In past articles, I’ve pointed out some essential elements of the branding process:

- communicating clearly with designers
– maintaining a reciprocal relationship with your designers
– embracing your name
– embracing your brand

These are all good tips if you are already engaged in the process; however, there are branding decisions you need to make before hiring someone to take the reins. In fact, these decisions may even lead you in another direction, involving some do-it-yourself branding that will not only save you money, but help you better understand what you want and what, exactly, you need in regard to your branding.

The first step in this process is meditation. No, I’m not getting all “new age” on you (does anyone use that term anymore?), but some introspection is integral to the process. The means for meditation are different for everyone, but some universal constants include finding a comfortable space for thinking, surrounding yourself with things you find inspirational (this can be music, images, food … beverages, ahem) – something to put you in a relaxed state and just taking a moment to shut out the distractions in your life. This may be harder than it sounds, but even 30 minutes of “clear’ time is helpful. Once you achieve “clarity” (I feel like such a shaman), reflect on your business and what you hope to achieve.

At this point, try to envision your greatest aspirations for you and your business. At the same time, look closely at your craft/business. What is your style? How do you like to work? What do you hope to do for your customers and clients? Who are they (better yet, who do you hope they are)? Create a sketch of the who, what, why and how of your business. You may find that during this time you are able to create a business philosophy or mission with real depth. Make this philosophy the driving force behind how you create your business identity. You don’t need a designer to tell you who YOU are. If you do eventually decide to go to a designer for your branding, then go in with a clear vision of what you want. This makes everyone’s job easier (and will make the experience all the more enriching). What you may come to discover, however, is that you aren’t ready for a designer or that, at the moment, you don’t need one.

Yes, that’s the second time I’ve mentioned the idea that you don’t need a designer. Maybe I’m crazy (ha ha ha, bless your soul). But, really what I’m saying is come prepared, complete with a vision of your identity and ready to do some work. By not doing so, you’re setting yourself up for a costly failure. There are so many clients who come to LUXC with a new brand that was just paid for and is NOT working. These clients have just paid an inordinate sum of money for a brand that was never suited to them in the first place or that is already dated and no longer in sync with the direction of the business. These are mistakes of both designer and client. On one hand, the designer doesn’t take the time to listen to what his or her client is saying. On the other, the client doesn’t clearly articulate his or her wants/needs and winds up stuck with something that kinda-sorta-almost-but-not-really-works. In the worst cases, clients with limited budgets pay for cheap branding solutions that look, well, cheap, and now these struggling businesses are broke and left with an ineffective brand. Poorly executed branding can be such a trap.

The main question any businessperson needs to ask is, “Am I ready? Am I fiscally, mentally and philosophically ready for a new branding strategy?” The question is especially relevant in these economic times and it’s that fiscal element of the question that may take precedence over any other issues. Certainly, if one is not mentally prepared, complete with a clear branding philosophy, then that business owner need not apply. Don’t spend the money (there I go again with my crazy talk). There are other options that can buy you time before taking the financial and mental plunge into the branding process. One that is rarely talked about (because many designers consider this an absolute aberration – utter blasphemy) is to go with a DIY approach …

(Let us pause for a moment of silence to remember all of the designers who just dropped dead)

No, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Play it smart, and some DIY branding can give you time to think, reflect, plan and raise the capital for a major branding overhaul without negatively impacting your business’s image or breaking you. Just remember the words of Thoreau: Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity! Think simple, clean fonts like serif or sans serif (see Julia’s article on fonts in our blog), clean lines, good use of white space. Make it clean. If you don’t have a name in mind, use your name with a single word that describes your business, such as Tom Foolery Photography or Betsy Ross Tailoring. Don’t go wild with color. Go with two, three tops and choose colors that aren’t “out there.” If you’re not good with that sort of thing, ask a few friends to give you some critiques. Just keep it simple. You want something you can use on a business card and something that can transfer easily to a website. Focus on your product and making it better. As business improves and your identity takes shape, you can then turn your focus to branding. It’s smart business sense.

However you decide to proceed, know that this process is a journey of self-discovery. Business is not just business. Business is meaningful, organic, reciprocal and enriching. It shouldn’t be a pain. It shouldn’t be overly stressful. Likewise, creating an identity for your business is meaningful, organic, reciprocal and enriching. Take your time and plan carefully. A little foresight and caution on your end and the process will take a natural path towards a brand that will work for you and for your company, without unnecessary setbacks. Yes, Grasshopper, it will all come with time.

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years. He currently walks the earth, finding adventure and helping others along his path to enlightenment.

What those students – most students – have a hard time understanding is that the red ink on their essays and the resulting grade are not indictments of them as individuals, but constructive critiques of their work. The point of any course is to help the student improve a skill, not to build his or her ego (though, many believe this to be the case). The same paradigm extends to many different arenas, including business, where projects and reports are critiqued as a means of delivering the best product or service possible. And, as it is in the classroom, there are many individuals who view criticism of their work as somehow a judgment of them personally.

On the other side of the coin, people are often weary to critique another’s work for fear of hurting someone’s feelings or creating conflict. This is an unfortunate dynamic for how else can something – an essay, a project, a business plan – be improved upon if there is no one looking at the “thing” with a critical eye? The short answer is – it can’t.

In regards to design, constructive criticism is an integral part of the process and one that underscores the reciprocal nature of the relationship between designer and client. Designers aren’t miracle workers and they aren’t psychics (Miss Cleo was not a designer). The work of any designer hinges on the quality of information and feedback provided by the client. It’s true that a client hires or purchases the services of a designer, but the misconception is that the designer is simply working FOR the client. The reality is that a designer works WITH a client to design a identity. Clients have work to do as well – the lion’s share of which involves the client taking the time to provide constructive criticism throughout the branding process.

A good client should do the following:

• Maintain communication with the designer: Don’t fall off the planet in the middle of the design process. True, you have a life too, but at this point you need to focus a good bit of your attention on your design.
• Respond to questions from the designer with well-thought-out, detailed answers: No response to a designer should involve “yes” or “no.” Your responses need to have some meat to them. Furthermore, don’t give answers hastily. Don’t brush off or gloss over questions from your designer.
• Never be afraid to critique concepts or suggestions: You may worry about hurting your designers feelings by offering criticism, but the truth is you are going to really hurt their feelings (and really tick them off) if you wait until end of the process to say, “ I don’t think I like this.” Take care of problems or concerns early to ensure a final product that fits your wants and needs.
• Perhaps this is redundant, but … BE SPECIFIC: Don’t respond with, “I don’t like it.” Answers like that don’t say anything. What don’t you like? Color? Font? Direction? How can the designer make it better? What DO you like? (this question is a biggie – it can help steer the designer in the right direction).

