These days, I still struggle when someone asks me what I want for Christmas. I’ve decided to put my foot down and force myself to put into words what I really, really want for Christmas.

1. Great design books

‘Logo’ by Michael Evamy
It’s been called the bible of logo designs and I think that may just be an accurate description. Logo is a compilation of over a thousand well designed logos from around the globe. The designs are sorted into 75 categories such as crosses, stars, crowns, animals, people, handwritten, illustrative type and more, for easy reference and inspiration.

Other books I have my eye on:
Logolounge 4: 2000 International Identities by Leading Designers by Catharine Fishel & Bill Gardner
Hand Job: A Catalog of Type by Michael Perry

2. Subscription to Communication Arts Magazine

www.commarts.com
Hailed the largest creative magazine in the world, Comm Arts Magazine showcases the best work in graphic design, advertising, illustration, photography and interactive design.

3. Bamboo chopping board

www.dandi.com.au
I’ve posted about the gorgeous Lorri bamboo chopping board from Dandi before. I still haven’t managed to obtain it yet, so it’s still on my wish list!

4. Desktop calendar

www.russellandhazel.com
I have a thing for letterpress at the best of times, so needless to say I fell in love with this gorgeous desktop calendar. While I work on a computer all day, I’m still big on traditional items like paper organisers and calendars, so I can say with certainty that I’d use this each and every day. *hint*

5. Ampersand bookends

crowswithbows @ etsy.com - Currently sold out, but gorgeous all the same
I’ve been looking at getting a set of Ampersand bookends for a while now. I mean, what designer doesn’t want these at some point or another?

6. Type tote

www.houseind.com
If there’s one thing I love about design, it’s the typography. This funky tote would be great to take shopping or on day trips to Sydney. It’d also go quite well with the slab pillows that I’m sure someone will end up getting for me!

7. Funky notebooks

www.kikki-k.com.au
A girl can never have enough notebooks, and these ones from Kikki-K are perfect for all of the sketching I have to do during my logo design projects. Useful AND good looking!

8. Owl wall clock

www.modamuse.com.au
I know, I know. Again, with the bird obsession. But come on, it’s a plywood clock with a deformed owl. This would look perfect in my kitchen!

There you have it, my top 8 lusted after items. I may have to buy myself a Christmas present after all!

SPROUT Publishing, has released the first title in the SPROUT the Life You Love series called Tales and Secrets from Female Entrepreneurs.

Celebrity authors include: Lipstick Queen, Poppy King; EMMY award winner, bestselling author and repeat OPRAH guest, Rhonda Britten; and the number #1 book publicist in the US, Arielle Ford – just to name a few!

It’s extremely flattering to be published alongside so many inspirational women. I have been given the opportunity the showcase my own personal journey to success.

SPROUT the Life You Love (Tales and Secrets from Female Entrepreneurs) is a valuable resource for women seeking motivation and inspiration to take their business ideas to the next level. Never before has there been such a great time to learn how to make money from home and from doing what you love.

The book contains 35 authors that are profiled and reveal their key secrets to personal and business success.

Check out Bergan Blue on page 106!

“The SPROUT concept is about empowering people to construct freedom in their lives by following their creative desires,” says SPROUT Publishing founder, Sarah Prout.

SPROUT the Life You Love (Tales and Secrets from Female Entrepreneurs) will be available in bookstores everywhere. For more information please visit http://www.SproutPublishing.com.au

It’s no secret I’m obsessed with birds in designs, as I’ve mentioned before, but over the last few months I’ve been noticing more and more animals in logos. Cute elephants, kitties, giraffes and fish are popping up everywhere and I’ve come to love them dearly.

Below are some of my favourite logos that include animals.

Do you have a favourite that I haven’t posted? Leave a comment!

Logos are thanks to Faveup, IncSpring, LogoPond, Five Little Ducks and Monkey Caboose.

In Part 1 of my Common Design Mistakes series I talked about some basic mistakes amateur designers and small business owners sometimes make when designing their own flyers and promotional items. In Part 2, I’m going to talk about some common design mistakes made in that place that is either loved or feared: the world wide web.

