Alliteration and barber pole marketing in Lena, Mississippi.
Archive for September 2010
Over the years, I’ve found that one of the key marketing elements many businesses struggle with is their logo. It’s one of the most basic components of a good branding and marketing strategy, and yet, it’s also something that often creates the most headache and confusion. Developing a single image that adequately conveys your company’s offerings is a daunting task. And, you don’t just want it to “adequately convey.” You want it to ATTRACT customers to your products and services. Add to that the personal stake most entrepreneurs and small business owners have in the way their life’s work and passion is portrayed, and the logo development process can produce trepidation in even the most seasoned client.
I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about logos lately with a few Small Pond clients who are in the thick of the logo development process. In addition, I’ve had several colleagues and friends approach me to help them evaluate their business logos to try and gauge effectiveness. Whether it’s a completely new concept or an image you’ve been using for years, how do you know if your logo design could use a tune-up? How can you make this key piece of your marketing plan work to your best benefit? It’s true that when used consistently, almost any image you’ve chosen can come to be associated with your business over time. But, is what you’re using really matching the achievement and potential of your ideas, your products and your services? In my conversations, I’ve been stressing a few questions to consider when judging whether a logo is really working for you.
Is it FLEXIBLE? Is your logo readable in both large and small applications (billboards to business cards, jumbotron to iphones)? Can it be used in both horizontal and vertical formats? Does it convey your image just as well in one color as in full color? Flexibility is the key to consistency. And consistency will make or break your logo’s effectiveness. Make sure the logo design you adopt has the flexibility to serve the breadth of your marketing needs.
Does it have LONGEVITY? Does it strike a balance between timely and timeless? Does it give your image a “look” that is independent of trends? Will it represent your business appropriately 10 years from now? The worst marketing investment you can make is in a logo design that will be dated in a year, or even two. When your logo is too trendy, your customers’ confidence level can take a hit. An outdated logo creates the impression that your products, services and abilities are outdated as well. On the other hand, a logo that maintains a timeless image has the added benefit of upping the professionalism-quotient of your business.
Is it APPEALING? Does it create positive impressions of your business among your specific customer base AND the general marketplace? Does it cause your business to stand out in the crowd? Does it encourage the audience to take a longer look? Your company logo is never going to appeal to everyone. That’s just an unrealistic goal, but consider your specific target audience when determining the imagery and typefaces used in your logo. You want potential customers to make favorable associations with your choices. In addition, you want your choices to produce interest and curiosity in the broader audience.
Is it APPROPRIATE? Does it reflect the reality of what you do? Does it communicate what you have to offer and your business style? Does it interpret your company goals and services for the public? Does it create the image you want your business to be known for? Part of developing an effective logo is helping your customers draw a line between your company’s image and what you actually offer, how you actually deal with customers and your actual approach to business. One should reinforce the other. An appropriate logo helps the audience recognize the “tone” of what you have to offer and how you’ll relate to them in a real-life encounter.
Are you using it CONSISTENTLY? As I mentioned earlier, consistency will make or break your logo’s effectiveness. Even the most well-designed, timeless, appealing, appropriate and flexible logo won’t be effective if it is not used consistently in your marketing efforts. Don’t compromise when it comes to presenting your business to the public. Include your logo on every piece of information about your business that your customers will see. Invest in licenses for the typefaces used in your logo so that they can be applied to other items like proposal headings or even invoices. Be watchful with vendors and advertising outlets to ensure that your logo is being used correctly on promotional items. This consistency will help your audience begin to automatically associate the logo with your business, products and services.
I’m always so intrigued by the ways designers derive inspiration from nature. The natural world provides a wealth of examples for pattern, texture and color combinations. These examples are often immediately pleasing to our eyes, and we can easily recognize them as “well-designed” because we see them “naturally” in the environment all around us.
In marketing and image development, natural forms like plants or leaves can be used even in unrelated industries and business types to provide a more organic presence for disciplines that might otherwise be less people-friendly. Using imagery, patterns and textures from nature often provides immediate positive associations for the audience when used in promotional or marketing pieces.
