We jumped right in with the design of four different information products! From the workbook front and back covers, to the CD wrappers and CD labels, to the design of the workbook content, Bourn Creative created four beautiful foundations to showcase the in-depth content inside each of these products — I know because I read the all of the workbooks and transcripts included in each product as I was laying out the content… and I learned a TON just from reading them!

You can check out Kendall’s products yourself at: http://www.kendallsummerhawk.com

After the information product design was completed and the files were prepped and sent to print, it was onto the design of the Workbooks for Kendall’s live event, Leap, and the design of the logo, offer brochure and application for her new Stars 6-Figure Courageous Coaching Club.

Aren’t the colors used in the Stars logo and brochure just gorgeous (see below)? I had so much fun working on these projects — and not just because they are beautiful. Kendall and her team clearly understand the impact great design can have on sales conversions and profits, and they really gave us the space to do what we do best!

The other thing that I love about working with Kendall and her team is the clarity they have around the Kendall SummerHawk brand.

From the fonts, to the color palette, to the voice, and the message, the brand story is personal, unique, consistent, and clear.

Here’s what Kendall SummerHawk had to say about working with Bourn Creative on her design projects:
 

Your corporate identity adds consistency to your brand and uplevels your professionalism.

Also sometimes referred to as a stationery package, a corporate identity package, or the identity and visual graphic design of your business encompasses things like:

The key to creating a successful corporate identity package for your business, is to use a defined set of colors, typefaces, and design elements consistently on all materials. That usually means hiring a professional graphic designer to help you design your visual brand and create a brand style for your business.

Think about these examples… An email signature with bright colors and funky fonts can be a huge contradiction for serious businesses and cause a disconnect for prospects. Or a flyer using cheesey clipart and printed on a home printer would be completely out of alignment with a professional design company.

Remember, it may only take a few minutes, or even a few hundred dollars to create the different elements of your corporate identity package – but it may be seen by hundreds, if not thousands of prospects and clients over time.

1. Attract the viewer
2. Declare your message
3. Get them to take action

With so much noise on the web today, and the natural ADD nature of most web surfers, your worst enemy is the browser back button. After someone lands on your website from a search engine, status update, marketing promotion, Tweet, or email link, you have a very short window of opportunity to keep them on your site, so let’s cover each step.

Attract the Viewer

If your site looks unprofessional, is difficult to navigate, has boring cookie-cutter content, or has an overall harsh feel to it, your visitor will probably hit the Back button before the page finished loading. This is where good design matters.

Good design for business websites is about designing for your target market, not your peers, other designers, or your competitors. Good website design is also about is making sure the user can find the information they want quickly and easily. And it definitely helps if your website isn’t ugly and doesn’t look like your “friend’s husband who is good with computers” built it for you.

Declare Your Message

There are numerous small factors in this statement that all add up to a lot when trying to make a first impression with your website in under 10 seconds. If you are using a free hosted web design program and your site sits on a URL with anything other than your domain name in it, you are silently declaring.

1. I don’t take my business seriously.
2. Not enough people actually hire me, so I can’t afford a self hosted site.
3. I have no idea what I am doing, nor do I know who to ask for help.

The same goes for your domain name selection. In the US, a business should use a .com extension, and not a .net, .biz, .tv, or any other extension. The only exception would be for a non-profit to use a .org. Regularly our clients say to us, “But the .com of my business name is taken and I have already registered my business license.” To solve this we suggest using a domain name that declares the solution you provide.

Also, your domain name should be easy to remember and easy to spell with common terminology. Avoid using numbers in place of words and avoid using hyphens. Think about verbally telling someone your domain name. Will you say “Just go to GardeningFunForYou.com” or will you have to say something like, “Just go to Gardening dash Fun for, that’s the number four not the word, You with you spelled out.”

In web design, there is the term, above the fold, that has historic roots to the newspaper industry. After years of study, publishers and editors found that by putting the most important and compelling headlines, stories, and photos “above the fold” of the newspaper so they were the most visible in the racks and stands, they sold more papers. The same holds true for web design. Your most compelling content, calls to action, etc. should try to remain “above the fold”. In web design, this is what is visible in a browser window without having to scroll down the page. Most studies suggest that a height of 768 pixels is what most browser  windows are set to.

