10 design mistakes report 2011

8/6/2019 10 Design Mistakes Report 2011

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Ten DesignMistakes That

Make YourBusiness Look

BIGBRANDSYSTEMGrow yourbusiness wi

great design


2/13BigBrandSystem.com 2

Ten Design Mistakes ThatMake Your Business Look

his report details how to avoid design land mines, thegraphic disasters that make your business look amateur,disorganized and unprofessional.

Every time you communicate, you have the opportunity to

make a good impression. Marketing materials that are targeted

to your audience, easy to understand and attractive will makeyour business look established, professional and trustworthy.

Read on to see examples of dumb mistakes, and learn the easyBig Brand x you can apply in each situation.

If youd like to learn more, I have a free Design 101 e-course

I can send you. Interested? Get the course by clicking on the red

link below.

Te BIG Brand System

Find out more about growing your business with good design and

marketing. Sign up for the free Design 101 e-course. Its a ten-part

course thats delivered by email and oers actionable advice you can

apply to your business now. Click below to sign up.

>>I want to get the free Design 101 e-course




1. Can You Spel Amature?Spell check. It might be the most importanttechnology innovation of the computer era.

How come some businesses dont use it?

RegencySuites

The highest standards

to the last detal

Check and double check everything you type. Turn on spell check anduse it so you wont miss the detals!
http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/grow-your-business-with-big-brand-system-updates/http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/grow-your-business-with-big-brand-system-updates/


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2. Dont Click HereUnderlined text. Its OK on the web, but bad in print.

ere are lots of ways toemphasize text, and when

youre working in print,

underlining the text is theworst choice.

Try making the text youwant to emphasize largerand bolder. Try indentingthe text below your head-lines to set them o. Try

anything but an underline!

You want to create a

hierarchy of importanceso that the reader canabsorb the informationyoure presenting in theorder that makes it most

clear.

Good design makes thingseasy to understand, andmarketing thats clear worksbetter.

BigBrandSystem.com 4


Our Story

Our company was founded in 1994 by Reginald

Eugene Walters. We offer our customers personal

service, and stand behind our products 100%.

Our Location

Our original location was in the barn behind

Mr. Walters home. Weve now moved into a

beautiful storefront on Main Street, where were

happy to serve you between 8 am and 6 pm,

Monday through Friday.

Our StoryOur company was founded in 1994 by Reginald

Eugene Walters. We offer our customers personal

service, and stand behind our products 100%.

Our LocationOur original location was in the barn behind

Mr. Walters home. Weve now moved into a

beautiful storefront on Main Street, where were

happy to serve you between 8 am and 6 pm,

Monday through Friday.

BIGBrand!




3. Say what?Avoid unreadable typefaces.

Words are meant to communicate, not confuse. Make sure

your words are set in a typeface thats clear and easy to read.

Open House

TODAY1 4 pm

Open HouseTODAY1 4 pm

BIGBrand!




4. Swash Cap CrazinessDesign and marketing should communicate clearly,rst and foremost. Swash caps are typeface elements

that were designed to be used at the beginning of aword only. Look at the dierence:

is sign design could behazardous to your health:it might cause you todrive o the road whiletrying to read it!

HIDDENOAK FOREST

ESTATES

HiddenOak Forest

EstatesBIGBrand!

is is the exact sametypeface, but its set inupper and lower case letters.e swash caps look elegant,not confusing. Nice!


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6. Squint InducersDont make people squint to read your marketingmessage. Clear communication shows you care.

Convincing copywriting is essential, but if your words cant be easilyread, its not worth much.

Make sure your text:

Is large enough to be easily read Has enough contrast between the text and

the background to stand out

When in doubt, try squinting a little. Can you still make out the text?If so, youre on the right track.

At Twin Cities Grocery, we care about our customers! Weshow you how much we care by stocking the freshestproduce and listening to product requests. Well searchthe world to bring you the products you want, and wellkeep our prices low so you can afford to indulge.

At Twin Cities Grocery, we care about our customers! Weshow you how much we care by stocking the freshest

produce and listening to product requests. Well searchthe world to bring you the products you want, and wellkeep our prices low so you can afford to indulge.

BIGBrand!




7. imes Square School of DesignAh, Times Square. e hustle and bustle, the ashinglights, the crowds of people moving in every direction.

Who knew it could inspire a web site design?

When someone arrives at your web site, picks up your print marketingor glances at your ad, you have less than three seconds to capture theirattention.

Grab attention and keep it with clear, concise design, and a compellingoer thats easy to nd.


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8. Smoosh to FitRespect the integrity of your logo by using it thesame way everywhere.

When this

WidgetsIncorporatedbecomes these,theres a problem.

Stretching your logo tot in a space cheapensyour image by distortingyour visual brand.Consistency is an important

key to establishing andmaintaining your brandimage.


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9. wo Spaces are oo ManyUnless youre typing on a typewriter, theres no reasonto use two spaces at the end of each sentence.

If youre writing a term paper, and your teacher requests you put twospaces at the end of each sentence, please do so. But when youreputting together your marketing, use one space between sentences foran A in readability.

In the days of typewriters, two spaces at the end of each sentencemade sense. Because typewriters used mono-spaced letters, it

was easier to see where a sentence ended and another began ifthere were two spaces. Now we use computers. Computers useproportionally spaced letters, so two spaces between sentences isexcessive, and create white holes in the middle of your text.




10. Randomly Placed ElementsUse a grid to line things up.

Between the top of the page andthe headline, we see white space,about this much.

Between the side of the page andthe left column, we see white space,about this much, too.

Columns of text lineup along the top andbottom.

e headline andleft column line upwith one anotheralong the left.

Repeating the size of the whitespace all over your layout ties ittogether and makes it look unied.

BIGBrand!


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If youre struggling to make your marketing

materials look good and work well, I can help.

Ive got some great (free) information you canput to use right away that will make your marketingmaterials more eective. Its my Design 101e-course.

Design 101 is a ten-part course thats delivered bye-mail. Youll learn design and marketing basics that

will help you target your marketing materials and

make your business look more professional.When your business looks more professional,guess what happens? People trust it enough to do

business with you!

Interested? Get the course by clicking on thered link below. anks for reading!

Im Pamela Wilson, anaward-winning graphic

designer. For almost25 years, I have helped

small businesses andorganizations create

big brands through asystem of marketing and

design that makes myclients look professional,cohesive and successful.

In short, BIG.


Ready to polish up yourbusiness marketing materials?

BIGBRANDSYSTEM

Find out more about growing your business with good design and

marketing. Sign up for the free Design 101 e-course. Its a ten-part

course thats delivered by email and oers actionable advice you can

apply to your business now. Click below to sign up.

>>I want to get the free Design 101 e-course

10 design mistakes report 2011

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