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Five Visual Marketing Essentials small businesses should have

After getting a logo with brand guidelines and a website, small business owners often don’t think they need any other visual marketing to help grow their brand. However, to make a really strong impression, boost brand recognition and ultimately make sales here are the top five visual marketing essentials I believe every small business should have. Business CardsThe small but mighty business card packs a hefty punch when used. They are one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising. W...

What you need to do before hiring a graphic designer

I’ll let you in on a little secret – the best design work comes about because the client was prepared with a little knowledge and clarity. While I, like every great designer will give you 110%, a great outcome requires the client to do a bit of homework too.These are my top seven things that the best clients have all figured out before we start:1. A DeadlineMost good designers are booked out weeks or even months in advance and I am no different. There is often a big-time gap between the...

Why brand consistency is important

Many years ago, when I worked for a big corporate bank in London, every piece of marketing whether it was being printed, published online, or emailed (this was before social media) had to go through approval from the Brand Compliance manager. Her job was to check that all brand guidelines were adhered to – and these guidelines were strict. Everything from the margin width, minimum and maximum font sizes, style of photos, logo placement and size, and of course colours, along with a whole lot mo...

Is print marketing still relevant?

The ability to print something has been around for well over 500 years and it's not going anywhere just yet. In fact, with new technologies, finishes, and paper types it is more exciting, versatile and affordable than ever. Well-designed and professionally printed marketing collateral such as a company brochure is an eye-catching, cost-effective way to establish your brand, network your business, and show off some creativity that is often missing in digital marketing. Printed mark...

Should you send Christmas Cards to your clients?

Why sending clients a Christmas card is a great ideaThe end of the year is a great chance to connect with your clients and say thank you for their support over the year. Christmas cards are a lovely, simple way to spread some Christmas cheer and say thank you. Client gifting can get expensive and time consuming and not everyone makes the cut for a pricey gift. Christmas cards, however are an inexpensive way to reach all your clients.Other reasons for sending your customers and clients a Christma...

What makes an award winning website

I was very excited to win Rocketspark’s Partner website of the month for July 2020 for turningtidepilates.co.nz. Such a wonderful way to be recognised for the value I provide to my clients. It is also a real honour as there are some very talented design partners around so I was up against some very tough competition. There is so much more to building a website than just making it look pretty (although that is important too). So, what makes an award-winning website?A clear goalStart w...

Using your branding to create eye-catching social media graphics

In a sea of hundreds and thousands of social media posts - how can you make your social media posts stand out? Regardless of what social media platforms you use for your business, you want people to easily recognise your brand and what you do. The more often that people see your brand popping up on social media, the more likely it is that they will remember you the next time they are wanting what you sell.Social media is a very visual space and would be pretty boring if there were no images.Inst...

Different file types for logos

As part of our logo design package we save your logo in a variety of formats and colour options to cover most uses. Each of these formats has a purpose and this outline is to help you understand the difference between each file format, and when they are appropriate to use. You need all these file types in a logo package to ensure your logo can be used across all mediums. VECTOR vs RASTER First things first, what is the difference between vector and raster? Raster images (also known as bitmaps) a...

Define your target market and ideal client

So many of our clients tell us their target market or ideal client is everyone. In reality, it's not everyone and in trying to be everything to everyone you appeal to no-one. You only want to attract the people who have the means and motivation to purchase from you, so make sure you are targeting those people with your marketing and branding....

Why I use Rocketspark for websites

After extensive research along with much trial and error New Zealand based Rocketspark are my preferred platform for developing websites. Most businesses need a website these days and Rocketspark’s platform make it easy for the designer, client and end-user. Rocketspark is an easy to use website builder combined with hosting and great support enabling beautifully simple websites to be created. The website builder has fantastic functionality and features that are constantly being improved and u...

Do you really need a business card?

If you are starting out in business or even if you’ve been in business for a while and the time has come to get new business cards you may be wondering if you really need them in our digital world.My answer is absolutely yes!!While paper products are quickly being replaced by all things digital, handing out a business card is still a fast, cheap and convenient way to get your business and contact details into someone’s hands. If your business card is well designed with your branding and styl...

Get organised with a wall planner

One of the ways I stay organised and plan ahead around my business commitments, goals and events together with organising a busy family is to have a big wall planner with a whole year calendar on the office wall. I use mine to keep track of the big things – school holidays, gymnastic competitions, guide camps and dance shows along with business events such as networking meetings, client deadlines, conferences and workshops. And of course, my holidays.Having the whole year available at a glance...

You have a logo, now what?

If you’ve had a logo created by us, you will have been sent a link to a huge variety of files and may now be feeling a bit overwhelmed with what to do with them all and where you should use your logo.The files are divided into digital and print folders as well as colour, black and white (or reverse). On a basic level anything you are doing yourself and anything online use the digital files. You have a jpg, png and svg file. The png has a transparent background so you don’t get that pesky whi...

Why hire a graphic designer

Graphic designers have a strong skill set that includes more than just making pretty pictures and photoshopping the ex-partner out of photos. When we work on a design project whether it is a business card, flyer or a website we always keep your target market front of mind as well as ensuring the design is technically correct, practical for the purposes you intend to use it and has clear call to actions. Quality graphic design helps you connect with your target clients and customers in an emotive...