If you’re not familiar with Scot Kelby Training or the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, then you don’t you know what you’re missing. Today I attended a their CS4 “Down and Dirty Tricks” conference in Oklahoma City, OK. Among the things we learned today were special effects and palettes only found in Adobe Photoshop CS4, but mostly we learned TRICKS that no Photoshop professionals should be without.
From hidden or overlooked palette functions even down to time savers and quick tips. For me, saving time is a MUST! So anything that makes me go faster, is a step in the right direction!

Over the next few days I’ll take opportunities to share some tips with you. One of the time savers we learned today was how to make quick and sleek product ads. That idea led to tonight’s bookmark!  I would also like to share one of the millions of tips I learned today.

This one may be  something that may be obvious and you may already know, but I actually didn’t, so I was happy to have it pointed out to me.

1. Unlocking layers. To unlock a layer in Photoshop, it is no longer necessary  to double click the locked layer. Now, you can simply “drag” the lock icon to the trash. Simple, huh? Yet, totally overlooked!

You can today’s bookmark  here.

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Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I’m on board! I tried to decide what type of design I’d want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

Bookmark This!

It’s finally here! A book that was birthed from a course curriculum I was preparing for a class at the local University that I teach at, has FINALLY been released! And whether you’re a student, a designer or just someone interested in taking the next step with Social Media, this book is for you!

Rather than talking “about the book”, I’m going to include a short excerpt for you to enjoy:

Social Media and You
So you wanna promote your brand? Drive traffic to your site? Get
noticed on the Web? Sounds a little overwhelming doesn’t it?

Well, if you are armed with the proper tools and tasks to get the job done, it’s simply a matter of being willing to put the time and effort into your venture.
When establishing a brand, company, ministry or business in today’s marketplace, one of the primary necessities to success is having a successful Web site. Notice I didn’t say “having a Web site”. The phrasing is “having a SUCCESSFUL Web site”. What’s the difference?

A Mall in the Desert
Today, with the democratization of information and technology, simply having a Web site is NOT enough to get you noticed. Creating a Web site is like building a mall in the middle of the desert. It may be the biggest mall in the world, with tons of stores and something for everyone, but if it’s in the middle of the desert who finds it? but if it’s in the middle of the desert then who finds it?

The first step to getting customers to visit your mall is building an Interstate Highway right beside it. Why an Interstate? Why not a winding 2 lane road? The Interstate offers a “convenient” route to travel. The traffic moves fast and the curves are few. Is that all it takes? Just building a road? The road is a start but it’s not the complete picture. For the road to be successful, there must be road signs, billboards and exits.

Visit the “MarketYourself: The Book” Web site to order your copy today!

Bookmark This!

As a woman I should probably be offended. But as a marketer I can’t help but to see the brilliance behind yet another Volkswagen ad from the 1950s. If you’ve followed this blog at all you probably already know that second only to Seth Godin I think the marketers, writers and designers that were behind the Volkswagen ads from the 1950s and 1960s were some of the most brilliant minds in the industry.

Below I have included the full text from this ad I found on Vintage Ads.com.

Sooner or later, your wife will drive home one of the best reasons for owning a Volkswagen.

Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things.

If your wife hits something in a Volkswagen, it doesn’t hurt you very much.

VW parts are easy to replace. And cheap. A fender comes off without dismantling half the car. A new one goes on with just ten bolts. For $24.95*, plus labor.

And a VW dealer always has the kind of fender you need. Because that’s the one kind he has.

Most other VW parts are interchangeable too. Inside and out. Which means your wife isn’t limited to fender smashing.

She can jab the hood. Graze the door. Or bump the bumper. It may make you furious, but it won’t make you poor.

So when your wife goes window-shopping in a Volkkswagen, don’t worry.

You can conveniently replace anything she uses to stop the car.

Even the brakes.

Bookmark This!

