Creative Design Blog

Contextual Backlinks: What are They?

2011-12-30T14:21:00.000-06:00

Chicago Marketing Company: Graphic Design & Web Design

2011-12-27T12:55:00.000-06:00

Chicago Marketing Company

We are Palatine and Chicago's premier graphic design and web design agency with extensive knowledge and expertise in graphic design and print management, web site design and development, illustration, branding and corporate identity design, logo design, business card design, stationery design, leaflet design, brochure design, packaging design, exhibition display and banner design, print advertising and commercial photography.

The highly experienced team of graphic designers and web designers offer their cost effective, quality design services to companies and individuals in the Schaumburg, Naperville, and Chicago areas, as well as much further afield.

They like to get to know their clients and work closely with them to find design solutions that best suit their requirements and reflect their business outlook. They pride themselves on exemplary customer service and quickly and professionally produce unique and inspirational design concepts that are eye-catching, create a lasting impression and surpass expectations.

For more details about their graphic design and web design services, or to request a competitive quote, please visit the Chicago Marketing Company web site: www.integraphix.com.

How to Hire a Creative Agency

2011-10-18T20:23:00.000-05:00

In June of 2007 alone, huge advertising accounts worth over $1.7 BILLION (wow) changed the creative agency they were working with. Why? Because every time a company switches CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) they typically switch ad agencies. They want to bring their own people in or they simply haven't seen the progress needed to keep working with the current ad agency.

Advertising is and can be an exciting, fast paced, very visible business and when businesses are advertising it makes them look really good. Especially to the competition. The relationship between business and creative agency is based on experience, confidence and trust. When trust is broken, the relationship ends.

For whatever reason, too many companies make their ad agency selection based on the wrong criteria. This causes undue heartache, inefficiency, confusion and a fair amount of lost productivity due to the new agency having to 'catch up' to the current branding and advertising standards.

Here are 10 guidelines on how to choose your creative agencies carefully. We'll start with 5 things you shouldn't ever do.

Limit your search by Geography
While the fasted way to build a relationship is via face to face interaction, trust can be built over a distance. After all, aren't the most solid relationships built from long periods of separation? Keep in mind, you're looking for the right fit, not the closest agency on the block. If you had a medical problem that only a specialist in Zimbabwe could solve, would you limit yourself to a 50 mile radius? Of course not!

Screen out agencies based on size alone
This can go both ways. Don't count the little guy out - sometimes they have the best ideas. Likewise, if you're a small business and you court a large creative agency, don't think you're not worth much to them. You could be in exactly the industry they've been looking to do work for.

Consider how agencies develop over time: talented people enter the workforce and stay a while. The good ones stay with the company and grow with it. The Great ones tend to run it after a while. The Best Designers and Advertisers leave that company and go do it on their own. The result? A small firm with huge potential. In addition to that - smaller agencies tend to have the best workers instead of interns or mid-level designers working on your projects.

Ask for spec work
This is a huge no-no. This is like asking the grocery store to give you free food, and once you taste it, you'll pay for it. Is that going to fly? The farmer who spent 3 months growing the food from seed to basket thinks not. Another reason? Most spec work is farmed out to cheap freelancers who are nowhere to be seen once you choose the creative agency you're going to work with.

Letting the Spreadsheet to the Talking
It can help to develop a checklist of pros and cons of each creative agency, but in the end, go with your gut choice instead of relying on numbers. A larger agency is almost always going to win that war, and even the best small ad agency in the world can't compete with such high turnover.

With this information, how do you actually choose a creative agency? It seems like an impossible task when you've first started out, but over time, with several courtships, you'll be able to put your finger on the agency that does it for you.

Ways to 'Hook' Your Web Visitors

2011-09-20T20:21:00.001-05:00

Advertising Agency

Hey, I'm a visitor, just got to your site, I am part of the MTV generation and have a very short attention span ... want to go ride bikes? Just kidding... I am here, so what you have for me?

Answer: You have about 7 seconds to "hook" me ... to get me interested ... to get me to act and move to a unique result of statistical visitors.

It worked on you, right? I mean, if you read this blog you have landed, either directly on this page, or have clicked on another page on my site.

Now what? Well, you really should sign up for my newsletter, or subscribe to my RSS feed, or call me! Too fast? Well, let's start slowly, what gives me the most useful information to establish credibility in me and my advertising agency, and continue to work to earn your trust and business. It is important that you provide a way to give me another chance, right? If you love someone, you first "coffee date", not trying to line up a new opportunity to see this person? It's the same with the visitors of your website.

