Yesterday I took a much needed day off and headed into London to do some photography and to generally recharge my design batteries. Now I'm a creature of habit so I started off my day as I always do by visiting one of my favorite coffee shops in Shaftsbury Avenue. I discovered this place a few years ago with a friend...
More and more businesses are realising that e-newsletters are a wise way to build their business. Not only do they keep your business name in the forefront of your customers’ minds, they also generate more sales over the short and long term. It’s understandable that you might feel nervous about committing to a regular newsletter. After all every single one has...
A blog is, by definition, all about you. At least it is if it’s a personal blog. But that doesn’t mean you should put any less work or effort into it than you should with a blog designed to promote your company or business. A lot of people want to earn money from their blog, and why not? If you could...
Hop on the internet and it won’t take you long to find reams of information about logos. What makes a good one? When is it time to change an old logo and revamp it into something new and more modern? How do you know if you’ve got a real stinker? Logos are one of the things we do here at Ratio7....
Of all the breakout companies in the technology/innovation economy of the last 30 years, Apple stands alone and small business owners and non-profits can learn a great deal from Apple's success story: Don't overlook small details. The iPad2 has been deemed less impressive than the awesome SmartCover designed for it. Keep things simple. Apple's most successful products (iPod, iPhone and the iPad) are all very minimal....
Typography is essentially print styles. Artists and graphic designers and writers see styles everywhere but you may not realize the impact typography has on you and your business message or design intent. However, at Ratio7, we are trained to advise you on which typography style supports and amplifies the message you actually want to send. Generally speaking, there are two broad categories...
Smartphones are ruling the technology roost. More than 2.5 billion will be sold worldwide between 2010-2015 and by next year, smartphones will be the most common form of mobile phone in use. This means a vast majority of your customers and web visitors will be visiting via their mobile phones and a computer. But is your website ready? If you go...
Branding is a funny little term that means so much. Your company's culture, its image, what it wants to convey, how it wants to entice is all part part of "branding". But the most important part of branding is the emotion it wants to evoke in the viewer and potential customer. A great film for all business owners about to work...
"Design" is a term that has crossed boundaries, from the creative to the practical. You can thank Apple for bringing public awareness to good design and that awareness has now spread to the common consumer. Tim Brown, CEO of branding giant, IDEO has written Change by Design which examines how the creative process and design methods are helpful in all...
Color is an extremely important part of graphic design. Most people do not realize that color conveys emotion and how formal the message of your design pieces are. Changing a color scheme on a layout can completely change the look and feel of what you are trying to say to your customers or clients. As...