Logo Files

Logos are a business’s most important asset (after brand guidelines, of course). And, you’d think that because they are so important that every company would have logo files on hand right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. Most companies have no idea where they would even get their logo files let alone have them on hand. This is not ideal. Failing to produce your own logo files can result in longer production times and higher costs. So, it is crucial that you get a hold of your logo files.

The file types you’ll need for your logo are as follows:

EPS

A .eps file is the best option out there when it comes to giving your logos to a marketing team. This is because it is a high-resolution vector format and a working design file that can be edited in Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t have a .eps file, you should consider attaining one from the company that did your logo or hiring a third party to create one on your behalf. 

PNG

A .png is a file type that allows you to use your logo without a background (ie: everything but the logo is transparent). This makes it possible for you to put your logo over the top of any object/background within your brand guidelines. 

SVG

Another essential logo file is the .svg file. A .svg file is a high-resolution, vector type that is able to be used both digitally and for print. 

JPEG

A .jpeg is not a necessary file to have. In fact, a .jpeg should only be used as a last resort if your company cannot produce any of the above file types. If a .jpeg is all you have for a marketing company, chances are things will take longer and cost more.

Font & Colour Palette

Fonts are important to a company’s brand. And, not all fonts are free and readily available on the web. It is important that you are able to provide your font as part of your brand assets. Moreover, you’ll need a colour palette. Although, not having a colour palette isn’t that big of a deal. Most tech-savvy marketing companies will easily be able to pull the correct colours for your brand. However, it is still a nice thing to have on hand, which can help save time. 

Imagery/Photography 

Lastly, is your imagery and photography. Things like icons and illustrations often get mixed in with this category, so it is important that you include these details if they are applicable to your company. Being able to produce a mood board that is representative of your brand is ideal. 

Contact Us Today!

If you need help building brand assets, contact us today. We’d be happy to help you create the right brand assets for your business. For more information about what we do, feel free to reach out to one of our team members. You can find the latest updates on our social media page or check out our blog for related content. We look forward to working with you in the near future!

These are some observations about the evolution of the death of the meeting.

Meetings are for people with time to waste

More often than not, my experience tells me that meetings are called by people who don’t know what else to do. They call a meeting to drag out their calendar, and to make it appear that they’re busy. You know the types, they always have a mobile device hanging from an appendage and much like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, they’re always professing that they’re late. Not to an important date, but to an important meeting. With all the meetings these types attend it’s a wonder how any actual work gets done. They call meetings to talk about meetings and those are the kind of people the rest of us want to chill.  

Ask yourself if it can be done in a phone call – even better, an email

Teams and organizations that are organized will have strategies in place to avoid meetings at all costs in 2022. Not only are in-person meetings a risk to personal health (still in a Pandemic over here) but they destroy productivity.  We recommend developing a decision matrix based on whether the problem you’re trying to solve requires all hands on deck in person. Questions you might want to ask to arrive at this decision? 

Is the information sensitive in nature?

Some things you don’t want in writing. But maybe you can talk about them on a conference call?

Have you thought through the situation you want to meet about? 

Just because you haven’t, doesn’t mean that someone else hasn’t. Reach out to the people you want to meet with first to see if your question(s) can be dealt with over the phone or through email. It’s very tempting to want to collaborate when you don’t feel as though you have a clear understanding of a situation. We encourage you to set aside some strategic thinking time in your calendar. Articulate the questions you have on paper and often times that will give you a clear understanding of the tasks at hand. That way you won’t waste your colleague’s time with inefficiencies. 

Do you need outside input to make progress on your project? 

If you’re a home builder, trade, or sometimes even a designer you might need to physically be on-site to examine things. Make sure that a picture won’t suffice before you call in the calvary for a site visit. Sometimes a lot of leg work can be done through a visual. Remember, a picture speaks a thousand words. 

Stop rushing and putting unrealistic time constraints on projects

If we can collectively slow the roll, then I think we will be better off as a community. Stop with the expectation that as soon as you receive correspondence that you have to immediately respond with a hyper-focused answer. Slow down, schedule some time for yourself to answer. My suggestion is to always reply to a customer indicating you have received their correspondence. I let them know that I will review and respond when I have had sufficient time to provide in-depth and thoughtful feedback. This in itself helps to stave off the need for an in-person conversation.  

Overall, meetings are dying in popularity, partially due to Covid and the fact that many people are working from home and partially because of people like us who discourage them wherever possible. 

Gone are the days of wasted time. I would much rather take off after 6 hours of productive work than be forced to include 2 hours dedicated to one meeting because when you add up the time involved for one silly meeting it chews into your day like a puppy with a shoe. 

