The first thing we addressed was creating a logo. Jim wanted the brand of his company to be fun but professional and convey a sense of value. After creating some initial designs and refining them we created the below logo mark.

The logo gives the sense of fun with motion, the seal style of the design hints at the fresh aspect of the restaurant. From there we created Grateful Greens’ identity designs including business cards, letterhead and envelopes. Jim liked the idea of using modernized Art Nouveau style graphics in the identity. The final designs you can see here.

Once the general aesthetic was established we created their menus which you can download by clicking Here. Grateful Greens offers customers the ability to create their own chopped salads. It was important to make sure the steps in creating salads were laid out clearly to make sure visitors knew how to get the final product they really wanted. That’s what design does, it helps clarify process which can be crucial for a restaurant like this.

Next we created some advertisements for them as well. Advertising is critical for any restaurant, here it was important to make sure the message is clear of what Grateful Greens is all about and what makes them different than other restaurants in addition to basic information as well.

Once the restaurant opened we wanted to make sure people could find restaurant information while we were building the site so we created a landing page to monitor traffic and collect email addresses. Here the site needed to be straightforward, fast and have the information visitors want easily accessible.

PowerBand Graphics also provided the tools that Grateful Greens needs to collect email addresses and send email campaigns. Email marketing can be a great tool for restaurants to send out information on promotions, news and events. Check out the site yourself at www.gratefulgreenssalad.com and sign up for their newsletter. Better yet, stop by the restaurant! It’s located at 1451 O Street, Suite 200 Lincoln NE. It’s delicious, healthy and a fun place to eat. It might just be your new favorite place!

A good graphic designer is one of the first people you should talk to when you want to start professionally branding yourself. Like I said in my other posts, it’s not all about the logo and identity but those things should reflect your brand message uniquely. The logo, message and identity form the foundation from which all of your branding is visually built on. Being able to go back to that foundation will save time in the future when you build further. Strategically guided design positions an organization to set off a very desirable change reaction: Positive impressions created higher perceived value which in turn boosts sales.

It’s important to be happy with your designer though. They have the experience but remember this is YOUR company. Designers thrive on feedback and good design doesn’t happen in a vacuum, don’t just say “oh make me something that looks nice” this is YOUR company and it represents you. Be involved in the process. Your business is personal, it means a lot to you and denying that is denying your brand. You are paying the person, make use of them. You should be happy and you should find a designer that asks the right questions and makes you feel at ease.

Like most professions, A designer produces the best results when working with a prepared client. Ask yourself before you begin, what hurdles is your company looking to overcome? What isn’t happening now that design can fix? Is there a conversion that needs to take place or a message that needs to be said? A good designer can help you determine specific solutions but they will need you to first articulate the problems and an approximate budget.

You are not expected to know everything about small business design.

This is what a skilled graphic designer brings to the table. The profession of graphic design is as rooted in strategy and skill as anything else we are likely to encounter in the business world. In involves the carefully considered combination of text and images, of data and strategy, of message and medium.

Every aesthetic choice—color, type fonts, images and structural elements—should be specially tailored to the emotions of the audience you are attempting to reach. What type of emotion are all of these elements inciting in your audience? This doesn’t require a whole lot of delving into psychology. It’s simply about understanding the obvious emotional needs of your end user, plus a few fundamentals about good design.

Working with these combinations, a good graphic designer makes the complex clear. They literally can transform intangible assets like spirit, attitude, trustworthiness, innovation and dependability into tangible visual elements that people immediately understand. A good designer take their job seriously, respectfully collaborating with their clients to create the best solutions for business.

Whether your business needs to sell services, promote new products or just create good will, a skilled designer can marry your company’s objectives with an artistic sensibility that translates into measurable results that impact your bottom line.

Design is not just about putting a coat of paint on something, it’s about making form and function come together so every part contributes. Design is about finding solutions, whether it’s how a effectively to design a showroom that moves the most people through efficiently to creating a website that drives visitors to a specific conversion. A good design can make all the difference once a client arrives at your website to continue on within it. How you interact with your customers is crucial to your brand and the designer should sit right between you, making sure that the customer gets the information they need efficiently and uniquely.

Why is having a professional opinion important?

Like any profession it’s important to talk to someone who has experience with the intricacies of combining business and design. When you have a design created, subjects like legal Issues need to be considered. Can your artwork be trademarked? If you just use clip art it can’t and not only do you run into legal issues but you also aren’t making images for your brand that are completely unique.

