Thursday, August 21, 2014

Graphic Design that Sparkles

Sparkle! Shine! Be noticed! Attract customers! That's what you want for your product or service.  But how do you attain that? 

Great graphic design is the key! Graphic design that creates sparkle and pizzaz and magnetizes your target clients to you is what you are looking for.  When you begin to look for the right graphic designer, it can seem that there are way too many to choose from.  Most will have a graphic design portfolio on line.  This is the place to start. 

What is it that sets one apart from another? How do you judge graphic design for yourself?  It's not an easy task, because it also involves personal taste, but here are some basic design elements that will help as you look at their portfolios. 

Emotional Response.  Take the time to look at their work and see how it affects you.  Do you like it?  Does it make you want to know more, buy more?  Do you respond in some way? It is usually an effective emotional response that make us want to act or buy.  In the graphic design you are reviewing you want to assess the degree to which the pieces initiate an emotional response.

Use of White Space.  Probably the first and foremost consideration is the use of white space in the graphic design.   Is the message presented simply with lots of surrounding space, or is the space cluttered and you don't know where to look next.  Examine a number of the graphic design pieces in the designer's portfolio.  Knowing how and when to use white space is a talent and an art.  Does this designer have it? 

Simple Easy to Understand Message.  Just like white space, the message should be simple and easy to understand.  Competing messages don't make for sparkle and notice in graphic design. 

Meaningful Unique Bold Graphics.  Our brains process visually, so the visual message is very important, often more important than the words.   How clear and bold are the graphics in the work of the design you are considering.  Do you get the message immediately?  Are the visuals different and unique or do you have the feeling that you've seen them before.  Is the designer using the same "stock" images as everybody else or do they find new and unique ways to present their message. 

Effective use of Type or Fonts.  Does the type style match the emotional feel of the piece?  Does is help the message to stand out.  Is it readable? 

Benefits.  While benefits are a selling point and not really a part of the design itself, they are a very important part of what makes a piece sizzle and sparke, because it's the benefits that magnetize clients to you.  So be sure your designer has included benefits in their design pieces. 

Drama.  Does their graphic design work have drama?  Drama engages the reader, involves the reader, keeps them looking and then remembering long after they've seen the piece.  This is another part of what creates magnetism. 

Spend some time with each online portfolio.  Talk to the graphic designer.  As for references and then, talk to their clients to get a feel for how well their work has produced results.  How happy were they with the graphic design services they received.  Would they use the designer again? 

With all this information, finding the right graphic design firm to create sparkle, sizzle and magnetism for your product or service should be a cinch. 

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Hacker Steals Secret Government Plans - Protect Your Information, Or Pay The Price

There are two main types of information where access needs to be managed; 1) Company Information 2) Private Individual Information Companies limit access to certain information on their computer network as a matter of routine. Not everyone will be able to access last month's sales figures or know the detailed plans for next year. Everyone accepts this as reasonable and protection against speculation in the company's shares. Management of sensitive information of this type is can be achieved by firewalls and password protection within a company's computer network. Access to the information can also be at various levels, eg read only or editing rights. Backing up data on a daily basis is an essential part of a company's disaster recovery plan. Very sensitive information may not be stored on a network connected computer. Hackers are a security threat that most IT network managers are very aware of. Every company and government body also gathers information on us. That might be as simple as a database of phone numbers and addresses, or it could include your Social Security number and driving licence details. There are laws in place to limit how that information is accessed and used. Government agencies and large companies usually comply fully with all state and federal legislation regarding Information management. They have personnel who are exclusively responsible for managing the information databases. Small businesses may be less vigilant in their compliance, not through a lack of willingness, but through a lack of knowledge or management time. When there is effectively one person making all planning and management decisions in a company, a policy for information management is not always high on the agenda. You have the right to see the information that any company or organization holds on you and to have it corrected if inaccuracies exist. You should also ask what the company uses the information for, whether it is for marketing purposes or whether the information is shared with other companies.
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