Design & Images

Branding

Branding is an important aspect of a business. Not only is it a way to promote a business but it also is an indirect promise to buyers. It is a way to communicate a promise, differentiate businesses from competition, foster brand loyalty, and makes brands memorable.

            With branding, there are three C’s to follow. The first one is clarity which is the clearness of color, logo, and typography. The logo of a brand is an image that represents the brand being presented. A key element is to make sure a logo is easily distinguishable; that is how it’s known a brand will do well. Color has to do with the images, text, and graphic design. Colors appeal to people and brands like Nike, Target, Starbucks, are a few logos that anyone will recognize. 

These companies are successful not only due to their sales but also because of their logo. Typography is fonts and page layouts. The right font will also appeal to people when it is either fancy or simple.

           

Constancy is the second C of branding which has to do with loyalty, dependability and steadfast. Every brand’s page online has an “about us” describing the clarity of who the brand is and what they are about. Reaction to change on the other hand such as agility and adaptability happens with brands over the years. Brands adjust their logo, slogan or image to keep up with the changing times. Coca Cola is such a brand to change over time.

            The third C in branding is consistency, otherwise known as patterns. Brand consistency provides the trust that underpins marketing efforts.  Brand consistency is a company-wide effort.

Encourage employees to get involved with understanding the company values and the story behind them. Consistency also coincides with clarity because of colors and patterns. It is how the brain perceives actions thoughts, memories and behavior in order to inform belief. Keeping the idea of patterns simple or one logic replicated across platforms will make the brand less confusing. The core brand doesn’t change but creative elements such as the slogans, themes and colors will over time.

The improvements of these creative outlooks for brands will make the brand consistency stay relevant in the changing times.

All photos courtesy of the internet.

Infographics

Infographics are graphs comprised of visual representations of information of any given subject.

Infographics can relay any information about any given topic.

Literally about any topic. Typically useful when giving a presentation and easily access information. 

Infographics can also be looked at as a flowchart. The idea of infographics is to show a simple flow of information easily legible.

An example of a bad infographic because there is too much information all at the same time. With the arrows following each piece of information, the flow is lost in this chart.

Sometimes infographics are simple enough to follow along with, laying all the information out side by side.

All photos courtesy of the internet.

Social Media

Social media and web production have become a major part of life in recent years; Some people even major in social media management because there is so much to do with social media. Companies use these social sites as a way of communication and promotion of their brand because it’s an easier tool to use for promotions. Newspapers and magazines have become obsolete due to the internet. 

Social Media Management Tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer work with people who use social media as a profession. Both platforms are used to schedule articles or statuses ready to be published. Companies use these as a way to stay continuously updated.

Buffer for example is better to use for small businesses or individuals needing tools to schedule out posts on the most popular channels. Not much devotion is needed for this site because of its simplicity. If a person is constantly busy with the hustle and bustle of everyday life and uses social media to constantly post updates about their brand, then Buffer will publish their posts when scheduled.

Hootsuite is another social media management tool which is better for larger teams with a dedicated marketing department capable of harnessing diverse capabilities. This is more complex a management tool and can work with multiple accounts at a time. Google for example would be a company conglomerate that would use Hootsuite for its social media status posting.

The measure of success for a brand on social media depends on how the following questions are answered. How searchable is your brand? How reputable is your brand? How popular is your brand? Other things to consider when using social media to promote your brand is the following:

1.      Make content users desire and share.

2.      Usability and high-quality design.

3.      Ensure spiders can parse all content and duplication isn’t an issue.

4.      Make it easy to reach deep pages in little clicks as possible.

5.      Choose keywords to garner traffic.

Keeping this makeshift checklist in mind will help with gaining popularity on social media, gaining followers and recognition for your brand. Encouragement is also key to becoming a reputable brand on the internet. Encourage followers to share your content; in this day and age the consumers become the producers.

            Learning to create content for social media is just like riding a bike: practice makes perfect. Constantly attempting and trying will make it easier in the long run; mastering the idea of branding through social media.