When designing your website or creating your content, you need to put your most important items above the fold. We usually include:

1. Business name, Logo and/or Photo, Tag Line
2. Primary Navigation
3. Email Marketing Opt-In Offer
4. Calls to Action or Primary Headlines

When someone lands on your site, and the most important information about your business is above the fold, your visitor can absorb everything quickly and determine that your site is exactly what they are looking for.

Get Them to Take Action

Now this doesn’t mean that you are trying to get someone to buy something or opt-in under ten seconds. “Taking Action” can be as little as scrolling down the page and reading all of your content or clicking on a button or link to learn more. Well written headlines that answer a question that your visitor has, along with important info in the first few sentences, is usually enough to keep someone on your page, especially if this content is visible above the fold.

Avoid pop-up windows, videos or audio messages that automatically start, or too much advertising. Your business website’s sole focus is your target market and serving them to the absolute best of your ability. It should focus on providing useful, valuable information quickly.

• Your content must be easy to find, well organized, clear, and reachable by two to three clicks of the mouse or less to reach it.

• Your design must help reinforce and enhance your brand, position you as an expert, and build your credibility.

• Your back end must integrate automation tools that make your job easier, make the visitors’ experience better, and streamline your processes.

Your goal is to create a synergy between the overall site, the design, and the content that helps create chemistry with your visitors so they keep coming back.

Imagine a room full of people all trying to market their products and services and sell to the same person at the same time. The room is packed with people talking at the prospect. The prospect is looking out into the crowd and he is getting frustrated because everyone is talking at the same time and he really can’t hear anything.

As time goes by the prospect is getting frustrated. The people marketing and selling to the prospect are also getting frustrated and some begin to shout in an attempt to get their voice heard. Soon, the noise level in the room gets louder and louder and the prospect starts to think about putting in earplugs. Do you want to join that crowd of marketers and have your message blend in with all of the other messages? NO WAY! You want to be the person who finds a microphone and stands on a chair!

You goal is to rise above the traditional marketing hype.

Your marketing materials are tools meant to assist your customer in their buying decision. The old way of marketing, pushing your products on your audience and focusing on how much money you will make, is no longer working. The new way of marketing, pulling your prospects to you and focusing on making it as easy as possible to decide to purchase your products and services, is the secret to your marketing success.

To make your marketing compelling, you must include a crystal clear statement of benefits and advantage in a very prominent place, like the headline or first sentence. You must ensure them that by viewing, listening to, or reading your marketing material, they will learn something new or receive something of value. And, you must make it easy to make a decision and take action.

Compelling marketing materials are the perfect combination of a persuasive message, a crystal clear call to action, and simple, attention-getting, professional graphic design with the right marketing piece. They also communicate the right message, to the right person, at the right time. And, with well-designed, benefits driven, compelling, easy to understand marketing materials you will be able to successfully cut through all of the other marketing messages out there to reach your ideal client. Your marketing materials need to address your ideal client’s problems and position you as the obvious “duh” solution.

Remember, your ideal clients WANT to buy from you. But they don’t want to feel like they are being pushed, pulled, manipulated, or sold, and they don’t want you to waste their time with irrelevant information. They want you to guide them to the important information. They want you to make it easy for them to make a decision. They want accurate, honest information not big promises, omissions, and hype. They want genuine help, not manipulation posing as help.

You only have one opportunity to make a first impression, and trust me, you don’t want to risk making a bad impression with an unprofessional marketing piece or confusing your audience with items look like they are from completely different companies.

Each and every piece of branded marketing material, whether it is online or offline, should represent your brand, your promise, and your value authentically and consistently. A cohesive marketing strategy and strong visual brand will not only help you communicate feelings of stability, credibility, and dependability, which are key factors in building trust, but they will also help the recipient decide whether they are going to save your sales piece, or throw it away.

So do yourself a favor, hire Bourn Creative to create compelling, eye-catching marketing and sales materials that will blow your competition away and pull your ideal clients right to your doorstep! Or, if you’re still on the fence, check out my blog post on Why Do I Need to Hire a Professional Graphic Designer?

What Marketing Materials Does My Business Need?

