Many of my graphic designer friends put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our logo designs just to see them BUTCHERED in actual application.  I was so pleasantly surprised when I actually saw my design in “action” at djpack.com and it looked GREAT!

I previously laid out my design process for this logo here.

Below are some of the web pages for djpack.com using my logo.

Around October of 2007 I was miraculously re-invented.  I experienced many changes in my life that not only impacted me personally but also professionally.

At this time I gave up my 2 part time jobs  in restaurant/fast food service and excepted a salaried position as lead graphic designer and web master at The Toledo Journal Newspaper.

The Toledo Journal is Northwest Ohio’s Oldest African-American owned and operated news publication. They recently celebrated their 34th  Anniversary.

As a graphic designer, this was a personal dream job of mine.  I had always wanted to have a hand in creating a totally fresh look for the Toledo’s oldest African- American publication.

Taking a quick look at the BEFORE and AFTER images above you’ll realize the visual impact my work had on the paper.  To be clear, this is not an attempt to disparage my predecessor.  It has always been my opinion (and other professional designers) that African American News Publications across the country by and large are bereft of quality designers.

The reasons for this are varied.  Many African American designers (like myself) are not academically trained but self taught.  Furthermore, graphic design in general and the definitive field of Newspaper design happen to be worlds apart.

Also, many quality designers find themselves tied to archaic editorial standards and traditions that hinder their creativity.

All that said, I took on the challenge of re-inventing the Toledo Journal with a healthy dose of both excitement and trepidation.

The good thing was that my bosses actually were excited to have someone come in and give the paper a complete overhaul.

By January of 2008 I had implemented several new elements to the paper.

• Logo and Masthead
• Subtitles/Page headings
• Front Page re-design

Ironically, I feel that I have made my biggest impact not by introducing bold, new, modern concepts but by actually implementing tried and true newspaper design standards that they don’t teach you any college course.

I’d love to hear how (if at all) this new re-design has impacted you as a Toledoan.  If you pick up the paper frequently, leave a comment below and tell me what you think.  Your feed back would be greatly appreciated.

Most freelance graphic designers do a vast majority of their work hunched over their laptop in the corner of their favorite neighborhood coffeehouse.  Leave it to me to take that trend just one step further.

Some time in April 2009 I actually opened my own coffeehouse in Toledo, Ohio near the westgate/old orchard neighborhood.  It’s called The Ground Level and it is slowly becoming everything I’d hoped it would be. A great place for community events and socializing, wonderful, loyal customers and yes a Graphic Designer every now and then hunched over in the corner plugging away at a project.

As the responsibilities of the coffeehouse house increased my focus on Graphic Design decreased. However, by focusing all of my marketing and design know-how in my own business, I’ve been churning out some really creative work.

The following is just a brief look at the print collateral, logo design, and branding I developed for The Ground Level Coffeehouse.

The high profile magazine Forbes opened a recent article on spec work with the following statement.

“CrowdSpring aims to slash the cost of graphic design work — and democratize a snooty business.”

The statement alone, let alone Forbes one sided opinion on spec work has generated tons of buzz.  David Airey has a nice article on the subject with lots of emotional comments.  I did my part by asking fellow designers what they thought on LINKEDin.

My favorite response was from Catherine Azarello:

I haven’t seen the article, so maybe I’m talking out of line, but if Forbes is supporting the use of spec work (by CS or anyone else)–isn’t the thing designers should be reacting to is the entire concept of spec work as legitimate???

Snooty is simply a gross over generalization, a caricature of the industry. Kind of like saying all plumbers are like Dan Akroyd’s butt crack character on SNL many years ago. (I date myself

My own opinion on spec work is a bit mixed.

1.  If you’re going to run a contest looking for design talent you should offer a prize in proportion to your overall marketing budget.  So if you’re a huge Fortune 500 company with millions of dollars in advertising it’s really an insult to offer a measly $500 in prizes. Give me a break.

