Retro Logos Are In!

Your logo is going to stick with you for a while. Presumably as long as you're in business. Assuming you're as successful as you hope to be - that could last your lifetime. You don't want a logo that becomes stale. Sometimes taking on trends means a logo that you'll get sick of quickly. Solution? Use time tested styles that keep giving... and giving. Everyone connects to the homey warmth of the 50's, the freedoms of the 60's etc. That's why we thing retro logos are an effective and fun way to go.

Graphic D-Signs can create stunning retro-styled logo designs for your business. A quality retro logo design can say a lot about your business - and give the viewer a unique appreciation for the quality known of businesses from the mid-century. Retro logos are wholesome, they instill confidence - and the designs resonate well with the viewer. The sense of nostalgia in retro logo design is comforting. Not only that, but retro logo design and art deco logo design can communicate longevity - the feeling that the business has been around for a very long time. As a logo design genre, retro logos is probably our most favorite type of logo design for small businesses. It takes a lot of research - but retro logo design is very rewarding.

Our retro logo design and art deco logo design work begins with a conversation with the client, and research into their market, and core client base. We then craft several retro logo design concepts, all hand rendered. We never use clip art.

Once the retro logo is designed, you can feel confident that our crew can than also build the rest of your marketing in a similar style - whether it be a web site, brochure, or stationery.

Graphic D-Signs President and Creative Director, Dan Antonelli, personally oversees the retro logo design process. With a unique background in traditional sign painting, coupled with a BA Degree in Advertising, Dan is an expert on logo design for small businesses. Dan Antonelli, is also the author of Logo Design for Small Business, and Logo Design for Small Business 2, which contains over 175 logos he created at the Graphic D-Signs studio, as well as tips and strategy for effective and striking small business logo design. Dan also gives lectures and workshops on logo design and branding, and is a frequent feature writer for several trade magazines.

Check out some our great examples of retro logos that we have created recently:



Check out more awesome retro logos and details on how they were made at our website by clicking here
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Creating Websites with Atmosphere

Those who follow our work know that our sites are just a little more "rich" than the average webpage. We love combining sound, texture and movement to create an "atmosphere". We understand if we make people fall in love with your presence that they'll be more drawn to you than the competition and more likely to return. For aspiring designers and clients alike - we can teach you the rules about what is effective when attemping to design an "environment" where people not only learn about a business or organization - but FEEL it's essence. Our sites have been known to create "emotional" connections. Here are some of our more memorable challenges and the techniques we used for overcoming them:

Challenge # 1 : Make Creepy Crawlies Look Good!

One way to effectively create an atmosphere is to add realistic movement. This bug museum wanted both children and adults alike to become completely infatuated with the idea of visiting a bug zoo - and what better way than to actually put "live bugs" all over their site. You'll notice lady bugs flying through the navbar, ants crawling around the bottom of the page and butterflies swarming through the main intro. This is a fairly simple method using stock photo clippings along with randomized movement controlled by action scripts in flash. It is one way to make the experience of visiting a website feel more "tangible". Click to visit this site.


Challenge # 2 : Establish Trust Without Establishing Boredom

Although we've become famous for our highly textured interfaces - there are times where "grunging it up" is simply not appropriate. Creating appropriate graphics is crucial in conveying the right message. MBK is a human resources firm that wanted to look sophisticated and professional without looking boring. To do so we incorporated really sleak imagery into a clean "shiny" interface and along with some looped cloud video we added some high-pace music. Music is a really effective way of setting an atmosphere. Be careful though. People should easily be able to turn it off - as many people prefer silence and would be driven away quickly by sound they can't control. Notice the whites and blues too. Color is also a great way to change the atmosphere (and blue is an age old standard for corporate establishments) Click to visit this site.


Challenge # 3 : Make Dirty Garage Look Dapper

People love using all five senses. We know they can see and hear a screen. But how about touching it, tasting it and smelling it? Well... technology isn't QUITE there yet (although it's probably not far off). In the meanwhile though an excellent method for making a site seem "Real" is to incorporate texture that is so enticing that people's imaginations almost virtually CAN feel, taste and smell it. With a little help from affordably priced stock photography - you can incorporate tons of layering into sites. Rod and Racecraft is an example of site where we did just that. Click here to visit this site


Challenge # 4 : Entice People to Experience Grand Canyon "Properly"

Sometimes music isn't the way to go on sites. Sometimes soundscapes are far more effective. This Grand Canyon Tour company wanted to convey a more relaxing, isolated and wilderness experience for those visiting the area and what better way to do it than to add the actual soundtrack from the rim of Grand Canyon. Birds, animals and a gentle breeze. Click to see this site


Challenge # 5 : Make People's Hearts Set Sail

This site is an "old" creation of ours but we couldn't leave it out when it came to talking about "atmospheric" sites. We used a lot of movement and light and came up with a really neat interface that sells people on a "romantic boat experience in NYC". Click here to visit the site


CONCLUSION? People may have no intention of using your services when they run across your website. However, having had a memorable experience on your site their head might be a barrage of ideas that eventually they won't ignore. The result? Even if they don't act on contacting you now - when they are financially ready you'll be in the back of their heads. Why? Because you made them FEEL something that they won't forget. You weren't just another site among sites. Want a site like the above? Contact Us! We'd love to chat. :)

"Search engines aren't important in our business"

You would think that nowadays, most busines owners understand the importance of search engines and the role that they should play in their marketing strategy. Yet, I frequently hear from potential clients that search engine optimization is not important to them, or their marketing strategy. Some comments I hear is "Oh, we don't get work that way", or "We get all our business via word of mouth".