There are certainly moments in life when one shouldn’t be a critic, but during the design process, a critical eye is more than warranted. The designer won’t know unless you tell her. So, get out your red pen and bleed on the page. In the end, a carefully-placed, well-developed critique will save you and your designer a lot of conflict.

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years. He is teribal prfsr. Dnt take his class! He will fail you for know reson!

There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait for a blog site to load up, especially for image-centric sites such as those for photographers, designers and other graphic artists. We’ve all experienced this problem at some point (I’ve baked potatoes in the time it takes to load some webpages). But this is not an impossible problem to remedy. The solution is simple and one that can be executed in a few easy-to-follow steps …

Which, I will provide shortly. First, I want to talk about a very special number. That number is 72. No, this is not the answer to life, the universe and everything else (for you Hitchhiker’s Guide fans out there … anybody?), but it is the number to remember when you are thinking about dpi (dots per inch) for any image you are uploading to the web. At 72 dpi, your image maintains its quality, but is in a manageable size so not to clog up bandwidth for those visiting your website. Remember this number and your visitors will thank you (as opposed to drumming their computer desks impatiently, mumbling nasty horrible things about you under their breath).

The first part of the process is resizing the image to an appropriate dpi (you guessed it … 72). You will need to click on the “image” menu and select “image size,” which will open a dialog box. You will see the following options:

- Image Size in MB
– Pixel Dimension (Size of image in pixels)
– Document Size (Size of image in inches/cm)
– Three checkboxes for Scale Styles, Constrain Proportions and Resample Images

Once you have resized your image. just go to the “File’ menu and select “Save for Web and Other Devices.” This little gem allows you to produce a copy of your image optimal for Web use. This means that the image file will be as small as possible (without compromising image integrity), and that the image will use only Web-safe colors (if desired). “Save for Web” can produce GIF, JPEG, or PNG format images. Once you select “Save for Web,” a dialog box will open. You can choose format (JPEG/GIF), quality using a slider (keep it as high as possible) and an option to resize Pixel Dimensions (we suggest adjusting to size of your blog -  most photo blogs are between 600 and 900 pixels). Feed in the required dimensions. You may choose a different size according to your needs.

However you decide to perform this operation, be sure to remember the 72 dpi and Save for Web. It will certainly make opening your site smoother for anyone stopping in to see your work. You don’t want to turn off potential clients or “fans” with slow loading.

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years and secretly dreams of sharing ideas with Neil Gaiman over coffee at DragonCon.

Well, I actually owned a beer hat in college and I’m pretty sure that there are no less than 5 people in my family who have purchased or received a “Big Mouth Billy Bass” for Christmas (maybe it’s the same one). The truth is we love our gimmicks. Think about the most crowded stores during the holiday season: Spenser’s Gifts and Brookstone (you know, for the moneyed losers). Both stores are chock full of catchy gimmicks that, for some reason, register in our heads as “you must have this!”

Truth is, “gimmick” is not always a four-letter word. Used properly, a well-thought-out “gimmick” can actually be a positive business move – especially when it comes to naming. In two recent articles, I’ve discussed strategies for both branding and naming your business. Both were focused on the idea of embracing your brand and embracing your name. The smart use of a gimmick to inspire your branding, naming or both is one means to that end. What you may regard as “gimmicky,” could, in fact, be a way to make you more emotionally vested in your branding.

There is no better illustration of this idea than the business owner who wishes to use her own name for that of her business. Let’s call her Robin Wainwright. We’ll say Robin is a children’s photographer in New Mexico. Robin is looking for a new branding strategy and has “no idea” what she should do. All she does know is that she wants to use her name for her business – Robin Wainwright Photography. Great! Immediately, she adds, “but I don’t think I want a bird. It’s too obvious.”

You hear that? That’s the sound of designers around the world collectively sighing at Robin’s decision about the bird. Yes, a bird may be the “obvious” choice, but when your name is Robin, the use of a bird has a basis – it’s warranted. However, in this case it isn’t the only choice. The name Wainwright could be of use as well. A search of the name reveals that it comes from the English word for wheel maker – as in wagon wheel. How perfect; especially since Robin lives in an “Old West” state. Not to mention, she’s a children’s photographer, so the idea of a wagon can be manipulated further.

Okay, so Robin’s name may be a little too easy, but you get the point. Even in a case as obvious as Robin’s, the use of a “gimmick” doesn’t necessarily have to be the dominant element in the brand design. The robin could be just one of a handful of design elements tied together by a larger idea (e.g. a nest or a tree). It comes down to taking stock of one’s resources and utilizing those resources as best as possible. However, you are not limited in how and to what extent those resources are used. The most important lesson to take from this article is to not limit your branding and naming options by excluding possibilities because you think something is “gimmicky.” People love gimmicks and, if done in the right way, a gimmick can bring you that much closer to a brand and name that you can truly embrace.

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years. His full name is Tyrie Joseph Charles Smith. His brand would be a king wearing a multi-colored coat, hammering a blockheaded kid on an anvil.

When it comes to brand identity, even some of the biggest companies fall flat. Case in point, Coca-Cola’s mid-eighties snafu, New Coke. If you aren’t old enough to remember that strange time, allow me to give a bit of a recap: we had a former b-list actor (featured in several 50s-era spaghetti westerns) as our president, fashion highlights included Jams, parachute pants, Ocean Pacific t-shirts, and lots of acid-washed, paint-splattered clothing, Dippity-Do hair gel was a staple for both men and women, every popular song was required, by law, to have a synthesizer and/or drum machine (see Flock of Seagulls, Tears For Fears, Berlin, the Eurhythmics, et al), hip-hop was still fun and “safe” and the spot for the coolest television show on air was a toss-up between Miami Vice and Knight Rider (yes, Hasselhoff was a god). It was a strange time, indeed. So strange, in fact, that the hands-down, number-one soft drink company in the world decided to abandon its original formula and its long-standing, globally-recognized brand to introduce a new keystone product with a “computer generated” talking head as its spokesperson. It was truly a branding disaster.