First, make sure to offer unique content that has value to your visitors. After that, you have to give them the opportunity to align with you the other day, have the opportunity to learn more about the value of your company, or a blog. To do this:

1. Offering a newsletter and making it easier for them to sign.

2. Offer RSS subscription capabilities so they can easily adapt to your blog.

3. Offer a free e-book. An e-book that is more than just a sales pitch, make sure it is 95% useful information, 5% of services you provide.

4. Make sure the contacts are available and easy to save.

5. They say, "Let's be friends, but I know someone who loves you." If this happens, make sure you can share with their friends easily, for example. Facebook, Twitter, e-mail.

Want to learn more about how to get going with your 5 hooks? Ha! Now I've got you! Keep reading, subscribe or call me... or don't, you can easily Google any of the above items and learn more, but remember, you'll never establish a long term meaningful relationship with your visitors unless you go for that second date!

Basics of Creative SEO Marketing

2011-08-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

The internet is a normal, every-day thing in our lives, and because of that, SEO is one of the most important parts of a business's marketing strategy. There are thousands of websites on the web, and we dare you to find someone who knows of, or has been to all of them. You won't find anyone. This is why search engines exist, so people can type in keywords and find products, services, funny things, cats, friends, dates, and many other things. This is why Keyword Optimization via SEO is so very important. If you want to get found first for the keywords people are using, you need to optimize your website for it.

As a general rule, the user will only look at the top 10 sites in a results page, leaving the other 1.2 million websites that came up for that search unseen. Therein lies the competition. You need to be in the top 10 as a minimum! We are an SEO company that excels in getting our clients into this 1-10 range, and provide services based in Chicago. We operate all over the United States, with virtual locations in New York, Charlotte, NC, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Arizona. We also offer affordable SEO services to the masses.

Our services include:

Internal (On-Page) Optimization:

1. Title Tag Optimization
2. Meta tag creation & optimization
3. Content Optimization
4. Image Optimization
5. Website Structure Optimization
6. HTML code optimization
7. W3C Validation
8. Internal Link Structure
9. Navigation Structure
10.Statcounter & Google Analytics Details
11. Google Webmaster Tools
12. Robots.txt Optimization
13. HTML Sitemap creation
14. Google XML Sitemap Creation & regular updation
15. Footer Content & Other SEO Techniques

External (Off-Page) Optimization:

1.Regional Directory Submissions: 50
2.Regional Social Bookmarking : 25
3.One Way Link : 5
4. Article Writing : 4
5.Article Submission : 100
6.Regional Comment Posting :5

Social Media Marketing:
1. Social Bookmarking
2. Social Networking Profiles creations
3. Social Networking Profile Optimizations
4. Content Sharing Optimization
5. Blogging
6. Blog Optimization

Analysis Reporting
1. Website Analysis
2. Competitive Analysis
3. Business Analysis
4. Keyword Analysis
5. Max Keyword Research
6. Search Engine Optimization Strategy
7. Initial Ranking Report

2011-08-10T17:04:00.000-05:00

Chicago Creative Agency

Graphic Design elements in Chicago Web Design can sometimes be complex. Not only do you need to design for comfort and function, it has to be easily navigated no matter how illustrated or off the wall your graphics are. Use these tips for effective alternative web design using graphics.

1. Don't make all of your images clickable
First of all, text links are used for identification and if the only links on your website are images, people will get lost on your website. Additionally, some internet connections do not allow for fast loading images and if your only internal linking relies on imagery, your website will frustrate and overwhelm those users.
To combat this, make your images static and use a text-based link to move your web visitors around the page. Chicago Creative Agency

2. Use automatic scrolling with caution
This has to do with scrolling, obviously. When building a website, try to keep your content rich enough but short enough to be viewed with the shortest amount of scrolling. Also, if you've got cool stuff at the bottom of your custom website, nobody will have the patience to get there!

4. Don’t rely on the browser
The sentence “Please use IE to view the site under 800×600 resolution” often appears in many websites. We prefer Firefox, Chrome and Safari because we need them to test the readability of pages when designing websites. But most users will not install so many browsers and will usually only use one. Make sure you view your website in all different types of browsers, most especially Internet Explorer, since this will be the buggiest browser of them all.