I mentioned that small business owners can’t always afford to hire a professional to design their flyers, letters, posters, etc. It’s no wonder then that a website would be seen as even less affordable. They cost more, take longer and it can be hard to find the right designer to get the job done.

I would urge anyone thinking about doing their own website to stop and consider the benefits of having it done professionally, but for those who simply can’t or don’t want to pay a professional, here are a few tips to get you going and some pitfalls to avoid.

splash and intro pages

My biggest beef with websites these days is intro pages. Now, for the moment at least, I’m not talking about splash pages – a pretty page with your logo and a link that says ‘enter here’. No, not those. I’m talking about those pages that just keep scrolling and scrolling and trying to convince you that the product or service being offered is what you need and that you should enter your email address or credit card details right this second so that you don’t miss out. Oh, and so that they’ll actually let you get to their real website.

It’s true that your website is there to ultimately sell your product or service, but this approach seems pushy and desperate and can often come across as one of those scam websites we all love – give me $50 and I’ll make your wildest dreams come true.

Unless you run an online store and your home page has products listed on it, you shouldn’t instantly be trying to shove your products down your visitors’ throats. While a lot of your website visitors will be typing your URL into their address bar because they’ve heard about you and are ready to buy, there are a hell of a lot more that are visiting your site because they want to know about your business. When the first thing they see is an ugly intro page full of text that takes them 10 minutes just to scroll through, let alone the 30 minutes to actually read it, your business can come across looking desperate, unprofessional, and with ‘hard sell’ written all over it. A professional website should not include an intro page. Take a look at the big names. I guarantee you won’t find an intro page in sight.

Splash pages are another huge concern. While they don’t appear gimmicky like intro pages, they can be a huge annoyance to your visitors, particularly if it’s a long-loading flash intro that doesn’t have the option to ’skip intro’. Whilst you may have a fast internet connection, many of your visitors may not and they will become mighty frustrated if they have to wait 60 seconds or more just for an intro to load. Let’s face it – internet users are impatient. Chances are that if you have not already established a relationship with one of these slow connection visitors, they’re going to become aggravated and close your site.

Aside from not wanting to annoy your visitors, you should consider the effect a splash page will have on your search engine rankings. Even if you’re not using flash for an intro page, it’s probably going to be a huge version of your logo or an awesome image coupled with the words ‘enter website’. When search engines look at your home page and see this, it’s not going to do much for your rankings.

According to Web Resource Center, ‘the skip intro link is often the most clicked link on sites which have intro pages.’ You wouldn’t make a customer stand out the front of your store or office and read a sign before they were allowed to enter, so why do it with your website?

is this the same business?

I often see websites that look nothing like the brand they’re meant to represent. There’ll be a logo present, sure, but not much else that tells you it’s even the same business. It’s quite simple: you need to keep your brand consistent and there is more to this than just having your logo on something. You should have specific colours you use that relate to you and your business as well as supporting elements that you put on your marketing material. Your website is no different – if you use a cluster of dots in the corner of your business cards and letterhead, incorporate this into your website. Use these dots next to page headings or titles or even as the dots on bullet points.

What you shouldn’t do is place your elegant red and brown logo on a site with a blue background and white text – these aren’t your colours and they’re not going to do a thing to reinforce your brand to your website visitors. The same goes for having a different style on every page of your site. Do this and your visitors will wonder if they’re even still on the same website.

stock photography

Stock photography isn’t necessarily a mistake, but overusing generic stock photos, such as the call centre woman with the headset, the smiling businessman, the computer mouse or a globe of the world, is never a good idea. These sorts of images are overused on the web and do not look genuine. They come across as impersonal and staged and really don’t lend any creativity to your website’s design.

If possible, have some photos professionally taken. Side note: if you’re having photos of yourself taken and you’re trying to convince people you can help them, you should try to look like you want to help them.