So how do you find your designer? LOOK. Check out advertisements for local companies that you admire, especially ones not in your field, look through your junkmail and direct mail pieces. Then contact those companies and ask for a referral. If you do that you’ve already taken a first step and found a designer who suits your style. Another good place to find designers is through AIGA, a professional association for designers. You can find a national directory of members of AIGA online at www.aiga.org.

The dangers of using “design contests”.

Some things to be wary of are “design contests” Let me explain what I mean by this and how it can go bad: What does everyone think of Nebraska’s 2010 state fair logo? I don’t know about you but I think it looks unprofessional, cheap and not a good reflection of the fair or our state. It’s not just me, this  “logo” has become mocked statewide and is a prime example of bad decision that involves creative social media. What happened was that rather than hire a designer they created a contest where anyone could enter and the winner was paid a prize. No creative brief was established that clearly laid out the challenges and expectations from the perspective of the client. No professionals were approached. The result was this horrible logo and when they introduced it, people flooded their Facebook page expressing their disappointment and mocking the logo. In this case the viral capabilities of social media provided the exact opposite kind of publicity they wanted.

What this amounts to is soliciting to have people work for free with the vain hope their logo may fit the bill and be chosen. While it’s possible that it may have resulted in a decent logo there are many problems, FIRST: with design contests you often don’t know the source of the artwork. Was it plagiarized? Can it be trademarked? Do you have full copyright to the work? SECOND: Quality. As you can see from the state fair logo it’s not very good and the response was overwhelmingly bad. THIRD: There are many talented professional designers out there who would have been more than happy to work with the fair to create an affordable professional design for them.

This kind of work is like asking a bunch of lawyers to draft some documents for you. Instead of paying them you tell them you’ll look the documents over and pay the one person whom you like most. Do you think they would be okay with that? These contests have become increasingly popular and it only reinforces the old adage that you get what you pay for. Because more often than not they end badly with dissatisfied customers and upset designers who don’t get paid. I’ve seen it happen before and I’ve worked with companies that have attempted this.

There are plenty of high quality designers in Nebraska, talk to some of them, get their opinions on what you want. You’ll be glad you did.

From there we turned our attention to his business cards, envelopes and letterhead. David often writes on the backs of his business cards, so while the real estate can be used to showcase photos of his work, it was also printed with a matte  cover to allow easy handwriting.

From there we worked on the advertising pieces for publications that Pro-Scapes promoted itself in. Again, we wanted to keep the aesthetic consistent but also showcase photography of finished landscaping work while still provided plenty of information about the services offered.

Finally we worked together to create a professional web presence for Pro-Scapes. This is a site that features all of Mr. Hastreiter’s services and is also flexible and easy to update with photos and updates for recent projects that they’ve accomplished.

David was a great client and after getting to know him and seeing his work firsthand, I can also easily say that he’s a great landscaper and business owner as well. If you are in need of commercial or residential landscaping services, visit his website and contact him. You’ll be glad you did!

Ted is a great guy and we were glad to have him as a client. If you are ever in need of health insurance or real estate investing. Give him a call.

Do Your Customers Know the Real You?

Think of this before you even think of marketing. Branding should be a a part of your business plan right beside your insurance and accounting strategies. Just getting a logo when you are starting up is nothing more than table stakes. These days you have to think more than that. Crafting an identity is an investment that saves resources in the long term. Not having a well thought out identity is like wearing sweatpants on a date and hoping they will look past them and see the “real you”. As much as we don’t like to admit it, image and first impressions matter.

Whether you are selling cell phones or financial advice, The one thing that can differentiate your business from everyone else is you! The individual is the one competitive advantage that no one can duplicate. Don’t be afraid to be the face of your company, make yourself available and approachable. Then people can get to know the real you.

Are you Just selling something or are you creating an experience for your customers?

What does Harley Davidson sell? They don’t sell motorcycles. They sell an experience. According to Harley-Davidson`s President and CEO, Richard Teerlink “what we sell is the ability for a 43 year old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns and have people be afraid of him” they sell a “rebel lifestyle”. It’s that kind of thinking that creates a memorable brand that will be around for years to come.

Here’s another example of how thinking about the “experience” can elevate your company’s image and branding.

