Proofreading that packs a punch!
Posted on | November 2, 2011 | No Comments
Direct and to the point, we just love these attention-grabbing sticky notes. One note says it all. Great for your own amusement, proofreading, highlighting resource and research materials, or even gift-giving to loved ones and not-so loved ones. For more eyebrow-raising products, visit knockknockstuff.com.
you’ve got mail… maybe
Posted on | May 5, 2011 | No Comments
When technology delivers, life is wonderful. The sun shines. Birds chirp. All is right. But when it fails—well, it just sucks like a summer cold.
We rely so heavily on electronic correspondence that we don’t always pay attention to whether or not our emails are getting through. So where-oh-where do those missing-in-action emails go? How about to the wrong address, or most likely, the trash.
The solution to missing-in-action emails is really two-fold, and requires participation from the sender and the recipient. Here’s what you can do to ensure that important information is received and retrieved.
The Sender solution
For important emails, you have to do more than just hit the send button. Follow up with a secondary email, or better yet, a phone call, especially if the email has a time-sensitive deadline. Red flags should go off if you’ve asked the recipient for acknowledgment of an email, and get none.
The Recipient solution
If you have multiple email addresses or ones that are not routinely checked, forward them to an address that is closely monitored. It’s simple to set up and something that you can either do yourself, or have your IT department or service provider help with. Other than that, be vigilant and regularly sift through your trash for real mail that was unjustly marked as spam.
it’s an avatar, it’s a gravatar
Posted on | January 10, 2011 | No Comments
No, it’s not anti-nausea medication for online surfing. Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar—not the movie either.
An avatar is the image icon that appears beside your comments on blogs and web forums. The Gravatar is one step up from that—following you from site to site. So, for each blog or site you post a comment to, your gravator remains the same, eliminating the need to create individual avatars for each of the sites you join.
The gravator concept works by linking to your email address, hence, it only works if you join a site with the email address registered to your Gravatar—and it only works with gravator-enabled sites. You can visit en.gravatar.com for more information.
How to keep up with your audience…
Posted on | October 7, 2010 | No Comments
I always find September such a crazy hectic, but-good-crazy-kind-of-hectic month. I know, it’s October. My point. As if keeping up with family, friends, work and life in general doesn’t already keep you busy, here are a few tips for keeping up with your audience.
Government resources: Check federal, provincial and municipal web sites often for published reports and resources that relate to your audience.
Online communities: Professional associations, as well as local and national groups, that service your audience, have a wealth of information online. Visit forums and discussion groups as well that are geared to your audience’s interests, issues or needs.
Look within: If you’re already servicing an audience, have them participate in a survey about how successful your current communications are.
You also likely know people in or connected to your target group. Talk to friends, family and colleagues and ask questions. Be direct and you’ll discover special nuances that make your target group unique.
Read: Aside from the usual marketing journals and statistical reports, read publications that target your audience like:
- niche magazines
- local newspapers
- community newsletters
These publications are a direct link to the content and approach that your audience finds appealing. Look for them in:
- grocery stores
- local shops & specialty stores
- community centres, libraries
- day cares
- doctors’ offices
What’s your e-news style?
Posted on | August 10, 2010 | No Comments
Whether you’re on the receiving end or at the point of distribution, here’s a peek at a few e-news personalities
The Piggy Back (Door)
Sometimes you get more than you bargained for. Along with the information you subscribed to, you may also notice an entourage of third-party-content indirectly related to your original subscription. As your inbox fills quickly, this may just be e-news delivery’s most pesky nuisance. Best suited to: Readers with patience, a ‘see the forest through the trees’ kind of attitude and kiss-ass junk mail controls.
The Socialite
Daily e-news blasts are easily the most outgoing (always going out) of all e-news personalities. With its numbers-game approach and high content production, there’s likely to be something of interest, more often than not. The information can be a bit generic at times, but you may find enough gems to keep the subscription going—you’ll just have to filter through the fluff first. Best suited to: Multitaskers, snackers and high-energy sleep-deprived audiences that need to keep up with everything.
The Hound
The hound consistently and constantly reminds you of tasks you really ought to accomplish. Brace yourself for the don’t miss this sale or act now before it’s too late events. These are just some of the call-to-actions that will surely keep the sky from falling. Best suited to: Procrastinators and anyone who doesn’t mind a little push.
The You-You
In the midst of me-me-me marketing, this weekly e-news is a breadth of fresh air. It attracts attention with fresh content that is audience specific. There are no sales pitches, just good, solid content. Plus, there’s rarely any fluff, and it comes often enough, so no chance of readership-amnesia when it shows up. Best suited to: Busy audiences that enjoy their personal space, and have an appreciation and need for useful information.
The Big Kahuna
As long as readers remember it’s coming, the Big Kahuna is a monthly treat of insightful treasures. In the form of an electronic publication, it hits inboxes with just the right amount of thought-provoking gusto to keep readers anticipating each issue. Best suited to: Readers in need of a break who would rather have the whole piece of toast, crust and all.
thought of the day
Posted on | July 19, 2010 | Comments Off
lost in translation
Posted on | July 12, 2010 | No Comments
When you’re writing content for a multi-language document, it’s advisable to wait until the layout and text are completely approved (or as close as possible) before proceeding to translation. Often, there are more than just design iterations at this stage; suddenly, usage and other issues become more apparent, which can ultimately lead to revised content.
