Author: Eric Needle

  • Scalable Graphics For All Media

    Vector art, for the win.

    Illustration tells a story about your product.

    Many of our clients need illustration and more often and not, it’s in a rushed scenario. Though Photoshop and raster image editors are great in a pinch, the power of vector drawing is worth the extra energy.

    Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and Corel Draw have long been valuable tools in the artist’s quiver. The value and reason for making vector art, though, is in the application. Vector illustration’s strength is it’s scalabilty and it’s for more than just logos.

    To avoid technical, art, geek-speak, you can simply define graphic files as either being raster or vector. A raster file is made of lots of individual squares of color called pixels. Vector refers to a file composed of lines and points, curves and fills. The magic in vector is scalability. Raster is the format of choice for photos, while vector art can be scaled to fit on the side of a blimp, with zero loss of image quality.

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  • Less Is More With Greener Print

    How you print matters.

    Green printing starts with the Designer

    How can less be more? The way you use print can show more than your advertising message—it can show your organization’s values.

    How do you communicate who you are? Sure, we use print and the Internet—every organization spends time and resources to show what they do. Good design can show much more though. When you think about the way you use print, when we’re conscious about how we use resources and their impact, it can be tangible.

    As print designers, we understand that even your paper choice communicates a message. The feel of a business card, a sell sheet, a brochure conveys meaning. Paper weight conveys cheapness or quality. So why all the fuss about green print?

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  • Communicating Community

    Tell your story

    Supporting Non-Profits Through Communications.

    How does an organization reach its base, project’s its message, build support and fulfill its mission? You do all this and more with communications. We have so many ways to reach out. It’s up to you to choose which channels to deploy for best effect, but your website and internet properties should be the hub, the center. When you direct all these tools at your site, it becomes your marketing platform. Using the Internet, communications can create, build and nurture community.

    Not for profits face a different set of issues than business clients. A volunteer-based group has to continually keep it’s information flowing. Program info has to be accurate, timely and then sell the idea to staff, supporters and newcomers. NPOs and NGOs require more communication management than corporate clients, often with little or no budget and strained staff. Events range from public affairs and fundraisers to seminars and workshops. Bingo night, the annual 5k walk, training session and small group classes all require communications to make them work.

    In the corporate world, a highly skilled team manages basic resources to great effect. In a volunteer based world, we turn it around. You need a robust toolset that a more transient volunteer base can easily use. It’s not that your non-profit doesn’t have the skills, rather that people tend to move on. So rather than invest heavily in training, we often coach the organization to invest in tools.

    Tourettes Syndrome Association

    So, how do you get the word out? For TSA, The Tourettes Syndrome Association of Florida, we begna by building a simple website. Often we work in stages to help get an NPO where it needs to be. Just gathering general info can be a huge task—and keeping it current is an ongoing challenge. Once the base is build, we need to communicate—to tell your story. Getting volunteers, staff, supporters and donors excited about your cause is a never ending task.

    tourettes

    Internet is a great place to begin, as costs to distribute are almost zero. The ease with which you can change information is also a huge factor—and why your site should take precedence over print and other media. Often with an NPO we’re doing all the work in one session. The net allows for changes, refinement and correction. Once we’ve built a firm foundation, then we can elaborate, add features that increase outreach.

    With a strong web foundation in place, it’s often easier for many people to manage and contribute to your communications.

    Let’s get started

    Contact Us to better reach your community.

    We’ve got a soft place in our heart for not for profits. Serving any NPO is a daunting task—the need never ends. Find people who are willing to partner for the long term and is vested in your community. For us, we’ve found the experience highly rewarding. And in the end, we all win.