Advertising Blog
What Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos can teach us about advertising and marketing
Did you know that Halloween is but one of the holidays celebrated at the end of October? There are actually many festivals held at the end of October, but the two most famous ones are Halloween and Día De Los Muertos While the holidays share some minor similarities,...
Why Good Design Grows Businesses
Graphic Design is art with a purpose. It’s meant to be a tool to communicate information between a business and its customers or potential customers. There is a lot of chatter around about whether graphic design helps a business – Does it matter for a business’s...
Understanding Fonts in Graphic Design
Fonts are the main tools to convey your message from the sender (you) to the receiver (your clients). Part of what graphic design is supposed to accomplish is to make this message look attractive so your customers will actually engage with your brand and read your...
The top 2 questions I get asked the most as a graphic design and visual marketing specialist
I spend a lot of time answering questions for potential clients, active clients, and former clients. I love answering their questions. It’s always fascinating to see what people want to know. Yet, I seem to find myself answering these same 2 questions the most, and...
Ask the Designer: Common Questions about Stock Art and Stock Media
I spend a lot of time discussing art and media with my clients. A topic of conversation that usually comes up is stock art and stock media. Stock photography alone makes an appearance in half of all ads with 9 out of 10 digital marketers using stock photos in their...
5 ways to boost the visibility of a business
Visibility. It’s a word thrown around on the internet a lot these days. What it means for business owners is advertising and putting your business out in front of potential customers. Businesses need visibility to grow - especially if you're in a fairly saturated...
5 Smartphone Apps I Use to Run My Business
It takes a lot to run a business and we all have our tools to get it done. Here are 5 apps on my phone that I love and use regularly for my business. DISCLAIMER: I do not have anything to do with any of these apps! I just like them and recommend them as a fan!...
3 easy ways to choose colors for your business
One of the top questions I get regularly is “how do I pick a color palette” for my business. Here I have three tips for picking a color palette and two reasons why color is good for business. Why you need it: Reason 1: Color helps a business get remembered. People...
5 common design choices that make a design less attractive
I’ve spent close to a decade doing graphic design in Orange County, California and I’ve seen a lot of designs that have these same unfortunate choices in them. It makes them stick out as something created by a newer designer or non-designer and can change the...
How to Determine Your Business’s Ideal Client
We talk about needing Ideal clients in your business. It’s mentioned that these are the people who want, need and will like who you are and what you’re offering them. It’s also well recognized that these folks are different for each business. The question I feel like...
2,000-year-old selling techniques that still work!
Over 2,000 years ago, Greek philosopher, Aristotle came up with his Rhetorical Triangle that was made up of the 3 pillars of persuasion. These pillars (I call them techniques) of selling still work! Ideally, an advertisement or sales pitch would use all three of these...
10 Ways to Help Your Business Right Now
Right now, the world is in the middle of a health crisis. New terms like "self-isolation" and "social distancing" have caught on. Gatherings and public events are canceled. Many businesses are shut down, others have employees working from home. For small business...
5 Ways to Show Gratitude for your clients
This is a time of year where as much as things speed up they also slow down. They let us take a pause and reflect on the past year. It’s a time where we can express our gratitude for all that we have. This is a great time of year to show your gratitude to your...
Social Media Best Practices
Let’s Connect on Facebook! View Me on Instagram! Follow me on Twitter! We live in a very social world where Facebook and its Social Media peers have taken over as main way for customers to connect with their favorite brands. Due to this shift, social media has become...
Banner Basics
The weather is warming up and the days are getting longer, which means it is definitely spring time and also graduation season. Many students are graduating in May and others in June. These are also times for celebratory parties and often times proud parents create...
Celtic Design
When most people in the United States think of the month of March they think about Saint Patrick’s Day, with it’s green color scheme, and love of all things Irish. However Saint Patrick’s Day flattens out a robust culture to a few tired stereotypes. Archeologists...
Ask the Designer: Brochures
What is a Brochure? A brochure is a type of advertisement that communicates information from the sender to receiver, such as from a business to its customers. Brochures are typically printed on glossy high quality paper in full color, and are folded. They can be as...
Poster Design
It’s November already and that means holiday and holiday travels are around the corner. Air travel has made it possible for the average American citizen to be “home for the holidays.” Air Travel in America became popular in the 1950s with the rise of jet planes over...
Marketing Opportunities with Odd Holidays
If I asked you to name the holiday that lands on January 1 or May 5, you would probably know the answers. What about March 14 or May 4? If you love pie, mathematics or the movie Star Wars you just might know those holidays too. Lesser-known holidays, such as Pi Day...
The History of the Invitation
Traditionally, written invitations are used for larger scale “life cycle” events such as weddings, anniversaries, important birthdays or baby related events such as a baby shower. How did all of this get started? Here is a brief overview of the history of the written...