Using Color in Ad Design

July 26, 2011 by 2 Comments

We have written before about the importance of design in marketing, and color is one of the most important elements of design. Designers have always used color to convey different moods and underline the messages. Let’s take a look at some colors and what emotions or attributes they often convey.

Blue

Blue is a very commonly used in B2B messaging, because it is a calm color that indicates respectability. Because blue conveys reliability, it is commonly used by brands in financial services, healthcare and other industries where trust is paramount.

Ad illustrating use of blue color

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Designing Our Facebook Page Welcome Tab

July 7, 2011 by 4 Comments

I had been coveting the interesting welcome tabs other brand pages had on Facebook, so I asked Kelly if we could have one of our own. Never one to refuse a reasonable request, she asked Mel if he’d be interested in designing one.

Now Mel knows that if you give clients options to choose from, they’re more likely to approve your work. So he sent us three designs to choose from.

Facebook welcome tab design with orange background

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Happy Fourth of July

July 4, 2011 by Leave a comment

Hope our readers in the U.S. are enjoying the long weekend!

Happy 4th of July: vector artwork image with fireworks

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It’s Summer!

June 21, 2011 by 3 Comments

Embroidery digitizing sample from Affinity Express

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. And as usual, we celebrate it on the Affinity Express blog by sharing a few summer-themed designs from our team.

What are you doing this summer? (Actually, I’m going away this weekend, to a cottage in a forest–glad you asked!)

Going on a vacation? Going camping, maybe? You’ll need a tent. Read more of this post

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Happy Geek Pride Day

May 25, 2011 by Leave a comment

"she's geeky" (I'm geeky)Star Wars may have passed me by, but I’m a self-professed geek. (In school, I had thick glasses and reading was my favorite past-time, unlike my more cool friends.) 

So let’s wave our geek flags high today and catch a Hitchhiker’s movie tonight (or get in bed with your favorite Terry Pratchett, whatever grabs you.)

And of course, check out these embroidery digitizing and vector artwork designs from our team.

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

May 5, 2011 by Leave a comment

Here are some Mexican-themed embroidery digitizing and vector artwork designs created by our team for various restaurants.

Embroidery digitizing and vector artwork Mexico-influenced designs

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Happy World Graphic Design Day!

April 27, 2011 by Leave a comment

Affinity Express Holiday Card: Degas' Dancers in Pink

We live and breathe graphic design at Affinity Express, so today is something to celebrate! 

We wanted to take this occasion to share some of our best designs and design expertise from the past year.

Designs Created by Our Teams

Here are some of our best designs from 2010 and from 2011 so far. And some print ads and online ads we created, and some holiday cards created in embroidery.

Tips on Design

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Earth Day and Easter Weekend

April 22, 2011 by Leave a comment

The earth in the shape of an egg, against a dark bacground Today is Earth Day, when we are supposed to spend some time appreciating the earth and it’s awareness, and spreading the word. How are you celebrating: switching off electric devices for some time, pledging to walk or use public transport more instead of driving, or cooking dinner from scratch instead of eating out or buying processed food? Forget Earth Day, what do you do every day out of concern for our environment? I’d love to know, because I have still a long way to go and it’s difficult to reconcile your concern for the environment with convenience.

Today is also Good Friday, and a holiday in all our offices: in the U.S., India and the Philippines. Have a great Easter weekend, everyone!

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Promotional Marketing and Brand Marketing: It All Starts With a Logo

April 18, 2011 by 6 Comments

We work in a multi-billion-dollar industry with many acronyms of what our industry is and does. Some of us refer to our profession as “advertising specialty distributors” or “suppliers.” Few categorize our business as “promotional marketing”: and even fewer call what we do “brand marketing.” Further convoluting our identity are the industry associations to which we belong: the Advertising Specialty Institute and the Promotional Products Association International. Our educational paths are a mismatch of everything from Certified Advertising Specialist (CAS) to Master Advertising Specialist (MAS) and the new educational entries BASI and MASI certifications. There are no formal degree programs for the advertising specialty/promotional product industry. 

In contrast, most of the companies we sell to and the people we assist all have direct monikers relating to what they do in their industries, such as CPA (Certified Public Accountant), M.D. (medical doctor), D.D.S. (doctor of dental science), CFP (certified financial planner) and many more. 

We all love what we do every day. Suppliers try to pinpoint what the distributor is trying to accomplish with their end users for sales or marketing success, such as placing ad specialties and/or apparel to build brand recognition and establish quantifiable returns on investments for marketing. Distributors are committed to identifying and meeting needs customers have to increase sales, launch new products or services, incent sales teams, increase trade show booth traffic or provide missing pieces in the puzzle for successful marketing plans.  Read more of this post

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Designs of the Quarter: Q1 2011

April 4, 2011 by 2 Comments

This year’s first Designs of the Quarter are here! The categories this time around were pre-media, online ads and embroidery digitizing.

Pre-Media

I love this first design. The clean grey-on-white text, the pop of red, those luscious-looking strawberries . . . It just holds your attention and makes you want to read it.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March 17, 2011 by Leave a comment

Embroidery Digitizing Sample: St. Patrick'sErin go Bragh and happy St. Patrick’s Day. As we enjoy some corned beef and cabbage and exchange our favorite recipes for Irish soda bread, we wanted to share some designs in the spirit of the holiday. What is the craziest green food or drink you’ve had on this occasion—green beer, green cookies, green bagels?