2.  What looks on the surface to be “democracy” is in actuality “OUT SOURCING”.  Whether you’re sending the job to Idaho or Calcutta, when a corporation undercuts industry standards so deeply it all about the bottom line, not about “looking out for the little guy”.

3.  I hate to say it but I think that some of the “elite” firms in our industry have brought some of this on themselves.  And have heaped a whole lot of this on great designers who happen to be caught in the middle.  Maybe they got just a little too comfortable and took their eye off the ball; the ball being quality work and good service.

Needless to say, I don’t see spec-work going anywhere anytime soon.  I just have to keep pushing out great work and look for great clients that appreciate it.

Check out the article HERE.
Take a look and the industry’s response HERE.

Special thanks to Assets Toledo, Vince Wiggins, Keeping It Together, and Einat for the referrals and work.

Check out all of my recent work in the Gallery.
Also, take a look at what my clients think of my work.

When ever I wonder about the future of the print industry, I here a success story like this.  Kudos to Hotcards.com’s Columbus Woodruff (he’s the gentleman int he blue sweater) and his loyal staff (the scribbled in guy behind him). Check out the article and video here.

His secret:  affordable printing, great customer service, and loyal employees.  Gotta love that.

I recently had a friendly debate with a potential client about marketing his company.  I had suggested he consider advertising more and he said it wasn’t necessary since most of his business comes via WORD OF MOUTH:The magical phenomenon where customers share positive experiences they’ve had with your business with friends and family who become potential customers.

What many small business owners don’t understand is that marketing is simply a way of controlling the coversation.

Of course I use the term “control” loosely.  As Brian Clark at CopyBlogger.com explains you and your company won’t be the real “star” of the conversation…

People tell stories about themselves. They even buy things in order to say something about themselves.

They don’t give a hoot about your story unless it furthers their own personal narrative. If it does, your story comes along for the ride.

If not… too bad for you.

You’re not the star of this story. Smart marketers don’t even try to be the star.

Smart marketers want to be indispensible supporting characters.

So the real question to ask yourself is,

• “How important is my company/service/product to my customers? “
• “What does my product say about my customer?”

Once you answers questions such as these you’ll find it easier to make your business a part of your customers everyday lives.

When rapper 50 Cent gets his own blog you know something has shifted in the cultural matrix.

A recent Tech Crunch article just confirms my hunches.  The numbers don’t lie.

That orange line. thats Blogger. Wordpress is another blogging platform.  That’s the red line.  While more common social networks like Facebook are rising, Blogger and Wordpress combined out number Facebook AND Myspace!

This might not mean much to the average socialite looking for the next hot party but to a small business this means everything!  If you want to know how to reach your target audience consistently online, dump that Myspace page and build a Wordpress blog.

Trust me. You’ll thank me for it.

If you remember one thing from this post remember this: if you can’t find a way to differentiate your business from every other business that does what you do and if you can’t communicate that difference in a way that really matters to a narrow target market, then you’re basically in the commodity business. If I can’t tell how one business is different than another then I will use the only thing I can measure – price. Yes, the driving force in the commodity business is always price.

Seems obvious when you first look at it but I know from experience that the vast majority of small businesses tend to compete on price.

Some other points to consider:

Many small business start ups do this because they don’t want to spend the money or time that it takes to effectively distance themselves from the competition.

Big Box Stores will always be able to beat you on price! They have the volume and leverage.  However, you can beat them on service, quality, specialization, and a host of other categories.

When it comes to setting your business apart a branding is always a great place to start.  Consumers have two categories.  Big time and Small time.  Branding will make them associate you with Big Time even when you are a small business.

Came across this post about Cliche Stock Photos (like the lovely call center woman) and I just had to share this with my readers and potential clients.  Please, what ever you do, stay away from these stock photos!  And don’t be too embarassed if you see any you may have used lately.