If you can’t afford to pay a photographer and need to use stock, make sure you pay for it – there is a huge difference between the quality of paid stock and the quality of free stock – and don’t just grab the first stock image you see. Dig deep. Don’t use one that will just ‘do’ but find one that fits perfectly with your image and the message you’re trying to get across. It can take hours to find the right stock photo, but the result is worth it.

not enough white space

In my last article, I spoke about the importance of white space in your advertisements and promotional material. The same goes for your website.

It can be tempting to fill up blank spaces with random images (see stock photo section above) or even banners and badges of affiliates and communities you’re involved with. But the catch with temptation is that you shouldn’t always give in to it. If you’re a business, you want to come across as professional. Filling up every inch of space on your site with images, text, videos, etc. will make your site seem cluttered. Cluttered equals disorganized and messy which equals unprofessional.

If you really need to put up banners, random images or blocks of text, have a separate page for them and lay them out in a structured, organized manner. Don’t try and cram them into the side bar of your site because it seems like they might just squeeze in. These aren’t things that need to be on your home page (half of them probably don’t need to even be on your site) so give them their own space and avoid ruining the layout of your site.

too much text / not enough text / ugly text

While we’re revisiting points made in the last article, we may as well revisit this point as well. Text – there are so many ways it can go wrong.

You need to strike a good balance with the text on your site. You need enough to inform the reader and tell them everything they’ve come to your site to find out, but you don’t want so much text that they start to skim over it and don’t really take anything in.

When I was at uni, I was told something that stuck (even if I don’t make use of it very often). ‘Make every word count.’ Do this with your website. Read over what you’ve written and if it seems like you’re going on a bit or you’re unsure if the reader really needs to read that paragraph, chances are they don’t. Get rid of it.

In the same instance, you shouldn’t have a page on your website with 1 tiny paragraph and a huge blank space underneath it. If this is what you’ve got, you probably don’t need a whole page for that information. Try putting it in your About Us page or similar.

Your best bet? Hire a copywriter that knows what works on the web.

When styling your text, avoid having 10 different typefaces and sizes. Pick one or two and work with that. You should never have a whole paragraph in 8pt and another directly underneath in 14pt. Don’t constantly alternate between sizes, colours and fonts for the sake of it. Use a larger size for your headings and a smaller one for the text underneath it to keep your pages clean and consistent in style.

images resized in code

In short, if you have a large image that you want to appear smaller on your site, resize it using an image editing program and use the smaller version. Whatever you do, don’t resize it in the code. Doing this can cause your images to appear distorted and can also be a pain as far as loading time goes. A 1mb image that has been resized in the code may appear smaller, but it’s still a 1mb image and its loading time will reflect this.

getting it over and done with

It’s important to remember that your website isn’t just one of those things that’s fun to have. It’s an important marketing vehicle and can bring in a lot of business, so it isn’t something that should ever be rushed. A good web design takes time and should be well thought out and planned down to the smallest detail.

Your website is something that will evolve over time and is never really ‘finished’. Treat it as an ongoing project and you will not only have fun watching it grow and change, but will have more luck with search engines and will, over time, work out what works best for your business on the web.

As you slouch back into your favourite arm chair, flick on the television and immerse yourself into your regular sitcoms and other programs, you can’t help but feel the boredom settling in as the same old advertisements crop up on your screen during the ever so regular commercial breaks. Without fail, those same string of ads appear. Whether they’re the same old KFC ads or those commercials that look like they were made twenty years ago, its always the same old same boring commercials. You’ll find these culprits on all marketing platforms - radio, print and the web - and chances are you’re wearing a guilty grin right now!

With so many design trends already in place and well over used, businesses now need to visit more creative avenues of getting their message out there. No longer can a business rely solely on the old ‘tried and true’ techniques. Sure, you may get some exposure from your efforts but at the end of the day, there is still a large risk of you getting lost in all of the wish-wash of marketing materials going around. It’s time we all started thinking outside of the box, taking some risks and jumping outside of our comfort zone and the best way to achieve this is via creative advertising.

creative advertising?

