It's all in the Tone
Jun 23, 2010 - by Dawn
For all you type lovers out there I'd recommend a look through the site Village. You'll find an eclectic mix of type design along with traditional design. The style of the site is a little more casual than the norm. Visiting this site I feel like a child in a candy shop, there's an option to grab and move panels around the screen on the homepage.
And if you're a real nerd (nerds are cool these days, it's ok) you could even buy yourself a bag screen printed with metallic silver and fluorescent orange.
Who wouldn't be inspired!
If I had to pick a favourite, today it would be Stag Stencil.
Stag Stencil Bold was commissioned for Esquire Magazine, and Light was commissioned by Formula One. Both clients required a masculine font with obvious constructed elements.
But with this selection available my favourite is liable to change.
Posted in Village, Typography, New Font Collections, Graphic Design, Contemporary Type
Going Cheap?
Jun 18, 2010 - by Dave
Every cloud has a silver lining and one positive of the recent tough economic situation is increased value for the consumer and businesses. Prices have definitely come down and the buyer now has all the power. I'm all for this and for too long we haven't been getting good value for goods and services in Ireland. But when is cheap too cheap and why is the cheapest option sometimes more expensive?
In my opinion we have now reached the bottom and businesses have reduced their prices as much as possible. Graphic Design is no exception and studios are running on very, very tight margins with little or no room for further reduction or sustaining slow paying clients.
What we do in general is come up with a fair price and quote on this basis but some businesses are going for the cheapest possible option. Yes, there will always be someone cheaper but do you really want 'Fred in the Shed' designing your corporate logo? You're going to be stuck with it for a long time. And is it really a good idea to get that guy doing work experience who knows a bit of HTML to put together your company website?
For me this is a false economy. You might get it done very cheap but how much is it going to cost you if you have to get the work done again in 2-3 months because your site doesn't work properly or your logo looks shoddy and embarrassing? Are you missing business opportunities because your website isn't attracting new customers and is it in effect costing you money? How many potential clients have dismissed your business due to poor and ineffective brand positioning?
All these skills take time and effort to acquire. They require investment in training, software, equipment and ongoing learning on the part of properly run graphic design companies. If a quote seems way too cheap there's probably a very good reason for it - don't forget the maxim: "Pay Cheap, Pay Twice!"
Posted in Small Business, Scapegoat Design, print design, Marketing, creativity, Client, branding
Scapegoat is...on Facebook
May 31, 2010 - by Dave
A lot of our clients often ask us about Social Media. Is it worthwhile having a Facebook page? Should we be on Twitter? What about LinkedIn? We often advise them that they can be useful but a lot of it is dependent on their business.
Scapegoat now have a Facebook page - we're not 100% sure what to do with it yet but I guess it is a chance for us to put our money where our mouth is! If any of our readers could 'like', 'become a fan' or just have a look at the page that would be very much appreciated.
You can click on this link and see what's going on. And please feel free to make any comments but no profanity!
Posted in Social Media, Graphic Design agencies, Graphic Design, Communications, Business
Offshoot Night - Thursday 13th May
May 18, 2010 - by Dawn
I was very glad to have gone along to the second Offshoot night, held in the Sugar Club last Thursday night. Not only for the free posters given out by Red Dog - "we love a bit of free print stuff", but also for the opportunity to get a casual insight into a selection of design work by Unthink, Red Dog and Studio Output. Offshoot are now promoting the next 3 day creative event to be held this autumn. Paper & pencils were handed out on Thursday night, the best drawing of a dog could win a ticket for this weekend, so I'm crossing my fingers..
Posted in Unthink, Studio Output, Red Dog, Offshoot, Graphic Design agencies
Book Club Part II
May 13, 2010 - by Dave
I haven't reviewed a book in a while so here is Design Book Club Part II! The book I have picked is 'It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be' by Paul Arden. This is a book I picked up in London around 4 years ago and I have been reading it ever since.
What I mean by that is I must have read this book at least twenty times (there are a lot of pictures!) and I always learn something new. As many people will know, Paul Arden was a famous Creative Director with Saatchi and Saatchi. He was renowned for his maverick approach to the industry and also his unpredictable and sometimes explosive temperament.
Having said that anybody who has ever worked with him has only good things to say about him and he set many big names along their creative path. This book is fantatsic in terms of inspiring creative people to be original and inventive.
For example, one of his maxims is 'Seek criticism, not praise'. His rationale for this being if you only seek approval you'll probably be told what you want to hear whereas if you seek criticism you will learn how to improve and enhance your work.
Rather than being a 'How To' guide as such the book provides food for thought and a starting point for those in the Creative Industry to develop their own ideas and philosophies. If you haven't got it - BUY IT!
Posted in Paul Arden, Designers, creativity, advertising
