• What is FourSquare? Foursquare is a location based social site that allows members to ‘check-in’ to places they visit on their mobile devices. In doing so, individuals share their experiences and schedules with those in their network. As an added bonus, users are often able to ‘unlock’ deals from the establishments they visit as well as various Foursquare badges.
• Who should use it? Any local or small businesses interested in attracting more customers
• How do you use it? You might be surprised to find your company already on Foursquare. That’s because any user can list a business. To get started, you’ll need to a.) sign up and b.) list or claim your company. From there you can either edit or create your Foursquare listing. Encourage users to visit you and recommend to their friends by incentivizing with check-in deals. Individuals can unlock deals the first time they visit you or after they’ve checked in a specific number of times. You can also reward the ‘Mayor’ of your venue, who has earned his or her title by checking in more than anyone else.

• The City of Atlanta Department of Cultural Affairs 2011 Atlanta Jazz Poster
• Inland Market, Fish Taco Kit
• Halprens Gourmet, Gourmet Retail Packaging
• Inland Market, Torta Packaging
• Third floor Home Renovation and Interior Design, Logo
• Joe’s Gourmet, Fish Fry Packaging
• Integrated Culinary Systems, Planet Smoothie Retail Packaging
• Foundations for the Future, Foundations Gym Website
• Bodifresh, Packaging
• Esther Powers & Associates, Website

Thank you to American Graphic Design Awards for recognizing id8 in 2011. We are honored to be apart of this wonderful tradition!

-Flexibility – Your logo will be present on numerous materials: business cards, marketing materials, email signatures, online sites, etc. Make sure your design has the versatility needed to make a visually striking statement on any surface.

-Longevity - One of the biggest keys to Coca Cola’s branding success is that not much has changed. The logo’s unique font is just as memorable today as the day it debuted in 1885.  A cleverly crafted logo will prove timeless through every decade and trend.

-Unforgettable - The most important feature of a well designed logo is its lasting impression. A truly memorable logo has simple lines, a clean color scheme, and an easy to read font. The perfect design will be immediately seared into the brain of consumers.

So how did Apple build its brand loyalty and how can we emulate them? Several building blocks comprise their monumental success:

1. Build honest and close knit relationships with customers – Give a face and name to your brand by connecting with clients online. Talk to them on Facebook and Twitter, blog about what’s going on behind the scenes, and don’t shy away from negative feedback. Embrace those comments by highlighting them and addressing them honestly. If something went wrong, own it and offer up a genuine solution. Steve Jobs spoke earnestly and passionately about his products. His enthusiasm captured the hearts and interests of prospects.
2. Market who you are, not what you do – Apple’s brand is built upon its vision for clients: bringing the best computing experience possible through innovative, cutting edge technology. What does your company set out to accomplish? What does your brand stand for? What can you say about yourselves that will tap into the emotions of your clients and prospects? It’s not just about what you do; it’s about how you transform their lives.
3. Simplify – Clean up the clutter by ridding your site or brand with layers of messages, texts, instructions, maybe even robust website language. Customers want clean and easy. Give them what they want in 3 steps - better yet, 2 steps. Be straight and direct with them, and cut it out with all of those cliche phrases. Set up your business like an Apple store: a pleasant, quick and straightforward experience.

Extra Credit: Find the wow factor. It may not always be easy, but if you can identify that one memorable, super impressive element, I guarantee you’ll be heads above the rest. Did you know that the MacBook Air can fit into a manila envelope? Such an easy concept, and yet those who hear it will never forget it. What’s your manila envelope?

Imagine Pinterest as a series of bulletin boards, or for the Oprah fans out there, vision boards. A member can make as many boards as he or she likes with any topic or theme. So, for example, if you’re a local restaurant looking to attract the attention of nearby patrons, you might put together a board that includes:

• Artful photos of your dishes
• Recipes
• Art prints with funny sayings about cooking
• Beautiful Kitchens

Or, let’s say you’re a local interior designer who has been having difficulty lately generating a new clientele base. Your pinterest boards might include:

• Professional photos of your work
• A board of inspirational images for each room of the house: kitchen, living room, dining room, bedrooms, baths, gardens, etc.
• Must have items for every well designed home
• The best places to shop for great deals and gorgeous items
• DIY tutorials

 So, how does this help your business? Every time you ‘pin’ items you find online or upload an image to one of your boards, your item is shown to everyone who follows you as well as anyone else Pinterest thinks will be interested in your pin. When that happens, other Pinterest users may choose to ‘repin’ your item to their own board. And when that happens, everyone following them will also see your item and may choose to ‘repin,’ thus showing the content to their followers, and so on. Put simply, this site is masterfully crafted to help tons of content go viral.

