The Curve

I'm Jay. I'm a creative person in a boring corporate job and I'm ready for a change. The Curve is my journal on where I am, where I want to be and everything in between.

[socialanimalscreative]

Marketing online: say no to PR Dribble

My son is a great moonwalker. He doesn't get it from me. Going backwards is not my thing. I jig on the spot or dance across the floor on my way to the bar. I'm the same with other things in life. So when social media moved from social minority...to everything, I said, "I need a drink!"

Most traditional marketing techniques have a short life online. They work for a while but tend to treat the audience like an idiot...and after a while, your audience notices. So here's to 'out with old and in with the new' in the online marketing world.

What's out – a list of 'I won't'

yell 'I am the greatest' and expect my customers to believe it without showing them why

hold my knowledge close to keep ahead of the competition

push my brand down my audience's throat until they buy or gag

make my audience wade through PR dribble before I give them what they need.

hide behind a fake persona

talk at my audience, but I will talk with them

get noticed because I think my audience wants to 'be like me'...Kanye

What's in – a list of 'I will'

understand that my customer is in control

share and network, no one is my competition

make my customer's online task my priority

blog with a purpose

use images that help my audience understand 

be real

make social networking...social

get noticed because I understand what my audience needs

Now for your call to action – like, share or contact us. And come back for more...please ;)

[socialanimalscreative]

The awkward audience - who are they, where are they, what are they doing...and feeling.

Hello, my name is Karen and I'm married to a typophile (see previous blog post)

If you just clicked on that link and read his blog, you understand. He's a little odd. 

Every day I get random messages from him. I've started saving them because I plan to read them back to him next time he's in the ED, passing a kidney stone...again. Pain, laughter, drugs and Jay...worth videoing

They also make great blog fodder.

Here's a message I got last week. "Today I learned it's impossible to discreetly buy any meds that have to do with your butt. They always make a point of putting some variation of bowel, anus or rectum in the name."

Yep, he's a keeper...

But his message got me thinking about targeting your audience. When pharmaceutical companies come up with inspired names like Anusol and Rectinol, they really put themselves in the pants of their audience. Think about it...

People are buying these meds over the counter. They're usually self-serve items. The marketers aren't thinking about your pride when you hand that little package over to the cashier. Pride doesn't really exist in a pharmacy. Other people in the queue are holding tubes of wart cream or sticks of prescription strength deodorant. So actually, your awkward self fits right in.

And you're literally feeling every step you take. You need that Anusol and you really couldn't give a...err, I won't finish that sentence. But really, look at your purchase. You probably couldn't if you tried.

So whoever came up with the name is pretty smart. A product name that's descriptive, without witty double meanings and is easily identified by a very specific buyer, takes into account the audience's:

need – I'd say it probably doesn't appear on many weekly shopping lists...definitely a single item purchase.

urgency – lets hope it's also positioned at eye level. No assistance required.

location – It's a pharmacy, this is where you can discreetly buy this kind of stuff. They don't do price checks over the loud speaker for exactly this reason. 

distractions – little boxes neatly stacked row upon row, there's no eye catching merchandising in this aisle. Find it and leave.

It's only if you are buying for someone else, that Jay's 'lack of discretion' complaint is mildly relevant. 

So what you should name your product depends a lot on who your audience is, what they are feeling, where they are, and how quickly they need you.

I was warned this post might send people off on a hunt for awkward product  names...go for it, let us know what you found...

[socialanimalscreative]

THE GANG'S ALL HERE

So we had this idea a while back. A little over five years ago actually. Karen had recently completed her communications degree. I wanted to get stuck into my design work. "We should collaborate!", we thought. We didn't have a plan, but we had an idea and we thought we'd run with it and see what happened. 

Well, cancer happened. And that idea promptly went down the crapper. 

After Karen's recovery we talked about doing something, but we still never had a plan. But while working with her on Vardo over the past few months, we were reminded of how well we work together. So why not combine our powers for the good of humanity?

Through Social Animals, I really want to communicate who I am individually. But I am who I am because I have my family. You can't really separate the two. Everyone plays a part. And we make a damn good team. 

Karen has spent the past few years focusing on digital content and communications, social media and most recently has taken the plunge into blogging. She's a wiz. And the philosophy behind the Social Animals brand goes hand in hand with her ideas about social media and communications; clarity, accessibility, simplicity. 