5. Don’t forget the copyright
Intellectual property theft is rampant on the internet. With the number of pop-up blogs and personal websites, you need to guard your content and images against internet theft. If you need to reference other's images or content, please do so. To protect yourself, copyright your information.

6. Update timely
This is big for SEO as well. If you've had a website for longer than a year and haven't updated it, it's time to now! It's a waste of html if it just sits there.

Chicago Web Design, Chicago Web Development, Chicago websites, Web Design in Chicago, Web Design Companies, Phoenix Web Design, Charlotte Web Design, Los Angeles Web Design, NYC Web Design

Schaumburg Designers: More than Meets the Eye!

2011-07-27T11:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Schaumburg Marketing Company's creative blog.

Here you'll find a plethora of information on Schaumburg Marketing & Design, Schaumburg Graphic Design, Schaumburg Web Design and Schaumburg SEO.

We Design with YOU in mind.

At SMC, a Creative Agency, we put you first. We listen to your ideas and consider your marketing and business goals every step of the way. We take a personal approach with your projects. We get to know you and your business personally, which helps us accurately interpret your needs and integrate them into your design solutions.

Our design process is a straight-forward approach which is guided by our clients' ideas and objectives. We manage the timeline of your projects by focusing on your schedule so your business needs can be met.

Who are we?

The Schaumburg Marketing Agency's creative marketing team is comprised of talented Graphic Designers, Web Designers, Programmers, Writers, SEO Experts, Marketing Strategists, and Photographers who work together to create design solutions that work for you and your business.

We have a simple philosophy. Hire the most dedicated and creative people who love to work in a creative environment and are passionate about what they do. The result is a team that loves to design, write, program, and market. This philosophy is what has transformed us into the respected marketing company it is today. We not only create innovative designs and brand solutions, we love having the opportunity to build relationships with our clients.

Our proven track record as a leading Schaumburg Graphic Design Firm and Creative Agency lets us take pride in our ability to create and implement the most strategic and creative marketing solutions for you and your company.

:: Schaumburg Graphic Design

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Chicago Creative Agency goes National!

2011-07-22T11:42:00.000-05:00

We, Chicago based Marketing Agency, have always had the ability to serve clients on a national basis, but before the ease of internet marketing surfaced, it was difficult to market effectively on such a large scale. Now, we are able to service both our local Chicago clients as well as regional and national clients with ease. We will be focusing on four major areas including New York City, Los Angeles, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona.

With the explosion of social media and the birth of a informative and interactive blog, we can now educate our clients nationally, develop close relationships and continue to develop top level branding and design for clients outside the Chicago area.

Since Chicago is our first love, we enjoy serving clients locally and thrive in a face-to-face environment, while the use of Skype and Google Voice allows us to interact with our out of area clients effectively on both ends. We’ve had success with clients in the New York City area, Charlotte, Phoenix regions and are excited to see new clients finding us every day through effective internet marketing in organic search.

If your company, like ours, can offer its products and services on a national level, or even an international level, you need to look into building a strong SEO strategy that can help your business skyrocket. Running a business and national website does take effort and determination, but if a small creative agency (http://www.integraphix.com) like us can do it, you can to; and it will be well worth the effort. In our case, we offer graphic design, branding, web design and SEO services, but any business can service on a national level.

Charlotte Marketing Agency :: New York City Ad Agency :: Los Angeles Design Firm :: Phoenix Marketing Agency

2011-06-21T15:02:00.000-05:00

We Love Graphic Design!

Here are some perty photos for you to look at while you're sitting at work bored and in need of some brain stimulation. We think they're amazing examples of great graphic design. Our own Graphic Design Company creates some pretty awesome artwork, but I believe in plugging artists too. Enjoy!

Creative Design Agency

Graphic Design Firm

Chicago Graphic Design

Logo Design Chicago

Creative Agency: Logo Design Killers!

2011-06-21T14:59:00.000-05:00

Creative Agency

Most businesses have a logo, but the vast majority of businesses have not used that logo to its full potential, or have even left their logo design and branding to an amateur designer or even having one of their staff make up a logo using clip art (gasp!). This is done without any real research into how a logo effects consumer perception, and is done without thinking about the entire branding concept. This is killing your business online and in person.

