Book Review: Decoding Design by Maggie Macnab

Mathematics, physics, philosophy and psychology. Ah yes, the tools of the visual communication designer. No, you say? Perhaps you thought the tools are Photoshop, Illustrator and the likes. Think again. Sure, software has been a huge help. But, it’s a help in expressing our ideas, not generating them. At least it should be.

In her new book, Decoding Design: Understanding and using symbols in visual communication, author and designer, Maggie Macnab takes you on a journey of symbolism. She pulls back the veil over several logos and other designs to reveal the hidden meaning just below the surface. Meaning that may not be obvious at first, yet is often archetypical and resonates deep within our being.

When I first heard of the book, I figured it would be yet another, “Parade of logos,” promoting their superstar designers. On the up side, great for inspiration. On the downside, vehicles for yet more copycat designs. Not so. This is the stuff that should be the cornerstone for every design curriculum. For veterans, it reminds of why we may have chosen communication design as a profession and the power to have to influence our audiences on behalf of our clients.

Decoding Design isn’t just a lot of heady theory. There’s a lot of meat, but it’s not dried out. The chapters progress, one through ten, where Maggie explains the meaning and symbolism behind each number. She goes on to describe the forms and shapes the reflect its meaning and how it has been incorporated into various designs. I particularly enjoyed how she deconstructed several marks and pointed out how the underlying symbols are used. Macnab also shares her own and other designers thoughts and process about the logos and other designs within the pages.

Back in the day, designers enjoyed a seat in the Board Room. But, over the years, our profession’s standing has eroded. We often find ourselves competing with a client’s neighbor’s cousin’s kid with a copy of Creative Suite. Or it might be the Administrative Assistant with Microsoft Publisher. We’ve all been there. Decoding Design, and the concepts Maggie teaches, will greatly help you to explain and, when needed, defend your work. Plus, it will provide a roadmap for creating better design that is more than simple decoration. It’s ammunition for the thinking designer.

Marketing Mentor & HOW Magazine Need Your Help

My friend, Illise Benun and her Marketing Mentor partner, Peleg Top, are teaming up with HOW Magazine to develop a conference for creatives. But they need your help. Here's the scoop:

This conference, presented by Marketing Mentor and HOW Magazine, will be created for designers, illustrators, copywriters, photographers and anyone who wants to earn a living by selling their creative services. We're looking to create an event that is focused, affordable and provides lots of networking. But first, we need to know what creative freelancers want/need.

Can you take a quick 3-minute survey *(by this Friday, Dec 7)*
and share some of your thoughts about this idea?

Here's a link to the survey.

Get Rich in a Niche Webinar

You say your marketing mojo isn’t marvelous? Your promotion efforts are leaning toward paltry and you’re starting to believe “P.R.” stands for “Pitiful Relations.” Your niche is nixed and you don’t know what to do.

Fear not. Marketing maven Ilise Benun and her partner in promotion, Peleg Top, have you covered. Mark Thursday, September 27 down on your calendar and sign up to participate in their webinar, “Get Rich in a Niche,” sponsored by my friends at HOW Magazine.

If your phone isn’t ringing off the wall and your inbox isn’t jingling, you can’t afford to miss this webinar. Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:

• Why you must focus on a market if you want to succeed in business
• How to identify the ideal target market for your design business
• How to choose a market that blends your skills and interests with the needs of the market
• How to determine if the market you've chosen is viable
• How to find and reach the best prospects in your target market

All attendees also get copies of the presentation materials plus easy-to-follow Marketing Mentor worksheets designed to help you zero in on your target market and build your client roster. And, you'll have 12-month access to the webinar, should you want to watch it again as a refresher course.

Need more? Here’s a taste of what you’ll hear:

How to Dominate Your Market
Many designers believe that marketing the widest range of services to the largest possible group is the path to success. You’d rather be a generalist because you think you’ll get more business. And on one level it makes sense: the more opportunities you have to make a sale, the more sales you are likely to make. But in reality it doesn’t work that way. In fact, success comes to those who focus on the smallest number of activities most likely to yield the quickest and largest return.

Look at all you get when you specialize:

Fame: You’ll become known as an expert in your area of focus.
Fortune: You’ll command higher fees for your expertise.
Success: You’ll achieve your personal and business goals
Choice: You’ll get the work you want instead of taking whatever comes along

If you resist specializing, what you fail to understand is that your clients need you to specialize in exactly the service they need. They need to know they are dealing with an expert who serves their particular needs. That’s what will make them feel more comfortable choosing you. That’s what will help them sell you to their managers. So in reality, and in the long run, specializing gets you more business.

But focus doesn’t come naturally. Focus requires ongoing attention and discipline, which is why many people don’t do it. In fact, it’s not something you do once and then it’s done. Focusing means committing, and then recommitting, to your plan every day, refocusing your attention and reevaluating your choices on a regular basis. That’s the way to dominate the marketplace.

Marketing Mentors, Ilise and Peleg, know their stuff. Together, they’ve helped hundreds of designers discover their niche and profit from it while helping their clients become more successful. It’s been said that if you find out how to do what you love, you’ll never “work” another day in your life. This webinar will set you on that path.

Take the steps necessary to ensure your success. At $69 this webinar is not only affordable, it’s an event you can’t afford to miss. Landing one gig through the techniques taught in this webinar will pay for itself over and over.

Click here to sign up.

HOW Magazine's Mind Your Own Business Conference

Mind Your Own Business Conference
November 1-4, 2007
Loews Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego
www.MYOBconference.com

HOW magazine and Recourses, Inc. present the Mind Your Own Business Conference, taking place November 1-4 at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in sunny San Diego.

