It’s always a result when clients understand the importance of having a good design. Cheese & Alfie’s certainly do. In my opinion, they have a great brand. It’s a wonderful mixture of warm, friendly, fun and funky but also carries off sophisticated, stylish and relaxed. This explains why they are so popular.

With this kind of winning brand, key to any restaurant’s marketing plan has to be good menu design. With Christmas just a few weeks away, excellent food and a good reputation is of course vital but just as important is the ability to stand out that little bit more. Be seen, get remembered and your business will attract the extra trade that comes hand in hand with the festive merriment. Corporate do’s, family get togethers or Christmas lunches with friends are all excellent clientele to introduce to your eatery. Visually reflect your brand and give them a reason to choose you. A good looking menu will not only get noticed, it should also make the diner excited to be there. In return they will want to recommend you to family and friends.

Mail copies of your menu directly. It’s a great way to market yourself, represent what you do and what your personality is. Make it look fantastic and it will leave a lasting impression with your potential client. Give it a great design and it will stand out amongst all the other Christmas mail outs. If it looks good, there’s a much higher chance it will still be hanging around the office for another year, ready for the next lot of bookings.

 New menu design isn’t just for Christmas! Keep your menu fresh and relevant. If you do seasonal or special menus have them designed accordingly. Give your customers something that’s visually new, interesting and enticing.

This year Mike and Sarah came to me with the great idea of ‘Vintage Circus’. It was different from anything they’d done before but it still carries their brand and really does reflect both fantastic, honest food with plenty of Christmas cheer. It’s obvious to me that they value their customers 100% and in return want them to have a great overall dinning experience.

I think I will send a copy of this blog to Mike and Sarah. I’m hoping it will assure me a free portion of their Pea & chorizo risotto or even a slice of Millionaire gypsy tart….or both….did I also say what nice people they are?

Mike from Cheese & Alfie’s says……

“Becky is absolutely right, I cannot emphasize enough how important a well deigned menu is, it’s your ‘shop window’ and often your customers’ first impression on the quality of a good eatery. If they can see you’ve spent time and money writing about the food, they know they’re in for a treat when they get to eat it. Although we’re a relatively small family business, we frequently get asked if we’re a national chain because of the attention to detail and professional finish to things like the menu”  

I was lucky enough to receive a testimonial today which basically sums up why I’m a designer and why I love to help small start up businesses get off the ground.

‘I had a career change in September ’08. I wanted to change my life.
After two hard years, I qualified as a hairdresser in June 2010. I did everything you are meant to do as a self employed person, registered with business link, went to a well known Internet company to get business cards printed etc.
To say I lacked confidence was an understatement. I had the skills but was too nervous to promote myself fully and was too scared to make the final step of being self sufficient. I wanted to be a good role model for my children and felt I needed a push.
After a few months and a wedding fair with no bookings, I met Becky who suggested a logo and a proper branded image.  At first I was cynical as being a small start up I had a very small budget but Becky won me round by her special ‘Start Up’ prices.
I went for it! By letting Becky become my designer she took on board my business needs and desires. After professionally branding my company, she created my logo, business cards, vouchers, appointment cards and T-shirt.
It must have had to correct effect as that evening I did not stop tanning customers,making bookings and was even asked where my salon was!
By having my brand recognised and my logo created by Becky my company has been professionally represented and stands out from the rest. Most importantly my business identity has given me a new confidence which has grown along side with my business.
By the way, I now own my own salon!
Thank you so much Becky.’
- Joanne Shields – Lady Muck Hairdressing & Tanning

I’m approached often by small Start Up businesses requesting my help on what they need to look good and how to get noticed.
Most Start Ups have a lot to accomplish with small budgets and are often afraid of how much design will be. Fortunately, the shock they receive is from how little it can cost.  Extortionate prices that some studios charge have the potential to financially wipe out a Start Up before they’ve even got started.

I follow a strong working ethos of making good business design available to all who require it, not just those with large design budgets.

With my new special ‘Start Up Rates’, there’s no reason why any small business can’t look as good as those at the top.
Packages can be mixed and matched to work within any budget.
Usually starting with a logo, packages can be built up to suite all of your requirements such as Stationary, brochure designs, web design, vehicle wraps, character mascots, advertising,etc

As my client you will also receive;
Lots of free advice,consultations and support
Total commitment to your project with an excellent turn around
Special trade print prices that will be extremely competitive with usual retail costs.
As a returning client all of your future design costs will be charged at a trade rate.

Regardless of the size of your business or budget, I pride myself by always providing the same standard of work and enthusiasm.

