7 Essential Must-Read Resources for Designers
Designers working in Web and print, or Web or print, often use many, many types of programs from Photoshop to Wordpress. It can be hard to remember everything you need to know – all the shortcuts and such, that make your job a lot easier. I had that same problem so I found some “Cheat Sheets” or help docs that I have printed out and plastered to my wall. I thought others might find this useful as well, so here’s a list and links to the PDFs that you can print out. (more…)
20 Inspiring Logos
I love logos that contain some kind of play on words or a play on images. I like the intriguing logos that make me look twice. Your logo should reinforce your brand identity, and it also needs to fit on all of your product packaging, as well as your marketing materials. A good logo is good whether it’s in black and white or color.
Here are 20 inspiring logos that will hopefully give you some ideas for your own.
7 Inspiration Tips for Graphic Designers
What To Consider When Designing From Web to Print
For Web-only designers, you know what platform you’re going to be working on. You know that no matter what you do, it’s going to be on the Web. In the print world, you need to first decide what kind of print material you’re going to design. Does the company need a direct mail postcard, brochure, poster or flyer? (more…)
Super Bowl Ads Still Up for Grabs
NBC has said that it still has eight 30-second spots advertising spots still open for the 2009 Super Bowl. Most of the 67 spots were sold in September, but the spots that weren’t picked up then are still open. Super Bowl ad regulars FedEx, Garmin Ltd. and General Motors Corp. won’t be seen during next year’s game held February 1 in Tampa, Florida.
NBC says it is negotiating with other potential advertisers for the open spots. Of course, at a time when many companies are struggling to keep budgets afloat, the nearly-$3-million spots are hard to fit into the budget. Brian Walker, senior director of communications at NBC Sports in New York, said “This is a time to show strength and confidence in their brands in a challenging economy.”
Check out this video for last year’s Super Bowl Commercials:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Ce-SJreIA]
Of course, everyone knows the time to unveil your greatest, funniest ad is during the Super Bowl. The NFL championship is considered to be the “premier advertising event” of the year. Walker doesn’t seem worried – the spots can be sold up to the last minute before the event. He didn’t comment on whether NBC is facing any pressure from advertisers to discount rates.
GM has reported that although it has bought ad spots for almost 10 years now, the current economy and request for federal funds is not the reason for not buying a traditional ad spot. GM is saving the ad money as part of a restructuring plan that has been in place for a while now – before the request for bailout.
FedEx didn’t give a reason for not buying a spot for the ’09 Super Bowl. FedEx has been a Super Bowl advertiser for a dozen years and has plans in place to grow revenue by 10 percent and earnings per share 10 to 15 percent per year. Is the $3 million part of that 10 percent? FedEx isn’t saying.
Garmin’s spokesperson Ted Gartner said that although Garmin bought ads in the past two Super Bowls, it won’t in ’09 because its strategy has changed, not because of the tough economy.
Among returners: Monster, Inc. and Anheuser-Busch. Monster hasn’t bought an ad in the Super Bowl since 2004, and A-B keeps on buying – it bought 10 30-second spots for ’09, some of which will run back to back, to run as 60-second spots.
According to CNNMoney.com, the United States is obsessed with Super Bowl ads. Many people hype up the new ads just as much as the game. USA Today has the most well-known Super Bowl ad critique. But a study by Los Angeles-based consumer research firm OTX found that consumers that watched what they were told were Super Bowl ads commercials were not “very informative about the company,” although the consumers felt more emotionally connected to the ads just because they were told they were Super Bowl ads. Super Bowl ads are expected to be funny, outrageous and better than any other ads viewed at other times of the year. If you don’t have the budget for a Super Bowl spot, it might not be such a bad thing after all – you’d have to have a homerun, or I mean, have a touchdown of an ad for it to even be worth it.