(And here are some designs from our embroidery digitizing, vector artwork and print advertising teams.) Read more of this post

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Artwork and Digitizing Client Spotlight: Heritage Print Solutions

March 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

For Bob Patterson, High Volumes Caused New Problems

Sample Design: Ridge Club

Vector Design Created by Affinity Express for Heritage Print Solutions

Robert Patterson of Heritage Print Solutions has only been in the industry for about a year and a half. When he started with the company, he took a new approach and led sales with promotional products and apparel versus printing; providing value-added services in response to customer demand. Because of this approach, the volume of layouts and imprints increased significantly.

With only one person on the internal team who could work on these files, the company began to experience a backlog that slowed down revenue. Capacity was exceeded and it became labor-intensive to create vector files and/or request them from clients, who often had only jpgs.

On top of that, customers sometimes balked at the cost of having the files created. Heritage Print Solutions accounts expected their provider to do the art and absorb the extra cost. Read more of this post

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Happy Women’s Day

March 8, 2011 by 3 Comments

Sample Design: Woman in EmbroideryToday is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. To celebrate, we interviewed several executives at Affinity Express to find out what makes them successful and what advice they have for the rest of us. The participants are: Vice President of Global Finance and Accounting Andrea de Castro, Vice President of Operations Kristin Meidell, Vice President of Graphic Production and Support Services Joanna Grant, Vice President of Global Human Resources Tinna Hall, Vice President of Marketing Kelly Glass and Director of New Client Implementation Kellie Blaisdell.

It’s clear that, despite the variety of disciplines in which they work and the different backgrounds they bring to their roles at Affinity Express, these women share a common outlook.

They attribute their success to persistence and flexibility, while appreciating that their current environment allows them learn and exposes them to new opportunities. On a daily basis, they work so hard because they find contributing to larger goals and solving problems fulfilling. Their greatest accomplishments revolve around mentoring other team members; in essence, passing the torch onto others.

Whether you work for Affinity Express or not, I hope you’ll find their comments both insightful and helpful, regardless of where you might be in your career.

What is the one achievement in your career so far of which you are most proud? Read more of this post

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Chicago Go Red for Women Event is a Big Success

February 28, 2011 by 5 Comments

Kelly Glass with Amie Schumacher

That's me with Amie Schumacher

Friday was a great day. After quite a bit of last-minute work to help the Chicago Go Red team design signage, a slide template and some printed material for their annual event, as well as a push to improve our fundraising efforts* on their behalf, the big day finally arrived.

Vice President of Global Human Resources Tinna Hall joined me on the long ride to downtown Chicago from our company headquarters in Elgin and, when we walked into the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, we were surrounded by Affinity Express designs.

As we got closer to the designated rooms, red dresses were everywhere! Women of all ages, races and sizes were decked out and looking absolutely gorgeous. To add to the festive mood, those who donated their personal funds to the cause sported white and gold boas.

How can you not smile when you’re dressed all in red topped off with feathers? Read more of this post

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Happy Presidents’ Day

February 21, 2011 by Leave a comment

Vector Artwork Design: George WashingtonToday, George Washington’s birthday, is a federal holiday in the U.S. It is celebrated in honor of not just Washington but other American Presidents as well.

(Which gives rise to the question: do you spell it “Presidents’ Day” or “Presidents Day” or “President’s Day”? Even Wikipedia isn’t sure. “Presidents’ Day makes most sense to me, so I’m going with that: but if you prefer an alternate spelling, do comment below and tell me why.) Read more of this post

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Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2011 by Leave a comment

Embroidery Digitizing Sample: Red Heart What are you doing today? Making your partner an elaborate dinner, going out on a blind date, going to the pub with your friends, or sitting at home reading a book? Whatever it is, make sure you have fun!

I’m on vacation with my husband and my mom. Not exactly romantic, but we’ll be at a wildlife park tonight and will go out to ogle rhinos in the morning. (Also, elephant ride!)

Here are a couple of more designs from the artwork and digitizing team in honor of this holiday. Read more of this post

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100th Blog Post

February 4, 2011 by 4 Comments

100We started this blog back in May somewhat tentatively, wondering what we would ever write about. Turns out we are much more voluble than we thought: this is the 100th post on the blog!

Thank you all who have been reading. If you are a regular reader, or if you just dropped in today, do comment and tell us why you come here. Or just say hi. We want to know you better.

And here are some of the posts I like best on this blog. Have you read them yet? Read more of this post

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The ASI Show! in Orlando

January 31, 2011 by Leave a comment

January is Trade Show Month!  After going to Las Vegas for the PPAI Expo earlier this month, I went to the ASI Show in Orlando last week to promote our vector artwork, embroidery digitizing, image editing and order management services to promotional product suppliers and distributors. Read more of this post

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Affinity Express at the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas

January 18, 2011 by 1 Comment

Last week, Reggie Gonzalez and I were in Las Vegas for the annual PPAI Expo. The PPAI Expo is the biggest gathering of folks from the promotional products industry, and I’m always thrilled to be there.

Affinity Express at the PPAI Show

Reggie at our booth at the PPAI Show

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Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 17, 2011 by Leave a comment

Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Full speech here.) 

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