Coca-Cola’s biggest mistake was its failure to commit to its brand identity. It’s strange to think that a company with such a recognizable brand would ever fall into such a trap, but the reality is that most companies, at some point or another, struggle with embracing their brand identity. Why? Well, it’s simple: markets change, people get nervous, triggers get pulled. In the case of Coca-Cola, though it was on top in the world of soft drinks, it was being threatened by relatively-new-kid-on-the-block Pepsi Cola. Coke was struggling to compete with Pepsi’s newer, hipper branding strategy. There was a real need for adjustment. However, adjusting to a market and completely abandoning one’s brand identity are two entirely different beasts (and the former will almost always explode into an ugly mess). What Coca-Cola should have done (ah, hindsight) was to embrace its brand identity and innovate it, building on its existing strengths (namely, its position as one of the most recognized brands on the planet!) and invigorating its standing in the marketplace.

Embracing brand identity is key for success in any business. And no matter if you are refreshing an existing design or starting from scratch, whether you are a one-person show or have 100 employees, embracing brand identity cannot be a fickle act. The brand is as much a part of a business as the products that business sells. It may seem that branding is the easy part of running a successful company, but, as our friends at Coke taught us in the 80s, many businesses struggle with brand identity everyday. In terms of brand development, it becomes even harder. Brand development is oftentimes a tug-of-war between designers and company owners and executives over the myriad of details that go into the process. The smarter execs recognize their limitations and allow designers to do what they are trained to do. The greatest failures in marketing history happen when the opposite occurs.

What makes branding so hard for some business owners? Well, that’s really a question about trust. It’s the trust involved with turning over, what could be, their biggest investment to another individual to develop. It’s like handing over the keys to your house to a new acquaintance and saying, “Okay, make it pretty.” Granted, the branding process isn’t a blind endeavor; yet, no matter how much information a client gives to a designer or how involved he or she may be in the process, it can be truly hard to “let go” and trust the designer’s decisions.

But, trust is exactly what every business owner should do. If you’ve taken the time to research and find the right designer for you, entered into a contract with that designer, invested the time and energy in providing information to that designer and given the “okay” on the designer’s choices, then you should embrace those decisions and trust to the designer’s expertise in regard to your brand and all the design elements that accompany it. In other words, embrace your brand identity.

In a recent ezine article, “Embracing Your Brand,” Charen Smith notes that branding goes beyond marketing materials, but should be a part of every aspect of one’s business – that it needs to be a part of every aspect of the business. Smith writes:

To spread your brand you need to ensure that everything your company does is linked with that brand name. You need to get custom printing done to have letterheads on everything you send out. If someone gets something from anyone in your company you should be sure they’re going to see your brand name in a prominent position.

Smith makes an important point. Having a smart logo and a clean, sleek website aren’t enough when it comes to embracing your brand identity. Everything from the tag line to stationery to business cards needs to incorporate the brand on some level. Even seemingly banal things, such as the language of your website, need to incorporate this philosophy. For instance, if your brand is something fun and whimsical, then the language of your site should also be fun and whimsical. If your business is sleek and stylish, then, again, the language on your website – everything from your personnel bios to your blog – should be a reflection of that sleek and stylish element of your brand. This principle extends to every aspect of one’s business self or personae. It should appear in your personal style, the design of your work space, your letterhead and even, perhaps, your choices of where you hold business lunches. The more a business can incorporate the brand into the day-to-day, the more that brand becomes recognizable to clients and potential clients.

In another aspect of the process, you must EMBRACE YOUR NAME. It’s amazing how simple this concept appears on the surface, yet how difficult it becomes for a company to follow through. If your new brand identity is named “Surfing Unicorn” and indeed employs a unicorn on a Santa Cruz surfboard, cresting a “bitchin” wave, then you need to embrace that name to the fullest. Surfing Unicorn, LLC doesn’t need to have a bird as its logo. Nor does it need to be a simple, script logo. If you’ve signed off on “Surfing Unicorn” then, by golly, there needs to be a unicorn! (unless you’re going for irony, in which case there needs to be an ogre or, at the least, some play on  the idea of a surfing unicorn like one of those narwhal thingies that Norwegian fishermen thought that was a sea unicorn) Furthermore, every other aspect of your branding needs to be, in one way or another, an extension of that name. Surfing Unicorn, LLC needs to be communicated in everything from the tag line to the website to the stationery.

Once again, this all comes down to trust (though, if a design firm throws “Surfing Unicorn” your way, you can trust that somebody is either A) using illicit substances, B) out to destroy your business, or C) carries a Trapper Keeper … possibly with unicorns and kittens on it). When working with a design firm, trust to the fact that everyone involved in the development of your brand are individuals who are A) highly experienced in what they do, B) just as invested in the success of your company as you are and C) have a broader perspective of branding principles than you do. That’s why you hired them. These designers, illustrators, and copywriters are branding junkies . They live for this stuff. And what’s wonderful for the client is that they are applying all of that knowledge to create a look and feel for your business that is entirely unique to that business and are ensuring that your brand is something that clients will recognize as a relevant, quality and necessary part of their lives. Trust your designers. Trust your identity.

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years, none of which took place in the 80s (and that is really sad, because he like totally missed out on some bitchin’ professional fashion trends and like, ya know, could have totally been one of those gnarly marketing dudes with a Delorean and a rad Don Johnson sport coat).

As branding consultants will tell you, the strength of a brand lies in the name and how well it communicates all the unsaid aspects of a business – mission, product, philosophy, etc. – in a single word or phrase. However, the name is only a piece of the overall branding puzzle. The real magic happens when a business embraces the name to its fullest potential, incorporating all of those unspoken nuances into a branding mission. It really is all about naming your brand and embracing your name. Though, it’s easier to see how this works if we can look at the process of naming in practice. For that, I want to turn to a recent client and her personal journey towards creating a new identity for her photography business and how that journey led to a lesson, though indirect, about semiotics.

Allison Parker came to Luxecetera looking for a new way to brand her photography business, Phreckle Nose Photography. Like a lot of our clients, she was happy with her name, but wanted something more from her brand – something that better communicated her business’ mission and her philosophy on photography. Furthermore, Allison was looking for a brand that could carry her business forward.

Initially, we looked at Allison’s business name, “Phreckle Nose,” and her business’ focus, primarily children’s photography, and immediately honed in on the fun, whimsical, kid-centeric aspect of the company. It seemed to be an easy fit. However, as we talked to Allison, we could see that her vision, as she saw it, was something not exactly relatable to the name Phreckle Nose.