MYOB is the only business retreat tailored exclusively for principals of design and creative-service firms-where the country's foremost business consultants are on hand to answer your most-asked questions about your business. In just 3-1/2 days, you'll get the expert advice you need to increase efficiency and profitability for years to come.

Registration is now open. Visit www.MYOBconference.com to secure your spot.

Sign up by the August 31 Early-Bird Deadline to save $100!

At MYOB, you'll meet a dream-team panel of business consultants and strategy experts, and participate in exclusive presentations and workshops guaranteed to help you take charge of your firm's future. Visit www.MYOBconference.com for complete program details.

Plus, you'll rub elbows with 300+ fellow principals eager to talk shop about best practices, worst mistakes and other topics too taboo under any other circumstance. You'll share e-addresses, business forms and battle scars-in a been there, done that atmosphere you won't find anywhere else.

Visit www.MYOBconference.com to register now using HOW's easy and secure online form.

The Mind Your Own Business Conference is simply the one business retreat you can't afford to miss.

Tags: HOW Magazine, MYOB, Conference, Recourses, Min Your Own Business Conference

HOW 2008 International Design Awards

HOW, the leading creativity and business magazine for graphic design professionals, issues a Call for Entries for its 2008 International Design Awards.

The competition is open to all graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and students from anywhere in the world. Any original graphic design project created between January 1, 2006 and September 4, 2007 is eligible. Entries will be accepted in 15 categories including Annual Reports, Posters, 3D Objects and Letterhead/Identity.

The competition's Best of Show winner will be profiled in HOW's April 2008 International Design Annual and will win a trip to the 2008 HOW Design Conference in Boston. All winning entries will be featured in the International Design Annual, and some may be showcased on the HOW Web site.

For rules and official entry form, visit www.howdesign.com, send an email to how-competition@fwpubs.com or call HOW Magazine at 513-531-2690 ext. 1328.

Tags: HOW, HOW Magazine, 2008 International Design Awards, designer, graphic designer, illustrator, photographer

Suspects, Prospects and Leads ... Oh My!

The other day, I posted a ditty on BoDo, titled, “Hunting Down the Elusive Prospect.” Here on Inside the Marketing Mind, I thought I’d elaborate on that topic a bit.

Different people have different definitions and placement of targets within the sales process (You do have a sales process, right?) For some, it’s starts with a "suspect." For others, the first step is called a "lead." However you choose to label the contacts in your process, some definitions are in order.

For me, it starts with the “suspect.” This is simply a company or person within a company who might just be needing what I’m offering. For all intent and purpose, it’s an educated guess. I see a product on a store shelf that fits what we do in packaging and it could use a little help. I nab the company name off the package and any other info they have there and pop it into my Palm. Or maybe I’ll read a story in the business press about a company, in one of the industries we serve, who just brought on a new Marketing Director. I fire up my browser and check them out. These are simply folks who might be a good fit for our firm. More research and a first point of contact are needed. It might be a phone call, but usually a letter of introduction followed by a call.

Other times the tables are turned and the suspects contacts me as a result of our various marketing and public relations efforts. Either way, there’s an inquiry and now I have a suspect.

I talk a bit with Joe Suspect after he’s read my letter and perhaps visited our site. I find he does, in fact, buy what we sell. I learn he works with creative shops on a regular basis and likes the type of work we do. Nifty! All of a sudden, Joe Suspect moves up to Joe Prospect. We’ve made contact and I’ve begun to qualify him as a good fit. He has experience working with a creative shops, he understands what things cost, the chemistry, so far, feels right and his company offers the potential for us to create excellent work in an industry we know.

As we build the relationship, I work on becoming a valuable resource for Joe. I keep in touch. Maybe we have lunch here and there. I send him an article or two I think will be useful to him. The idea here is to build trust and rapport, while demonstrating your talent, knowledge and abilities.

Eventually, Joe has a need. It might be a brochure, some site work, a package design, etc. Once Joe has a need for our services, he moves up to “lead.” We meet to discuss the project, timetable, budgets and goals. We’re invited to whip up a proposal and make a presentation.

But, before we dump a load of time and resources into drafting a proposal and putting on a dog and pony show, we need to determine if the gig is good for us. Is the timetable doable within our workload? Is the budget livable ... and profitable? Does the project offer us the opportunity to do an excellent job? Can we realistically under-promise and over-deliver? Can we make Joe look good? If we can honestly say, “yes” to questions like these, we can move forward.

The proposal, presentation and subsequent close of the sale are really beyond the scope of this post. A good starting point is my post, "The Potent Power of Proposals."

Tags: sales process, selling, leads, prospects, suspects

HOW Magazine Hosts The 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference

The editors of HOW magazine have assembled a powerhouse line-up of today's hottest art directors, creative managers and industry experts for the 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference — September 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Austin, Texas.

It's the business event for in-house creative managers you can't miss — 3-days packed with intense workshops, professional advice, creative rejuvenation, and even a little group therapy.

Registration is now open at www.inhowseconference.com. Last year’s event sold out quickly, so be sure to sign up right away to reserve your spot.

You'll enjoy exciting, inspiration-filled sessions from a select panel of experts, each with their own unique background. They'll share what's worked for them and what hasn't, and identify best practices on everything from rediscovering "play" in the workplace to refining your operational processes.

You'll network with hundreds of your peers all facing similar in-house challenges and identify methods for balancing your multiple roles. And you'll leave feeling revived with all the insight you need to build and manage a creative team that's downright indispensable to your company.

It's going to be a real lifesaver.

Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind business conference. Registration is now open, and super easy with our secure on-line form at www.inhowseconference.com. Plus, we're offering deep discounts for 3 or more registrants from the same company.

Don’t delay ... register yourself (and your co-workers) today.
www.inhowseconference.com.