Keep your headlines short. As an example, when translating from English to French, there’s an approximate 30% word gain. Keep your headlines to the point. It’s good practice regardless, since headlines are meant to grab your attention, not spill their guts. Other languages will vary, so check with your translator what the gain is, if any.
Leave some white space. When designing for multi-language documents, leave an appropriate amount of white space to balance the gain in the translated language. Keep your documents clean and legible, and resist the urge to fill the space with just one more tidbit.
Proofread… again. After the translated language has been formatted into the layout, proofread thoroughly once again.
Important symbols and characters sometimes become garbled or completely disappear when imported from the text file to the page layout. Check the hyphenation, and that breaks happen appropriately. In the case of French, check that dollar signs remain with the associated amount, and that quotations don’t become orphaned.
How to write a phone number…
Posted on | July 8, 2010 | No Comments
How to write a what? That’s right, if you didn’t already know, using a parentheses around an area code has been passé since the introduction of 10-digit dialing.
The Translation Bureau recommends the area code be followed by a hyphen instead of being enclosed within parentheses: 905-111-2222. This applies to both French and English materials. For stylistic purposes, many designers replace the hyphens with periods: 905.111.2222.
The recommendation applies to all telephone numbers in Canada including: cell phone numbers, pagers, facsimiles and toll-free and long distance numbers (1-888-111-2222).
is your information ultimatum-free?
Posted on | July 2, 2010 | No Comments
The other day as I was out shopping for last-minute camping gear, I heard the frustrations of another parent teetering on the edge of hysteria, nearby.
Get back here, do you want to go to camp in your underwear? You need clothes. Get back here right now! I swear if you don’t try this on right now…
Silly, of course your child doesn’t want to go to camp in their underwear.
What if we talked to our audience that way, minus the emotional outbursts? Take for example, the first-generation Gardasil commercials that urged young women, and girls as young as nine, to get vaccinated against the HPV virus. Unlike the proposed public awareness campaign that should have been, the advertising blitz was more intimidation.
The young spokesperson confidently chirped away that she was much too smart to go unprotected, thereby calling into question the smarts of those who choose not to follow. The general undertone was if you don’t get vaccinated, bad things could happen to you and you will have no one to blame but yourself, and by the way, if you don’t do it, you’re not too bright either. Rather than be scared into action, I for one, was insulted and generally puzzled by the sudden urgency to comply.
Sometimes, when we ask others to take action, or to change in some way, we don’t actually ask at all. We command them to. Do it. It’s good for you. These same messages, framed with hints of ‘or else’, become red flags that call into question the integrity, credibility and motives of the messenger.
Information that is delivered with ultimatums creates an either-or situation where choices are frowned upon. Some recipients will follow, and some will not, and those that don’t are not likely to be easily persuaded back with a revamped campaign.
I suppose a question to ask ourselves the next time we nudge our audience in a certain direction is did we convey our information with a militant tone, or under the guise of an ultimatum.
ta-da, voila, aha! or the birth of a concept
Posted on | June 10, 2010 | No Comments
What does a high school student know about graphic design anyways? A lot, apparently. As second semester got underway, I heard my daughter use the term graphic design in reference to her Communication Technology (CT) course. Graphic design? While my kids are extremely creative—no bias here—neither of them has ever expressed a desire to do what I do, in fact quite the opposite.
Well, this is where my tale begins. While said teenager was working on a project for her CT course, she became increasingly agitated, and appeared to be ‘stuck’. The project guidelines were straightforward: develop a concept and tagline to illustrate a safety issue, and use Photoshop to execute that idea in the form of a poster. While I may have sat impatiently on the sidelines in the past, this was my moment, our moment; I could finally impart some of my professional know-how, and hopefully ease her frustration.
After some time, her disposition turned from miserable to pleasant and she starting behaving almost colleague-like. Alas my knowledge and skills were in demand. We conversed about technical requirements, like how to apply various Photoshop techniques to help illuminate her message. I could see she was surprised I actually knew something, even momentarily, that was useful to her.
We talked post-mortem about the project and I asked her why she had been so frustrated. She told me it was because she didn’t have a concept, and that nothing made sense, and it was impossible to start without a concept. A good concept. Ta-da, voila, aha! That’s what she had been waiting for—her aha moment. You know, that split second when it just hits you, and you know exactly what you need to do, and it all makes perfect sense.
She went one step further and told me, “I don’t know how you do this all day long. My head was ready to explode trying to come up with a concept and make all the pieces fit.”
That’s when I had my wow moment. It wasn’t just that she was one step closer to understanding what I do professionally, it was that she got it—meaningful communication starts with a strong foundation.
That’s the freedom that concepts provide. Once you have a good one, it’s an open road with endless possibilities.
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