Recently I gave a prepared speech on advertising to my Toastmasters group. Afterwards, long time member Chet P. approached me with the following request: “If you see that guy at Marc’s, tell him to make the type bigger because I can’t read his sale ads.” Marc’s is a NE Ohio, locally owned, deep discount store, and Chet is one of a growing number of older folks who can’t read small type. And by older I mean over 40. I told Chet that I didn’t think it would do any good to contact the store owner because it’s a common problem in the industry.

Designers have been complaining for at least 20 years that the sale ads are too crowded. In the past, we would discuss the merchandise in meetings and the merchants could be persuaded to run less items. Today, the economy and the advertising industry are both in chaos and the merchants seem to have the upper hand. I also blame those young “whipper-snapper” designers who are still able to read small print. Just because 6 point type is available doesn’t mean you have to use it. As a matter of fact, advertising disclaimers must be at least 8 point type to meet the retail advertising regulations of some states.

Did you happen to see the “FREE Gift with $20 Purchase” offer that another Ohio-based chain store advertised over the Christmas season? The “free gift” was just an empty box—a plain, white gift box that stores like Macy’s routinely give away. The store’s Facebook fans discussed it at length and called it “CHEAP.” To quote Charlotte Beers (Advertising Hall of Fame 2009 inductee) “It’s not what you say [FREE] but what they hear [CHEAP].”

DOWNLOADS

Spring really is just around the corner, at least as far as the fashion industry is concerned. If you haven’t downloaded your “TOP 10 Colors for Spring 2010” bookmark, CLICK HERE to get yours now. Use it as a bookmark or take it along as a color guide when shopping. Graphic designers will find the CMYK values given for each color handy, too.

Looking for unique events to celebrate? CLICK HERE to download your very own “2010 Retail Promotional Calendar.” Never miss National Karaoke Week or National Bathroom Reading Month again.

I can’t believe I didn’t post anything in November. Sorry about that, especially since I promised many of you that I would write more often. Things have gotten hectic in both a good and bad way. The good way is that one of my favorite clients has needed lots of my time. The bad way is that I had a 2-week bout with some sort of coughing virus that drained my energy. I am feeling great now, worked out twice this week and have been able to get out and walk the dog, too.

As you may remember from a previous post, I love to talk about the importance of color. Color can make you, your clothes and your advertising materials look either old and outdated or fresh and exciting. Choose the latter by incorporating into your wardrobe the colors featured in the Spring 2010  PANTONE® Fashion Color Report. Watch for these trendy fashion colors to show up in spring advertising and marketing materials, too.

Christmas is quickly approaching (only 23 more shopping days) and I would like to take this opportunity to give my readers an early holiday gift. I designed a bookmark showing the “TOP 10 Colors for Spring 2010″ that are listed in the Pantone® Fashion Color Report mentioned previously. CLICK HERE to download yours now. Use it as a bookmark or take it along as a color guide when shopping. Graphic designers will find the CMYK values given for each color handy, too. Remember that all printers print color differently, so use it as a guide and not a high-end color matching system. This is just my way of saying “Thank you and Merry Christmas.”

I’ll be starting my Christmas decorating this weekend and keeping it very simple because of our cats and dog. The “critters” think that anything new is a toy just for them so I’ll be placing everything very high. If you’re starting your decorating, too, and searching for some unique creative inspiration, you’ll want to read Kiki Titterud’s 5 simple steps to using pink in Trend Tuesday: Pink is the New Red…this Christmas.

Shopping for a special Christmas gift for yourself? How about a new or updated look? Dawn Waldrop is a professional image consultant. I hired Dawn 3 years ago when both my closet and image got out of control. We replaced my warm colors (lots of brown and orange) with cool colors (blues and reds). She even gave me the courage to buy red framed prescription glasses. What a difference it has made—thanks Dawn!

Let me know what creative topics you would like me to write about in 2010. I’m always available to answer any of your advertising and marketing questions, review a portfolio or recommend a professional photographer, photo retoucher or printer.

Enjoy your holiday season and remember—whatever you do—do it creatively.