So now we have a plan and we're ready to go, barring any further life-altering diseases. We'll be updating the site to feature the services Karen has to offer. But, in the meantime, check out the new About page for a sneak peek at what everyone brings to the table. 

[socialanimalscreative]

The fudge room

So I've learned a few things the past couple months. One of those things that keeps staring me in the face is the realisation that blogging is not an easy task. 

Remember in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Wonka brought the kids into the factory's fully edible room? He sang his song about imagination while all the kids promptly ransacked the place, eating bits the trees and grass and whatever else caught their eye. 

Meanwhile, Augustus Gloop is busy stuffing his greedy gob in the chocolate river.  He falls in and gets sucked up the pipe into the fudge room where he's unceremoniously pried from a tube by creepy little orange men so that he doesn't end up getting boiled to death.

Hell, Willy Wonka is a really dark story when you think about it.  

What does this have to do with anything? Well, I like the movie, so there's that. But the other thing is that Augustus would have been fine if he'd just paced himself; had one taste here and then moved on to something else and so on and so on. "Save some room for later", his mom said. But he didn't. And look where that got him.

However, I like to imagine that this traumatic brush with death caused him to really think about the need to take things in moderation, resulting in a more healthy lifestyle and a slimmed-down Augustus who later went on to take the bronze in the men's 100 metre freestyle at Tokyo's 1964 Olympics. But that's just me being optimistic. He probably didn't change a thing and died tragically at an young age. That seems to be a bit more in line with the dark tone I mentioned earlier. 

Anyway, my point in all this is that I've never had a blog before. So, going into this, I really didn't pace myself very well. I should have done my homework. Instead I decided to jump into a completely new environment all wide eyed and reckless with the naive notion that I'm going to be making a meaningful post every week or two.

I see the effort Karen (my wife) puts into her blog every week and I think to myself "that's a lot of work". And she's a writer. I'm not a writer. And it's become pretty obvious that a weekly or bi-weekly blog in its current format is not going to be sustainable. So I think it's time to sit down and look at how I want to approach this...which is what I really should have done in the first place.

This blog isn't really meant to be about design. It's meant to be a reflection of who I am. And, if that's the case, design will naturally make its way into the themes here and there because it's something I love. But to approach this with the mentality that "it has to be about design or I can't write about it" really hobbles my potential for enjoyable content and doesn't accurately reflect that much about me as a person.

Yes I'm a designer, but I'm also a father, a husband, a movie nerd, a gamer, a disgruntled government employee and any number of other things. And without including those other things I risk coming across as one-dimensional and pretentious. Nobody wants that.

So, after having my own trip to the fudge room, it's time I wash myself off, take a fresh look at things and learn to pace myself. 

[socialanimalscreative]

The Elusive Sasquatch

Hey. Can you do something for me real quick? Open up another window. Then go to Google. Type in "How much do I charge". Auto-complete will do its thing and start returning the top searches as you type. Wait, what's the second one say? Well odds are you haven't actually done it, so I'll just tell you. It says "How much do I charge for a logo". And why does it come up with that? Because it's one of those questions that no one can seem to give a straight answer to, like "where do crop circles come from?" or "What happened to the Mayans". 

When I started working out my pricing structure I did tons of research. It was all over the place. I found good designers who were selling themselves short. I found subpar designers who were charging a minimum price that was 3-4 times what their work was actually worth. I found some so-called "designers" who mass-produce rubbish and charge you next to nothing for it...which is still too much. And I found some who just seemed to get everything right. And from all that I worked out that neither hourly or fixed pricing work for me. No two design projects are alike, so why price them that way?

The reason pricing for design is so difficult is because so many people don't actually know what's involved. Take this one for example; the new logo for the World Trade Center. You might like it. You might hate it. You might look at it and say, "I could do that"...but could you really? For as simple as this logo looks, it's actually packed with symbolism and took quite a lot of research, thought and planning to produce. It has what every good logo should have; personal meaning. Having said that, it also was part of a branding package that cost over $3.5 million. That seems a bit excessive.