Back to Nike. Nike doesn’t sell shoes, they sell the experience of using Nikes, the feeling of being a winner. They condense that whole message into three words “Just Do It”. It’s a question of being the only one in your market offering something unique. You need to find your uniqueness and commit to it. There may be other people doing what you do, but in your eyes, you should be the only person doing it right.

Branding is an invaluable process and one that can crystallize your personal needs as well as those of your organization. BUT, if you and your company are moving in different directions, no amount of visual treatments will solve your problems. You have to insist upon establishing a plan that aligns all of your interests in a single stream. That way every subsequent decision will be made in a consistent and lucid fashion.

In todays world you can benefit greatly by having your business and personal brand be interchangeable. So many companies market themselves based on what their competitors are doing. There are so many things in common with these businesses. Talk to two identical construction companies and ask them what their best qualities are: They’ll probably say service and quality. While that’s great, can you believe that when everyone says it? How do you know? Find out what makes you TRULY unique and lead with those qualities in every way you market yourself.

Be unique but be honest. Your company has more in common with your competitors than it doesn’t. So many businesses market themselves based on what their competitors are doing. You have to move past talking about “great quality, service and price” and find something that is actually notable. “Great Service” is pretty much the worst story ever told in marketing-because everyone else says the same thing. This may require you to openly admit something you don’t do, aren’t good at or are obsessive about. But most importantly, be honest! Good things rarely start with misleading your customers.

Thanks again for reading. I’ll be back with another post in a week or so, in the meantime if you have any questions feel free to contact me at john@powerbandgraphics.com. Good luck!

After interviewing them and getting to know their business it was obvious that they are very well respected in Lincoln and take their customer support for their clients very seriously. PowerBand Graphics created an original, modern ecommerce website design that effectively used the layout to allow flexibility to promote products and allow clients easy access to all of the information they need.

After working with them to refine the design to the point where Husker Headquarters was happy with it, we coded it, imported the products and provide ongoing training and support for the business. The site went live this week. If you are a Husker fan and want some gear to show your support, check it out here!

Heartland Professional Home Energy Raters is a Lincoln Nebraska startup that approached PowerBand Graphics to provide branding, website design, marketing collateral and even tradeshow signage for the business as it started out. After meeting with the owner Kari Beckenhauer, learning about her business and getting a feel for the passion she has for her industry I felt fortunate she chose me to help.

Heartland Professional Home Energy Raters is a business that specializes in rating the energy efficiency of existing homes in addition to working with home builders to ensure the homes they build are energy star rated and can sell them as such. They do not endorse or promote products, services or companies so you can trust their word that they’ll suggest changes that will benefit you and your bottom line.  They’ll provide suggestions on how you can save money on utility bills while making your home healthier and more comfortable.

What was great about working with Kari, is that she knows firsthand the troubles that homeowners go through in keeping their home efficient to save money, increasing their home value and decreasing their environmental impact. This kind of knowledge about her business and market is invaluable to creating a meaningful and affective brand. We immediately began conceptualizing ideas and doing extensive research into her market and customers. We created concepts that conveyed the emotions we were looking for, she didn’t want to be seen as a cheesy operation. Her business helps homeowners and there should be a sense of trust in her opinion and expertise.

After examining and revising the options we settled on a logo design and brand message. From there we created the identity pieces for the business. Next we examined website concepts to create a creative and professional web presence for the business. The website had to appeal to multiple markets. Not just the homeowner but the home builder as well. Careful thought went into the copy, the structure of the website and the message the site would convey to visitors. Below is a screenshot, or you can check it our yourself here:

From there we created an email newsletter so that Kari could use PowerBand Graphic’s own easy to use email marketing service to keep in touch with her clients and let them know of recent projects and simple tips they could use to make their own homes more efficient.

From there we created advertisements that captured the qualities of everything we’ve established in Heartland Professional Home Energy Rating’s branding so far. We created what PowerBand Graphics calls an Advertising Kit. This kit establishes a variety of print ads in different sizes that will help establish a consistent and professional brand in whatever publications or methods they decide to advertise in.

We even went so far as to create graphics for tradeshow banners and standees for a local Homeowner Convention. It was great working with Kari on all of these projects to establish a professional, consistent brand image across print, web and any other marketing needs they had.

Creating this consistency helps establish trust, professionalism and a uniqueness that increases the value of her business as whole. If you are a homeowner who is looking to increase the value and comfort of your home, create more independence from energy utilities in addition to helping the environment, you should give Kari at Professional Home Energy Raters a call. Your home and your wallet will thank you.

