Blog

2010 has flown by, and our clients are now in the process of developing their plans for 2011 and deciding where to spend their marketing dollars.  If you are looking for some direction with this, it might help to know where we’re seeing the greatest demand for design and marketing services.   

Most of our new work is web-related, of course, with business owners and marketers looking to leverage the latest technologies and web tools to engage their audiences and stay relevant. They are investing in their websites and content management systems, their ability to be found by search engines, and in custom-designed and personalized marketing materials that can be easily accessed via the web, distributed by email, or read on a smart phone.

Next, we are seeing a lot of interest in mobile marketing, with smart phones turning a concept—the ability to connect with a customer anywhere, anytime—into a reality. The popularity of these phones is driving demand for the mobile versions of websites and sparking interest in new marketing tactics like 2D bar codes, location-based technologies and games, and apps. Very cool! 

Finally, while there is a big push towards new media, print is still holding its own. There is nothing like innovative packaging, a striking brochure, or a magnificent wall panel to wow! your audience. We are creating packaging, in-store displays, and brochures, in combination with new media, to produce rich, integrated experiences.

If you need help putting all these elements into your marketing plans for 2011, please call us. We have your next big idea.   

At Howard Design Group, we’ve always put an emphasis on professional learning. We share articles and blog postings with each other, and try to meet on a regular basis to discuss hot topics in marketing and design. 

Last week, we had the honor of having lunch with usability expert and pioneer, Dr. Charles Kreitzberg of Cognetics Corporation. With so many clients needing our assistance with web-based projects, it was the perfect time to catch up with Charlie—a guy who has spent his entire career making technology work better for people.

One of the topics that we discussed during our time together was the importance of using personas as part of the web design process. A persona is a personality that represents a user in real life. By creating a persona for each user type, this usability technique helps the client and the designer to keep the user front and center throughout the project. Let’s consider a college or a school, for example. Their website users include parents, students, faculty, and alumni. Clearly, each group has a different set of needs from the site.  What are they, what are their expectations from the site, and so on?

Want to know more about this? Then, it’s time to talk to us. We’ll walk you through our website design process; do an evaluation of your existing site, free of charge; and make some suggestions for you consider.

A special thanks to Dr. Kreitzberg for an informative and lively conversation over lunch!

Whoo hoo! This month we celebrated Pete’s fifteenth anniversary with Howard Design Group, and Sarah’s fifth.

It’s our tradition to celebrate these special dates with a field trip to somewhere fun, followed by a late lunch at a nice restaurant—great food, lively conversation, and, as you can imagine, a lot of laughs. Last year, we took a trip to the Barnes Foundation for Eiran’s tenth anniversary. We also visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art for Dori’s tenth, and had a lobster bake for Jeff’s fifth.

Believe it or not, we are a sporty bunch around here. So, when Sarah and Pete picked mini-golf for their celebration, the competition was on! You could not see Doodie for the dust as she pulled out of the parking lot in Princeton on her way to Pine Creek Miniature Golf. Carl, who has been known to play a few rounds of golf, took the lead on the first nine holes, with Jeff, Pete and Sarah on his tail. Both Dori and Diane rattled the leaders, scoring holes in one in the second half—not bad for two people who could not see the hole from the tee!  For Diane, clearly all that tennis was paying off. Eiran managed to play a great game, while capturing some super, sneaky shots on his camera of our team at work. In the end, it was Jeff who had the lowest score, making him the winner of the day, followed closely by Pete. Pete would like everyone to know that he only lost by one point and was robbed! Ah, the talent at HDG! As for me, well, let’s just say that I had the best placement (it’s a math thing), but need to get a little better at putting. I’m secretly practicing in my backyard. When I reach my fifth anniversary, watch out!

So, what’s all this got to do with marketing? It’s about making your people a priority, whether it’s your employees or your customers. Diane and Carl always have. As a small business, it is how we’ve managed to keep such incredible design talent at HDG and how we have life-long clients.

Looking forward to celebrating Pete’s twentieth and Sarah’s tenth!