BIG Things on the Horizon. There are a lot of new and exciting things happening in my life this year, so I decided to incorporate this blog as a record of my personal and professional journey and a way for the people in my life to stay well-informed.

My Professional Mission. I’m very passionate about graphic design, therefor my reason for this blog is actually two-fold. My goal is also to explain away some common misconceptions about graphic design and answer any questions you may have about the industry.

If you have any specific questions you would like me to answer about Graphic Design, Advertising and Marketing, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll do my best to address your questions in a timely manner.

When a design firm brands themselves using a Niche Marketing Strategy, they position themselves as experts in a particular industry – which may or may not actually be the case. But more importantly, and in many cases, they may not even be experts in their own industry; graphic design.
And if, for example, you want an effective website, don’t you want an expert in web design?

Niche branding is a powerful strategy and it’s easy to fall for the ploy. For example, let’s say you’re a dentist and you’re looking online for a web design firm when you come across dentalwebsolutions.com. Before you know a thing about the design firm’s skills or experience, you will probably believe that they must know how to create a website for a dentist. That’s just a marketing strategy. It does not mean they’re capable of creating an effective dental website, or any other website for that matter. It certainly doesn’t mean they know more about the dental profession than you. After all, you’re the dentist.

Apples for apples. Don’t get me wrong, the hypothetical dentalwebsolutions.com might be a competent design firm. I’m simply stressing the importance of doing your research. Interview a few firms and learn more about their capabilities and experience. Look beyond the marketing tactic and compare the firms’ competencies, experience and design skills to make sure you’re making the most of your hard-earned marketing budget.

Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like a little insight as to the types of questions you should ask before you hire a design professional.