When was the last time you got someones business card and saw a little clip-art dude that you can get free on Microsoft's website? Probably not too often. Then why are YOU doing it? Take a little time to read through this post to see exactly how your logo effects your business, your target market, and what a proper logo design and branding solution could do for your company for years and years and years...

Logo Design:
Logos and trademarks make up the most creative international language in the world. An excellent logo can cross barriers and provide your organization with an avenue to deliver your services and products to customers in a uniform way. Without this, you’re effectively flushing your business down the drain.

Every successful company has a distinct personality, just like humans, and a successful brand and logo design are essential to attracting multiple types of personalities and markets. If you’re business doesn’t have these things, it’s time to invest in them. When you embark on this journey into branding, company identity, and logo design, you should be aware of several points of interest:

1. Your logo and branding needs to IDENTIFY your company/product/service.

2. Your logo and branding must DIFFERENTIATE you from the masses.

3. Your logo and branding must COMMUNICATE the value of your services and products.

4. Your logo and branding should ADD VALUE to your company by creating a benchmark for quality and reputation.

5. Your logo and branding must REPRESENT your products and services as valuable things. If your logo isn’t doing these things, choose to update and seek advice from a professional graphic design firm.

Brand Identity: Branding can be technically defined as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these things intended to identify one particular seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from others. This sounds important right? Well it most definitely is. One thing to note is that branding is NOT about getting your target market to choose you over your competition…it’s getting them to see you as the only solution to their needs and problems.

A good brand has the following:
1. The ability to deliver your message clearly
2. Give your company credibility and strength
3. An emotional connection to your target market
4. The ability to motivate buyers and consumers
5. A distinct knack for keeping your target market loyal to your services or product

To succeed in this, you need to understand your target market, your customer’s wants and needs, and the ability to project what they’ll want and need in the future. You can do this by integrating brand strategies through your company at every public contact point.

A strong brand is as valuable as gold as the battle for loyal customers gets more and more intense. It’s important to spend time investing in research, and an effective Creative Firm to help your marketing communications strategies be the best they can be. Your brand and logo are the foundation of your company.

So the next time you even think about making a Microsoft Word clip-art image your logo...STOP.
Contact a real Chicago Graphic Design Company and schedule a meeting.

/// Integraphix, a Creative Agency in Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Graphic Design
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Top Marketing Companies in Chicago
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Successful Marketing: Choosing the right Creative Marketing Agency

2011-06-20T12:31:00.000-05:00

Creative Agency Chicago

There are thousands of marketing consulting firms. When choosing a creative marketing agency, be sure that they offer digital marketing as a service. It is no longer effective to use TV and print media as primary marketing platforms. There are over 200 television channels and thousands of newspapers that reach millions of people. This means that your marketing campaign is not targeted. This is broad, outbound marketing that can be very costly and ineffective.

Nowadays, it is important to focus your marketing online. The internet promotes inbound marketing which means that users that find your business are actually searching for the products or services that you offer. To become more visible in search results, you must use internet marketing strategies. There are a couple of strategies to choose from. Try to find the strategy that is most suitable for your business type and budget.

Pay Per Click

This paid advertising model directs traffic to your website when your ads are clicked on search engines. You would bid on keywords that are relevant to your target market. Keep in mind that your competitors may be bidding on the same keywords. Keyword bidding wars can get very expensive.

When you bid on a term, your ad may appear at the top of search engine results when your keyword phrases are searched. The downside to PPC is that often times, results do not last long. If you are outbid for a keyword, this could affect your ranking. An alternative effective internet marketing strategy is search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is used to improve your ranking in organic search results. There are many facets of successful SEO including on-site optimization, off-site optimization, conversion optimization and content. When these things are effectively executed, your rank in search engine results may improve.

The firm you choose should specialize in the different aspects of SEO. Here is a guideline for choosing the right firm:

Content – There must be emphasis placed on the content on your site. Make sure that your content remains fresh, relevant and informative. It must also be regularly updated. Many creative marketing agencies recommend that you construct your site using a content management system (CMS) such as Wordpess or Joomla. These systems have a dynamic sitemap that sends a notification to the search engines when your content is updated.

Client Interviews – Before deciding on a firm, interview at least 1-3 clients to see if they are satisfied with how their internet marketing campaign. Inquire about the client’s experience. Ask if they are getting the service and results that they expected. Also, ask about the client’s dislikes regarding the firm they chose.