You know you need some professional marketing materials so you can get out there and promote your business, your products, and your services. But what do you need exactly? A brochure, ezine, stationery, folder, flyer, website, blog? With all of the different options you have to choose from, how do you know what to do first and how do you know which is the best choice for your business? And more important, which pieces will get you the biggest return on your investment and bring you the most value?

These are questions I get asked all the time and my answer is always the same. There are three main marketing pieces that every solopreneur, entrepreneur and small business owners must have. They are:

1. A business card
2. A website or blogsite
3. A follow up marketing piece

Check out my blog post on this very topic: 3 Marketing Pieces Entrepreneurs Must Have and learn more about why these items are the top three I recommend and what they need to include.

We’re updating and upgrading all of our materials and will continue to do so over the next few months as we continue to build the business not only around our clients’ needs, requests, and desires, but around our growing team’s amazing talents and expertise!

If you’re a subscriber of our email newsletter Design & Profit, you’ve already seen some of Bourn Creative’s graphic design upgrade. Soon, we’ll be launching the website design upgrade and the blog design upgrade as well!

So, you’ll notice a little less of my smiling face on everything. But don’t worry… I am still in the driver’s seat and I am taking the drive of a lifetime.

I am so excited about the business growth we’re experiencing and I truly appreciate each and every one of you who continue to support us. I look forward to sharing the journey with you and continuing to improve our service and business practices!

Best Wishes and Incredible Success,

Jennifer Bourn, Art Director & Online Marketing Strategist
jennifer@bourncreative.com.

What bothers me the most is that most smart business owners blindly turn to a graphic designer or web designer to design them a site that makes them “look cool” to their competitors.

Here’s the problem with that approach: Your competitors aren’t going to buy from you or hire you.

Website design isn’t about your designer adding another edgy piece to their portfolio that pushes the boundaries and makes them look cool to other designers.

Website design isn’t about using all of the programming tricks and capabilities available. Remember, custom animation was popular in PowerPoint when it first came out, but now you’re sort of a dork if you use it. Some of those website features work the same way.

Website design also isn’t about jockeying for the coolest site award among your peers. This isn’t high school and no one cares what stickers you have on your binder or what patches you have on your backpack.

What people do care about is that they can find the information they are looking for quickly and easily. It also helps if your website isn’t ugly and doesn’t look like your “friend’s husband who is good with computers” built it for you.

With that said, here is what designing your website should be about:

Your business website has nothing to do with your competitors. It’s sole focus is your target market and serving them to the absolute best of your ability. It should focus on providing useful, valuable information quickly. Your content should be easy to find and should take as few clicks as possible to reach it.

The website development should include the integration of automation tools that make your job easier, make the visitors’ experience better, and streamline your processes.

The web design should focus on organizing and presenting the information clearly. It should make the content easy to read and should guide the user through the site. The design should also help reinforce and enhance your brand, position you as an expert, and build your credibility.

Think of your website this way – the website is the movie, the content is the leading actor, and the design is the supporting actor.

Your goal is to create a synergy between the overall site, the design, and the content that helps create chemistry with your visitors so they keep coming back.

Typically the files types the average person will not be able to open are the files with the extensions AI, EPS, and PSD. Each of these three file types require a special software program used by designers, printers, signage manufacturers, and promotional product manufacturers.

Here is a quick list of the different file extensions you may come across when working with a graphic designer, what each of them stand for, and how the file format is used.

