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Showing posts from August, 2021

7 Steps to Overcoming Decision Fatigue

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Just like any muscle in the body, the brain can also get tired. According to Medical News Today , a human’s ability to make decisions can worsen after making many decisions, as their brain will be more fatigued. This can lead to an emerging phenomenon called decision fatigue, which can cause mental fatigue, increasingly worse decision making, impulse buying, procrastination, decision avoidance, lack of focus, pessimism, and lapses in judgment. And it could be the reason you find it hard to get stuff done. It’s not your fault. It’s just your brain’s natural defense mechanism. When the brain becomes depleted, it shuts down non-essential services, including the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain responsible for complex decision-making. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs can be affected by decision fatigue because they make many decisions throughout the day, feel greatly affected by the decisions they make, and make stressful and complex decisions. Luckily, there are ste

Increase Customer Engagement with Out-of-the-Box QR Codes

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Not long ago, scanning books or groceries by a rectangle barcode seemed quite novel. It was fast, convenient, and just a little fun. But as society’s pace accelerated, so did our need to read barcodes efficiently. In 1994, Japanese auto-makers adopted “Quick Read” QR codes (square matrix barcodes that could be scanned from any direction) that stored a hundred times more information than conventional barcodes. Enter QR Creativity In this micro-attention age, QR codes can catch the fleeting attention of your audience by adding both efficiency and quirkiness to your designs. Today’s customers love to actively participate – not just passively consume – so why not take people on a “digital scavenger hunt” you’ve created by leading them to a URL for your landing page, a direct link to your social media page, or to retrieve personalized texts from your team? While many QR codes are bland, they don’t have to be. Here are just a few out-of-the-box ways businesses are using printed QR

Rise and Shine with Big, Breathtaking Displays

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Ready to stop traffic with eye-catching displays? Spectacular banners and backdrops ensure a competitive edge. Researchers estimate it takes only one-fifth of a second to evaluate a brand image, and 94% of that is design related. If you want to get all eyes on you, large-scale displays bring a big statement with a smashing style. Here are four fun possibilities to consider for your next conference, sidewalk display, or community event. 1. Rigid Signs When you want to provide classy directional signage or a beautiful lobby accent, rigid signs offer many versatile options. Consider rigid metal, acrylic, or plastic signs to post store hours, prominently display your logo, or spruce up your welcome space. Rigid signs can be displayed using wall clamps, bolt spacers, and easels, or fitted to a steel plate base that uses hook and loop connections to make graphic changes quick and simple. Try shapes like an arrow, beveled oval, or a contour customized to your logo.   2. Full Hei

Shape Crystal Clear Lead Generators with Three Building Blocks

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Presidential campaigns are a time when passions run high and candidates jostle for the spotlight. Avid supporters of each candidate put signs in their yards, wear buttons, or put stickers on their bumpers. Politicians who use simple, repeatable slogans have a higher success rate and a longer shelf life in the public square. Can you finish any of these popular mantras? Tippacanoe and __________ (Tyler Too/William Henry Harrison) A Chicken in Every Pot and __________ (A Car in Every Garage/Herbert Hoover) Happy Days are ________ (Here Again/Franklin Roosevelt) I Like ____ (Ike, Dwight D. Eisenhower) Make America ________ (Great Again/Donald Trump) A good presidential campaign slogan is memorable, meaningful, and highly quotable . More than a phrase, it builds a heart connection with the dreams and needs of listeners. And it is often a candidate’s key to victory. Why Confusion Scares People Voters and prospective customers aren’t so different. Both are weighing decis

Use Collaborative Design Blasts to Craft Show-Stopping Ideas

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It happens. The design deadline looms, your mind is adrift, and your page is blank. How can you generate creativity and move out of this slump? Two resources to leverage are your time and your team .  Often the longer you spend on an idea, the less productive you become. Especially if you are working alone. With an open concept and no firm timeline, designers may sit at their desks for weeks, spinning endless variations of a vague concept or completely losing sight of the project goals. This is a dead end that can drive everyone mad. Instead, apply a simple process to prompt stunning ideas efficiently: 1. Gather a team Everyone has good ideas, not just designers. Who could you pull – account assistants, content writers, a family member – to brainstorm for a brief stretch of time? Use a pen and paper and spend time thinking aloud together about names, word pictures, or image ideas. Keep it short and sweet but have fun! 2. Review the design brief and project goals  Amids

Delicious Fonts: The Bread and Butter of Appealing Designs

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For every Olympic Games, there has been an accompanying logo that brings a unique identity to that particular year while allowing the host country a special place in the global spotlight. A good Olympics logo should reflect both the host country’s culture and the time period of the games. The 2012 Olympic logo caught a lot of flak for failing in both of these goals. Composed of bright pink and yellow colors, weird shapes, and a jagged, angular typeface, it smacked of an 80’s funk vibe rather than British culture or the London lifestyle. When it was revealed in 2007, a petition circulated Great Britain (signed by over 48,000 citizens) to have the £400,000 logo scrapped a redesigned. Ije Nwokorie, managing director at the design firm that created the logo, defended the bold look : “We wanted the logo, in particular, to make people reconsider Olympics, to think about them in a different way,” he said. “London is this kind of dissonant place that you discover new angles and new dimen

Creative Ways To Use Print Marketing to Boost Your Business

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There are many ways to increase business through marketing with print. Although the world has experienced an unparalleled technological revolution, print media’s importance in reaching customers remains an uncontested force. According to Forbes , print marketing is more recognizable, memorable, and decipherable to consumers than its digital counterpart.   As old as advertising itself, print media is an invaluable resource. A host of strategies have yielded results over time; however, unique print marketing campaigns have ultimately proven the most successful.  Utilize Social Media’s Simplistic Design Most companies have adopted digital media into their marketing repertoire. Customers enjoy simplistic layouts, separating information and graphics. Plus, it has become a recognizable feature of this media-minded society.   Easy ways to incorporate digital inspiration into print marketing include (but are not limited to):  Signage on or around your business Business cards

Creative Ways To Use Print Marketing to Boost Your Business

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There are many ways to increase business through marketing with print. Although the world has experienced an unparalleled technological revolution, print media’s importance in reaching customers remains an uncontested force. According to Forbes , print marketing is more recognizable, memorable, and decipherable to consumers than its digital counterpart.   As old as advertising itself, print media is an invaluable resource. A host of strategies have yielded results over time; however, unique print marketing campaigns have ultimately proven the most successful.  Utilize Social Media’s Simplistic Design Most companies have adopted digital media into their marketing repertoire. Customers enjoy simplistic layouts, separating information and graphics. Plus, it has become a recognizable feature of this media-minded society.   Easy ways to incorporate digital inspiration into print marketing include (but are not limited to):  Signage on or around your business Business cards

The 8 Dos and Don'ts of Branding

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Your brand is often the key to growing and keeping your customer base.  A recognizable, identifiable brand with a cohesive look and feel helps you get the attention of a potential customer and keeps the would-be one-time customer coming back for more. You want your brand to be instantly memorable, especially when it comes to print-based marketing. This is why it is essential to make sure your brand is in tip-top shape! How do you know if your brand is on point or missing the mark? You follow these dos and don'ts of branding. The Dos of Branding 1. Take the Time to Update Your Brand Logo Even iconic brands like Coca-Cola revamp their logo on occasion. The longer you have been in business, the more likely you need to update your brand logo. You want your brand to appear fresh and relevant. You don’t have to redesign your brand logo completely; just give it a revamp.  2. Pay Particular Attention to Detail Designing for print leaves little to no room for error. You wa