Practice the expanding of the growth of followers, optimize posts for search queries, be local and increase brand awareness. The most important thing to do when working with social media is encouragement of your followers. Encourage them sharing your brand and encourage sharing external links.

It’s imperative to let followers know they have permission to share your brand. The way for a brand to get off the ground is because of the people helping make it known.

Tips to Get Cheap Concert Tickets

Spring and Summer are the two biggest seasons which musicians go out and tour. With concerts, come tickets which can be costly; not to mention the tacked on fees. Scoring tickets to see your favorite artist feels like a dream come true. But is metaphorically selling your soul to the devil just to afford going to a concert worth it ?
In 2011, the average ticket price was around $78. That figure increased to $85 in 2017, according to statista.com.Sometimes companies have sales promoting special events such as Live Nation promoting National Concert Week, from April 30 to May 8. During that week, ticket buyers were able to purchase tickets for only $20, with no added fees. There are ways to avoid the debt-infused demons known as expensive concert tickets.

1. Buy from real people. Scalpers will try to sell you tickets right outside the arena. Though a times they may be nosebleed seats, at least it's a way to get in without spending a luxury. Online people are often selling tickets, like Craig's List, or maybe even Facebook. A friend could be selling tickets relatively inexpensive without you even knowing it.

2. Keep an eye out for presales-especially from credit card companies. Some companies, such as Chase and American Express have "perks" for cardholders whether it's a chance to buy presale tickets or gain VIP access. Prudential Center in Newark, NJ had this sale for American Express cardholders in 2017 when Paul McCartney was playing there. Because of this, my grandmother was able to get me tickets to see Sir Paul.

3. Buy immediately or right before the show. When tickets go on sale right away, the prices are typically cheap to get the buyers attention. Sometimes venues over estimate the number of tickets will be bought which is why the prices are slashed right before the show, if they're desperate to sell them. For example, a Kenny Chesney concert in July 2006 in Massachusetts had fixed ticket prices at $223.11. That was more than two weeks before the show. Then just days before the show, the prices dropped to $155.57, according to ticketeconomist.com A more recent example was again at the Prudential Center when Bon Jovi was playing there in April 2018. The day of the show, tickets were being sold at $40-and that was for decent seats.

4. Enter contests. If you take a chance and try your luck, you may win yourself free tickets without spending a dime. I entered a contest in August 2016 to win tickets for Culture Club. I didn't win, but because I entered, I was given a promotional code for when I buy the tickets and saved around $90 per ticket.

5. Sign up for newsletters. You will almost always be informed first of who is coming to your area. Depending on what venue the newsletter is coming from, they will post dates of sales for members, and the general public. Presale? Buy right away or before the show! Tickets will be cheaper!

Maybe This Will Peak Your PINTEREST

You're probably wondering how Pinterest, a fun social media platform used by 175 million users monthly, came to be. It was originally conceptualized in December 2009 by Ben Silbermann, Evan Sharp, and Paul Sciarra; but Ben is the CEO of the company.
Growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, he thought about becoming a doctor (since his parents and sisters are) but decided to go into business. He worked at Google in the IT department until he left since "he wasn't ale to build things." Because of that, he teamed up with his old friend Paul Sciarra in New York, where they came up with a product called "Tote" a catalogue that was on the phone.
The two shied away from Tote and formed Pinterest. "I'd always thought that the things you collect say so much about who you are." Ben says this childhood bug collection is "Pinterest 1.0." Friend of a friend, Evan Sharp, met the duo and actually created the layout for Pinterest.

When the site first launched, Ben sent it to all his friends in California who didn't really get it. Here's the first "pin" on the site in January 2010.

 In May 2010 a woman named Victoria helped organize a program called "Pin it Forward" a chain-letter where bloggers would change pinboards about what home meant to them. Suddenly, Pinterest users started using the site in ways the company wasn't expecting. For instance: a board that had "Things That Look Like the Death Star."

Pinterest's mission is to get people "offline" so they can get out and make/do projects that you find.