1. AI: Adobe Illustrator
   AI files are vector files used by designers and commercial printers to generate files of different file formats and sizes. AI files can only be opened using Adobe Illustrator and may be created in layers. An AI file is one of the most preferred formats by printers, promotional product companies, silk screeners, banner and sign companies, and other third party creatives.
2. EPS: Encapsulated Postscript
   EPS files are most commonly used by designers to transfer an image or artwork, generally a vector file into another application. Vector-based EPS files are scalable to any size. EPS files can be opened using Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, or Adobe Photoshop. A vector EPS file is one of the most preferred formats by printers, promotional product companies, silk screeners, banner and sign companies, and other third party creatives.
3. PDF: Portable Document Format
   A PDF is a universal file format that preserves/embeds the fonts, images, layout and graphics of any source document, regardless of the application used to create it. PDF files can be shared, viewed and printed by anyone with the free Adobe Reader software. Some PDF files can be used for commercial, digital, and/or desktop printing.
4. PSD: Photoshop Document
   The PSD file format, usually a raster format, contains graphics and photos created in Adobe Photoshop image editing software. Most commonly used by designer and printers. PSD files can only be opened using Photoshop and may be created in layers.
5. JPG: Joint Photographic Experts Group
   A JPG file is a compressed image file that does not support a transparent background. The level of compression in JPG files can vary in resolution with high quality for desktop printing, medium quality for web viewing and low quality for email. When compressed repeatedly the overall quality of a JPG image is reduced.
6. GIF: Graphics Interchange Format
   GIF files are low resolution files most commonly used for web and email purposes. Almost all browsers can support the use of GIF files, which use a compression scheme to keep the file size small. GIF files can be created with a transparent background.
7. TIF: Tagged Image File Format
   The TIF/TIFF file format is most commonly used for storing images, photography, or art. TIF files are most commonly used in professional environments and commercial printing. The TIF format is the most widely supported format across all platforms. It is the standard format for high quality images. Though large in size, TIF formats are considered to be the most reliable format for high quality images.
8. PNG: Portable Network Graphics
   The PNG file format is most commonly used for use online and on websites due to their low resolution. PNG files are bitmap images that employ lossless data compression, and like GIF files, PNG files can be created with a transparent background.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to answer it!

Here is a brief outline of the seven step logo design and graphic design process that I use for each project:

CREATIVE BRIEF.
In this first step, I gather all of the information possible from you. I ask questions and get to know your needs, desires, and expectations. The information gathered in this step is then compiled into a creative brief to be reviewed and approved by all decision-makers.

EDUCATION.
This step involves researching your business and industry. If budget allows, research on your competitors, similar products/services/companies, gaps in the market or industry, and opportunities for differentiation. This includes visual research as well looking at the design styles used in your industry as well.

SKETCHING AND CONCEPTING.
This step may include sketching in a notebook or on scraps of paper, trying out ideas and joining elements on the computer, collaging elements together, or even taking a walk. Sometimes my best ideas come to me while walking the trail by my house or going for a quiet drive. This is truly creative part of the process where the concepts for your logo evolve from. The sketches are merged, tweaked, refined, and changed until the final concepts are ready to be presented to you for review.

PRESENTATION.
In this step, I present to you either in person, or via email your new logo design concepts. If the concepts are provided via email, I recommend some discussion about these as well so I can chat with you about the thought process and reasoning behind the concepts.

REVISIONS & FINE TUNING.
This is where you really start to get involved and we work together to revise the presented design concepts as needed to reach your final design. Sometimes my clients have no revisions and sometimes we’ll make two or three to get it just right. While I will always honor your ideas and requests, I also will provide design guidance as needed.

FINALIZE ARTWORK.
Once your final design is selected, I will finalize the logo artwork in Vector EPS and PDF formats, CMYK PSD and TIF formats, and RGB JPG and GIF formats in both color and black and white. For print materials, you will receive the native design files, the linked images, and a high-resolution PDF.

CELEBRATE.
At the end of each project I celebrate and I encourage you to do the same. Celebrating each step toward achieving your goals makes the journey quite a bit more fun!

I can also bet that even though you may be an expert in your niche, keeping your marketing pipeline full of new customers isn’t your specialty.

That is why I want to share with you three things that you always need to think of when you are working on your marketing materials.

1. Think of Your Mother.
Write the content and design the piece with your mother in mind. Your mother represents a great cross-section of your audience. Would she understand the message? Would she understand the action that you are asking her to take?

2. Think of Your Audience.
What may look great to you, may not look great to your audience. Make sure the piece you are developing makes sense to your target market. Yes, you can ask your friends what they think. But, if they aren’t in your target market, their comments aren’t very relevant.

3. Think of The Result.
What is the end result you want to receive from this marketing piece. Start there when designing the postcard, poster, flyer, advertisement, or brochure. Keep the marketing message simple, clear, and focused on the desired action the audience needs to take.

Make sure the graphic design plays a supporting role to the content. The graphic design should help guide the user through the piece and not overpower the message. For example, if you want the reader to pick up the phone and call you, the design and the content all need to be focused on encouraging the reader to do just that – and nothing else.

Do you agree? Disagree? Have any other suggestions? I’d love to hear them!