I once had an Art Director who nicknamed me “Eagle Eye.” She often asked me to look over her color proofs before she released them to the printer. This was before design was done on computers, when any last minute change could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to make. While it is always good practice to have a second set of eyes review any work before it goes to press, my keen ability to spot things that are out-of-place is not always as appreciated in other areas of my life.

I went to see the movie  “Julie & Julia” yesterday with my husband. What a great movie! One of the main characters is American chef, author and television personality, Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep. Throughout the movie, 6’ 2” Julia competely dwarfs her husband and her unusual height is an issue many times. The studio went to great lengths to create this important visual effect with Streep, who is only 5” 6”. All was going well until the end of the movie, that’s when I noticed the pair of five-inch heels Streep/Julia was wearing while cooking at her stove! When Julia’s husband, played by actor Stanley Tucci, walked to her side, I also noted that he is five inches shorter than Streep/Julia in those heels….hmm. Now the movie has lost it’s “detail” credibility with me.

Don’t lose your credibility over the details. When working with photos never “flip” photos if they contain:

• Buttons. Men’s clothes button left over right and women’s clothes button right over left. Flip the image and they will be buttoned for the wrong gender.

• Trademark moles and scars. Cindy Crawford’s mole is always on her left, if the image is flipped it moves to the right and weakens her brand.

• Wedding rings. Traditionally worn on the left hand, rings will be on the right hand if the photo is flipped.

The secret really is in the details—and they do make a difference.

Image facing correctly on the left. Image facing incorrectly on the right.

Recently I read about a coupon that could be downloaded from a company’s Facebook fan page. Since I suffer from a  “keeping up with the Jones” mentality when it comes to technology, I wanted to distribute coupons, too.

After doing some research, I discovered Wildfire Promotion Builder, an easy-to-use web application that allows designers to create interactive Facebook campaigns. To add to my excitement, I learned that it was much more than coupons—it was also contests and sweepstakes! My head began to spin…the more I learned, the more I had to have it, both to draw traffic to my Facebook fan page and to offer promotions via Facebook to my clients.

I signed up for the free version and installed it onto my fan page. Now I had it and victory was mine! What to do, what to do… I know—what better way to work out all the kinks than to take it for a test drive? Thus, the “Komjati Design FRESH CASH Giveway” was born.

Today is the third day of the sweepstakes and it has had a few touch-and-go moments. Moments that made me glad it was my own personal project. Like the first day when the Promotions tab completely disappeared from my fan page. I removed the Boxes tab, posted the promotion again and all was right in my world, whew!

Yesterday I received an email that pushed me right over the edge. It was a request for help in creating a website and included the line “I know it’s easy, but I just don’t have the time to learn how to do it”. Well, does learning how to play the piano make you a concert pianist? It’s the person playing the piano—not the piano—that makes the music great and the playing of  it seem easy. It is also the same way with a designer and the designer’s computer system. 

I guess I’m partly to blame for this all-to-common misunderstanding of the computers role in advertising. Twenty years ago we were working with T-squares and triangles on drawing boards, spec’ing type and doing other creative jobs by hand. When we first heard about the computer we thought it would give us more time to be creative so we all wanted one. In order to get a computer we had to first convince our boss to shell out the big bucks. We eagerly explained to him how a computer would make our work easier and in turn we could work faster and save the company money. This pleased the boss and he bought us computers.

Soon every designer had a computer. The boss, seeing that we also had a keyboard, handed over the job of the professionally trained typesetter to us, plus many copywriting and proofreading assignments. Wow, this computer really was saving the company money—they no longer needed typesetters or proofreaders. Both the boss and his boss were pleased.

The computer could also handle production work so the production department was the next to go. Designers had to learn technical production skills and shoulder the additional responsibilities of an entire department. Crunch-time changes? No problem, designers could do this too. With our speedy computers, we could also handle more work—our workload increased and turnaround times were shortened. All these improvements in productivity pleased upper management.

Today, ineffective advertising is everywhere, much of it created by secretaries and students who know the software programs and are cheap labor. What are the designers doing? Typesetting, copywriting, proofreading, retouching photos, production and most of all—still wishing they had more time to be creative.