The importance of consistent branding cannot be understated for any business – especially one that’s just starting out.  A brand is, in layman’s terms, what people say about your company when you’re not around. Believe it or not, your brand is so much more than fonts and colors. Many companies don’t realize this, which can lead to confusing consumer messaging and unflattering opinions.  What Branding Encompasses Sure, your branding palette will consist of your logo, submarks, primary and secondary typeface, as well as primary and secondary (or even tertiary) colors. Those things are quantifiable and easy enough to stick to – in theory, anyway.  However, in less quantifiable terms, your brand is also your vibe. That vibe is communicated through the colors, fonts, shapes, and materials you use. We touch on this a bit in our post about color psychology, as well as our business card post. Have you ever

Believe it or not, hiring a third party design company is usually cheaper than in-house designing. Every small business hits a point where they realize they can’t do it themselves anymore. Deciding which marketing materials you need then getting them designed and coordinating their production takes a lot of time and effort. Time = money. Effort = burnout. The obvious solution is to outsource this task.  But do you hire a designer and have it all done in-house, or do you hire a third party design company? The Cost of In-House Designing In-house design can be surprisingly expensive! To make it worth an employee’s time, you have to offer at least 20 hours a week. The cost of living these days does not allow for super light part-time gigs and employees expect work that will allow them to pay their bills.  Industry-standard is $15-$25/hour, depending on experience and your location.

Knowing the difference between illustration and graphic design is key for any business owner looking to hire help with their marketing needs. Many graphic illustrators on gig sites such as Fiverr market themselves as graphic designers, but actually lack the skills or education needed to be a true graphic designer. That being said, many educated graphic designers are bound by the rules of design and lack the creativity and freedom to act as an illustrator. So what’s the difference? What is an Illustrator? Illustrators create works of art that turn an idea or subject into something visual. In short, illustrators create art pieces, or digital drawings. It can be as simple as clip art and stock images or as complex as digitally painting the illustrations in a children’s book or graphic novel.  Many illustrators have art degrees (or some kind of classical art training) and work with real-world tools such

AI graphic design, and AI art in general, is a controversy that’s seemingly everywhere right now. The ethics of AI art are being questioned, and that collides with people (and business owners in particular), who want to simplify life. As a graphic design agency, we have been pulled into the AI controversy by proxy. AI Art and the Artists AI works by scraping the internet for images or text that match the request given to them. It then combines the elements of art or text to spit out what should be an original piece that took inspiration from hundreds, thousands, or even millions of different pieces.  However, artists – especially those who stick to a particular style – have been complaining that AI art is “ripping off” – or duplicating – their style, and the AI user is using their art without permission. The artist has not been compensated or