A lot of folks think "draw a pretty picture, add some text, voila!". They don't see the research, the brainstorming, the concept development, the design rendering, the licensing, or anything else that's involved behind the scenes. They also don't take into account that a good designer will set them up with everything they need for future use rather than just emailing them a JPG and leaving it at that. When it's all said and done, that's a lot of time. How much would you charge for that much time if it was your business? I can guarantee it wouldn't be $100.  

So, since I've been thinking about this topic, I've decided to do some work on the site this week that will help give people a better idea of what to expect in terms of cost and the design process in general. I know I hate going to a site and seeing a "Contact us now for a price!" button rather than just being able to see how much the damn thing costs (yes, I'm looking at you, Harvey Norman). So I figured I should have something on here so I don't contribute to the problem. Hopefully it helps.

Unfortunately, there will always be those think think they should be able to pay next to nothing for good design work. So if you are one of those people, then I hope the visual aid below helps soften the blow of harsh reality.

[socialanimalscreative]

It sounded good initially

About ten minutes from my house on a certain street in a certain suburb there is a certain cafe that shall remain nameless. A couple years ago this cafe went through a complete overhaul. They changed their food, they got a new coffee machine, they renovated the building. They also rebranded themselves. Since then I have trouble going there on a regular basis. Mind you, this isn't because of their food or their coffee. It's because I want to say something, but I don't know how to say it.

Imagine this scenario. You're sitting at home, watching tv, enjoying the peanut butter and banana sandwich you finished making only moments before you realise you are out of milk. Now you have to settle for juice...which just isn't the same (that part isn't really relevant to my point, but still, I hate when that happens). Your wife walks through the front door, shopping bag in hand. "You'll never believe the deal I got!", she says as she goes on to relate to the story of finding her new shoes, repeatedly mentioning how much she loves them. Then she shows them to you. And while you understand how they might have looked good in the shop window, the reality is they just don't suit her. You want to tell her that without hurting her feelings, but the problem is that there really is no way to do that without seeming like a terrible husband because she's so proud of her new purchase. So instead you smile sheepishly, do your best to fabricate some enthusiasm, congratulate her on her bargain and hope she either comes to her senses or gets tired of them quickly.

I'd like to point out that the above scenario is completely hypothetical and is not based on any previous (or possibly future) personal experience as I would surely never think such a thing. Also, Honey, if you're reading this, I love your shoes. 

Anyway, it's that same situation...except it's not shoes. It's a logo. 

My issue isn't that the logo is ugly, because it's not. It's nice and clean and it's a huge improvement over their old look. My issue is that the logo doesn't work for them and I'm concerned that this is costing them business. And the reason is because the logo breaks my biggest rule for logo designs. That rule is "no initials". 

Their logo shouts in big bold letters "BDC" (name has been changed) and then in small, thin letters below it says "Bubba's Danish Cart" (name has also been changed). The problem is that when you see this from the road you don't think "Hey, there's a cafe! I could sure go for a coffee!" You instead think something along the lines of "Hey, there's an accountant's office. I'll keep that in mind for when I need my taxes done". So I can't help but wonder how much business would they gain if their logo didn't contain cryptic initials which made them look like an accounting firm. 

There's a similar situation with a place in Adelaide, whose name I will not change, because their name (once you actually know it) is awesome and because everyone needs to go there right now. Their name is Downtown HDCB. As you can see in the photo, it's not that clear as to what they actually do. The tragedy is that, because of their logo, I walked past this building for roughly a year before finding out that HDCB actually stands for Hot Dogs Cold Beer. After which point my mind was blown and my world was changed. Go there. Seriously. 

So don't leave people guessing. Don't hide behind initials. Initials in your branding may have a nice ring to them, but chances are you're unwittingly confusing the hell people...possibly even depriving them of hot dogs and beer. No one wants that. 

[socialanimalscreative]

Marcia, Marmots and Me

Marcia lives in Goshen, Massachusetts. For the oddly specific price of $997 Marcia and her "naming storks" will name your business in less than a week. That seems like a lot, but I assure you it isn't. After just a few minutes of searching I found about 150 agencies who count naming services among their specialties. They sport a much higher price tag, ranging anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000. That price tag could net you a winner. Or it could get you a name like "Actona" or "Nimbula" or "Velosant" or number of other real world examples that sound like pharmaceutical products or muscle disorders. 

