Let’s talk stock photography for a minute. I’ve written before about the dos and don’ts of using “free” images from the Internet. It’s a daily concern for most modern professionals. With the ubiquity of social media and the increased emphasis on storytelling as marketing, content is undoubtedly king, and producing and enhancing that content is… Read More
Author: Jessica Mellen
Print Terms Cheat Sheet
Hello again from your friendly neighborhood designer. Today’s topic: print! Registration, process colors, show through, binding, finishing… there are just so many terms and so many customizable specifications, diving into print can be a bit overwhelming. But worry not! Click the thumbnail below for a downloadable PDF cheat sheet of common print terms for your… Read More
Saving the World, One Print Project at a Time
Hello again from your friendly neighborhood designer! Let’s take a moment to talk about eco-friendly printing. On its face, it sounds a little like an oxymoron- if you’re printing a catalog or brochure, you’re using paper, and if you’re using paper, you’re using trees, right? But there are absolutely steps you can take to reduce… Read More
Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator – Oh My!
In today’s installment of Ask A Designer, we’ll be dealing with design software. It’s pretty common knowledge that Adobe software is the industry standard- with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign specifically being the heaviest hitters- but if you don’t deal with these programs every day it’s easy to get confused about their individual uses. As… Read More
Back to the Retro Brand Future!
Conventional marketing wisdom seems to focus on the fact that innovation is king, and we should always be striving for that next big bright shiny new idea. Except, it seems, when it comes to branding. Going retro is hardly the newest trend (just ask my boyfriend- thanks to Air Jordan’s retro re-releases, his shoe collection… Read More
Please, I Prefer “Non-Traditionally Productive Individual.”
Last week saw Fight Procrastination Day come and go (September 6th, if you want to mark it on your calendar next year) so I suppose there’s a certain fitting irony to the fact that I’m just now getting around to writing about it. And (surprise, surprise!) I’m writing as an advocate. Procrastination has always been… Read More
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em!
It seems like all anybody involved in marketing wants to talk about these days is social media- how you can use Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. to actively connect with your audience and build your brand. But it can start to feel like a full-time job, just trying to keep up with what trends are current… Read More
All My Friends Are Kleptomaniacs
We’ve all been there. You have a presentation in an hour, and slide 14 is looking a little bare. Or you have a marketing email to send, but you’re worried no one will read it if you don’t spice it up a little. Or maybe you have an article to write for your company’s blog,… Read More
Color Matching for Beginners
With St. Patrick’s Day in our rearview mirror, it’s the perfect time to be discussing color. And in what field is color a major concern? Print! Or as I like to call it, marketing’s sister. Okay, I’ve never called it that. However, it IS hard to be involved with marketing and not at least brush… Read More