. If you’d asked anyone in the company, he was a killer designer.

I don’t think we ever referred him once.

In fact, I watched an opportunity for a referral go whizzing right by. My boss’ friend, who ran his own company, came in for a lunch date and was complaining to my boss about the terrible designer he’d hired. My boss sympathized and hoped he’d find someone who could fix the problem.

It didn’t occur to him to refer our own freelance designer. He might have thought of it had his friend specifically asked if he knew a good designer.

But, the friend didn’t ask, my boss didn’t volunteer, and that was that.

Don’t let that happen to you.

Freelancers don’t ask for referrals because we think we’ll sound pushy, or unprofessional, or, in the worst case scenario, like a complete jerk. These are valid concerns. Many people who ask for referrals come off sounding like a bad used car salesmen.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to ask for referrals. There’s nothing stopping you from doing it the right way. Here’s your number-one tip for asking for a referral without sounding like a jerk:

Make it about the other guy

When Should You Ask for a Referral?

The best time to ask for a referral is when your client is raving about what a fantastic job you just did on your last project. Let’s say you’re a copywriter, and he’s telling you that he’s worked with dozens of writers in the past and no one has been able to hit just the right note the way you have.

“I’m so pleased you like it,” you say. “I know it can be rough finding a good writer. There are a lot of hacks out there. I’ve heard some horror stories.”

That’s his cue. Usually, your client will he’ll launch telling you about his own bad experience or that of another company he knows. Let him, and be sympathetic about it. Then say this:

“Well, listen, if you know of any other companies who are having a rough time finding good work, feel free to pass on my name. Actually, if you have a few names in mind, I could just drop them a line myself and save you the trouble.”

See what just happened? Instead of saying that you want a referral so that you can get more clients, you’re saying that you want a referral so that these companies–who your client knows and likes–won’t have to deal with shoddy work anymore.

You’re not being a jerk. You’re being helpful. You’re being the nice guy.

And guess what? Not only will your client give you the referrals, he’ll think you’re a great guy for asking.

Not bad for a task you always considered the low point of marketing, right?

SOURCE: Freelance Folder

www.tashaleedesign.com • tasha@tashaleedesign.com