Whether a mobile hairdresser or Vidal Sassoon you will receive the exact high standard of design, advice and support.

For more information on what I can give and impartial advice please contact me or come in for a chat over a coffee!

After taking care of a family, designing brochures, illustrating books and branding logos,I haven’t got a lot of time left to tie myself to trees, climb aboard the Rainbow Warrior or camp outside power stations. Thing is, I can re-think about the way in which I function as a graphic designer.

Evolving from the implications of environmental damage caused by modern globalisation, is an ethical, conscientious creature that some may refer to as The Green Graphic Designer.

Both individual lifestyles and the way businesses are run contribute to a rapid decrease in resources. Due to global change some Graphic Designers have started to control their services in an attempt to lessen harmful effects on the environment.

Here are 12 ‘green’ techniques that can be applied to a graphic designers general practice;

1.    Minimise paper waste and the use of electronic office systems.
2.    Reduce material used and ecological footprints.
3.    Recycle everything possible.
4.    Balance environmental impact with creative integrity.
5.    Ongoing education, research and discovery.
6.    Share what is learnt with others.
7.    Create online PDF catalogues, brochures and flyers.
8.    Encourage foot power, cycling or car sharing to client meetings.
9.    Assist when possible, environmental and non profit groups.
10.    Set up online payment systems, such as Papal and BACS.
11.    Endeavour to run entirely on solar and wind energy.
12.    I heard of some that even plant a tree for every new customer.

A good green design operation will be committed to minimising environmental impact and the carbon footprint that can be associated within graphic design. It’s good practice to take into account, calculate and reduce environmental risks, before starting a project. Try to take into consideration the production, life cycle and ultimately, the disposal of the design. By bringing in other companies to work on projects the designer will be able to trace the elements used, making sure that they are ethically sourced.
A green designer will also pass on their ethics by encouraging clients, customers and suppliers to consider minimising environmental impacts of products and services through joint environmental action.

The number of designers becoming consciously aware is increasing and more are changing their practices to enable a reduction of damage that the industry can cause.

I believe by ranting at the TV less and by supporting the right design initiatives it should be possible to give back more than we take.

Children's Book Design by Becky Blake

Been a while since my last blog but like many self employed, every time you think you’ve got a moment for self promotion the phone rings and another job comes in, not that I’m complaining.

Work has been non stop since September. It has involved a variety of projects from rebranding local businesses, corporate layout to illustrating children’s books for the global publishing company QED.

The four books were great fun to do but quite hard work, as they required more than 300 illustrations over a period of five weeks. It meant a lot of midnight oil burning and certainly made me unpopular at home over Christmas, but it was well worth it. Fortunately I’m the kind of person who loves a challenge and kind of enjoy working under pressure – just as well!

What was interesting about working for QED was the geographical range of its ‘office’ members. There was myself, illustrator, working from Portland, Managing Editor from Surrey, Layout designer in Oxfordshire (Red Paper Design), Creative Directors and Graphic Designers in London (QED Publishing) and the writer Penny Dowdy in the US. It’s amazing to think that a whole series of books were created purely by

E-mail and a handful of phone calls.

I guess the most negative aspect of working this way is lack of human contact. I love meeting with my clients and relish the fact that many of my business relationships evolve into friendships. It’s also easy to misinterpret the occasional e-mail which can cause confusion at times. This mixed with transatlantic time differences can, dare I say, cause a little air of panic as deadlines approach.

On the positive side, at least working this way, there are no arguments over who’s turn it is to make the coffee. No one has to suffer the upset of finding the last chocolate biscuit has been claimed, leaving only the soft, forgotten pink wafer that wouldn’t satisfy a mouse fitted with a gastric band.

My children were great to work with on this project. Sometimes they would stand watching me work before suggesting I should take a break as the drawing I had just done was rubbish and needed to be done differently. It’s what I live for – three little muses advising on redesigns first thing in the morning after I have worked on them all night. Actually, I think kids are great at seeing things in excitingly different ways. As boring old grown ups, we tend to forget how to do this and can leave our fantastic imaginations behind.

The books are a series aimed at the home education market and will be available in the UK from May. I worked on the 6 – 8 year olds range and can’t wait to see the finished items. Apparently they look great and if they sell well there will be an extended series.

I will paste a couple of the covers I illustrated into my portfolio for now and add some of the internal pages later on in the year.

Oh, by the way, I received an award for being;

‘Officially recognised as one of the best businesses in Weymouth & Portland because it is an excellent local company offering a bespoke solution for your business needs. All design and print projects approached with knowledge and professionalism’

- Hurrah! Please excuse the trumpet blowing but sometimes it has to be done!