To put it simply, creative advertising is the use of extremely unique or utterly obscure imagery to get your message across and combining that with popular viral marketing techniques to get your message out there. You don’t have to do a complete brand makeover to accommodate for such promotions either. All you need is some guts and some exceptionally creative genius and you’re already on your way.

The biggest problem with so many businesses is that they want to play it safe. They’re uncertain of the effects such a marketing campaign could have on their business especially if they’re marketing themselves to corporates or other larger organisations. It can be daunting, but it is the risk you have to take to separate yourself from the thousands of other people in your industry who are still biting their nails over taking such a leap. Don’t be one of those businesses.

Taking the leap into creative advertising can give your business the edge it needs to succeed. It can drop you into a niche market (whether by accident or by plan) or could even further enhance your current market position by giving you that unique look that you’ve been after for so long. Some other benefits of throwing your marketing sanity out the window include:

• Instantly Recognisable Marketing Material: With such a unique marketing campaign, your marketing material and brand will be instantly recognisable by the public and extremely memorable.
• Increased Buzz Marketing: As your campaign is so obscure, it’s only normal for people to talk. Have you mentioned the new Cadbury Gorilla ad to anyone yet? I thought so.
• Increased Opportunities for Viral Marketing: When you’re promoting yourself so uniquely, opportunities arise for people to spread the word and tell their friends.
• Opportunities for Brand Development: Now that you have such a strong image, you may choose to implement this new method of marketing into your brand and ultimately further solidifying your position within the market.

still confused?

To put things into perspective, I have a few great examples of creative advertising that’s currently in use, some right here in Australia. These examples are sure to get you inspired and will give you a better idea of what approaches you can take to get your message heard.

• Cadbury – Gorilla TV Advertisement: Cadbury, leading Australian manufacturer of milk chocolate who definitely aren’t afraid of being creative when it comes to their marketing efforts, recently released a new advertisement to add to their already creative marketing campaign. To put it simply, it’s a gorilla playing drums with a purple and white background that matches their branding. Who could forget an ad like this? It’s memorable, it’s branded, it’s utterly unique and everyone loves the theme music – not to mention the big cute gorilla! See it online: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=iKdQC-hbY7k
• Spring Valley – Neglected Sensible Shelter: Fruit drink manufacturer Spring Valley came up with the ‘Sensible’ – an adorable looking little creature that represents our inner health. Their use of the ‘Sensible’ is to show how the general public no longer look after themselves as much as they should and how they are ultimately harming their Sensible. The Neglected Sensible Shelter website allows you to find, nurture and replenish your Sensible. See it online: http://www.saveyoursensible.com
• Agency Fusion – Make my Logo Bigger Cream: Here is a fantastic example of creative advertising and viral marketing. Agency Fusion, a US based graphic designer, came up with a great little movie focused around the ‘Make my Logo Bigger Cream’ which is a product that apparently helps your logo stand out and improve your brand’s recognition. The humour combined with the uniqueness proved to be a hit on the Internet and thus the video has been viewed by millions of users the world over. See it online: http://makemylogobiggercream.com

Below are some interesting creative advertising that various companies around the world have implemented. You’ll quickly see how unique and how eye catching they truly are. A huge thank you goes out to Jacob Cass of Just Creative Design (http://www.justcreativedesign.com) for these images.

getting the ball rolling

First things first, you need to come up with something exceptionally new and something that has never been done in your industry before as far as marketing is concerned. The more obscure the idea the better. If your idea sounds like something nobody in their right mind would do, then you’re probably heading down a good path. Brainstorm, brainstorm and brainstorm! Throw your creative cap on and get those ideas flowing!

Once you have some ideas, it would be well worth your while to approach a marketing agency to help further your idea and to really refine your message, however if you’re working with a limited budget, just think things through as thoroughly as you can. Determine what marketing vehicles you could use to get your message out there – print, web, television, radio – whatever you think will compliment your outrageous idea yet will attract your target audience in the most effective manner possible. Bundle all this together and throw it into action by adding it to your marketing plan.