All of that may be fine, but I must question the wisdom of building a site that ignores the fundamentals of search engine optimization, and ignoring the opportunity that lies in proper search engine marketing. We've taken so many clients online and marketed their site aggressively, and the results have completely changed the way in which their company does business.

Take for example, a recently redesigned site we just finished for a long time client, Suburban Seats (http://www.suburbanseats.com ) Their new site has been a lead-generating MACHINE! It's bringing in more leads than ever before. Why? Well #1 rankings for Truck Seats is surely one of the reasons.

So, when someone shows us a site with no search engine optimization - or a site built entirely in Flash - we question why a company would choose to purposely ignore the opportunity to generate business and leads online. We can only assume that they didn't know much about it, and trusted that their web designer would design a site to address those needs.

These same companies then become the ones spending thousands of dollars on paid Adwords campaign because their site won't ever rank high naturally, and their web designer doesn't know of any other way to actually get their site to rank naturally - for free. We we're recently hired to redesign a sign company's site who was spending $500 a month on Google Adwords. Why? Because their current site was built entirely in Flash. When we're done with it, we expect them to eventually rank naturally for most search terms. And when that happens - they save $500 a month. When you do the math, a properly optimized site will quickly pay for itself when comparing how much an Adwords campaign will cost.

Here's a sampling of some our search engine successes. http://graphicd-signs.com/html/port_seo_successes.htm

If you really want to know how ranking high on Google naturally has helped their business, just give them a call and ask them. You could also ask us too - we rank #1 for nearly every term related to our business. Google us for nj web design, nj logo design, nj graphic designer.

Marketing Strategy from Ad Salespeople?

Recently, a new client of ours asked us to build a new web site and sales brochures for their New Jersey-based service business. We discussed their budget for the project and, as we normally do, inquired about their other supplemental advertising expenditures.

It's really our job to look at what a client is spending on their advertising, especially as it relates to a percentage of their yearly total revenue. When we analyzed their advertising budget, it was clear that they needed help. Nearly 90% of their total budget was being directed towards the various yellow page books. Worse, was the fact that the ratio of sales to advertising was way out of line. The percentage we normally like to see our small business clients is no more than 5% of total revenue going towards their advertising and market budget line.

So what happened to this client? How did he get in over his head with his budget on yellow pages (which unfortunately, have you locked in 12 months at a time).

In a nutshell, he took all his marketing advice from an ad salesman instead of an marketing professional. His business was slow, or experiencing a slowdown - so, the yellow page sales rep says 'Well, then you need a bigger ad'. And so the client put more money into a medium that less and less people actually bother to use - especially in their particular sector. Had we been consulted prior to committing these funds we would have devised some different, less costly - yet more effective means to promote and market their services.

As an agency, our goal is to have you spend the least amount of money on your marketing and advertising - with the maximum amount of return. Had this client consulted with us prior, we would have saved them literally tens of thousands of dollars. And got them better results from other mediums.

I'm happy to report that our client's business is slowly coming around - their new web site and brochures are really working well - but they are still saddled with these huge payments to the phone book companies. Until they get out of these agreements, their business will remain somewhat hampered.

Bottom line - be careful who you take marketing advice from.

BrooklynPorkStore.com -- Another success story

What we really enjoy about our job is creating success stories for our clients with our work. Take BrooklynPorkStore.com as an example. Last year, we redesigned their web site and introduced a new brand identity for their online store. The results were astonishing. They went from about 40 order PER YEAR on their old site, to well over 4 THOUSAND orders last year. Even before they were featured on the Food Network - they we're averaging about 100 or more orders per month. Our email campaign for them has been hugely successful as well.

What's interesting, is that if it weren't for their new, redesigned site and brand identity - the Food Network wouldn't have even considered featuring them on their Road Tasted show. So, this is a great example of what it takes to propel your company to the next level - the vision to see the need for a company like us to help them, and the guts to put that plan into action.

Most business owners fail to ever take their businesses the next level. It's not that they don't want to - they just don't have the vision needed to make it happen - and don't know where to turn to to get them to the next level.

That's why our best clients are those who trust us, and our years of experience, to take them to next level. We're just as excited by their successes as they are. And that's usually when they realize that their marketing investment with us has paid for itself many of times over. Or in the case of BrooklynPorkStore, it actually paid for itself about 45 times over.

That's powerful stuff.