Golf Example

We all learn from one another. Sometimes watching what someone else does can change the way we approach things ourselves. As designers we are no different. Often we get inspiration from the work of a fellow artist. Unfortunately, this same principle works in the negative as well! We can easily see what NOT to do by learning from the mistakes of others.

If you’ve been designing any length of time, chances are you’re familiar with 3 basic terms of post-production that have to be accounted for in any advertising design. Got ‘em?

The concepts I’m referring to are, Live Area, Trim Line and Bleed Area.

Live Area refers to the “safe-zone”, this area is close enough to the inside of the page that any text or images that are imperative to the design will not be cut off when the edges are cut off or bound in a magazine or other publication.

Trim Line is the actual “cut-line” where the trim is SUPPOSED to happen. Clearly if that were always precise there would be no need for the Live Area or Bleed Area, but alas, machines are not perfect. When a 100,000 magazines are being mass-produced I’m sure you can understand that a little shifting can occur and the cut will not always be EXACTLY on that line.

Bleed Area is the space on the outside of the Trim Line that accounts for any trim shifting that may occur to the outer edge of the ad. This eliminates the likelihood of there being an awkward white line that is not covered by the advertisement or unintentional edges to the piece.

Recently, I learned an important lesson that really made me chuckle on this particular topic. Now, what made it even funnier this particular time is that the mistake was made by an internationally known brand. They had sent a print-ready ad to be placed in a booklet.

Going what they thought was the extra mile they had added a series of dotted and dashed lines to the ad to indicate the Live Area, Trim Line and Bleed Area, each line was accompanied by a corresponding Word and Arrow. It looked great, until I opened the file in Photoshop and realized that the image they had actually sent me was flattened into a JPEG and their “template” was flattened on top of the ad.

To protect the guilty party here and save any embarassment I have recreated the effect on a generica ‘dummy ad’. The moral of the story? Make sure you remove your templates before sending in your artwork, or send layers. We can all learn from others—the good and the mistakes!

Bookmark This!

I LOVED these images found on Toxel.com. I hope you find as much inspiration as I did!

Bookmark This!


What is a picture worth nowadays? Does it still hold as much value as it once did? If we are talking about online marketing, the answer is yes! Tabloid photos are a different story.

A good photo can make up for thousands of words, and we know from studying Web user’s habits, that if your pages are too wordy, they won’t be read anyway. So save your breath and take photos. 

Photos of what?

Everything. Depending on your market, your needs may be different. To get your product/name or service out there, it’s imperative that you have photos your target audience can easily access. Here are some ideas to get you started:

   

1. Intinerary Photos: Have you spoken at a conference? Attended a Seminar or class? Take a few pictures and document your trip or speaking experience. Not only will these photos help to establish you as an expert, they also show your audience that you are still learning or active in the field. 

  

2. Product Photos: Do you offer a tangible product? Take pictures of it. If the product is something that moves or is "used" take photos of it in action. Make sure the pictures are clear and crisp though. It’s better to have NO photo that one that is sub-quality. A poor photos simply harms your product’s crediblity and makes you look like an amateur. Digital photos are fairly cheap these days and basic photo composition is easy to master, we’ll talk about that a little later. 

   

3. Portfolio Photos: If you are a designer/writer or other professional that requires a portfolio, upload your best work in snapshot form. Be sure to create "sets" to organize your work i.e., logos, Web sites, manuscripts, etc.

   

4. Awards and Trophies: If your business or firm has won awards in it’s field, be sure to post some "humble" photos of those as well. Remember the golden rule, that photos are more believable than type. (In today’s society that is an oxymoron due to the wonders of Photoshop, but nevertheless we have a innate human desire to believe what our eyes tell us).

   

5. Staff Photos: Regardless of your size, I’d suggest uploading some staff photos with a short "bio" of each employee, their talents and specialties. This will also allow your customers to feel a connection with your business.

Bookmark This!

Recently I heard an insightful illustration about 2 business owners in the early 90s. Both businesses were fairly successful selling the same product: Radios.