Live Results – A marketing firm should be able to show you the live and deep results that were obtained for existing clients. Live results can be seen by searching for a client’s keywords on Google and seeing where they rank.

Pricing – Discuss pricing upfront so that you may budget accordingly. It is not always wise to accept the cheapest deal. Decide what you need to successfully market your business and choose the deal that is all-inclusive. Stay away from companies that offer guarantees. Opt for the company that has realistic goals and proven results.

There are hundreds of Chicago marketing firms to choose from, why not go with professionals that have what it takes to suit your need? Contact Integraphix today!

Creative Agency Branding: 8 Ways to Name a Company

2011-06-12T21:38:00.000-05:00

Creative Agency

There are several ways to name a company, and some of the best known companies in the world have the strangest names. Did you know where they came from though? They'd don't just pop out of nowhere (well...not all of them), and there's usually a premeditated strategy behind their origins.

That's the case with many famous branding solutions behind Google, Pepsi, Ford, Digg and many others. Their names stick not only because they're simple, but they're different. There is no ideal way to choose a company name, but choose from the following 8 styles to shape your new company's name.

Family Names

This is the most common style of naming a company, and many car and manufacturing companies follow this convention. The person is usually the owner, founder, a child or perhaps even a celebrity! For example: Getty Images, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Boeing and Dell are all named after the owner or a family member.

Made Up

A creative way of naming a company is coming up with something that nobody has ever heard before or using a nick name. One reason for this might be to make the company sound foreign or to make it sound memorable. For example: Haagen-Dazs is a made up name with no meaning, and Meebo has absolutely no documentation behind it.

Metaphors

The most trendy and often used way of branding a company is using a metaphor or analogy. It's a term that is used to imply or to bear resemblance to something else. It may have no relation to your actual business, but that could be a selling point. Example: Apple, Adobe, and Fuji. Steve Jobs isn't selling apples, you can be sure of that!

Abbreviations or Acronyms

Most convenient, but perhaps not the smartest is using an abbreviation. It should be used only in cases of longer company names. When doing this, you should brand yourself based on how you want it pronounced, individually or as a single word, example: DKNY or BeBo. Example: FCUK - French Connection United Kingdom, and BMW - Bayerische Motoren Werke. Didn't know that one didja?

Conjunctions

When you're running out of ideas, just mash two together. Microsoft? Microcomputer and Software. Skype? Sky and Peer to Peer. This naming convention is helpful when your business does more than one thing.

Mythical Origins or Derived

Many company names are formed from reading books, mythology or from a product they sell. Popular names have come from Greek, Latin and Gods and Goddesses such as Nike, Xerox and Volvo. Coca-Cola's name comes from the leaves and nuts used for flavoring.

Word Jumbles

When words aren't enough, combine numbers and letters instead. It adds a little bit more to the company name and can express a hint of techy vibes if needed. Examples are 3Com - a network technology producer, and 20th Century Fox, a film and movie studio.

Be Playful!

Sometimes company names are a mistake, or the owner having a little fun with word play. Sometimes the name comes out of the original idea being taken! Call it a twist of fate, but I call it pure genius. Some of these funny examples are (go figure) - Google, a mispelling of the word Googol, Digg.com - dig.com was already taken, Harpo Productions, Oprah's name spelled backwards.

So the next time you're coming up with a new company name, look through the dictionary, or read a good book. Perhaps you can even take a few of your favorite words and screw around with the spelling. You never know what's going to stick and take off!

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Chicago Marketing Company

Ask Integraphix a Question!

2011-06-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

Ask Integraphix a question about Graphic Design, Web Design or Internet Marketing! We love answering questions.

Visit our form here to submit your question.

Creative Agency: Restaurant Web Design

2011-06-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

Chicago Web Design

There are many things about many Chicago websites that could use a lot of changes, and there are a lot of things with many websites that are great! But there are certain industries that need to stick to a standard, and there is a specific industry that always leaves us hanging: Restaurant and Bar website designs are always horrid.

There has been many a time where you've gone looking for a great place to eat, found a website, and it was literally impossible to navigate. In addition to that, they're menu wasn't view-able on your computer, or it was an image so small you couldn't see what was available. It may have happened also that something you did see that was appetizing wasn't listed as seasonal, so once you got there...it wasn't available.