Over the next few weeks of consult time, we, along with Allison, struggled with how to keep the name (a name that Allison and her husband developed together), but communicate her particular business perspective. In my interview with Allison, I gave her my theory on changing a name once a business was already established – that if you have a good reputation and are well-known under one moniker, changing midstream runs the risk of affecting relationships with established clients. To a fault, I stretched the boundaries of what we could accomplish with Phreckle Nose and tried to fit a square peg in a round hole. Going over the conversation with Ashley, I started to realize the problem with my advice – that Allison’s vision for her company had outgrown her old name (and, thusly, her old brand).

It wasn’t even my company and I was having trouble with altering the name. Yet, the fact remained; Allison’s revised vision of a company that communicated a refined but playful, vintage, classic product no longer fit with her name. Additionally, Allison had dreams of broadening her scope as a photographer. It wasn’t something she was looking to do immediately, but she wanted the option to photograph more seniors, couples, brides and families in the future. Again, this was a vision not relatable to the semiotics of Phreckle Nose. Our sketches of fairytale frog princes and cartoon-ish blue birds wouldn’t fly (had to get one pun in).

It took Allison some time to get used to the idea too. “It’s so obvious now,” Allison says about her new name and brand. “I didn’t get it until I saw the design concepts. Now, I am so happy.” What Allsion saw in those concepts was the branding manifestation of semiotics. The new name, Feather Nest, is built out of the phrase “feather your nest,” which was a tagline Allison had used for Phreckle Nose. Her perspective on photography is to bring art – the art of moments – into her clients’ homes. To that end, “Feather Nest” works metonymically to represent this idea. Breaking the name down into its parts, “feather” and “nest” we uncover even deeper meaning from the images these words/symbols evoke. In this instance, ambiguity is intentional and important because we want the client to imagine several images and emotions associated with these terms. Too much detail, like Eagle’s Feather Sweetgrass Nest, would be restrictive. As it is, clients may imagine the softness of feathers, downy feathers, beautiful feathers (like those of a peacock), while nest may evoke ideas like homeplace, coziness, and something thoughtfully put together.

And though clear to her now, Allison still remembers why she was initially hesitant, “I just saw it [Phreckle Nose] as something else. I was blinded by love, I guess. It’s like renaming your kid – you know, just waking up one day and having namer’s remorse and calling your child something different. I just didn’t see it.” A big part of her “seeing it” was the time she had to think about her brand during the process. “I am really grateful for the time it took to put this all together. It really forces you think about the business – what we are, where we are going. I got more than just a new brand and a new name, I got a new business plan. I needed that time really see what I wanted and what I needed.” Ultimately, what Allison came to see was that she needed a name that she could fully embrace. If she stuck with the Phreckle Nose brand, she had to embrace what that name represented – its semiotics and metonymy. If she wasn’t able to do that, then she had to accept that her inability to do so said something about her business; what it was and where it was going. That, in turn, translated to the fact that she had to find a name she could embrace – fully and without question.

To borrow a cliché, “what’s in a name?” Well, as you can see, there’s a great deal. Names carry weight. They overflow with ideas and represent different things to different people. In branding, the ability of any business to “embrace the name” lies in understanding what that name communicates about the business. It’s an all or none dynamic. When you look at your company name, ask yourself, “can I embrace these words and the images they evoke as representative of my company and its mission?” If your answer is not a firm “yes,” then it’s time for a change. The ability to embrace your name trumps any history or attachment you may feel towards that moniker. If you can’t embrace your name, then the name is not fulfilling its purpose. It’s not an easy path to walk, however, as Allison says, “it takes time, but it is definitely worth it.”

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years and spends his downtime thinking of better names for well-established companies … if only they would listen.

Keep an eye out for a Allison’s brand feature on the blog very soon… it will include some YUMMY letterpress business cards!

The principles of design

Balance: Balance is an equilibrium resulting from looking at images and judging them against our ideas of physical structure (such as mass, gravity or the sides of a page). Balance can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.  Symmetrical balance occurs when the weight of a composition is evenly distributed around a central vertical or horizontal axis. Asymmetrical balance occurs when the weight of a composition is not evenly distributed around a central axis. It involves the arranging of objects of differing size in such a way that they balance one another with their respective visual weights.

Rhythm: The repetition or alteration of elements, often with regularly defined intervals, or spaces.  Rhythm can create a sense of movement, progression, or simply repetition.

Proportion: The comparison of dimension of elements in relation to scale.

Dominance or Emphasis: Determines what in the composition is given the most visual weight.  Can be expressed as primary, secondary and tertiary information; or as dominant, sub-dominant, and subordinate.

Unity: The relationship of all parts of the composition to the whole.

Color

Hue: Hue is generally what is meant when you ask “What color is that?” What you are asking for is the hue. Red, yellow, green, blue, those are all the hues.

Saturation: Saturation is just like it sounds, the saturation of the color, or hue.  For instance, a room is painted one color, but throughout the day the saturation changes based on lighting conditions.  Think about it in terms of pale or weak versus pure or strong.

Shade: Adding black to a pure hue.

Tint: Adding white to a pure hue.

Tones: Adding gray to a pure hue.

Value: When we talk about a color in terms of its “lightness” and “darkness” we are talking about its value, this may also be called brightness.  It is a measure of a color in relation to white.  For instance, yellow is brighter than olive green, which is brighter than black.

Other type terms

Alignment: How a line of type relates to the edges of a column.  Examples are flush left, flush right, or justified.

Kerning: Kerning is the adjustment of the space between two letters.  If a typeface is spaced too uniformly, it creates a pattern in the letters that is not uniform enough, so to remedy that, designers often kern the letter spacing to create optical balance and equality.

Leading: The space between lines of type.  Also called line spacing.  Why is it called leading?  It goes back to the days of letterpress and manual printing.  When the typesetter hand-set the small lead type, letter by letter, they would space lines with a long solid piece of lead, whose thickness determined the spacing to the next line of type. The term has stayed, even as typesetting moved from manual to digital.

Tracking: Tracking is adjusting the spacing across a word, line, or column of text. Also known as letter spacing.

Typeface: A typeface is a set of one or more fonts, in one or more sizes, designed with stylistic unity. A typeface usually comprises an alphabet of letters, numerals, and punctuation marks. The term typeface is frequently interchanged with font, however the two terms had more clearly differentiated meanings before the advent of desktop publishing. A font is a specific style within a type family, or typeface. For example, Adobe Garamond Pro Bold is a font, within the typeface Adobe Garamond.

