Caption: Put yourself in a mink’s place. Don’t buy animal skins.
Animals suffer like we do!

Caption: Put yourself in a pig’s place. Help us stop anesthetic-free pig castration.
Animals suffer like we do!

White space should not be considered merely ‘blank’ space — it is an important element of design which enables the objects in it to exist at all, the balance between positive (or non-white) and the use of negative spaces is key to aesthetic composition.

When space is at a premium, such as some types of magazine, newspaper, and yellow pages advertising, white space is limited in order to get as much vital information on to the page as possible. A page crammed full of text or graphics with very little white space runs the risk of appearing busy, cluttered, and is typically difficult to read. Some designs compensate for this problem through the careful use of leading and typeface.

Judicious use of white space can give a page a classic, elegant, or rich appearance. For example, upscale brands often use ad layouts with little text and a lot of white space. Inexpert use of white space can make a page appear incomplete.

Our design team could go on and on about how important white space is, and I support them completely. That said, and in support of white space, I offer you the following websites that have been deemed “excellent use of white space”:

You can view the list of fabulous white space sites here.

If you live in Portland, Oregon or the surrounding metropolitan area, you probably have Comcast as your internet provider. And because most of us like things to be simple, you probably have them for cable television too. In my neighborhood, we don’t have a choice. There is no Qwest or Clear Channel to provide us with competitive rates and services.

Across the United States, people are cutting their cable television at an alarming rate (Technologizer). Some of them are doing so in protest of the monopoly held by large companies, others because they have simply lost interest in the product and are choosing to read rather than flip through 225 channels hoping for something worthwhile to spend their time watching. For many citizens, the economy has dictated that corners must be cut, which has caused us to eat out less and find alternative forms of entertainment.

Enter WII, Netflix, HULU, and probably a dozen other alternatives to that $80.00 ‘basic’ cable bill. My household disconnected cable for “all of the above”. It made us mad we didn’t have a choice in providers, we started reading more and it just didn’t make sense to pay so much for so little. Realistically, if we are patient, we can watch Dexter commercial-free in a few months, or sooner, at our leisure for a lot less than it costs to get it “Right Now”. We’re okay with that and our quality of life has not suffered since we reverted back to Rabbit Ears. In the technology world, this is called “Good Enough”. Cable was more convenient, but we’ve found work-arounds that are satisfying enough to offset paying for “On Demand” television. In fact, a lot of it is On Demand, you just have to know where to find it.

What we do use every single day, is the internet. For roughly $60.00 per month, we have the same privileges as anyone else who pays for a High Speed Internet Provider. When I send an E-mail from home, it goes out at the same speed and efficiency as it would were I to send it from a large, publicly traded company. Right now it does, but some companies want to change that across the board and frankly, some of their motives are highly suspicious, verging on unwholesome and possibly, morally corrupt.

There is an excellent article on Wikipedia about Net Neutrality, the pros and cons, and what it could mean to consumers and businesses both large and small. Essentially, Net Neutrality will allow your internet providers to create a tiered billing system similar to those used by your mobile providers. Packets of data, FTP and file sharing will cost more. That makes sense, right? The heavier users like youtube, Amazon and other large retailers will have to pay more for their traffic. The problem is, simple users like me could end up paying more each month as well, or suffer a loss of efficiency unseen since the dial-up days. Write your E-mail at 6am? Perhaps it will get sent by 8:00am. Or maybe not, it depends on your level of service and where you fall within the hierarchy of the New Web Order.

My internal Conspiracy Theorist thinks that it has more to do with competition for entertainment dollars than anything else. There’s simply too much competition out there on the internet, and they want to make us pay for it, one way or another. Your Netflix subscription may be only $18.00 per month, but in the future, if you want to stream that video live rather than pop the DVD in, you might get a little surprise on your tiered internet bill the following month.

Peering around the corner in my trench coat,

Mrs. Knightly

First and foremost, make sure your eblast (whether it’s a promotional email or an e-card) is readable by the majority of your recipients. Use a standard file format (like a .gif) and test across a variety of different browsers. If you are working with an agency, confirm that this testing is a part of their eblast protocol (it definitely should be, but don’t assume).