Having worked in the Chicago web design industry for some time, we love that working with web and print design is so flexible. There is no reason why restaurants cannot keep their websites up to date with pricing, seasonal entrees and new specials. There is also no reason that the entire website should be an image and have bad links to their pdf'd menu.

What Restaurant Websites Should Include:

Web Fonts for Information & Menus

Use web fonts even if they break your branding and identity. Your informational copy doesn't have to be in the same font as your logo. Many computers and especially phones can't read alternate font styles, may be too slow to load a large image, and most importantly, since people search for restaurants on their phones, don't make your menu a .pdf. Smart phones can't open them.

Keep It Simply Stupid.

Don't clutter up your website with flashy animations and huge images. Make sure the homepage can be read on slow internet connections and smartphones.

Don't use Text in Images

Unless it's a logo, all of your text should be HTML. Especially your address and phone number. And be sure they're displayed somewhere other than your footer or on the contact page. Additionally, link your address to your Google Place Page so smartphone users can get directions to your business easily.

Get a Second Opinion

Typos make you look dumb. Period. Your food isn't the only aspect of your reputation. It's your decor, your staff, and in the online world...your website. If you have browser incompatibilities, buggy slideshows, typos, grammar errors and broken links...say goodbye to that customer.

Display your Hours CORRECTLY

I saw a sign the other day that said: Lunch - 11:30pm to 3:00pm. What? Huh? This is a nobrainer.

Update your Website Regularly!!!

This is very important. People expect the specials they see online to be available at your restaurant. If you've got a special that expired 6 months ago...take it down.

People who love food and tend to search for new places online can be extremely picky. If they can't navigate your website, they'll move on. Make your website as frill-free and structured with fool-proof navigation as possible to keep your customers coming in! If you feel your website is in need of a facelift, or you just can't update your website as regularly as you feel, give Integraphix a shout at 847.537.0067 to talk about a website maintenance program or website redesign.

Integraphix, a Chicago Web Design Agency

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Creative Agency: SEO Periodic Table

2011-06-03T17:07:00.000-05:00

Creative Design Agency | Integraphix

Just because it's so cool - I had to share it with you all. It's a periodic Table of SEO and Search Ranking Requirements. Awesome! My nerdiness just shot through the roof.

Enjoy!

Integraphix, a Chicago Creative Agency and Chicago Marketing Company

Creative Agency: Fashion Design vs. Graphic Design

2011-06-03T15:23:00.000-05:00

Creative Agency | Chicago Creative Agency

Embellishments, tags, and branding on casual clothing such as jeans, t shirts and sweatshirts are thankfully going through a creative evolution that is quickly becoming a decorative art form rather than turning the wearer into a walking billboard.

You see most crude branding in the form of "Abercrombie & Fitch" or "Gap" emblazoned across a sweatshirt or, perhaps more subtly sewing into a seam or pocket. They're common and they're an unsophisticated way for brands to marketing their products.

While this has nothing to do with web design or SEO, branding is branding no matter where it falls and clothing designers are finally catching up to the graphic design world. They're not choosing much more refined and complimentary ways to incorporate branding in their lines that not only embellish the products, but raise the perception of quality in detailing.

A simple t-shirt can be transformed into something more dressy with the simply (and smartly) positioned decorative motif either printed or sewn onto the shirt. It's generally influenced by typographical art that has been used in the graphic design world for years, while the fashion industry is just now catching up.

Japanese inspired UK fashion label, Superdry, is one of the leaders in this new wave of clothing branding with a broad range of label styles. The Japanese link isn't simply coincidence though since many of the branding concepts converge around the concept of Japanese woodblock printing and include descriptive text or a poem written above the image.

With this new wave of fashion design branding, graphic designers around the world can take a collective sign of relief that the fashion industry will sometime in the near future be on the same level ground with the innovators in our field.

- -

Integraphix, a Creative Agency

Creative Agency: Chicago Illinois

2011-05-24T16:08:00.000-05:00

Chicago Creative Agency

Everybody here has probably sat in a room at some point in their life and been forced to watch a PowerPoint presentation. If you haven't, you never went to high school. If you have, then you know why it's important to hire a professional creative agency to do your designing for you. PowerPoint is the bane of every graphic designer and advertising exec in the nation because it has a distinct LACK of great design.
Over some time, PowerPoint has had an incredibly powerful effect on the quality of graphic design. That software made it possible for anyone to create designs, presentations, books, layouts...everything! It lowered the bar considerably. Ask yourself this...would you build a skyscraper without hiring an engineer? Probably not.