The repeating patterns of leaves have always been a great source of design inspiration for me. And, I’m not alone. This week, I’m inspired by FERNS, in particular, and by these great designers who’ve used them to produce some outstanding and well-designed products.
Palace Papers: You may have already read of my love of the Palace Papers line of wallpaper and fabric patterns. I think “herringbone” is my favorite pattern of all time. I love menswear styles anyway, and the added serendipity of seeing the fern fronds forming the texture just knocked my socks off from the moment I saw it.
Flock Home: I love this shop filled with hand-printed linens including pillows, cocktail napkins, cloth napkins and this fabulous fern-inspired tea towel. The simplicity of Gina’s custom designs showcase the very essence of the flora and fauna inspiring her.
Honeybee: Amy Moore describes her jewelry line as “wearable sculpture inspired by the natural world,” and it’s an apt phrase. Her sterling silver creations are simply outstanding. Just look at how delicate the fern fronds in this ring design are! The textures she’s created in her designs are subtle, but stunning.
Appetite: The bags, wallets and scarfs created by Erin Albin are made with her custom-designed and hand silk-screened materials. Screen printing is near and dear to my heart, so I love products that are well-designed and use this time-honored technique. The gentle curl of this hobo bag fern pattern give it a nice delicacy that contrasts with the canvas fabric.
[Pond Notes: Etsy.com is one of my favorite places to find inspiring design work. Sometimes I type in a random word or object in the search feature to start the process of discovery. Give it try! You are sure to be inspired as well.]
When Staying the Same Isn’t an Option
Thank God in Heaven above; 3-year-old Bug has put his tee-tee AND his doo-doo in the potty for the last three weeks. Plus, he wore his big boy Elmo underwear every day AND night. And was excited about it.
For weeks (maybe even months) I had been attempting to get him to try the underwear. “Look! There’s Elmo. And cookie monster.” I sang and danced in my best Elmo impersonation. “Potty time, potty time…” I cajoled in an attempt at positive peer pressure. “Big boys wear these.” Bug was totally unconvinced. He was WAY too smart (and independent minded) for that argument. I mean, this is a boy who is three, but insists he’s “pretending I’m four.” Alas, the typical Mommy-tactics were useless. So, I took comfort in the words of the Queen, my friend, mentor and mother of two fully potty-trained adults–“Nobody ever walked down the aisle in diapers”–and decided to wait it out. As with all things Bug, he usually has to make up his own mind before any efforts at convincing have a snowball’s chance of succeeding.
Then, it happened. Three weeks ago, the stars aligned with my overworked brain and dang if I didn’t forget to put 2T pull-ups on the grocery list. Yep, my oversight did not become apparent until AFTER bath time when we would normally pull on the pull-up. I searched the house and every conceivable traveling or school bag to no avail. There were no more pull-ups. Rather than letting Bug stand there in his shimmies while I scooted the minivan to the grocery store at 9:00pm, I thought we could just use one of the old diapers for the night. “Why don’t we just put this on tonight and Mommy can get you some tomorrow.” Yeah right.
The moment of truth. The tipping point. The straw that broke the pull-up’s Buzz Lightyear-clad back. Whatever you want to call it; for Bug, it was a literal defining moment. And I quote… “Babies wear diapers.”
I’m not sure at what point in his doo-doo journey he came to that conclusion, but clearly on this night he had arrived and there was no turning back. Where only a mere 12 hours before he had been content to be a “big boy” wearing pull-ups, before my eyes “big boy” took on a whole new meaning. The diaper differentiation was made and “big boy” was redefined. At one time being a “big boy” meant wearing pull-ups emblazoned with Buzz, or if you were really cool, Lightning McQueen. With pull-ups out of the equation, suddenly the parameters shifted. As they so often do.
It made me think. When staying the same isn’t an option, what do we do?