Second, use a high quality subject line. If you’re sending a holiday greeting, something like “Happy Holidays from Zoom Creates” should do the trick. However, if your eblast is more promotional than simply a friendly ‘hello’, write a few subject lines and run them through a subject line validator, like the one found here. This will ensure that the subject line doesn’t make your eblast look like spam and get tossed into a junkmail folder.

Third, schedule your eblast properly for the best open rates. Mondays and Fridays are not good days to send eblasts because people are fairly overwhelmed on Mondays and most of the time have already mentally “checked out” on Friday. If you want to get their attention, it’s best to send on a Tuesday or Wednesday. There is some debate about the best time of day to blast, but it is my personal opinion based on experience and results that 10am (PST) is ideal. This time makes perfect sense to me because at this time in the morning, people have already done their “morning clean out” of their inboxes and will notice a single email coming in at this time. For the east coasters, they are just returning from lunch and there’s a better chance that your email will get seen.

Finally, and very very importantly, track your results! Again, if you are working with an agency, they should be doing this. Request prior to your eblast campaign actually going out that they let you know when you’ll be receiving your results and what that will include. You should be looking for (at the very least) Open Rates, Click Through Rates, Opt-outs, Bounce Backs and a breakdown of exactly which links were clicked within the email (if applicable).

If you follow these best practices, you’ll have the very best chance of a successful eblast campaign! Additionally, Zoom Creates is always available to assist with your next eblast campaign, large or small, and we’ll be sure to guide you through the process every step of the way!

As a child of the 70′s, I clearly missed the boat on one important collectible — Owls. My family even owned some. A trio of metal hooters welded painstakingly into sculpture, a carved wooden wise-one with eyes fashioned out of some kind of garishly colored resin that fascinated me, even a macrame owl perched haughtily between two driftwood branches.

All of them gone. Except for the pair (shown below, center top) which I inherited from my Grandparents and a small piggy bank. Back in the 80′s and 90′s, I used to make regular rounds of the thrift stores in my neighborhood. It galls me to think how many precious owls I passed up for $.50 that I could now be selling on Ebay for $50.00 (or more!).

What is the next big collectible? What are we passing up in the jumbled tangles of the houseware aisles?

Peevishly,

Mrs. Knightly

From a marketing standpoint, I think these are effective, since long after we saw the actual commercial, we’re still talking about it. Am I going to run out and buy a Kia just because I liked the commercial? Probably not. Am I going to get a Windows 7 phone simply because the marketing was good (even though I’m a devout Mac fan)? Perish the thought! However, these commercials did what any good commercial should do and what any marketing agency (at the very least) should try to achieve through advertising: it got people talking! And…. when people talk, other people listen and you never know when you’ll be ready to purchase a car or a phone and these clever little companies go from providers of an entertaining commercial to a top of mind option for consumers.

Mobile is only getting bigger. Thousands of new apps are hitting app stores every day. The result is that even innovative or well-made apps are often ignored.

One reason for this is that far too many mobile developers start their marketing efforts after they launch their app. This approach wastes one of the best marketing opportunities available — when the app first goes into an app store. Many app creators don’t realize that marketing needs to occur parallel to development and build over time.

To help, here are five tips for marketing a mobile app before it launches.

1. Build a Splash Page

One of the easiest ways to generate interest in an app, even if the app is just an idea, is to build a splash page.

Typical splash pages include a device image, some branding relevant to the app, very basic details about the app’s functionality and social media links. Creating a newsletter sign-up form at this stage also gives people the opportunity to stay updated about progress. Yes, newsletters still work!

The splash page will act as the headquarters for an app, until it’s actually built. Eventually, the splash page should grow to house the full website.

2. Do a Sneak Peek

Communities have really come alive on sites like Dribbble, Forrst, Ember, and comparable outlets. These sites are specifically built to share sneak peeks of works in progress. Perhaps more importantly, however, is that they also represent free places to get extremely high quality feedback from the best in the business. There’s no better way to generate interest in an app than by having peers and potential customers actually contributing to the final version.