Graphics and images

Vector: Vector graphics are comprised of geometric “primitives” such as points, lines, curves, and/or polygons which use mathematical equations to create the image.  The benefit of using vector images is that they are infinitely scalable without distortion, and create smaller file sizes.  So your logo, whether it is 1/4″ high for a business card, or blown up for a car wrap, will maintain its quality.

Raster: Raster graphics, unlike vector graphics, are created with a series of pixels, or points of color.  Photographs, for instance, are raster graphics.  Raster graphics can show great photographic detail, however, if you have ever taken a picture with your cell phone and tried to blow it up, you are well aware that a raster image is not scalable above its original size.  That is because when you blow up a raster image, you are making the pixels visible, which creates that unattractive jagged, or artifacted look.

~Intern Julia

Now, the reality is that there are not a whole lot of people out there (well, any people out there) interested in the connections between an obscure modern poet and 700-year-old oral traditions, but I got a real sense of accomplishment knowing that something I created was important enough to fit into the definition of copyrightable material. This protection, afforded me by United States Constitution Article 1, Section 8 (the actual federal law is codified in US code Title 17), covers a whole cadre of creativity. The concept of “creation” is at the heart of copyright law.

However, the purpose behind copyright is not to necessarily “protect” anything. Its major purpose is to ensure the progress of new ideas. It allows the creator time to develop and innovate his or her idea into something more useful and more complete. By granting the creator a temporary monopoly over the creation (a time which varies based on what the copyrightable material is and how it was created), copyright law provides an opportunity for revision. The only exception to this rule is if lifting a copyright is in the public interest.

In order to be worthy of copyright, the created material must meet all three of the following requirements:

Fixation—the work exists in a medium from which the author’s expression can be read, seen, or heard, either directly or by the aid of a machine;
Originality—the work owes its origin and independent creation to an author;
Minimal creativity—the work is the product of at least a minimal level of creativity.

And fits into one of the following categories:

Literary works
Musical works, including any accompanying words
Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
Pantomimes and choreographic works
Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
Sound recordings
Architectural works

Yes, just about anything can be covered (even obscure dissertations). Furthermore, the process to obtain a copyright is fairly easy. However, there is the potential for misunderstanding in regard to the who and the why of copyright law as it pertains to something like design work. Oftentimes, clients coming to a design firm are flummoxed by the idea that they won’t “have ownership” of their new brand once it’s created – it is, after all, their brand (photographers will recognize this conflict as they “own” the photographs of their clients, but the client owns copies of the prints, which cannot be replicated unless by or with the permission of the photographer … complicated, ain’t it).

More than likely, this confusion arises out of ignorance concerning the difference between copyright and trademark. Remember, copyright law protects the creator. In regard to the issue between designer and client, the brand, while FOR the client, is BY the designer. It’s the designer’s creation and is representative of the designer’s work. Therefore, ownership lies with the designer. It protects him or her from misuse or misrepresentation of a creative work. Without a copyright, a logo or tagline could be attributed to the client’s creation, pirated by another individual for possible misuse or otherwise altered and used for purposes contrary to its original intent. And, though not directly addressed by the US code, the law also protects the client from the same dangers. It ensures that the brand is sustained and protects the client from imitation or replication of his or her brand by competitors or others wishing to profit from that brand.

A trademark differs from a copyright in that the trademark is used by an individual, business or other legal entity to signify to consumers that a product or service, with which the trademark appears, originates from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. In other words, the copyright protects the brand design while the trademark protects the brand and its products and services. A client may not own the design of the brand, but he or she can apply for a trademark to protect the brand – its name, products, services, etc. (look for the upcoming article on trademarks).

Back to copyright law …

The final point, and what many people don’t quite grasp, is that copyright infringement is illegal. A lot of clients go to design firms and request a design that “looks like (insert object of brand envy here).” When the designer attempts to explain why that can’t happen, the client becomes frustrated (“but that’s what I want”). There are a number of reasons “why,” including ethical reasons outside of the law such as preventing the birth of yet another branding cliché, but what’s most important is that “copying” another design is flirting with copyright infringement. Being inspired by a brand or a design is one thing – there’s nothing wrong with appreciating and finding inspiration in someone else’s ideas – but, the outright copying of another’s design is copyright infringement.

Overall, copyright law is in place to protect creativity and the progress of new ideas. For those working in the creative arts, copyright law is a tool for prevention against plagiarism. For more information on copyright law, check out the following link:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/title17/.

~Tyrie

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years … his dissertation, A Voice That Was Thin and Pure: Folklore as Literature and Literature as Folklore in the Works of Byron Herbert Reece, is available upon request.

For these examples, we’ll be using Adobe Garamond, as it is a beautifully designed serif font that clearly showcases everything we want to discuss. However, these terms do apply to all fonts.

Terms Defined:

Apex: the point where two ascending strokes meet (two descending strokes meeting is a vertex, like in V.)

Arms: the horizontal arm-like strokes of a letter, such as on E.

Ascender: the stroke of a letter that projects above the body of the letter, such as in b, d, or k.

Beak: a single-sided upper serif.

Bowl: a fully enclosed space in a letter.

Bracket: the part of a letter that connects the stroke to the serif, as in the example H.

Counter: a partially or fully enclosed space in a letter.

Crossbar: a horizontal stroke connecting two vertical strokes in a letter.

Diagonal: the angled strokes in a letter.

Dot: the mark placed above a lowercase i or j in most fonts.

Ear: small stroke protruding from the counter of a lowercase g.

Eye: enclosed area of a letter, such as in e.

Finial: finishing of a stroke.

Flags: can be unusual or more traditional flourish or finishing strokes at the tops of numerals, such as 1 and 5.

Hook: bent over or ‘hooked’ stroke, as in f.

Leg: diagonal (generally) stroke supporting a letter, such as R.

Ligature: two or more letters joined to create a single glyph for aesthetic or traditionally practical reasons.

Link: stroke connecting the counter to the loop, as in g.

Lobe: enclosed section of a letter, such as in P, B, or R.

Loop: descending, closed space, such as in g.

Sheared Terminal: the modified terminals of the stroke on lowercase t, combining the two upper strokes of t.

Shoulder: curved stroke, such as in n.

Spine: supporting stroke in a curved letter, such as S or 8.

Spur: modified and abbreviated serif, such as in b.

Stem: the main supporting horizontal stroke of a letter.

Stroke: the lines that make up a letter.

Tail: the descending horizontal stroke, such as in y.