Superfluous time wasted on meetings:

• Commute time back and forth if the meeting is off-site
• Parking time
• Waiting for everyone to arrive at the meeting on time
• Drink and/or snack distribution 
• Pleasantry and nicety exchanges (talk about the weather, the kids etc) 
• Off-topic ramblings of the one person at every meeting with main character syndrome 
• Actual time spent on the task at hand
• Closing pleasantries
• Chasing down everyone from the meeting to see if they followed through
• Calling another meeting to follow up on the meeting because – meetings

Consider this when you head into 2022. Are you going to be a meeting caller or are you going to get productive? Organize and schedule yourself OUT of meetings in 2002, you’ll be happier for it!

Get in touch if you want to learn more about our process!

Where do you start when you want to reinvent yourself online? If you were hoping for a list then you’re in luck. If you were hoping for a magic bullet, sorry? 

Setting Realistic Expectations/Goals

Setting realistic goals and expectations for a project is a great place to begin. Dates are helpful as a universal way to communicate with every supplier on your project. There’s not too much one can argue about a date. It either comes or it goes. My advice in today’s hyper-paced wanted it yesterday world, is to be more generous with this particular budget than was ever required before. Grab a calendar and look at what you’ve got coming up. Factor in weekends for creative burnout, add in a week or two for personal time and then add a few more weeks for good measure. This should give you a good start. It’s also good to confer with your developers before you sign the contract. They’re likely as busy as any builder, or Architect. Don’t expect that just because you’ve signed and sent the deposit that they’ve already started. All your deposit has gotten you is likely a spot in line. Most marketing businesses are working on a whose next basis these days with funnels that are very full. Trust us when we say that working with your first choice regardless of the wait is often worth it in the end. I was so happy that we waited for our Architect to make room in his schedule. The end result is exactly what we hoped for and in the end all the months of waiting allowed us to really dig into and explore some cool concepts. 

Setting Realistic Budgets

This is one I have personally never been great at. I know what I want and as a rule that wanted thing is generally the most expensive option. It can be a problem, but one thing I’ve learned is how to compromise and how to listen when it comes to budgeting.  Listening for queues is key when you’re setting a budget, but so is planning. When someone’s face changes expression abruptly in a budget meeting you should pay attention. Sometimes you can’t get everything you want right out of the gates, either due to time constraints, cash flow, or these days’ availability crunch. What you can do, is make a plan to add said items later down the road. I like to plan things in phases, very similar to a house build. We start with a top-level budget and filter it down from most to least important. Most important are the bones of the building eg: electrical, HVAC, plumbing, drywall, etc., next are the fun things eg: fixtures and finishings. A website is no different, you need to have the foundation in place before you can add the things that make it come alive. Start your budget with a good foundation and spend the money on getting the bones. Don’t blow your budget on one home page animation that will wear out its welcome faster than your neighbours Airbnb. That means getting into a website that is up-to-date to start, secure, and fast. From there you can plan to add new sections, animations, and lead generation that will make it more worthwhile over time. It’s hard to go back when it comes to technology, so keep that in mind when you set a budget. 

Organizing your assets & vision

Get familiar with a free, easy-to-use cloud storage system called Google Drive. Use Google Drive to create folders that you can share with suppliers to keep the project moving, keep everyone informed, and track your progress. For instance, when we started designing the new office I created a series of folders for potential suppliers to view and collaborate with. Pictures of the space and surrounding area, interior and exterior vision boards, potential floorplan layouts, and existing documentation on the buildings mechanical were all carefully organized into various folders. These folders were then shared with the appropriate suppliers. It made it easy to see who had viewed the docs, we can message within the folders and all information was centralized even though we were working between multiple cities. The best part about using free tools like Google is that they are efficient, secure, and free. Get familiar with Google’s business toolset and stop wasting money on flashy software that does less to keep you organized. A website project should contain folders like Sitemap, Logos/Branding, Content Map/Docs, Images, Mockups, and whatever else is important to the project. Each folder will likely have various sub-folders associated within that hierarchy. 

Tracking your progress & budget

Reviewing your progress can be tied to a few metrics. Time is one. Money is generally the other. How much have you spent and where has it landed you on X date is generally the equation we look to when it comes time to quantify a project. It’s important to stay in touch with your project. Some developers will provide progress reports, others will provide live wire-frame links where you can watch the project evolve in real-time. This will vary between project, developer, and customer. Again, it’s all about communication and planning. If you know that you need regular updates like sands through an hourglass then spell that out early to your team. If you’re happy with setting a date and surfacing for air until the reminder bell chimes then I always say prepare to trust in the team you hired and hope for the best. In the case of our office space, it’s been a long haul. Much longer than ever imagined to inch barely forward. But man, can I see it all so clearly now and it is EXCITING. And that’s exactly how you should feel when you plan ahead to work with a great team on your next website.