Check out our new TV commercial, with art direction by Dan Higbie. The whole team was involved, and we couldn’t be prouder of the end result.

Tell us what you think!

NetSource Commercial: Carl’s Cookies from NetSource Technologies on Vimeo.

This 30-second commercial, produced by and featuring the NetSource team, presents a fictional client and the branding and design services offered by NetSource. We had the unique challenge of tackling this project over the course of two business days. Creative and story boarding began at 2:00 PM on Friday, and the final edit was completed on Tuesday at 1:30 PM.

The entire commercial was shot with a Canon digital SLR on location at our offices in Ocala. Color correction and grading in Final Cut Pro, motion graphics in AfterEffects, and sound editing in Adobe SoundBooth. Our team used tungsten lighting and two soft boxes. The crew also used a video dolly and steady cam.

Viral videos are one of the mysteries of social media marketing; most people assume “going viral” (getting people to share and view your video online, creating buzz) is pretty much luck or the domain of Fortune 500 companies with large ad agencies working for them. Steve Strauss’ article tries to present some concrete steps to help you plan and execute your own viral video.

Read it here: 7 Steps to Creating a Viral Video

Whitespace—or, negative space—is the open space between elements in a design. The space can be a color other than white, as long as the area is void of elements.

It’s common for whitespace to be seen as “wasted space,” especially when you are working with a limited area. After all, why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of every inch of space in your advertisement / brochure / website?

You may be surprised to know that the space that is empty is just as influential as the space that is filled with text and photos.

Using Whitespace to Your Advantage

When there are too many elements in a design—whether those elements are photos, fonts, or headlines—it appears cluttered and crowded. Imagine a room filled with people that are talking at the same time. Would you know who to listen to first? How long would you stay?

Removing unnecessary elements in your materials not only de-clutters the design, but it also places more emphasis on the most important message.

One company that has learned this lesson is Apple. Their advertisements are famous for their simplicity and use of whitespace. Take a look at their homepage from October 2009:

Immediately, you are presented with three things: An interesting image that grabs your attention, a short explanation of their latest product, and their call to action, “Watch the iMac video.” They are using whitespace to direct their customers to the most important information within seconds, and to show them where to click next.

Now, Apple has the advantage of being a household name with millions of fans worldwide who are already familiar with their products. Most businesses will probably need to present a bit more information, in order to convince potential customers that their products or services are worth the price. However, the same concept still holds true — adding unnecessary information only distracts from the goal you have set; whether that goal is to click on a link, call your phone number, visit your website, or buy your latest product.

Why Simplicity is Important

Billboards are an example of one medium where a simple message is absolutely necessary. Drivers are — hopefully — concentrating on the road, and only glancing up at signs and billboards for just a few seconds. If you can’t condense your advertisement into 6 words or less, then the driver won’t have enough time to read your entire message.

Designing for websites is similar. The average user will decide whether to stay or leave your website within just a few seconds. That means you need to immediately grab their attention, reassure them that your website has the information that they are looking for, and convince them to stay on your website a little longer.

The only way you can accomplish all this is to decide on the most important information, make it the most prominent part of your marketing piece, and get rid of anything that is a distraction. By de-cluttering your designs, you are able to guide your potential customers to the information that you want them to read, and create truly effective promotional pieces.

Some Tips for Reducing Clutter

• Use headlines and sub-headlines to break up large areas of text. This allows the reader to quickly scan the text to get a summary, and to skip to the section that interests them.
• Use simple language. Make your text easy to read and understand, and avoid overly technical language that would be overwhelming and confusing. If your text looks like a lot of work to read, your readers will simply go elsewhere.
• Create a focal point. If you have several images on a page, your viewers won’t know where to look first. Make one or two of your images more prominent, and place your call-to-action nearby.
• Create Relationships. Group related items (like a photo, description, and link) together so they are seen as one element instead of three. You can do this by making the space between these elements smaller than the space that surrounds them.
• Add Whitespace. Make sure there is enough space in your margins, between paragraphs, and around your elements so the overall design is clear and easy to understand.

Logos are everywhere working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to brand items for easy company recognition. But creating an effective logo is not easy. Below are the five main criteria to keep in mind with any logo design. In order to illustrate these points I have created two different logos for a fictitious Leaf company.

The "Good Logo" (left) was created in Adobe Illustrator and follows the below principles, while the "Bad Logo" was designed in Adobe Photoshop and ignores the below rules

1. Scalable

Your logo needs to be flexible enough to support just about any media at any size (think tiny business cards through massive billboards). This is why photograph based logos are not the greatest choice, at some point the pixels that constitute any raster image will enlarge enough into recognition and become “pixellated” or grainy. In contrast, quality  logos are created by utilizing vector images, which are based off of mathematical equations that define shapes and display crisp and clear at any resolution. Raster graphics are typically saved as .EPS or .AI (Adobe Illustrator).

Both leaf logos magnified 500%, notice how the "Good Logo" (left) is still crisp while the "Bad Logo" (right) has become "pixellated" or grainy

2. Recognizable

Logos end up being reproduced in many different formats, the least common denominator of which is the fax machine. While your logo may look amazing in full color with glares, reflections and gloss, at some point it will be faxed in only one color, black.  Your logo should be consistent whether it is reproduced in one color, two color, or full color, and should be attractive and effective whether it is embroidered on a shirt or printed on your outdoor sign.

In this fax simulation notice how the "Good Logo" (left) is still recognizable while the "Bad Logo" (right) has become a large black blob with only the word LEAF recognizable

3. Expressive

Template logo designs fail in the aspect that many other companies (possibly even major competitors) could be using the same exact logo template. This makes your company look generic or contrived instead of unique and innovative. Your company offers customers a unique product, experience, or other service, and your logo needs to communicate this.