It initially made me think "how is this a thing? Why are people willing to pay so much money for someone else to give them a name?" On the surface it sounds crazy. But I can understand why they do it. Because what Marcia from Goshen claims she can do in less than a week took me roughly three years to do on my own. 

Naming your business, for many people, is not an enjoyable experience. I think that statement is especially true for those in a creative field. Partially since we're typically are a self-critical bunch, but also because a good name typically means a good first impression about your creative capacity. There's a fine line between an original name and a name that sounds like you're trying too hard. And making it to the right side of that line is a frustrating process. It makes me realise why some designers just go with names like "Bob Johnson Creative". Or, even worse, they just plonk their location down in front of what they do (e.g. Adelaide Graphic Design). It's lazy and it's boring, but hell, think of what they save on Panadol. 

Having said that, a small part of me was tempted to go that route and just move on, simply because it was taking so long. But the last thing I wanted was to get five years down the track, realise I hate the name and then have to either start the process over again or be stuck with it. So I just left it alone for a while. 

Then a few months ago I was sitting on the bus, reading an article on Flipboard about a behavioural study on ground squirrels (as we all do) and it hit me like a slap in the face. "That's it!" I'll explain. 

The article talked about how animals who live in social groups expressed themselves differently depending on the size of the group they're in. They found that the larger the group was, the more distinct each one's call needed to be so that they could be identified within the crowd. To me that's a perfect analogy for design.

Think about it this way. You run a bakery in a town with only one or two other bakeries. You don't have to do a whole lot to stand out because you are one of very few options. So, unless you're regularly poisoning your customers, you're bound to get a reasonable amount of business. But now add ten more bakeries to the mix. Where are you now? What makes you different? What is going to make someone new in town choose to try your place over your competitors? A lot of that depends on presenting yourself in a way that sets you apart and gives a good first impression. That's where design comes into play. The larger the crowd, the more you have to stand out. 

Thus Social Animals. 

Three years is a long time to mull over a name, but I'm glad I didn't rush it. In the end I have a brand that has meaning to me rather than just being words on a page and I feel like I can get behind it 100%. And much of what I learned about naming a business during that time holds true in terms of design principles, but I'll bore you with that some other time. 

So what about you? Have you had a similar experience in coming up with a name? Or was it a breeze and you'd like to mention that I'm apparently just bad at things. Leave it in the comments below. Also don't forget to like and share. 

[socialanimalscreative]

The Curve

It hit me a few days ago. Not out of the blue. It was something I'd thought about before. I've thought about a lot actually...for years. But this time it was different, considering where it came from. 

I was sitting on the couch. Curtains drawn, 3D glasses perched on my nose, dodging oncoming traffic as I played Cars 2 with Xavier, my seven-year-old Mini-Me. After the race, seemingly out of the blue, he says "So, like, what do you want to do when you grow up more". 

I should probably mention here that, despite what that question leads you to believe, I am in my mid-30's and I am not unemployed. Moving on. 

After chuckling to myself at what would have been a perfectly veiled insult if it hadn't been so sincere, I said "Well, if I could, I would quit my job and just do design. But I don't know if I can do that." He looks at me, screws up his nose and says "Why can't you?" 

Why can't I?

I had no valid answer at the time so I just shrugged and gave some dismissive response like "it's complicated" and we started another race. But the question stuck with me. Why can't I? And the more I thought about it, the clearer the answer became. It's just fear. 

For the past 7 years I've been working in varying roles within state government. The pay is good, the hours are good and the work conditions (when I compare them to many other places I could be working) are comfortable. But despite that, the truth is I'm absolutely miserable every day, from the time my alarm rings to the time I clock out. And I feel bad saying that, considering the backbreaking work some of my friends do without complaining. It makes me sound lazy. But it's not that I'm lazy. It's just that I feel like the work I do serves no real purpose.

Last year, Jim Carrey gave the commencement speech for the 2014 graduating class at Maharishi University of Management. If you have a few minutes, follow the link. It's worth watching. But there was one quote from that speech that really stood out to me. He said: "you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love."

So why can't I? If I'm honest with myself, I actually can. It's just that the transition and conquering that fear is going to take a while. But learning the curve, getting from where I am now to where I want to be, should be interesting. Here's hoping it makes for a decent read as well.