We have been doing quite a bit of ads!

Here are the latest.

It can be easy to think that all you have to do is place a logo and quick tag line up for your google ads, or any website advertising. But you have to remember that you are competing against the very information on the page and several other flashing ads and pictures visually – so you need to stand out and consider where your advertising.

We helped News Razor create these ads for their google ads, and other placements through out the web. We focused on what would attract attention and what would get a “click” from the appropriate user that would be on the page in the first place. Short, sweet and to the point, we only have a few seconds to intrigue!

Next we created a landing page… What is this? If you going to do a specific sale or promotion for your google ads (which is highly recommended) you need to have a landing page that offers it specifically to those who clicked. This allows the website owner to monitor how well the ad is doing as far as actual clicks and commitments. Plus – even though the user is on your site, you have not sold them yet – you have to give the pitch! Bring it on home with a landing page that gives them the exact information they are looking for, if they have to search for it, they will just leave and move on to the next great deal.

So to recap -
1. Pick your audience
2. Focus your campaign
3. Create eye catching ad
4. Bring it home with a great landing page

New Braunfels-based 50 Foot Marketing & Design recently was honored by its peers when seven of its designs were chosen in the 2010 American Graphic Design Awards, bestowed by widely-read industry publication Graphic Design USA. Published since 1963, the magazine is targeted to graphic designers and other creative professionals.

“It’s always a great feeling when a client is happy with your work,” says Martha Dixon, owner of 50 Foot. “But getting noticed by others in the industry is in some ways even more rewarding.”

There are a number of different categories in which agencies can choose to submit their work, including package design, magazines and books, broadcast and film and package design and point-of-sale. More than 9,000 entries are received for the contest, and only top designs are chosen. 50 Foot took honors in Website, Poster, Logo, Brochure and Flyer/Postcard. The prize is the opportunity to be published and a certificate. “It’s as much about the bragging rights as anything,” says Dixon. “Clients love it and it’s a great moral booster for the creative team.”

The team, which includes Dixon, her husband Justin Dixon, Amanda Schobel and Stephanie Richardson along with photographer Sarah Griffin, produced winning work on behalf of clients Lone Star Bakery (a trade show flyer and a Miss Emma’s brand point-of-sale poster), 2Tarts (logo) and Guadalupe River Houses (brochure). The team also created winning work for its own new agency image with the 50 Foot logo, website and “Big Talk” promotional poster.

Winners will have their work seen by more than 100,000 colleagues, clients and marketing decision makers, through the printed magazine and the online edition. 50 Foot will have two images accompany the story – the 2Tarts logo and the Lone Star Bakery Miss Emma’s poster.

“I think these winning designs are very representative of the high-quality work we do,” says Dixon. “This was the first year we entered, and it turned out really well for us.”

This year, we wanted to give more than a gift, we wanted to give an experience. Wassailfest is just one of the many reason 50 Foot Marketing & Design is based in the Historic District of Downtown New Braunfels. Our favorite event of the year to share with friends, family, and clients, Wassailfest is a true Norman Rockwell experience which keeps the community coming back year after year, a real favorite hometown event!

This year 50 Foot will be one of the wassail stops during New Braunfels’ Wassailfest!

We invite you to visit our studio during this grand event, December 2, at 6:15pm. Come inside, relax and look at our new location, latest work and talk to the 50 Foot owners Martha and Justin.

Want one?

Tell us…or Show Up!

These cups were such a hit, we want to do one every year! So If you miss out this year, make sure your on the list for next!

We have been so busy, I realized that we have not announced several of our sites. All of these are available for view and description on www.50footdesign.com.

I have been working on this all day… I really want one now. You think I would have had enough during the shoot. This was just uploaded to the Lone Star Bakery site along with 6 new pies.

The photos were taken by Griffin Photography, styled by 50 Foot.

This is the new Heartsone logo and brochure. Though the didn’t plan on it, they liked it so much they will be changing the exterior sign to this design.

I recently received an e-mail with no title, but with this content:

“Calling All Graphic Designers!!!  The City of New Braunfels Downtown Office has Launched a Branding Contest”

The email contained two attachments. The first was a page of basic instructions, and contest rules:
•    The contest is open to professional graphic designers in Comal County
•    The challenge is to develop a logo and positioning line with brand implementation that is representative of downtown New Braunfels, TX
•    Each person may submit a maximum of two designs and positioning lines: first submission must be traditionally iconic of Downtown New Braunfels; second submission is open to creative discretion
•    All submissions must be Vector format in a TIF file
•    If a contest winner is selected, he/she will receive $500 and media coverage

The second attachment was the submission form.

I was quite surprised that such an important task would be left to a contest. Not only does this belittle the profession I work so hard to lift up to a higher standard, but makes branding sound like a “design” project.