Joe, the owner of the first store, knew everything there was to know about the radio business. He sold them, repaired them and could rattle the brands off without even thinking. When asked "What business he was in" he would throw his shoulders back, stand a little straighter and reply, "The Radio Business."

Sam also owned a store that sold radios. He too, could be considered a radio expert. However, when he was asked, "What business are you in?" he would smile broadly and reply, "The Communication Business".

As the years progressed, radios became less and less popular. New technologies were being developed such as Cell phones, mobile devices and portable music alternatives. How did these 2 men react? Joe, the radio-man, stuck his feet in stubbornly and refused to change. Afterall, he was a "Radio Man". That’s what he did. He sold radios.

On the other hand, Sam, was constantly listening for the newest advancement in technology, soon he began carrying cell phones, portable music players and other tech toys. As fewer and fewer radios sold, he slowly quit purchasing them himself. Soon, there wasn’t a radio in his store, but his business was better than ever.

What happened to Joe? He used up all his family’s money trying to make a success out of radios. He wound up bankrupt and alone. Why? He was in the "Radio" business, not the "Communications" business.

The question is clear: Are you a "Joe" or a "Sam".  As designer’s this is an important question. As more and more things are going paperless, and design trends grow and expand, are we in the "print" business or in the "Design" business. Which sounds more fluid?

The moral of the story is, make sure you don’t try to "specialize" so much that if something new comes out and replaces your product or service, you will be left by the wayside. To continue to grow, we must be constantly learning. Go to seminars, read magazines and follow the technology.

Don’t keep trying to sell radios when everybody else has iPods.

Bookmark This!

I recently ran across a book entitled, Creative Strategies in Advertising. So far, I’ve scanned a few chapters, and looked at some ads. There was one in particular that caught my interest, and I believe truly is a testament to what a little creativity can accomplish to battle crime and society issues.

 In 2000, the Alabama Department of Human Resources finally got fed up with a debt of over $1 Billion dollars owed in back-Child support. These fathers, scattered across the state, were not only delinquent on payment, but had completely abandoned their children.

The DHR decided to make a statement. They hired Lewis Communications to develop a PR Campaign that would be directed towards the fathers in the 300,000 some-odd, open Child Support cases.

Required by the Alabama legislature to release the names of the top 10 delinquent "dads", Lewis did just that.

The campaign, comparing these fathers to "Lost Dogs" received national acclaim and generated over $17 Million in owed Child Support from lesser offenders who did not want to wind up on the ad themselves.

See what I mean?

Each father was accompanied by the amount owed, the county of residence and the number of kids left behind. Shocking? Perhaps. But it got results. According to Creative Strategies in Advertising, the DHR Web site received over 3,000 hits in the first week of it’s release and more than 300 phone calls which ultimately led to the location of at least 5 of the 10 most wanted.

Behold the power that is in our hands as designers/advertisers. Remember this ad as you are faced with creative decisions yourself. For more information on this case study you can visit PR Week for the complete story.

Bookmark This!

Okay, I know this is supposed to be a print design resource, but i think inspiration can come in many forms. I love this advertising campaign that was done by the Washington State Department of Health for their anti-smoking campaign.

Instead of using the typical "stop smoking cold turkey" cliche, they literally show you how to do that. I think the result is truly what Seth Godin refers to as a "Purple Cow" in his book about remarkable marketing.

Midnight Snack from JP Jones on Vimeo.

Dark Alley from JP Jones on Vimeo.

Cocktails outside of the box! from JP Jones on Vimeo.

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We’ve looked at a lot of billboards and large format advertsing. You’ve probably noticed that the advertising that have made it to our list are the ones that are incredible, startling and unique.

In that same vein, here are some "thinking outside of the box" billboards and advertising to inspire you!  Enjoy!

Creative juices flowing? Quick! Go design something brilliant!

Bookmark This!