I haven’t written about my 2010 theme word in a while–the pursuit of COURAGE, learning it and living it. This episode with my 3-year-old brought it back to the forefront of my mind–a mind that perhaps needed a clear reminder of the courage required for growth.
We all reach that point at times in our lives when we realize that going back really means going backwards. It’s a defining moment just like the pull-up fiasco was for Bug. At that moment, when it’s apparent that staying where we are–staying the same–is simply out of the realm of what our own hearts can accept, things get redefined and repositioned pretty quickly. When faced with the choice of going back or moving forward, we often see ourselves in a whole new light, by a whole new definition. Our concepts of what we’re able to do and who we want to be transform. And facing those realities takes courage. Acting on them and stepping out into that new definition of ourselves takes even more.
When it comes right down to realities, what part of life ISN’T a choice of moving forward or going back? Nature teaches that the process of growing only includes a finite time period of hybernation before it becomes stagnation. To be alive is to grow and change, or to become toxic and begin the process of NOT living. In those moments, defining and differentiating progress becomes one of the greatest acts of courage.
Bug decided that very night that Elmo underwear was an acceptable option. In fact, it was a preferable alternative to the babyhood of diapers. He put them on and had no accidents during the night. “Big boy”-ness, the expanded edition, had been achieved. Beyond that, it only took one experience of having doo-doo in those sesame street numbers to convince Bug that was no longer the way to go. Presto. Surprisingly, he’s only had a handful of accidents at preschool, at home or in bed since that night. In his process of growing toward more maturity and independence, it took removing just one thing from the option box (by accident), and the game completely changed. Actually, for Bug, game over. His mind was made up and potty training was done.
I so admire this little guy–his courage, his determination, his gusto, and yes, even his “my way or the highway” attitude. In one fell swoop his definition of being a “big boy” grew beyond his comfort zone, and he embraced it without blinking an eye. I’m so inspired by that sheer resolve NOT to go backwards. A good lesson.
A recent stop in my observation of Small Pond, Mississippi was the town of Lena along Highway 31 South. You can read more of my thoughts on that particular winding road over at EyeJunkie, but as I noted recently, it facilitated me adding a few more photographs to my collection documenting hand-painted signs.
Downtown Lena, Mississippi didn’t have much of a Main Street to speak of, although you can see it wasn’t immune to the glossy red, white and blue political “yard sign”. Plus, you have to love the RCA dog and phonograph logo still in use. It takes me back. What made me pull over, however, was the City Hall slash Public Library building. I’ve seen countless mom-and-pop eateries and sale announcements boasting hand-crafted signs, lovingly created to communicate someone’s personal passion. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hand-painted City Hall sign. Lena, Mississippi was a first.
Rather than the typical etched-in-stone serifs, this City Hall boasted hand-painted letters. And, while the overhang-free architecture and concrete grounds didn’t exactly speak “antebellum South” like many public buildings do around here, I was smitten by the pride of place I imagine produced this signage.
The designer definitely took the minimalist approach. And yes, the kerning is a little off. But, there is something inspiring about considering a group of people (maybe only a couple of hundred) who determine to be a township in such a tactile way. What may be lacking in typographic consistency is more than surpassed by the sheer singular voice: “We are Lena, Mississippi.”
Hello & welcome! I’m Haley Montgomery, and I’m the designer and owner of Small Pond Graphics. I sometimes fancy myself a frog kisser— a documentarian coaxing poignant moments from unexpected places. This blog has evolved from those moments.
The small Pond FIELD GUIDE is part diary, part sketchbook, and part wish list – an archive of ordinary wonders. For years, this space has housed my stories – creative ideas, vintage inspiration, our forays into curious places, and the simple artifacts of quiet of conscious living. Through watercolor, photography, and illustrated tales, these pages uncover the blessing of ordinary days and the wonder found in authentic places and pursuits.
I invite you to open the boxes.
Peek into the drawers.
Rustle through the pages.
I’m honored to have you here.
NEED A FROG KISSER?
Phone: 662.312.4001
Contact Haley to dive in