more than design, candy rice design also writes copy and trains in adobe and microsoft fresh inspiration from unexpected places, like old travel photos and a fast food building how Riverbank Photography’s new logo was born marketing tip for getting personal in your gimmick marketing and a funny photo just for fun
A monthly newsletter of marketing ideas, photos, and fun.
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THE REVIEW candyrice design
copy writing & training
more than just design
2: 6: 09
Copy Writing Do you struggle to write compelling copy for your site? Stop beating yourself up. Many of our clients struggle with it.
Just a bit of marketing sense makes your copy more compelling; it’s all about benefit statements and addressing the hot-button issues of your clients.
That’s where we can help. We’ve worked for several years in the marketing communcations industry, directing marketing strategies and writing copy for brochures, websites, and direct mail pieces. We’ve also mastered that certain special and difficult way to write for the web.
We take the opposite approach, choosing instead to utilize the best training materials out there as resources while you work through realworld scenarios using the various tools each software program has to offer.
Software Training Are you doing battle with Lightroom, Photoshop, or Flash? Want to once-and-for-all master Excel or Outlook? Wish you could sit down with someone and watch how they work?
Then we take it one step further and show you common workflow practices of pros in the design and photography fields, plus teach you the shortcuts they use.
We like to write and we’re good at it, so don’t spend another minute worrying about how to write what you want to say. Let us handle it for you.
Well, that’s our philosophy of training. We’ve heard all the horror stories of getting all excited to attend a great software class, only to be underwhelmed by how much time the instructor kept you buried in the book.
Marketing sense can improve your copy. Consider this:
A business feature: “We sell electronic images from your portrait session.” Now, with marketing sense, a benefit: “Want to show off your photos on your iPhone? Make it easy to brag to your friends by downloading them directly from us!”
Ready to begin? Contact us today!
copywriting & training more than just design
my fresh inspiration
1 cover: Foggy morning in Boulder City Parks, Colorado 1 : shadows & stucco, candy rice :: 2 : Red door in the Piazza (venice), candy rice :: 3 : Icing on Pisa buildings, candy rice :: 4 : at the Rockies game on Memorial Day, dee hindt
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Sound like what you’re looking for? If so, contact us. We’ll set up a date for you. We’ll teach you one-on-one or with a group.
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We had a great time creating a new logo for Darcy, owner of Colorado-based Riverbank Photography. Darcy grew up along the banks of the Mississippi River in my home state of Minnesota, and her stated mission is to “capture childhood memories.” In addition, a meaningful phrase for Darcy is “flow with the river.” We needed to visually represent the essence of these two ideas. We knew that Darcy wanted to incorporate the idea of a river into her logo and that she wanted a modern, rounded font. So we created 2 different mockups (round 1), each utilizing her chosen shade of green plus 2 shades of blue, adding a whimsical little bird, since she primarily photographs children. Darcy selected the elements she liked best from the mockups, and we created 2 more versions for her (round 2). She selected the more turquoise version of the logo and asked us to remove a couple elements (round 3), and quickly settled on the final version (final logo).
Featured project
As is usual when we design for our clients, we worked hard to create brand consistency in the look and “feel” of the logo. In this case, the branding was achieved through the use of Darcy’s signature colors.
Client: Darcy Miccio Pace Riverbank Photography, Colorado
Darcy was a treat to work with, and we are excited to watch how she integrates new logo into her marketing!
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Solutions Provided: • Design Services • Copy Writing Services
marketing tip
Notice Me Use a gimmick to attract
An article from My Business by Geoff Williams. attention–and customers– Employ a personal touch in gimmick marketing. to your business In 2005, the beverage maker Snapple attempted to create the world’s largest ice pop made of its own product. The frozen bar– hoisted above Times Square in New York City–measured 25 feet tall and weighed 17.5 tons. But it melted much faster than expected, prompting panicked tourists to run as a sticky, sugary mess of strawberry-kiwi flavored fluid flooded the streets. That probably wasn’t the intended outcome, but at least it got people’s attention.
SAFETY FIRST! Photo from funnyjunk.com.
In this sluggish economy, concocting a gimmick for your business can mean the difference between no sales and new sales. Even better, gimmicks (unless you want to try to top Snapple’s efforts) don’t have to cost a lot of money to implement–which means if they don’t work, there’s no harm done. Here are three tips for creating the right gimmick for your small business: 1. Show customers that you feel their pain Many businesses have given out discounts to customers in the form of free gas cards, an idea that revolves around a gripe that everyone shares. But Cole Durbin, the owner of Padre’s Modern Mexican (www.padresmexican.com), a restaurant in Phoenix, actually came up with a unique way to show the public he understands his clientele’s problems beyond the pump.
We love puzzles, cartoons, and funny photos. Watch this section each month for something new to do or laugh at.
303.947.5527 www.candyrice.com : candy@candyrice.com 11823 ridge pkwy #821 | broomfield, co 80021
During “Recession Happy Hour,” Durbin offers a free drink to anyone who brings in a foreclosure notice. Inexpensive and clever–and the media noticed. CNN did a story on his business, and, well, we’re mentioning it, aren’t we? 2. Steal from the greats Provided you aren’t taking intellectual property–like another company’s logo–there’s nothing wrong with borrowing ideas that have worked for others and using them for your own marketing devices. But if you’re going to do that, advises Subscriber-Mail’s Jordan Ayan, borrow from the best. A huge fan of the late George Carlin, Ayan, who is founder and CEO of the email marketing firm, wrote a white paper called “The Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say in Subject Lines; Plus 100 Others You Shouldn’t Use Either.” It turned out to be the most frequently downloaded article from his Web site, www. subscribermail.com. 3. Think personal, not professional Amy Maurer, who owns a media consultancy business in Washington, D.C., has an inexpensive marketing gimmick that she uses with her present and potential clients. She bakes cookes and hand-delivers them, insisting that it’s helped her triple her business clientele. “I think it immediately tells potential clients that I am different,” Maurer says.