ENGAGE...for success. Maximise your next design project with our Brief busting issue.

Top Tips rk ter Wo Make Twit r Free!

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Your Next Maximise ject Design Pro

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August 2014

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...FOR SUCCESS

FR

ENGAGE

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How To Create A Brief Maximise Your Next Design Project

Vision Boards Express Your Brief Through Vision Boards

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Let me influence you…..

This months issue is all about vision. As business owners, managers or marketeers we all know the importance of having a vision. It allows us to strive forwards and work towards a common goal. Which is fantastic if your a visual person and can get carried away in your imagination.

However, if your not how do you communicate your ideas? The key in the delivery of any successful campaign is the communication of your vision to colleagues and clients alike.

It’s quite a selfish issue in some respects because if all our clients could nail their vision delivery it makes our job a lot easier. BUT it’s a very important skill and can be the undoing of any project.

With this in mind we have shared our top tips on how to create a brief and communicate your ideas for your most successful projects to date. You may not realise but the more concise the brief, the better the end results.YES you want your designer to produce ideas and YES it’s what your paying for BUT your campaign will always suffer, designers need direction first and foremost. After all you know your target audience better than any one.

If you only leave with one piece of information from this edition let it be the importance of a clear and concise brief! (and help us designers out a little, you will thank us in the end). As ever if you have any questions you can email us at enquiries@kimberley-janedesign.co.uk.

Thanks for reading and feel free to tweet us with any questions @KJDesignLtd.

Kim ENGAGE...for success magazine is published by:

Kimberley-Jane Design Ltd 36/37 George St Birmingham, B3 1QA Tel: 0121 448 4776 Publisher & Editor Kimberley Leary kj@kimberley-janedesign.co.uk

Marketing Nicola Davis nicola@kimberley-janedesign.co.uk

Design and Typesetting Rachana Sansoa rachana@kimberley-janedesign.co.uk

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Introduction

3

How To Create A brief

4

Business Insights - Brand identity

5

Vision Boards

6

Logo showcase and business profile

8

Free marketing: Making Twitter work for you

10

Top of Google

11

How To Create A Brief

What Is A Brief?

A brief is a summary of relevant information that advises a potential contractor on your intended project. It includes your requirements, what you wish to accomplish, your market and target audience, competitors and brand guidelines.

It could cover any project, from the creation of a website to the delivery of social media strategy and can range from 1 to 100 pages.

The design agencies reply should explain their proposed solution see’s time scales and expected outcomes. It may well depend upon the information you supply in the brief as to what they provide you with. A well-written and detailed brief should make the process quicker and simpler and a decision easier! Both parties understand their . responsibilities and what is expected from each other. Plus it allows for review the future refining.

What Should It Include There are three main parts to a good brief: beginning (introduction/background), middle (requirements) and end (supporting information)

1 AN INTRODUCTION TO YOU

6 REQUIREMENTS

This should be a brief summary of your company, products This should also be detailed and clear. You should or services. It should give the recipient an idea of your concentrate on the key areas and requirements and brand identity and the market in which you work. explain them fully but concisely.

2

Top tip: tell the company what you want the outcome to be, but not the process to use (if you have an idea You should be clear about what you hope to achieve, this already, keep it to yourself for now) see what they come will help the recipient know what to say in their reply and back with and if they have bright ideas of their own. enable costing to be as precise as possible.

If you are ambiguous they may over estimate to • The requirements will generally include: accommodate for changes.

• The intended outcome Mention why you are doing this project. Why is it important?

• The size of the project Also include any research you have done, or state if • The timescale and if there is a deadline research will need to be done before anything can happen.

• Any system in which this project will fit into and how this will work.

3 • How much assistance you will need/ will input.

TARGET AUDIENCE (including in the future, when maintenance is Who is your target audience for this project? needed) How many people are you looking to reach and what Any restrictions there might demographic?

OBJECTIVE

Why would these people need your product or service?

5 COMPETITION

Briefly mention your competition, their products and services. Or list any brands, products or services you have seen and liked. This will give your supplier an idea of what you are looking for and how you want it to look.

In next month’s issue we will look at how to create a successful budget 6

BUDGET

If the recipient knows how much you are willing to spend, then it makes their job a lot easier! If you say there is no budget, they may assume you expect this service for free, or are willing to spend whatever amount they suggest, however high!

Do you have an SEO strategy and has it helped to generate business?

BUSINESS INSIGHTS

Of all the respondents, only 18.6% had an SEO plan in place. Most of the respondents understood the importance of deploying an SEO strategy but due to the lack of time or perceived need had not people in business think, what advice do they implemented one.

Have you ever wondered what other get and where from?

Well we’re a bit nosey too and wanted to know the answer so we created a survey to find out! You may remember seeing it...We asked if Britain had embraced it’s entrepreneurial spirit? Yes but heres the nitty gritty on Brand identity.

5 Brand Identity

“My business grew up and needed a different look and feel for the direction it was taking”

Do you have a logo?

86% Do 14% Dont

Most of the respondents had a logo.

Interestingly 14% of the respondents did not have a logo at all.

Does your logo effectively communicate your brand identity?

How did you have your logo designed?

Designed myself using free / paid software

36%

Employed a Graphic Designer

21%

Asked a friend Used a logo marketplace 27%

Dont Have one Other

Have you had more than one logo designed since starting the business?