Terminal: the end of a stroke, in the case of Garamond, generally slightly flared or rounded.

Waist: pinched area between two lobes, such as in B.

Links

If you would like to find out more about typeface anatomy, try these pages and resources.

Fontshop’s Glossary

Books: Designing Type by Karen Cheng

Books: Stop Stealing Sheep by Erik Spiekermann and E.M.Ginger

Books: Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton

~ Intern Julia

Business or “calling” cards, have a long history that dates back over 150 years (and, perhaps, before). They are a prominent part of corporate culture. “Here’s my card,” is not just a cliché – it’s a way of life. Myself, I have a drawer full of the things. They are all over my office and my home, tucked away here and there. The most important ones (including Rebecca’s) get placed in the pocket of one of my trusted Moleskin notebooks. And, yes, I do refer to them again and again to find all kinds of people I need to reach. Some I keep for practical purposes, others because of aesthetic reasons – no matter what the case, they are there and with me and, therefore, so are the people who first handed them to me. And while you may think that a business card is an “added” expense or a luxury, think again. A business card is the next best thing to being right next to a potential client. It allows him or her to take something to remember you by and provides what that person needs to find you again. Furthermore, it’s an expense that pays – perhaps even more so than big-budget marketing like fliers, rack cards, print advertisements, and the like. And, if used correctly, can turn potential clients into free advertisers. No matter if the focus is on an aesthetic element or informational content, a well-developed business card is more important than any other marketing medium you can invest in.

Think of this. Let’s say you are given the option to order 500 business cards at $1.00/card or 1000 at $.75/card. Which do you choose? Your first instinct is to consider price – $500 v/s $750. You recognize the deal you’re getting in the 1000 scenario, but then your logic kicks in and says something like, “hey, logic here, when are WE ever going to meet 1000 people? We don’t need that many cards.” Your logic assumes that you are only handing out one card per person. This is the moment where you should realize that logic hasn’t really been pulling its weight lately and maybe needs to be let go. Of course you don’t hand out one card. If you have someone’s attention and are discussing business and you are connecting on a level beyond, “so what do you do,” you need to leave that person with no less than three of your cards. Why? Because then, when he or she has another conversation with a friend or family member or associate who is also looking for a (insert your business type here), he or she may just feel good enough about you and your business to pass on one of those extra cards to that person. It’s word-of-mouth advertising X 100. Now that person’s friend/family member/associate also has your information AND an unsolicited endorsement from someone they already have a relationship with. It’s a dynamic marketing tool and one that most people don’t take full advantage of.

Remember, your business card is an extension of yourself. It communicates, through its aesthetic elements and its content, who you are, what you do and how you can be reached. In addition, it supplies a potential client with something tangible to remind him or her of your meeting OR reminds someone that a trusted acquaintance endorses your business. So, order more, give out more, get more for your investment.

Oh, what was on Rebbecca’s card? Simply her name, number, email and six check boxes that she marked accordingly, based on her conversations with the other attendees at the conference:

_ thanks, I highly respect your work
_ help … I need a job
_ it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance
_ I am seriously in love with you
_ @&$% off
_ come visit me sometime

memorable, eh?

~Tyrie

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years, including a brief stint as a student events coordinator at a small liberal arts college, which, by the by, is where began his obsession with business cards, day-glow t-shirts and free frisbees.

A world where people throw around words like “serif” and “transitional” and “oblique” without regard for those of you without a degree in graphic design or typography. It can be frustrating trying to describe the font style or look you want when you don’t know the lingo. However, there are some simple ways to communicate what you are looking for in that perfect font. In this post, we will discuss fonts in terms of font classifications. There is certainly more than one way to classify fonts, depending on where you are looking or who you talk to, so in this case, we are going to give you a general set of categories that may help you start your search.

Serif

Essentially, a serif is the little extra stroke found at the end of the main horizontal and vertical strokes of a letter. The look of the serif can vary greatly in serif fonts, as you can see in the selection below. Generally, serif fonts are more legible, or easier to read, when used in large amounts of text because the serif helps stabilize the line of letters and draws your eye left to right on the page. They also generally present a more traditional look, as they date back further than other types of fonts.

Slab Serif

Old Style

Sans Serif

A sans serif (french: sans meaning “without”) font is just what you might imagine then, a font without the serifs. You can see from the examples below that there are no strokes at the end of any of the letterforms. Sans serif fonts overall tend to appear more modern, and have many variations that can be geometric, organic, or more neutral in appearance. Helvetica is very popular for it’s ability to be neutral, and take on the personality of whatever it is designed with. Bryant is a more rounded, friendly, even childish font. Whitney is a great step between the two, still remaining neutral, but with a slightly more modern, friendly flare.

Geometric

Geometric fonts are created using geometric proportions. You can see in the examples below that the “o” for instance, is a near perfect circle, and all the other letters are based on near perfect triangles and squares. These fonts were designed in the 1920’s and 1930’s, to look “modern,” which now translates into a style reminiscent of the Art Deco and Bauhaus eras.

Other Categories

After grouping fonts into the two main categories of serif and sans serif, there are more specific categories in which they can be gathered. There is no universal standard, but we do have some guidelines when it comes to these categories.

Blackletter

Display

Display fonts can encompass a wide range of other fonts. Essentially, a display font is a font that is not meant to be small, or set with a large body of text. It was designed to be viewed large (36pt or larger) and used to catch attention, such as a headline. According to Ilene Strizver at U&LC Magazine “A good display typeface should have a distinct, assertive personality. Whether it’s a decorative design with a flamboyant attitude (the “life of the party”), or a simple bold sans with minimal embellishments (the “strong, silent” type), a good display design makes a powerful and specific first impression.”

Script

Last but certainly not least, scripts! Script fonts are just like they sound, fonts created to mimic handwritten letters. There are countless fonts, ranging from extremely classical styles to more modern “handwriting” styles. They can be clean, youthful, unkempt, vintage or grungy, and everywhere in between. Depending on the style choice, they can communicate something extremely formal or very casual. You can also create a more unique look if you choose a font with alternate characters, which provides an alphabet that has different versions of certain letters, that can be used to create a more unique and individualized look.

Traditional

Youthful

Vintage

Clean & Modern

Remember, there are many, many ways to categorize fonts, and the above are just some examples to get you started. In Part 2 of Fonts 101, we will delve into the anatomy of a letter, the pieces that create the written word, and how those subtle variations are what create each font’s unique appearance.