Some random statistics:

• 75 million users in the US (in January 2018)
• 100 million users outside the US
• Over 50 BILLION pins "pinned"
• Over 1 billion boards created

The audience:

• 81 % of users are female
• Millenials use Pinterest as much as Instagram
• Median age of a user is less than 40 years old
• 30 % of US social media users are Pinterest users
• 60 % of Pinterest users are from the US
• The average time spent on Pinterest in 14.2 minutes (I'm on double, sometimes triple that)

Though one does not simply write posts for Pinterest, but creating "boards" that could attract followers can make you popular. For instance if boards are fascinating (like say, wedding ideas) then many more followers will come. And if you have enough pins, all of different varieties, then the more likely people will follow that board.

I personally don't go for likes or followers, I just pin things that I enjoy. Here are my boards:

The first one is called British Beatlemania

The second one is Then Humor Me

The third is Songs Stuck in my Head

In total, I have 10 boards but these 3 I pin to the most often. By creating a board with a topic that you like (for instance by Beatles board), you can post things about that topic to view for later. If you follow people either with similar interests, you can see what they post. It's almost like a game of telephone or "She sais she said." #BeatlesPun

Typically people use Pinterest for DIY projects, or wedding ideas, teacher-like ideas, or even inspirational quotes, workouts, recipes. Literally anything you can think of, there's a board for it. I on the other hand look for pictures and song lyrics, memes, jokes, whatever peaks my PINTEREST. (pun intended).

Four Shades of Grae

   Before starting a band, Samantha Mishinski was a manager at Hot Topic for a year and seven months before getting let go. From there a series of other retail jobs ensued, like East Meets West and Godiva, until securing a position at UPS. But playing and writing music was always in the back pocket. "A friend nearby had a piano I would fool around with every time we hung out," said Sam "I fell out of music but about a year ago I picked up a guitar and fell in love with music all over again."
   When a photographer tried to set his friends up on a date, Jack, a bassist and guitarist, met singer and guitarist Sam. As a joke, she asked if he wanted to be in a band (again). Little did they know that joke would turn into something real.
   After going out to a support a local show, the duo met Danny, their current drummer. Much like how John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison all went to the same school, Sam, Jack and Danny all hung out with the same crowd; only at separate times and passively mentioned they were starting a band.
   Danny mentioned he was leaving his band and was offered a spot with Sam and Jack. Jack managed to rope his father into playing bass for the band and "BOOM we were a band." The four musicians banded together and formed Grae, a name that too started as a joke. Grae came after Sam wrote her first song which is essentially about having a different perspective than everyone else; seeing everything in grayscale while everyone else sees things in color.
   The band is still fairly new and with that, no full songs as of yet. One is written but the band wants to get out the whole EP together before scheduling a recording date. Sam records a lot on her own "just vocals and stuff and things we can try out but nothing solid."  Every song has a story behind it. John Lennon wrote "I Am the Walrus" to stop people from overanalyzing Beatles songs. Bob Dylan wrote "Hurricane" about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. One of the songs the band is working on is inspired by family. "Sometimes they don't agree with your decisions" Sam wrote.
   Sam's family is supportive in their own way. "It was more of a shock to them than anything. I had always wanted to get into singing but never really pursued it mostly because I didn't have the connections." Now she has connections and a band so we'll see where it goes. But what is the ultimate direction for Grae? It's paradoxical; making it "big" would be nice but its satirical, but the music-making process and song-writing are stressful and serious.
   Each member brings their own things to rehearsals, new chords and tunes that plays off one another. Sam writes the lyrics herself and constantly thinks "this is the rawest version of me. Do I want people to hear this side of me? Do I want them to know what is going on inside my head?"
    Yes and no. The writing is the real Sam; but it also isn't. "But that's what it means to be an artist in any field: expressing YOUR truth how you see it and hoping people can accept it."
   When it rains it pours. Sam foresees potential setbacks in the future, one of which may just be the music itself. "We all have different tastes that influences and interests that change the way we play but vibe well together so I hope it will help us put the potential disagreements aside."
   For now, the band just wants to enjoy themselves. Play good music for good people. "Basically if it happens, it happens."