What does branding mean to your company?

Some people confuse branding with getting a logo and business cards. They’ll get some cheap logo made with a swoosh and say. “There, I’m branded. Done.” In reality it’s much, much more than that.

Think of the Nike logo, by itself it’s just a curved graphic and does very little. The swoosh isn’t any more sporty, fast or effective than any other logo but it’s been built up over the decades to be associated with all those things. Now it strikes an emotional cord not because of the logo itself but because of the overall brand. A logo is not your brand, it’s simply an icon. An identity is not your brand is just a system used to lend a consistent visual voice for your organization. It doesn’t change who you are, it just augments how you are perceived by others.

Branding is not just marketing or advertising gimmick. It’s bigger than your logo or your marketing campaign. Branding is about asking: Who are you? Why is your business here? What makes you unique? Getting started with branding is about asking these questions. Building credible and memorable branding means being true to those answers and yourself. Real branding can’t be faked. There is so much commitment and passion that goes into starting a business or running an organization. Do you want to be seen as just another company or do you want to be seen as something more?

Effective branding is far more internal than external.

You need to be ready to ask yourself some hard questions, ask yourself: What is my business or organizations purpose? What is the point of what we are trying to do? What at-heart are you made of? THAT and that alone is what branding is all about. MEANING, not marketing. Marketing and advertising is about spreading your message externally, before you do that and you must brand yourself internally. Really define who you are, what your message is and who you want to talk to. That is the first step to any successful business. If you don’t know the answer to those questions then no one else will and your company will suffer for it.

In the end no one will know your business better than you will but don’t be afraid to get a creative professional’s help. They will assist you with taking those things that you love best about your business and being the owner and create imagery and visual elements that help reflect that. A professional can help you remove the unneeded elements and hone the unique characteristics into something that makes people want to learn more. It’s a process but it’s worth it.

Thanks for reading this installment, be sure to check out the next one where I’ll delve deeper into the things a business needs to consider when branding themselves effectively.

December 2010′s cover featured NBC Bank here in Lincoln. Don’t forget to check out the handsome guy in the lower right corner:

January 2011′s Cover Featured JMISKO:

February’s cover featured the Strictly Business crew themselves:

March 2011′s Strictly Business Cover showcased TCW Construction here in Lincoln:

April’s 2011 cover featured the fantastic food at Greta’s Gourmet:

And finally May’s cover featured Shane and Sunny themselves!

E-Pass is a local service that provides exclusive membership to receive “elite” specials at various drinking establishments around the Lincoln Nebraska area. E-Pass is now accepted at 9 locations with more to come! Including sports bars, restaurants, clubs, and Lincoln’s hottest spots for live bands.

This business was started by Jason Gayed, a local small business owner who had an idea for a discounted card similar to what you may find for restaurants but aimed at drinking establishments and clubs. After meeting with him it was clear he had done his research and realized that with this startup image was going to play a large role in attracting sales. Jason did not want something that would be viewed as cheap or cheesy. To attract both the drinking establishments and the people to buy the card this service needed to be high end, fun and professional. No product names had been finalized at this point and PowerBand Graphics was up to the challenge of working with Jason, researching different options to create a brand that met his goals.

The first step was researching what was out there, comparing ideas and concepting directions we could go. Sketches were made, typography was experimented with and names were tested. Here’s just a sample of some of the concepts that were created:

From there, Jason and I worked to finalize the concept and aesthetic of the company. The company would be known as Elite Pass Nebraska with the main product being the E-Pass. The business identity should convey nightlife, classiness and exclusivity for the card holder. The card itself would be traditional on the back side but the front would be vertically oriented so the user could wear it in a lanyard. This lends itself well to events where an E-Pass holder gets in free or are exclusive to cardholders.

Once everything was finalized, brand guidelines were given to Jason. These multi-page guidelines included primary logos, alternate logos and directions on when to use each. It includes social media images, and print files so the card, logo and everything else can be replicated in as high quality manner possible. PowerBand Graphics will always be ready to help create work for Elite Pass Nebraska but having this material on hand makes the business owner’s life easier and more independent.

It was a pleasure working with Jason. His business plan has been well thought out and there are some great specials with E-Pass. You can contact him or purchase yours via his website.