Links

If you are interested in purchasing fonts, or just learning more about whats out there, please visit some of these pages.

Hoefler & Frere-Jones

Fonts.com by Monotype

Myfonts.com

Adobe Fonts

Font Shop

~ Intern Julia

It’s to be expected that you are anxious. This is not just a financial investment, but an emotional investment that asks you to put the future of your business into someone else’s hands – often without the slightest idea as to what, exactly, they are doing with your business. At Luxecetera, we get this and want to demystify the process to help you better understand what to expect over the coming months. With any luck, this guide will help clear the path and make your journey a bit easier. Remember, this is a positive, enriching experience and we want you to be comfortable. We value your business and your trust and want you to enjoy, what should be, an exciting and constructive moment. So, read on and come with us, down the rabbit’s hole …

The first thing is getting on our waiting list. We are a small firm and one that prides itself on carefully and thoughtfully creating every brand “from scratch” As you read on, you will notice that we have a well-developed process that ensures every project is thoroughly developed and completed with each client – not dependent of her or him. It’s what differentiates us from a lot of our competitors. A $250 deposit holds your spot in line and waiting times vary. When you make your deposit, we will give you an approximate estimate as to how long the wait will be.

Once we’ve gotten you on the list, you will fill out our initial questionnaire, which is a mix of questions to help us understand the who, what, why, where, and how of you and your company. This is our first real glimpse into your business, so be sure to take the time to carefully think out and develop your answers. It’s essential that you are honest and thorough and (this is really important) detailed. For instance, with a question like “who are your clients,” don’t respond “moms” – there are a lot of “moms” out there. Tell us what kind of moms or families or engaged couples you are looking for. Use descriptive language and really pinpoint your client demographic. These questions are not just an exercise – they are an important part of the process. They get you really thinking about what you want for your business and help us to gain an understanding of what you need.

As soon as your name reaches the top of the waiting list, things kick into high gear. We begin with a consult. This will be our first real meeting since this whole thing began. Meeting new clients is an exciting event at Luxecetera. We’ve learned a little about you from your initial inquiry and the questionnaire, but now we get to assign a voice, personality, and (sometimes) a face to the individual we are working for. This is a time for both of us to ask the other questions and develop a real rapport. Together, we will review the questionnaire and you will have the opportunity to amend and further develop the ideas you expressed there. The designer will give you honest feedback and a professional perspective on your concepts. The phone consult is also a key decision-making time. We will discuss your options in regard to branding packages and help you to decide on one right for you and your business. This is also when you will make your first payment so that we can carry on the conceptualization process and start developing your new brand.

Now that we have your ideas and have come to an agreement about your design package, our designers set to work on creating concepts for your brand. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes branding action (sounds fun, doesn’t it!) at Luxecetera, involving our entire creative team. We have a diverse think-tank working for you, drafting concepts, writing brand statements, illustrating design elements and giving life to your ideas. Creativity literally flies all over the place (usually in the form of scribbled post-its, crumpled pieces of drafting paper and, on occasion, entire computers). We could show you all of this, but we don’t want you to think we’re out of our heads, so, just take our word for it, there is a lot going on. All you have to do is sit back, relax and wait for …

The concepts. Once all of the fantastic magic of conceptualization and design has calmed, you will be presented with the initial concepts for your brand design. Based on your branding package, you will receive a number of items at this time, such as logos, accents, taglines and the like. It is now time for you review these “drafts” and make some decisions. Try them on, see how they fit, use your imagination and picture you and your new brand on the beach or out to dinner with the kids: is this the one? But seriously, think about each concept carefully and consider what works and what doesn’t. The good thing is that you and we have already taken the time to think things through before we ever got started putting ink to paper, so these concepts should be very close to what you had imagined in the initial stages of this process. Our experience has taught us what works in this regard-that is why we have all of these steps. However, it doesn’t mean that every concept is perfect every time. So, if there are real issues in this stage, now is the time to identify them.

In a perfect world, you receive three “perfect” concepts and your toughest decision is which “perfect” design works best for you. But, we aren’t as vain as all that and know that revisions will, most likely, be necessary – however minor they may be. In most cases, you find that at least one of the concepts (usually two) is to your liking and you’re ready to move forward with that design. At this point in our journey it’s time to take a step back and see how we can make your chosen brand fit even better. Revision is a normal process and an important element in the design package. We are professionals and conduct ourselves as such, so don’t be afraid to offer critiques of the concepts we’ve provided. You won’t hurt our feelings (much, haha). That said, it is also important to keep in mind that revision does not constitute a re-conceptualization. If you have been a proactive part of this process, the concepts we send you should be very near-perfect visual representations of the ideas you helped to create. All that will be necessary is a few tweaks here and there, such as color changes, font alterations, layout, etc. In other words, with very few exceptions, we will not scrap these designs to create a new slate of concepts. That is not revision. Again (underscore this), we work to make this a reciprocal process – so long as you are onboard and active in that process, you will see concepts that match with your wants and needs.

Hard to believe, but we’ve arrived at our destination! After the revision process, you receive your completed concept or concepts and you choose … the most perfect, greatest, fantastic design for your business ever created! Well, hopefully. You’ve chosen a design and are left with a few decisions concerning your branding package. There is an opportunity to now upgrade. If you initially signed on for a logo and decide you want an entire branding package, we can do that. We are at the point of wrapping up, so consider those options. Whatever you decide, you now have a new brand and we move on to creating your deliverables:

For the logo, you will receive your logo in vector and layered .psd format, a lookguide with fonts, colors and instructions.

Brand packages will include the logo in vector and layered .psd format, patterns, accents, watermark files, the lookguide with fonts, colors and instructions.

Once those are received and reviewed, your second payment for the package is due. After the payment is received, you will be given the brand “projects,” 3 or 6, depending on your package, all built around the added brand accents.

And so, after all of that-the thinking, deciding, conceptualization, creation, revision and completion of your brand – all that is left to do is for you to fall in love with your business’ new look and feel. You have done it! Pop the champagne, order a deep-tissue massage, treat yourself to an expensive dinner and celebrate making an intelligent and beneficial investment in your business.

In the early 1990’s, a phenomenon occurred that absolutely changed my perspective on the world. No, it wasn’t some huge media event or an alien abduction (though, some of my closest friends and relatives may believe an abduction took place). Instead, this phenomenon was an underlying pattern I noticed in an aspect of my teenage existence that, at the time (and still today), seemed hugely important. Like most teenage boys, I was obsessed with music. This was the heyday of the compact disc and I spent every spare cent on new albums. This was also the era of grunge-the Seattle-based “new” sound that inspired legions of angst-riddled youth to trade their Nikes for Doc Martins (or, at the very least, a pair of combat boots), break out a trusty flannel, and start dying their hair. Groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead signaled a significant shift in the musical paradigm. They also signaled an evolution in the music industry.