So let me share my thoughts about this email and submission form.

Calling All Graphic Designers!!!
A logo is not a brand, and branding is not for graphic designers. Branding is done by marketing teams. A logo is created as a visual representation of the brand, and building a brand involves stuff like strategizing, researching, determining image and tone. It involves stuff like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, and attitudes – even color. One just doesn’t just magically pump out a “cool” design – the design has to work, and work hard, and sometimes work for decades. (Note the snafu this week surrounding GAP trying to change their logo. Consumers revolted and the new logo was gone before it even had a chance to be implemented.)

Here at 50 Foot, we research our clients, their place in the marketplace, their objectives, their target audiences, and we work to capture the essence of what makes them unique. We rely on experience, time, and numerous resources to create logos and taglines (positioning lines). As a marketing and design team, we brainstorm until we get it right. It can take days or weeks or months. Ultimately, the copywriter finalizes or approves the tagline, and the designer puts the finishing touches on the logo. In the end, our client gets a stronger brand, one that is well thought out and hits their target audiences.

“Open to professional graphic designers”
What constitutes professional designer? There is no licensing body for “professional graphic designer.” I have seen high school student call themselves “professional.” I have had clients come in with things like 72 dpi Photoshop files, or unusable drawings that they had paid a “professional” designer to create.

“With brand implementation that is representative of Downtown New Braunfels, Texas”
The Contest clearly states “with brand implementation.” Will the winning designer get to implement the plan?  Will that implementation include payment?  Or will the logo, tagline and implementation recommendations get handed off to someone else? Will that someone else understand how to use the design and implement the plan?

“If a contest winner is selected he/she will receive $500 and media coverage.”
Contests are not bad. I have won several, and in fact, won the Oyster Bake poster design contest two years in a row. The submission guidelines were very specific, it was open only to a select few, and the prize was $1,000. (Just for reference, did you know that the Fiesta poster contest prize is $5,000?) It was strictly a design contest, and the winning design was used for t-shirts, hats and promotional items, in addition to the poster. My winning design was worn by thousands; posters signed by me were coveted. It was great.

But before I entered the Oyster Bake contest – and before I think about entering any contest – I have to decide whether it’s worth spending otherwise billable time to take a chance on winning. If the prize money is decent and can help offset the billable hours I’ve lost, and if I get the kind of media coverage that will raise awareness of my business and/or generate some new clients, I’ll likely participate.

But I know that my talent and services are just as important as any other contractor in any other profession.  Think about this… what if I have a $10,000 contest to build a house on my land that I want to live in. Say five houses get built, but in the end, I don’t like any of them, so no one wins the cash. But I get to keep all of the houses. Do you know of any contractor who would take that on?

I’m not expecting a prize package of $10,000 (and there are companies that pay that and more for a logo). But $500? Really? To create the visual signature and “brand” for the future of New Braunfels? A city that is close to reaching the magical population of 50,000 residents, at which time our classification changes from a rural community to a small urban city?

So if you were a designer, where would you put your efforts? Would you risk 40 billable hours for $500 or $5,000?  And think about this – if talented designers aren’t going to risk it, what will the talent level be of those who do?

The newest logos for New Braunfels based Faust Hotel and Brewery.

As 50 Foot grows and evolves, we are constantly keeping up with new technology, new standards and new ways of creating websites. One thing we have always swayed away from is Flash. We are quite proud that we usually find a way of making the same “effect” happen with CSS and JavaScript.

Many clients look at me like I am speaking gibberish when I first say these words –  CSS, JavaScrip. They are used to anything moving on a website to be created in Flash – “FLASH” it even sounds magical.

What they don’t know is that Flash is not supported by the Iphone, the Ipad, nor the Itouch. Don’t think I am being an Apple lover – it isn’t supported on any smart phone. With the way the world is evolving, we will all have smart phones and communicate with one another in a completely different way than before. If your website can’t be seen or is not functional on a phone, you might miss out on potential customers.

Steve Jobs wrote a “Thoughts on Flash” that actually explains why Apple will NEVER support Flash. Very compelling. And if you think that it is no big deal… “PC’s will always dominate”… think again. Just recently the once next-to-gone Apple has surpassed Microsoft in company size.

One of my favorite websites to show clients on my Iphone is Dancing Pony. You see the same site you would on your PC, on your smartphone or an Ipad. No branding or functionality is lost. We have clients specifically call us asking if our websites will work on the Ipad, we do not hesitate because the websites we did 3 years ago work on the Ipad.

So if you are going to invest in your website, I recommend looking for designers that use CSS,  JavaScript and the next big thing – HTML5 (what will make Flash obsolete). They will be web friendly, SEO (Search Engine Optimize) friendly, Smart Phone friendly and your website will be ready for the next level of technology.