Now on to the important part. How do you get followers and what content do you ‘pin’ to ensure success?

• For obtaining followers: My first question to you is, does your company have a Facebook page? If so, I recommend using that profile to create a Pinterest page and linking the two. First off, Pinterest automatically subscribes you to everyone you’re friends with on Facebook already using Pinterest. When they see that you’re following them, many of them will automatically follow you. Second, every time you post to pinterest, you have the option of showing off your activities on Facebook. More eyes will see your pins and, if interested, may choose to follow you on either site. After the intial sign up period, I recommend periodically searching for new folks to follow. Are you a restaurant? Look for foodies, kitchen gadget manufacturers, and even cookbooks. The more you follow, the more you’re exposed to and the more people are exposed to you.
• For pinning quality content: Don’t make the mistake of turning your page into one big giant billboard for your company. Of course you want to leverage the site for business exposure, but who wants to follow a sales pitch? Do think of interesting topics that are relevant to your company and, if possible, hit the hearts of enthusiastic hobbyists. Are you a financial advisor? Go ahead and create those boards with tips on how to save money and some of your graphics or charts demonstrating your expertise, but don’t stop there. Create a board of high end office spaces and luxurious office furniture. Maybe you even want to create a board for ‘Office Humor’ including quotes and photos from the show the Office and movie Office Space. Always think about it in consumer terms. If I were just a leisurely Pinterest user, would I want to repin this? Would I find my page interesting enough to follow?
• For SEO: Pinterest boasts big SEO opportunities, but you have to remember to take those small extra steps. Always link your images back to the original source page. Label your pins with clear and strategic keywords or phrases. As users begin to ‘pin’ or ‘repin’ your images, your Search engine rankings will increase.

Are you on Pinterest or considering a page? What is your strategy?

What lovely product packaging has warmed your heart recently?

Whether or not you’ve been tuned into it in the past, you’ll notice as soon as you pay attention. Thanks to an airtight trademark, the only ones who have reign to say those two magical words in serequential order are those belonging to the National Football League (NFL). Some say the approach is genius. After all, the best of the best brands clamor to buy up advertising space during the most watched game of the year. But others argue they may be taking it just a little too far. The words on the forbidden list include:

Super Bowl

Super Sunday

NFL, AFC or NFC

National Football Leage

American Football Conference

National Football Conference

Any full team name

Words you will most likely hear to sidestep this trademark:

The Big Game

The Professional Football Championship Game

Names of the cities of the competing teams

What do you think? Brilliant way to build exclusivity and elitism in a brand or way too over-the-top?

Sellier Design is already making the most of 2012 with great projects and fantastic clients. As if we weren’t having a great New Year already, our very own Kriston Sellier was recently featured in Cobb in Focus magazine! The article profiles successful businesses in the area and their keys to success. Here’s a quick snippet of Sellier Design’s feature:

Voted a Top 25 Best Small Company by Working Mother magazine and a 2009 winner of the Small Business Commerce Association’s Best of Business Award, Sellier Design has garnered numerous design Awards, including several American Corporate Identity Awards.

Although the economic downturn has made doing business in any field more difficult, Sellier says her company has weathered the recession thanks to discovering the value of networking. “We’re doing well, and I would attribute that to networking — getting new business clients through referrals and maintaining good relationships with the ones we already have,” she says. “I’d never really done networking before, but right before the recession we recruited 25 new clients through networking, which helped us tremendously. You can make so many great connections in the community, and it is a lot less of an investment than you might think.”

Sellier Design takes a holistic approach to brand management by offering clients website analysis and design, advertising resources, stationery and marketing collateral, corporate identity, logo design and search engine optimization.

We’d like to give a warm thank you to Cobb in Focus for including our firm in their publication. The pleasure was all ours! Curious about what we’ve been up to lately? See Sellier Design’s latest branding, packaging and web design on our company page.