App-focused blogs also love featuring cool new apps in development. If you pique their interest, it’s very likely they’ll write about an app even while it’s being built. That’s especially true if they are given exclusive screenshots and other details about the app that aren’t available to others.

3. Create a Teaser Video

It’s not necessary to be a professional videographer to develop a good video preview of an in-progress app. In fact, the simpler it is, the better.

Showcase the key features and include some upbeat background music or interesting narrative. Remember, what you want to highlight is the promise of the app. The final version does not need to be completed at this point.

4. Rally Beta Testers

Not only will beta testers provide feedback about how to improve the app, they’ll also become advocates for it once the app actually launches. You’ll then have an army of people that will help both in testing and marketing your app.

5. Share Promo Codes With Key Contacts

Using promo codes this way will let these contacts review the app in advance of its official release date. And for those who agree to write about the app, you might even suggest they post their review the same day the app becomes available, giving it greater visibility and attention from the outset.

Ever wondered how great names like Nike, Mercedes and Google come from? Did they just pop out of nowhere? Or was there a premeditated strategy behind their evolution? I remember reading this great quote by Thomas C. Haliburton. “Nicknames stick to people, and the most ridiculous are the most adhesive.” That is exactly the case with famous brands like Yahoo, Google, Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Their names have such a connotation that they stick to our minds with ease and simplicity. But how to determine which name would be ideal for your company? There are many styles of naming a company. Some famous brands are named after their owners while others are suggestive in nature. Following are 8 universal style in which a company name is shaped:

1. Actual Names:
The most common style of naming a company is after the name of a real person. The real person might be the owner/founder of the brand, son/daughter of the owner or maybe a celebrity liking. But the name is real and genuine and not made-up. For example:

• Ford – Named after founder, Henry Ford.
• Mercedes – First name of the daughter of Emil Jellinek, engineer of the car.
• Boeing – Named after founder William Boeing
• Dell – Named after founder Michael Saul Dell
• Getty Images – Named after founder Mark Getty

2. Invented Names:
Another creative style of shaping a company name is by inventing a word that sounds pleasant and catchy. One of the reasons for fabricating a name is to sound foreign (known as foreign branding). Another reason could be that the made-up word is a common term and memorable. For example:

• CISCO – Not an abbreviation but short for San Francisco
• Haagen-Dazs – Made-up name to give it a foreign sound, has no meaning
• Dr. Pepper – Not named after a real doctor, just a made-up character.
• Yahoo! – Founders liked the meaning of the word. “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle” is not an acronym but a backronym

3. Analogies and Metaphors:
One of the most trendy styles of coming up with a corporate name is using metaphors and analogies. Analogy is basically a term that bears resemblance, one way or another, to your business nature. Although the name itself might have no relation to your business, but it would clearly explain your business purpose. For example:

• Apple – Told to be the favorite fruit of Steve Jobs or for the time he worked at an apple orchard.
• Caterpillar - A company photographer resembled tractor’s movement to a caterpillar.
• Adobe – From the Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of co-founder John Warnock.
• Fuji – Named after Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan
• Virgin – Suggestion from a student saying “the company was virgin at business”.

4. Abbreviations:
One of the most convenient ways of naming a company is by abbreviating the name. It is beneficial of your corporate name is lengthy and also increases the level of recall of the brand. Some acronyms are pronounced individually while others are pronounced as a single word. Like my blog acronym GDB (Graphic Design Blog) is pronounced G, D, B separately. Other examples include:

• FCUK – French Connection United Kingdom
• DKNY – Donna Karan New York
• BMW – Bayerische Motoren Werke
• ESPN – Entertainment and Sports Programming Network
• bebo – Blog Early, Blog Often

5. Conjunctions:
When you are running out of a single word to name your company with, try using a conjunction. Mixing two words together to form a new word is helpful especially when your business nature is extensive to describe. Examples are:

• Microsoft – Microcomputer + Software
• Intel – Integrated Electronics
• Netscape – Net+ Landscape
• Skype – Sky + Peer-to-Peer
• Wikipedia – Swiki + encyclopedia

6. Derived:
Sometimes company names are formed out of a long and protracted strategy. The decision makers of the name use terms of different origins to connote their business to it. Popular terminologies include words derived from Greek, Latin and other mythical jargon. For Example:

• Volvo – From the Latin word volvo, which means “I roll”
• Starbucks – Named after Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick
• Coca-Cola – Derived from the coca leaves and kola nuts used as flavoring
• Nike – Named after the Greek goddess of victory.
• Xerox – Derived from the Greek xeros (dry) and graphos (writing)

7. Word Jumble:
When words are not enough to express your business nature, try combining a few numbers as well. It adds more attraction and ease to the company name. Moreover, using numbers work as a contraption. Like for the term “three” one can use the digit “3” instead to shorten the name. Some examples are:

• 3M – From the company’s original name, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
• 7-UP – A subsidiary brand of Pepsi Co.
• 20th Century Fox – Merger of William Fox’s Fox Film and Twentieth Century Pictures.
• 3Com – Network technology producer; the three coms are computer, communication, and compatibility
• 7-Eleven – Convenience stores; renamed from “U-Tote’m” in 1946 to reflect their newly extended hours, 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m

8. Playing with words:
On rare occasions company name just don’t come out as they were originally intended to be. Deliberately or accidentally the company plays with words and a new name is born. Sometimes, they are changed because another company already exists by that name. Sometimes a mistake or typo creates another word that generates more attraction. I’d like to call this the ‘twist of fate’ technique.

• Google – An originally accidental misspelling of the word googol.
• Digg.com – “Digg” was used instead of “Dig” because the domain name “dig.com” was previously registered.
• Reebok – Alternate spelling of rhebok (Pelea capreolus), an African antelope.
• Harpo Productions – Production Company founded by Oprah Winfrey. Harpo is Oprah backwards.
• Adidas – Mixing up the founders name (Adolf (Adi) Dassler).

I’ve pulled some of the finer points out of the presentation, but in reality, the whole thing is worth the time it’ll take you to watch it. However, for those of you who are “Cliff’s Notes” kind of people, here you go:

1. Sort out a cohesive color scheme for you presentation. A great tool to assist you with finding colors that look spectacular together is ColourLovers.com.

2. Do not, repeat, do not use more than 2-3 type styles in your presentation and if possible, find a font family and stick with it. Any more than this and it starts looking tacky.

3. Less is more. Various sources argue this point but the bottom line is that you should not be using more than 75 words per slide and it should really be closer to 40.

4. Incorporate videos as much as possible, but the ideal length of a video is 30 seconds, no more than 2 minutes.

5. Use photos instead of words. It is proven that people remember text 60% better when it is accompanied by a photo. That’s just how we remember things, folks. So, find a site that offers free photos, royalty free photos or use your own photos. Either way, use photos.

6. Do not print out your slides, ever. If you need to share, find a slide sharing site like slideshare.net or provide your audience with your email address and offer to email them the presentation after the show.

7. Do not ever use bullets. There are better ways than bullets, you just gotta believe me.

The following advertisements, in some way, shape or form, invoke feelings. Some are larger than life, others are optical illusions and some are simply standard print ads that make you think.

A seafood company strategically placed oversized clam shells on the actual beach, all of which featured a printed insert motivating consumers to buy seafood.

McDonalds used already existing light posts to persuade walk-by traffic to purchase their coffee by pouring them a super sized cup.

If you stare at the signage below long enough, you’ll want to sober up before getting by the wheel too.

The billboard below, featured at one of the largest gatherings of car fanatics, features a smoke machine built into the back that actually shows the onlooker just how well the new Mustang can burnout.

The in-flight advertisement below is by far my favorite. Window decals were created to inspire executive travelers to check out the newly recreated Mercedes Gull Wing. Travelers also received model cars as a take away.

Credits to D-Lists, Ads of the World and Google.