Although this sounds like oodles of fun and games, this is in fact a very serious exercise and requires a lot of attention to detail. It’s important to note that although you’re coming up with some crazy ideas, you need to pay close attention to how you execute your campaign and ultimately how it all ties back in with your business, its image, its messages and its brand. The ideas you come up with could end up shaping your brand or positioning your business within its market in some truly unexpected ways.

So, next time you’re reviewing your marketing plan and are trying to come up with some new ways to build awareness for your business, think outside the box and consider some truly creative advertising options to grab the attention of your target market. It may be the dash of creativity your business needs to separate itself from the herd and establish that strong position in the market you’ve always dreamt about.

1. Use your design superpowers for good - design a poster or flyer that opens peoples eyes to the issue of poverty and put it anywhere you legally can.
2. Design an educational website teaching people about the effects of poverty in your area.
3. Run a mini Blog Action Day type event on your blog - ask people to sponsor you by donating $1 for every post you make about poverty in a 24 hour period.
4. Host a fundraiser BBQ and invite your clients. Charge them an entry fee and donate the proceeds.
5. Donate your time - give a talk to a classroom of people trying to free themselves from poverty about the business world or design.
6. Organise a design competition in your area and speak to your local council or community radio stations about free promotion. Ask entrants to draw or design something to do with poverty, whether a poster or an innovative representation of an idea to end poverty.
7. Turn your computer and office equipment off when you don’t need it. Calculate the money saved on electricity and donate it.
8. Donate your design services for free to a charity. Let them call on you when they need flyers designed or a website developed.
9. Donate your in-house e-commerce software to a charity to allow them to accept donations on their website.
10. Offer to manage the content on a charity’s website for free, to allow them to concentrate on more important things.
11. Donate a portion of your earnings to helping rid the world of poverty. Ie. Donate 10% from every logo design to The Global Fund (or your organisation of choice).
12. Set up an account with BuySellAds.com and start selling ad space on your website or blog, with the intention of donating every cent of it to a good cause.
13. Start a blog dedicated to the issue of poverty. Post only about that topic and use your design skills to come up with some pretty provocative imagery.
14. Work with other designers to come up with ideas about how your industry can make a difference.
15. Take time out from posting on your blog about design for one day and instead use the time to interview a homeless person. Post the interview on your blog and get it to spread like wild-fire. Let the world hear the personal story of one sufferer.

first place

First place goes to Ab K. of NSW for his interesting take on the poster design. I know I wouldn’t have thought of a comic.

second place

Second place goes to Keri P. of TAS for her very in-your-face design. Great work!

runners-up

The first runner up is Ben R. from NSW. Ben also receives a Box of Stuff thanks to Blue Zamboo!

The second runner up is Melissa Morris of NJ, USA, who is also the owner of the very lovely Operation Nice.

The third runner up place goes to Jacob C. of NSW for his simple but fantastic pink poster! Jacob also receives a one hour of personal or business phone coaching thanks to Crossroads Life Coaching.

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who entered. You’ve helped raise $79 for The Global Fund! I’d also like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful businesses that have sponsored this competition.

First, just a reminder of the prizes:

The first place winner will receive: 1 x Logo re-design - thanks to Bergan Blue; 1 x Business card design - thanks to Bergan Blue; 1 x copy of The Path To Success - thanks to Sprout Publishing; 1 x subscription to Communication Arts; 1 x $50 Gift Voucher to spend at Joliv - thanks to Joliv; 1 x $50 voucher for Dawson Documents VA Services - thanks to Dawson Documents; 1 x hair treatment and blowdry - thanks to Hairplex (available to Sydney/NSW winners only) - Valued at approx. $1,345!

The second place winner will receive: 1 x Business card design - thanks to Bergan Blue; 1 x phone consultation or resume update - thanks to Enhance Your Chances; 1 x copy of The Path To Success - thanks to Sprout Publishing; 1 x $60 Gift Voucher to spend at Tayana - thanks to Tayana; 1 x Moving Memory DVD - thanks to Zana productions; 1 x Nutrimetics Little Luxuries Fragrance Collection - thanks to Dawson Documents; 1 x BubbaLog baby log book - thanks to BubbaLog - Valued at approx. $520!

