Billboards and marketing design.....

My husband and I make several road trips a year. We often see billboards that give you no clue as to what they are selling because they are so busy with an overloaded message. When I saw this photo above I about fell off the chair laughing as it leaves no doubt about the message though simply stated. A perfect example of good marketing no matter how you feel about George W. Bush. Simple, to the point, and not cluttered with too many graphics or text for people to try and read as they drive by. It gets your attention and makes you laugh or get angry depending on whether you are still waiting for the whole "hopey changey" thing to happen.
When I worked for an endodontist in Alaska we spent many hours peering into patients mouths so we would pass the time in one of two ways. We had a code system set up with fake names for office personnel that we were discussing. Little Napoleon was the son in law, Goldilocks was the receptionist in the Anchorage office, there was momma bear and poppa bear, Tinkerbell and so on. The other way we passed the time was to listen to the radio. Our favorite part of that was the commercials. We would talk about the voice over talent or no talent depending on the ad, the copy and so on. We would try to see if we could come up with better ideas as well. I love commercials TV or radio as they can be so creative. Marketing and advertising have a lot of ins and outs that business owners don't think about and are usually not told when being sold an ad campaign. Tips like never give a laundry list of what you sell. Pick out the "hook" item or service that will bring people to your business. Never start an ad with a question. For instance, " Are you tired.... of being sick and tired, being ripped off, being overweight and so the list goes. Most ads that start with a question are quickly silenced as the listener moves to the next station or mutes the radio until the 4-5 minute commercial break is over. Unfortunately most folks haven't figured out that most stations are all on the same schedule. A clever ad is fun or enjoyable to listen to, and will remind you that you haven't tried this or that yet, or wow that sounds great! The purpose of radio ads are to remind folks of what they either need or want and where to find it. It's called controlled word of mouth. One of the most satisfying work experiences I had was in creating an ad campaign for a flooring store that not only helped them grow, but gave them confidence that advertising does work when done correctly, and helps them grow some more. I really miss working in radio, the reporting, voice over work, copy writing and sales, all of it!
I got to thinking about this as I worked with a fellow artist to re-do her blog. She wanted a fresh look, new banner and set up. We had fun perusing images and so on and I had fun trying out new things with photoshop. As I was putting her banner together I was struggling with the placement of text and so on. It didn't come together until I changed one simple thing.... the message. Here's what I mean. We went from this

to this

Of course I've come a long way since I created her first banner two years ago. The message is simple, elegant, the text flows and the design fits her personality so well. If you get a chance stop by and see what her blog looks like now at  Seasonal Whimsies . I would love your feedback!

A New Venture.....

When you have an Aha! moment, and figure something out that has been haunting you for awhile its the best feeling in the world, well okay next to a hug from your grandchild or your husband tells someone on the phone how beautiful he thinks you are... 

Okay, so I talked my husband into letting me have a macbook for my birthday last year. I struggled at first having used a PC all my computer life, so I asked my dear friend and co leader of AHA what to do and she told me to start googling for all the things I needed to figure out. Wow! I never dreamed it would open up so many doors to creativity! But it has, and I'm addicted to designing on my computer now. So to feed my addiction I'm offering my services, for a fee of course, to help design banners, blog pages, auction templates and so on. So, if you like what you see for my back round and banner, contact me and let's get creative! I will still be working on my sculpts, paintings, ornaments, and dolls, but this is so much fun that I want to share it with you. I will be creating pages with links here on my blog and hopefully my website, with samples of my work that you can choose from, or we can do a custom design. 

Oh, and the photo above? My mom, grandma and great grandma. Aren't they beautiful? Mom was only not quite 2 there. She is my inspiration.....