This evolution was more innovation than invention and resurrected, ten-fold, the practice of taking something original and, based on its popularity, reproducing it again and again until the cow was milked dry. The result was a music industry flooded with Nirvana rip-offs and Eddie Vedder wannabes – and, by extension, one very disenchanted, curmudgeonly teenager (that would be me). Most of those rip-off groups and imitation artists have since disappeared, with a few sad exceptions. The groups from that era that have remained relevant (barring devastating suicides or band break-ups) are those that have maintained a creative edge and, in the words of branding guru Marty Neumeier, aren’t afraid to zig when everyone else zags (see Radiohead).

In his branding overview The Branding Gap, Neumeier recognizes originality (creativity) as the driving force behind any successful brand. He notes, “would-be leaders in any industry must come to grips with a self-evident truth-you can’t be a leader by following.” Unfortunately, in an economic environment (and, logically, a whole society) obsessed with short-term, instant gratification, businesses are more likely to follow trends rather than blaze new trails. (see also stay the course, safety in numbers, you first). The consequence of this ideology is a crowded market in nearly every industry operating today-from small, independent “boutiques” to the largest corporate identities. In short, repetition and redundancy is the norm. Ironically, it’s also bad for business.

If you talk to business owners about what makes ordinary businesses dynamic, most will agree that creativity is the nexus for every success story since Henry Ford. Yet, were you to ask those same business owners if they would be willing to take a creative chance in some aspect of their business, most would, contrary to what they just said, resist, resist, resist. Why? Well, to put it plain and simple, creativity requires risk and risk is not a popular term in business. It’s a catch-22, but one that business owners at all levels must address. The path of least resistance can possibly yield immediate, albeit short-term, results-it requires little risk, little expense, and can buoy a business just enough to turn a profit. The road less taken is treacherous and can lead to great long-term gain … it can also land you in a pit of venomous snakes (see Indiana Jones).

These basic rules of business translate to everything from product design to construction to hiring practices to, yes, brand development. Which brings us to the heart of this discussion. Nowhere is creativity and originality more important than in brand development. Your brand is the identity of your business. It’s the gateway between you and any potential client or customer. The thing is, you’re not only competing for their business, but you are competing for their business in a market flooded with hundreds, if not thousands, of other businesses offering the same or similar products as your own. You’re a photographer in an urban market? Guess what? (and you know this) There are several other photographers in your immediate area who also offer “fresh, fun, modern” photography to “capture your moments.” And, yes, their logo is also a camera, with a heart, carried by doves over a pink and brown landscape of trees and flowers. So, what sets you apart? Maybe your work is better than the others. Perhaps your photographs are dynamic works of art. But, your brand doesn’t communicate that. Your brand communicates that you are the same as the next business in a Google search. It’s a strange phenomenon of human behavior that dictates what looks the same on the outside is most likely the same on the inside, so all of those great nuances of your work that truly set you apart from the competition get lost in a jungle of branding clichés.

Don’t hang your head. It’s only natural. Imitation is, after all, the finest form of flattery. No doubt, you have a list of competitors or fellow photographers whose work you respect and who you know to be great businesspeople. You want to harness some of their magic for your own business and, so, you look for ways to incite the same response in your potential customers as they do in theirs. If it works for them, why not? Well, that’s the damnable thing of it. It doesn’t work for YOU. Their brand is their brand. Chances are, if they are a larger business that is respected and successful, they have used their resources to develop a true brand identity. It’s THEIR brand built on their unique products and perspectives. And, unfortunately, you aren’t the only photographer to be inspired by their website. Everyone else is too and those businesses are using the same design for their brand-just like you are. And so it goes, on and on, until … well, you get the picture.

This brings us back to another gem of wisdom from Marty Neumeier: “without fresh thinking, there’s no chance of magic.” Truer words … Originality is a risk, but it’s a risk worth taking. And, if done properly, the risk involved greatly decreases. It’s not that you need to design your brand and website and stationery-you’re not a designer. You’re a photographer and have a business to run to boot. However, you can make an informed, sound investment in a trusted design firm to create something for you. And if you’re already working with a designer, here’s another bit of wisdom: you must learn to conceptualize the world in a new light. Come to your designer with a vision for YOUR business-a vision independent of what “everyone else” is doing. It’s okay to appreciate design elements in the brands of other businesses in your industry, but never say “I want something like …” No, you don’t. You want something solely representative of you and your philosophies on your products and your company.

At the risk of wringing Marty Neumeier dry, let’s have one more piece of wisdom from this branding guru: “To achieve originality we need to abandon the comforts of habit, reason and the approval of our peers, and strike out in new directions […] creativity doesn’t require rethinking the wheel, but simply thinking in fresh ways.” More specifically, Marty is talking about seeing the unique qualities of your business and using those qualities to shape a business identity. So, when you are thinking about your brand think of it in terms of who you are as an artist, a business owner, and an individual versus who you are in relation to another business identity. You don’t want to be like anyone else-you want you and, by extension, your business to be exactly what it is and communicate that wonderful, beautifully unique identity to your potential clients. You don’t want to be the Monkeys. You want to be the Beatles. Be YOU. Be YOUR brand.

By Tyrie Smith: Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years, including two years as a music journalist for a number of fan and trade magazines read worldwide. He currently teaches English at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta and spends his weekends in search of “deleted Smiths singles and original, not re-released (underlined), Frank Zappa albums.”

There are some fundamental principles that really define what it is we do here at Luxecetera. Over the past few months since our launch, we have worked hard to communicate our unique philosophy – a philosophy built on strong, reciprocal relationships with each and every one of our clients. It’s this aspect of our overall mission as a design firm that is truly the foundation for all that we do.

An integral component in our business/client relationship is our blog. It’s here that we really like to keep everyone up-to-date on what we are doing – everything from posts about exciting new brand launches to special product information of interest to our clients and their friends. To expand on this service we are beginning a series of blog posts about the business of branding and design. These articles are intended to give an in-depth look into some of the guiding principles in the design world and to provide helpful, relevant knowledge to better assist our readers in their design decisions. Look for these Knowledge posts coming soon.