Three runners-up will receive 1 x copy of The Path To Success - thanks to Sprout Publishing. One runner up will also receive 1 x hour telephone life coaching session - thanks to Crossroads Life Coaching and one will win a Box of Stuff thanks to Blue Zamboo! Both of these winners will be randomly picked.

the entries

The winners will be announced at 5pm AEDT.

Just Tweet It, that’s what!

Just Tweet It is a directory for Twitter users interested in finding and following other Twitter users with the same interests. All you need is a Twitter account and away you go. Find the category that describes you best and add your Twitter link (mine is www.twitter.com/marnieb!) as well as a short description about who you are or why other people should follow you.

Head on over to Just Tweet It and add yourself. I have.

Want to help a good cause AND win great prizes? You do? Great!

To help raise funds for Blog Action Day, marnieb.com is running a small competition with some big prizes!

As a designer, I of course wanted the competition to be focused on design. This doesn’t mean you have to be a professional designer to enter though. If you like to doodle, paint or fiddle with Photoshop in your spare time, you are welcome to enter. After all, it is for a good cause so why limit the donations by only allowing certain people to enter? The prizes have also been chosen to reflect this - they are prizes that the every day person can enjoy, so you’d better get enterin’!

how do i enter?

All you have to do to enter is design a poster themed end poverty and donate $2 or more!

Posters must be 500 pixels wide by 700 pixels high. Aside from that, entrants are free to interpret the theme any way they choose.

Your entry could be a sketch of a revolutionary idea to end poverty, it could be completely typographic, it could be a graphical representation of the suffering poverty causes, anything. You are free to design as you choose, as long as the words ‘end poverty’ are included in your design.

prizes!

Entries will be judged on the 14th of October, 2008. There will be prizes for first and second place, as well as 3 runner-up places.

first place

1 x Logo re-design - thanks to Bergan Blue
1 x Business card design - thanks to Bergan Blue
1 x copy of The Path To Success - thanks to Sprout Publishing
1 x subscription to Communication Arts
1 x $50 Gift Voucher to spend at Joliv - thanks to Joliv
1 x $50 voucher for Dawson Documents VA Services - thanks to Dawson Documents
1 x hair treatment and blowdry - thanks to Hairplex (available to Sydney/NSW winners only)
Valued at approx. $1,345!

second place

1 x Business card design - thanks to Bergan Blue
1 x phone consultation or resume update - thanks to Enhance Your Chances
1 x copy of The Path To Success - thanks to Sprout Publishing
1 x $60 Gift Voucher to spend at Tayana - thanks to Tayana
1 x Moving Memory DVD - thanks to Zana productions
1 x Nutrimetics Little Luxuries Fragrance Collection - thanks to Dawson Documents
1 x BubbaLog baby log book - thanks to BubbaLog
Valued at approx. $520!

runner-up

Runners-up will receive a copy of The Path to Sucess, and one lucky entrant, which will be randomly picked, will receive 1 x hour telephone life coaching session - thanks to Crossroads Life Coaching. There is also a Box of Stuff to be won thanks to Blue Zamboo!

where will my money go?

ALL money donated will go directly to The Global Fund. The Global Fund combats AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, all which have a crippling effect on the fight against poverty. In 2008 The Global Fund is the official Blog Action Day charity. Your donation will be processed via Change.org and will not enter the hands of anyone involved in this competition or anyone at Marnieb.com.

ready to enter?

Use the ‘donate’ button below to donate $2 or more to The Global Fund. Once you’ve done this, email your entry to blogactionday@marnieb.com with your name, phone number and location.

sponsors

The above prize packs would not be possible without the generosity of some great businesses. I’d like to thank each and every one of your for donating a prize and being willing to give up your time/products for such a great cause.