Thursday, May 20, 2010

A Change Is As Good As A Holiday

At swoon we have been looking inward.
Taking stock and reminding ourselves what we do and why we do it.

This soul searching has led to much discussion, debate and red wine.

The outcome?
We feel that we need a new start, a re-invention.
A new chapter.

Over the next few weeks we will be unveiling the new us.
A new look with a revitalised message.


Monday, May 17, 2010

A Unified Front - Part 1.

I recently spoke to a new client who was unhappy with his current business card.

The card itself was solid.
Nothing fancy, it wasn't going to win any design awards but it was simple and well laid out.
It had all the correct information but it was missing something in his opinion.

After a quick 5 minute conversation we came around to the realisation that it was the logo that he was unsure of.

What made it worse is that he had some local newspaper advertising done and mentioned his uncertainty to the art department.
They had tried to help him out, made some changes and updated it.

Now he has 2 logos...
Similar, but with very different looks and certainly different personas.

He then proceeded to ask me to make a few changes, "nothing major" just a colour and maybe "get rid of that bit" and "keep that bit if you like".

I had to ask why he wanted 3 logos?

"i don't, I just want to get it right" and then added "as cheaply as possible".

I politely explained to him that he really needed to look at his overall brand.
From where I sat I could see the business cards of 5 staff members, building signage, a company vehicle, uniforms etc etc.

Why would you want them to be all different?

Now the term brand is being thrown around at the moment like it is a guarantee for the success and longevity of any business.
However it will do nothing for you if you don't understand why you have one.
Or more importantly why you should protect it.

I have heard many descriptions of what a brand is however I think Jeffrey P. Bezos (Chief Executive of Amazon.com) sums it up simply and effectively.

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.”

So how does that matter?

Well, I believe consistency is key.

Introducing Carly Tonna

swoon design is pleased to announce our recent employment of Carly Tonna to the position of graphic designer.
Carly comes to us from NSW where she studied graphic design, multimedia and advertising before relocating to Western Australia.
Originally starting with us in a ‘work experience’ position to gain further understanding of the graphic design industry, we have watched Carly become a very bright and capable young designer with a fantastic work ethic.
We are thrilled to have Carly as part of out team and are looking forward to continuing her training and seeing her full design potential in the future.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Zensaki





We have just finished some work with a new Japanese restaurant in Barrack Street, Perth.
Their speciality is Ramen (noodle soups) and it looks great!
The interior was designed by Denver Point and we worked with them and the owner to provide retail graphic design.
Check it out because the food is exceptional!

Heres some pics in the mean time.

sd&c

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

S E R V I C E find out what it means to me.

Time for a rant... venting if you want to call it that.
What happened to service?

I mean really, is it too much to ask that making an inquiry, or a purchase does not include eye rolls, sighs, looking at feet or obviously having an aura of not wanting to be there?

Now I am going to quickly point out that this is not just a blanket assessment of the entire service industry, but I have generally noticed that most people working in it are not too thrilled about doing so.

Example one: At my local hardware store (you know the one, its a green shed that is about the size of a suburb), I was looking for a particular item and although I generally love to walk aimlessly around this place I was in a hurry.
At first I thought it was just a coincidence that most staff members seemed to be located at the opposite end of the store (farthermost from the registers) but then I discovered that when you saw one (sometimes groups of 3 or 4) and walked towards them they were able to quickly scurry backwards (looking away as not to make eye contact) and by the time you got to the isle end they had disappeared down another isle. Following was pointless as when you saw them in the distance they would repeat the process again.

Example 2: Went to a restaurant, not silver service but not fast food either. Upon arrival the greeter (lets call her that) asked if we had a booking? (the restaurant was 3/4 empty!) I said no (eye rolls and audible click as if she was giving me the 'tisk tisk' noise). Apparently there was about to be a rush of customers that had reservations.
After grabbing the menus she proceeded to walk 3 steps, passed me the menus and waved her hand in an arc saying "you can sit anywhere, near the windows if ya like. Or maybe that one" (pointing to a nearby table).
We then walked the extra 3 meters and sat ourselves down.

Example 3: Needed a coffee, which is something that I need quite often.
At this particular shop, there was a queue of about 6 people, so no big deal.
One girl was making coffee so she was busy. One girl was taking orders, so she was busy.
The other 2 girls were also occupied, one texting and one watching her text (who knew it was a 2 person job).
Apparently one of the girls boyfriends or love interest was hilarious as there was lots of 'OMG' and 'LOL' to be had.
Unfortunately drawn by all the giggling the girl taking orders went over, followed by the coffee maker to see what all the 'OMG'ing was about leaving 5 people waiting for coffee.

Honorable mentions: The well known juice bar who has the music so loud that you need to yell your order to the teen at the counter several times.

The Northern beach side cafe who cant make changes to the menu, not even little ones like adding spinach to a breakfast order instead of tomato.

So what can we do about this lack of service?
If you complain, you get blank looks, eye rolls and sighs.
Good luck trying to find a manager (or most of the time the 17 year old you are complaining about is the manager) and make sure that if you do complain in a restaurant, its at the end of a meal so you don't get any 'unwanted extras' in your food (to be fair, that has never happened to me that I know of but I don't want to take any chances).

So what can we do?

AD

Monday, January 11, 2010

"He who fails to plan, plans to fail"

With the beginning of a new year well upon us, businesses are feeling positive anticipation about the prospects of 2010. There is a buzz in the air labelling 2010 as ‘the year for success’.

Every marketer knows that planning is the key to any successful marketing campaign and what better opportunity than beginning the new year with preparation!

What you need:
  • A clear vision
  • Marketing strategy
  • Objectives
  • Budget allocation
  • Teamwork

Want to know more?

www.swoondesign.com.au