Good design is more than making things pretty
| 9 April 2020
As a designer, I obviously want everything I create to look great, as well as being impactful and eye-catching. But good design isn’t all about making things look pretty, it’s about so much more, including: Functionality – if a tube map was to scale, image how big it would be! Presenting information in the right [Read more…]
The Consistency Factor
| 8 March 2020
Every day people make decisions about your business based on your reputation and your interactions and communications. To be successful, your brand needs to be consistent in three key areas – visibility, credibility and profitability. Visibility Not only do you need to constantly market yourself (social media, networking and meetings), but you also need to [Read more…]
Walking the graphic design tightrope
| 15 February 2020
I’ve never thought of myself as a natural acrobat, but when a client decides to engage my services, I feel like I am walking a proverbial tightrope. Essentially, I see my role as a facilitator, correctly balancing their needs with the right amount of specialist knowledge, expertise, advice and creativity. Every client comes to me [Read more…]
How long till Christmas?
| 5 December 2019
You know what – Christmas shouldn’t catch us out should it? Afterall it has occurred on exactly the same date for hundreds of years. Despite this, every year there is always someone buying food and presents at the very last minute. But it’s not just this time of year. I’m frequently asked how quickly we [Read more…]
Exhibition success is in the planning
| 22 October 2019
Just recently I had a number of businesses approach Pixooma that had booked a space at an exhibition, but they were in a bit of a panic. In each case the event itself was only a few weeks away at most, but they weren’t fully prepared and didn’t have all the materials they needed. To [Read more…]
Do you trust reviews?
| 25 September 2019
Genuine reviews and recommendations are incredibly useful: when a roofer was recently recommended to me – his advice saved me hundreds of pounds, but are all reviews equal? Fake Reviews Some companies give away products in return for the promise of a glowing review. Sometimes the good review isn’t from a customer at all – [Read more…]
It’s good to ‘geek out’!
| 8 August 2019
It’s very easy to look at a technique, app or system and dismissively think “I don’t need that”, or “that’s not for me”. I certainly felt that way about ‘Gantt Charts’. I thought they were a bit dull and boring and that I didn’t need them – maybe you’re thinking the same as me? Back [Read more…]
Paying promptly
| 8 July 2019
For small businesses, where cash flow is critical, being paid on time is vital. But to me, there seems to be a rather perverse imbalance when it comes to getting paid: The biggest players insist on prompt payment without any credit… When you go to a supermarket you pay as you take the goods. When [Read more…]
What good is a guarantee?
| 10 June 2019
In my last blog, I disagreed with an article which suggested a guarantee was a crazy thing to offer. You can read the full blog here. But in this blog, I want to look more closely at how useful a guarantee, brand promise or strapline actually is. Lots of companies use grand-sounding phrases, but what do [Read more…]