Sumpter & Gonzalez LLP (left) and Stylegala (right) used the similar fonts, positioning, and letter treatment resulting in very similar logos

4. Dependable

Reflections (2000), swooshes (1999), and starbursts (1998) are all graphic design fads that have passed. Your logo should not be visually stuck in the past with them. Design trends come and go every year, and affixing your company’s look and feel to the latest and greatest trend will only date it later in life.

The John Deere logo has stayed true to it's original form for over 133 years

Conversly, Pepsi has changed it's logo with different fads over the years with no similarities between the original or the current iteration

5. Memorable

Can you describe your logo over the phone? Does your logo require a fact sheet to decipher it’s visually cryptic metaphors?  The point of any logo is to give your company a visual for clients to recognize and remember easily. Simple, intuitive marks should visually leave behind your one (and only one) big claim to clients.

Even without colors, names or captions, I bet you can name the famous brands behind these logos

Your logo is your company’s identity, the face presented to the crowd.  A good logo will go along way toward building trust, brand integrity, and customer recognition. Will your company make a good first impression and stand out from the crowd?

When it comes to advertising, there are a number of ways to promote your business. Make the most of your advertising budget by creating ads that specifically target your potential customers.

There is no universal advertising solution that works for all businesses, because every business has a unique audience. Once you define your market, you can start thinking creatively to target more customers with your advertisements. For example, a local daycare center may find that advertising on the back of a school play program is more effective than advertising on the radio, because the school program specifically targets parents in nearby schools.

This article will go over many types of advertising media that you can use to promote your business.

Out-of-Home Advertising

Out-of-Home advertisements, or outdoor advertisements, are any type of ads that are in public places. These ads work best in urban areas, where each advertisement is seen by a large number of residents and commuters. Some are designed to reach a mass audience, such as a billboard in a popular intersection, but you can also use out-of-home advertising to target specific types of people. For example, a stadium ad would be seen by sports fans who are predominantly male.

More examples of out-of-home advertising:

• Billboards (Traditional, Digital, and Mobile)
• Bus Shelters
• Benches
• Bus Wraps
• Car Wraps
• Taxi Tops
• Stadium Ads
• Gas pumps
• Aerial Advertising (Airplane Banners, Blimps, and Skywriting)
• Mall Advertisements
• Movie Theatre Screens
• Window Clings
• Floor Graphics

Online Advertising

Online advertising includes any type of promotion that uses the internet. Many companies today already have websites, but there are countless other ways to market your business online. One of the benefits of advertising online is that it’s much easier to track how many people are viewing your ads, and how many people click on them.

Pay per click (PPC) advertising allows you to target a specific audience with keyword phrases that are related to your products or services, such as ‘Women’s Clothing’ or ‘Texas RV Dealer’. You can also advertise on other websites or list your business in online directories that are related to your field.

More ways to promote your business online:

• Banner Ads
• Online Directory Listings
• Search Engine Optimization
• Pay-Per-Click Advertising
• eNewsletters
• Email Marketing
• Social Networking Websites (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)
• Creating a Company Blog
• Posting Videos on YouTube or other video websites
• Posting expert articles on community websites related to your product or service
• Distributing online coupons
• Submitted a product feed to Google Base
• eBay and other Online Classified Sites

Broadcast Advertising

Broadcast advertising uses audio or video communication to create ads. These advertising spots are purchased from a television or radio station. Radio advertising tends to be more affordable and faster to produce than a television advertisement, but pricing for both varies based on production costs and pricing for the time slot. With either medium, your ad can broadcast on stations or channels that target your demographic.

Types of broadcast advertisements:

• Television Ads (Cable, Local, and National)
• Radio Ads
• Sallellite Radio Ads

Print Advertising

Print advertising includes any promotional material printed on paper. Advertisements in newspapers can target a broad range of local readers, while magazines are able to target subcribers based on interests. Direct mail advertising sends print materials directly to targeted recipients. These lists can be purchased, or developed by the business. Print media can also be handed out at events or given to customers who are interested in your business.

One benefit of print advertising is that the potential customer receives a physical copy of your message that they can keep and refer back to for contact information, rather than hearing or seeing your ad for a fleeting moment.

Types of print advertisements:

• Newspaper Ads
• Magazine Ads
• Program Ads for Events
• Yellow Pages Ads
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Postcards
• Newsletters
• Booklets
• Business Cards
• Posters
• Coupons
• Local Directories

Discovering your target audience will help you promote your business more effectively, because your efforts are concentrated on people who would be interested or could benefit from your solutions. With some creative thinking, you can target these customers with your advertisements and discover which medium yields the best results for your company.

This weekend I was in Tallahassee as a delegate for the Greater Ocala Advertising Federation at the quarterly district conference. As a first time delegate, I found it interesting to sit back, observe and learn about the operations of the advertising federation and my role within it. More interesting was to see how our local Ocala market compared with the larger Orlando, Tampa and Miami markets. I’m happy to say, as expected, that we rate very well indeed.

The nick-name of the convention was the “2006 Schoomapalooza”. Obviously, plenty of opportunities to network with others exsisted, but what I most got from the convention was informative insight from the guest speakers on hand to present. Bud Hanson with Fish-On Marketing gave a great presentation on the often elusive experiential marketing concept. Bud did a great job explaining and offered many good ways to impliment the concept. I’m hoping we can bring him to Ocala to speak at one of our local luncheons.

Saga Shoffner, the Associate US Advertising Director for Nike was also onhand to explain the behind-the-scenes creative sessions that have brought forth many of Nike’s best advertising over the last 15 years. Nike my be an international company with a mega advertising budget, but their practices in advertising serve equally well to businesses of all sizes. Both Bud and Saga showed that it is more about creativity than budget (although budget is always good!).