So many people do not understand what graphic design is, or believe they do. For one, it is not art or decorative. Graphic design is a message that communicates to an audience. Of course, art communicates to an audience in its own way, by amusing or persuading people, explaining a complicated system, or to sell or demonstrate something. Point blank, graphic design is a creative process that communicates ideas. Some examples would be posters, business logos, magazine ads, even CD covers. Graphic designers mostly work with images and/or type to inform, persuade, stimulate, identify, organize, and attract attention. Graphic design is all around us from the clothing we wear to the billboards outside.

Why do you need a graphic designer to get your message across? For one, we are trained in getting messages across to an audience of all kinds, to think with ideas, and to create ideas for you. We have the resources, and we know how to use them. Now, there are always great ideas, and anyone can come up with them. But can you make your great idea a reality? Can you print your idea out and advertise it for the world to see. Does the world understand your idea, or what you are trying to convey? That is where a graphic designer comes in. We are the link to you and your audience, or customers. We take your idea, and make it real. We provide something that can be seen or touched, and understand a message behind that idea. The art of graphic design is very systemmatic, but also fun. We are creatives after all. Sometimes our designs are really ‘out-of-the-box’. We know how to balance your important message, contact information, and creative ideas into one big design. We are all about exposing you…getting your name and your ideas out for your audience to see.

Good design is intentional, not accidental. We do not randomly pick things out and throw them together until they look good. There is a meaning behind everything. For instance, when an author of a book will expand about another topic in a story, but is intentional for the story to make sense. We are trained to come up with great ideas and to execute them for a wide variety of audiences. We can take an idea, and mold it into something real and understandable.

I know it’s hard to find the time, money and energy to commit to all of the above activities. However, it’s important to keep in mind that at least 75% of them should be getting done. And… done well!

There’s all sorts of information you can research online to create effective campaigns that can and will bring desired results. Or, you can call us here at Full Moon Design Group to discuss. It’s important to thoughtfully research and develop your program to get the maximum results… from your logo design to the organizations you choose to volunteer. Taking the time to create a solid foundation will help your company flourish over time. And… you’ll find it will flourish at a faster rate.

Blogging and Search Engine Marketing

If you are going to market with blogs, you need to make sure that you have done everything possible to make your blog SEO friendly, which in turn will increase traffic to your blog and ultimately to your company Web site.  After all, that plus creating a community with your current customers is the main goal.

When blogging for marketing purposes; one of them main things to remember when writing the blog is to use a keyword theme throughout.  Choosing your keywords at the beginning of the blog and then continuing to pepper them throughout will increase your odds of being crawled by search engine spiders.  Make sure that the keywords are relevant to your business and to your marketing goals.

Blogging worth Talking About

Marketing blogs should always allow trackbacks and comments.  This allows the search engines another way to find your blog.  When you allow comments and trackbacks, it is possible for your blog to be found via a search on a completely different topic.  For example, John owns a car dealership and he comments from his url on your blog regarding cowboy boots.  If someone is doing a search on John or his car dealership – they will come across your blog as well since his name and company’s url are attached to your blog.

Blogging creates Links to Customers

Remember to always use links when working with marketing blogs.  Link your keywords back to other pages in your main Web site, back to previous blogs, back to pictures in your Flickr accounts, as well as back to sites that may have contributed information to your blog or may be of interest to your clients and blog readers.  This adds, yet another way for your blog to be found by the search engines.

Finally, and most importantly, keep your blog interesting and educational for your readers.  The more that people read your blogs the better chances you have of people commenting, linking to , and sharing your blogs.  A virtual word-of-mouth recommendation can be just as important, if not more important these days, than a real-time word-of-mouth.

We at Full Moon Design Group thought that three simple, yet key marketing tips would assist you in your endeavor.

Marketing Tip #1

The first marketing tip we offer is to make sure that you have a solid marketing plan in place.  This marketing plan should identify who your target audiences are, how you are going to reach them, how you are going to spend your marketing budget, and what tools you will need to accomplish everything on your plan.  Preparing and following a marketing plan is the easiest way to keep everyone on the same page and on track.

Marketing Tip #2

In a time where many people are feeling uncertain about the future, confidence and trust in a company will be a major deciding factor of whether or not someone is going to do business with you.  You will need to gain that trust by always providing quality work in a timely manner, providing perspective clients with testimonials on your quality work, as well as belonging to and being active in several business and community organizations.

Marketing Tip #3

Finally, one of the most important tips we can provide you is to get your name out there in as many ways as possible.  This tip actually plays into the one above – the more times that clients see your name or hear of your name, the more likely they are to have confidence and trust in your abilities.  The best ways to reach people in today’s world is integrated and targeted marketing pieces, clear concise messaging, social media, and traditional media.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUSTIN, TEXAS, October 20, 2008 – Full Moon Design Group, an Austin-based marketing communications and design firm, today announces the completion and release of the book, The Smile Never Fades: Caring and Sharing by Bill Bastas.  Proceeds from this wonderful collection of memories go to helping breast cancer survivors.  Full Moon Design Group is proud to be a participant in this effort through the design and creation of the Smile Never Fades logo.

“Working on the Smile Never Fades logo was very gratifying,” said Katie Osborne, Principal and Co-founder of Full Moon Design Group.  “It is great to know that the time and energy put into the logo by each team member will help so many in their breast cancer fight.”

The Smile Never Fades: Caring and Sharing is compiled of portraits of breast cancer survivors, their friends and family and other supporters, as well as intimate essays written by the survivors themselves.  All of the proceeds from the book, which is officially being release on Wednesday, October 8th, will go to the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Austin.

For more information about The Smile Never Fades: Caring and Sharing, please visit the Website at www.thesmileneverfades.com.

The Smile Never Fades Logo

About Full Moon Design Group

Founded in 2004, Full Moon Design Group, Inc. is a fully custom graphic design firm specializing in the creation and production of competition-devouring marketing materials.  From logos to Websites, Full Moon Design Group creates and produces concepts that clearly state your message in a simple and concise manner.  Founders Katie Osborne and Vicky Gouge, and the rest of the Full Moon team, believes in maintaining a standard of quality with a steadfast commitment to customer service and satisfaction.

For more information about Full Moon Design Group, please visit them online at www.fullmoondesigngroup.com.