Creative people have a certain set of skills to creative visual, emotional and mental solutions to communication problems. They'll find the best way to convey a message to millions of people with a few words. Using many different techniques to achieve the best results including color, typography, photography, animation, layout, video, and media, they'll bring a concept to life.

Professional creative designers know how to use the principles of their craft to communicate, present, and elicit an emotion. It's not impossible for a young designer to achieve this or an amateur, but it is less likely.

What is good design?

The messages are clear and concise. Be it a poster, logo, branding, web design or a simple business card, the design needs to emphasize the message creatively.

The basic principles of graphic design apply to all design disciplines - writing, graphics, art and architecture. Even fashion design and poetry. The tools we use to format the elements of design are rigid. Color, Shape, Texture. Here are the essentials:

Balance.
Balance is based on the notion that the whole is the sum of its parts. Using balance, creative design elements or the 'parts' are organized to create a whole thing that has balance.

Proportion
Similar to balance, proportion is the relation of parts inside the whole. It's the consideration of parts. Without proportion, an entire design can collapse into ... non-design.

Space
Space is the most important part of design quality. It's important but overlooked many times by amateurs. Space, sometimes called white space, provides its other elements with all the characteristics listed before. Without great use of space, graphic design will fail.

Creative Agency

While the priciples listed above are incredibly important, they by no means make up the majority. There are thousands upon thousands of books on this matter that can be read over and over again and you still won't know all of it. Advice? Seek out information. Depending on your interests, seek out these books for study and you'll learn loads!

Creative Agency: SEO for Small Businesses

2011-05-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

Integraphix, a Creative Agency

Listen to our resident expert, Jennifer, talk about SEO for small businesses. She's a little quirky and likes MAC Filters, but she knows what she's talking about.

At Integraphix, we believe in helping small businesses succeed. That's why SEO or Search Engine Optimization is such a huge part of what we do. This helps the little guy get found online. If you're business is struggling to find new leads, get a hold of your social media and connect with the enormous about of online users, Integraphix is your ticket to online search engine and social media marketing success.

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Creative Agency: Integraphix, Inc.

2011-05-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

Creative Agency Chicago

Integraphix Creative Agency enters 2011 with big changes. The Chicago-based graphic design and web design company now works with small businesses from its Palatine office, which opened on January 1, 2010.

The new offices are located in the heart of Palatine near the Metra Station, at 305 North Eric Drive, Palatine, Illinois 60067. Scott Ventura, the company's Creative Agency Director and CEO provides exceptional marketing experiences and personalized customer service that has defined Integraphix for the last 20 years. Integraphix is also known for the fact that they provide both Graphic Design Chicago, Web Design Chicago, Chicago SEO and is a full-service boutique advertising and Print Company in Chicago.

Integraphix never outsources its design work to less expensive and inexperienced designers overseas. The company completes all of its work in-house and only relies on outside marketing experts when a client’s project has particular demands they cannot meet.

Even with all of the work completed by the Integraphix team, professional logo design, creative graphic design and affordable web design services are still significantly less expensive than larger advertising or design agencies in Palatine and Chicago. However, this does not mean quality lacks because of the low price.

Integraphix was again named one of Palatine’s Best in Business for Web Design by Northwestern Business Monthly. For a second year in a row, the publication has recognized Integraphix. They emphasizes Integraphix’s ability for specializing in offering full service advertising and marketing solutions, from graphic design to web design.

“Integraphix clearly has a singular approach,” said Melanie Richter, a copywriter that works with Integraphix. “I’m impressed with their willingness to complete projects under tight deadlines and their full-scale approach to design, SEO and web development. They really don’t leave a stone unturned for their clients.”

To contact Jennifer Lynn, email jenniferlynn@integraphix.com or call her at (847)537-0067. Visit Integraphix Creative Agency to see the company’s graphic design and web design portfolios at www.integraphix.com

About Integraphix Creative Agency
Integraphix is the marketing and advertising solution for small businesses by offering affordable website design, creative graphic design and professional logo design services.

Headquartered in Palatine, and now a branch office in Charlotte, NC, the company’s design solutions have reached small businesses in New York, Chicago, California, Florida and North Carolina. For more information, Visit Integraphix and see the benefits of graphic design and web design from the best in the business.

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