68% 32%

32%

68% of the respondents claimed that they had a logo redesign since the start of business. This may be attributed to industry dynamics, which is influential on consumer behavior and brand perception.

Brand Awareness

VISION BOARDS A vision board (mood board or collage) is essential for any brief. It helps you to express your idea through words and pictures. The vision of your brief can be clearly seen through the images, ideas and notes written on your board.

These apps let you create a vision board on the go, picking up images and writing ideas wherever and whenever.

Pic collage What does it do?

It is based around pictures, letting you add multiple photographs from your phone and online to create a split frame board. You can then add text on top, choosing from different colours and fonts. The background can also be altered to create a professional looking board.

Is it any good?

It lets you add multiple photos at once and there are texts available that look modern and impressive. It is based on photographs and not written explanations or notes, but there is space for text. You can easily adjust the size of everything, add long notes to your text boxes and a range of icons to your boards, although these icons are not very professional looking.

Pinterest What does it do?

Pinterest lets you search specific topics and pin your favourite photos to your boards. Your can have various boards, name them whatever you want and add as many pictures as you’d like, even upload your own. You can also write a caption for each image to remind yourself why you pinned it.

Is it any good?

Tried and tested, Pinterest is loved by many and there are millions of photos to scroll through. You can search through their topics or search for a term of your choosing, making finding a specific photograph or themed photographs easy. It lets you write long captions, adding any notes you need.

But you cannot create a traditional board with pictures all on one page together and print it, the boards are more like galleries.

Although you can copy a link to your board and email it or post it online if you wish.

Tweet us your favourite apps @KJDesignLtd

Mood Board What does it do?

Lets you add photographs and text to each board. You can also use arrows and freehand drawing to complete your vision board. The background can be altered and each photograph rotated and moved easily.

Is it any good?

There are not as many backgrounds to choose from as other apps and adverts do pop up now and then, but it is easy to use and looks sleek and just like a real board.

You can only add one picture at a time, but they are easily added, moved and altered. Photographs can be added from your phone or online accounts.

The app is easy to use and each board looks elegant, but the lack of font choice means all text is bold and quite large, meaning long notes take up a lot of space and grab your attention more than is necessary.

Evernote What does it do?

Evernote has already been featured in our May magazine for productivity apps! It has endless features, letting you create lists, notes and boards.

You can add photos and notes, reminding yourself why you like each photo and the importance of each for your project.

Is it any good?

There are not as many backgrounds to choose from as other apps and adverts do pop up now and then, but it is easy to use and looks sleek and just like a real board.

You can only add one picture at a time, but they are easily added, moved and altered. Photographs can be added from your phone or online accounts.

The app is easy to use and each board looks elegant, but the lack of font choice means all text is bold and quite large, meaning long notes take up a lot of space and grab your attention more than is necessary.

SHOWCASE WEB-DESIGN This months showcase web site has been an absolute pleasure to work on. We were approached by Greg Day, a Portraiture and Film Stills photographer based in the Midlands. The design direction was immediately obvious as the photographs Greg takes do all the talking, especially his cover photo, where the user finds themselves looking down the barrel of a gun!

It was clear he needed a website that didn’t distract from his work and immersed the user in a full screen experience.

His new website is designed to work on all platforms and each

Successful completion of the logo gave us a clear vision for the online branding. Two Valleys wanted to steer clear of cheesy photographs and we don’t blame them!

Instead we continued with the valley drawings and created a matching website footer.

The website also includes a portfolio of high quality photographs which showcase their previous projects and all their relevant skills.

The website also benefitted from a matching mobile version and if you’ve read our earlier article you will understand its importance!

Free marketing: Making Twitter work for you Social media offers you an easy way of gaining followers and growing your audience. You can pay for adverts or you can save your money and spend time building your network for free. This can reach just as many people as a paid advert, but it does take time.

Here are a few simple steps to take to grow your audience and grow your customer base on Twitter without spending money!

Blink and its gone

Twitter is a fast paced site with tweets continually being posted and your 9am tweet probably won’t be seen by 9:10am, let alone at the end of the day.

You need to post continually and always post something interesting and engaging or it won’t be seen or read.

Engage with your audience

Use you’ to engage your followers, ask questions, retweet news and important info and you should gain a greater following.

Follow and watch similar companies, see what they post, who they follow and who follows them. (It’s not cheating, we promise!)

Brand awareness

Make sure your tweets are in keeping with your brand and company image. If you are a serious business, tweet serious news updates and relevant information. If you are a fun artistic company then keep your tweets chatty and fun. That way you will gain the right following for you and your company.

Top tips:

- Continually link to your site so anyone reading can click and see what you offer straightaway - Always add your @username to your communications, or the twitter logo linked to your account at the end of website pages., Blog posts etc.

- When you have a larger following, you can encourage retweets with rewards or discounts. Get people engaged with questions and surveys and offer rewards for replies.

Most importantly: Always encourage others to tweet you!

Make money!

Twitter can be mastered without spending any money. By posting regularly, enticing your followers to retweet or mention you, you should gain the attention of anyone following them and so grow your audience and hopefully gain more customers.

Paid adverts can do this with less effort needed, but most people who click on a paid advert and come to a blank or little used page will not be enticed into following or recommending your page. Whether you are looking to pay for adverts or not,I would recommend keeping your Twitter page up to date and constantly posting to keep a large online presence and remind followers you are still there.

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