Today however, I’m going to be sensible and discuss the importance of good logo design. I’ve recently been to a few net working events and have spoken to a number of small business’s who alarmingly don’t realise the significance this.

Please believe me, you need a good logo!

When meeting owners of small businesses or start up companies I sometimes get asked ‘Why is a logo so important?’ Well, it’s like this, if you think you are the best in business and can rely on gaining your work from 100 % word of mouth then don’t bother. If so, is this a successful attitude? Are any of us truly in a place where we don’t have to market ourselves? Are you that confident? I suspect that like me, the answer to these questions is no. If so please read on and I will explain the importance and significance of giving your business its visual identity.

Think Logo!

Did you know that in the space of just one hour you can be exposed to 200 logos? There’s no escape, you are constantly surrounded by company brands. I bet even now, you can remember some of the best logos.

If I say McDonalds, Coke a Cola or Nike, what design images spring to mind? I’m pretty confident it was the golden ‘M’ on a red background for McDonalds, the swirls of red and white font of Coke a cola and the white tick on a black background for Nike. They don’t even require reading; the logo image is instantly recognisable, but it’s not just these companies that have effective logos. Consider your favourite bands, books, cars, clothing, TV channel or even religions; they are all married with an identifiable image. Simply,they’ve got it right because you remember them.

Think about it, the most successful companies spend a lot of time and money on branding their image. They’re not stupid, they know that this is money well spent. A good logo can only add strength to a business.

A professional logo reflects how you do business. It shows that you take pride of your business and its performance. Very importantly, this will interpret how it takes care of its clients.

Please don’t consider clip art or Vista print as a use for business design. It’s mass produced, unidentifiable, ineffective, and meaningless as far as a logo design is concerned. I promise you, it will not get people’s attention. A logo needs to be about your business, who you are and what you do. So, only a logo that is unique and of a certain quality will enable you to dazzle your target audience with perfect brand identity.

A nicely designed logo also gives an impression of professionalism and attention to details. A good designer will know how to interpret this. Mull over this, 0.5% of mail outs will end up in the bin, by choosing the right colours, type, design and font your designer will endeavour to make your logo stand out look proficient and get noticed.

Ok, so now that you can see the importance of a well designed logo, read on to ensure you get it right.

Things to remember when having your logo designed:

It’s an investment, go for it…but be wise!

Don’t be put off by the cost that is incurred, firstly it’s an investment and secondly it’s not as expensive as you think. In relation to its importance it’s one of the most valuable investments for the business you will ever make. Remember, your logo will definitely help you carve out your image, and enable you to get noticed thus gaining business and popularity which equals success.

Like a quote for any kind of work get three prices, but don’t always go for the cheapest. Some areas of the marketing industry will sell ‘design’ when it’s not. If someone happens to have Photoshop installed on their computer it doesn’t make them a designer! A printer is a printer, a person who makes signs, makes signs and no, Uncle Terry’s daughter who has an interest in interior design and can do wonders with Microsoft Word won’t do!

Use a Graphic Designer, it’s what they are for; you wouldn’t have a colonic irrigation done by a plumber, would you? A Graphic Designer will know how to define your brand and will skilfully design your logo specifically for your business. We are trained to do so!

A good printer, sign writer or marketing company will usually sub contract to a graphic designer to make sure that you receive the best service. If they don’t, ask how much their ‘design’ is costing and consider its worth. Remember, some may charge the same or more than a Graphic Designer anyway.

If it’s purely design you’re’ after it’s cheaper to contact a Graphic Designer directly. It’s worth bearing in mind that a third party will subcontract to a Graphic Designer and then very often mark up their prices to part pay for their services. Working one to one with your designer will also produce the best outcome as it enables the designer to get a true understanding and feel of what you want.

Firstly, always ask to see their portfolio and testimonials. It’s also worth asking if they have a Graphic Design degree.

Lastly, please remember, it’s in a designers own personal and business interest to make you happy by helping you achieve your objectives.

If you want more info on the importance of logo design follow these links:

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?site=106&r.s=sc&r.l1=1073861169&r.lc=en&r.l3=1074408444&r.l2=1073858811&type=RESOURCES&itemId=1074408781

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Design-Council/3/Design-Council-Magazine/Design-Council-Magazine-Issue-1/Design-matters/

For my next blog I will be discussing ‘Know Your Brand…I’ts Vital!’’ and ‘How to find your brand’ or ‘How Hot Is Hugh Jackman in the New Xmen Film ?’