You and your company benefit by tossing out wardrobe items that no longer fit or flatter.

Getting organized is a popular New Year's goal. Determined to start anew, we attack closets and drawers, assuring ourselves that life will be forever better once we're done.

Inevitably though, vigor and commitment fade. Without constant vigilance, we backslide. Soon enough, getting dressed means hunting in the dryer for clean underwear and matching socks.

In  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, author  Marie Kondo proposes a better way. The key to staying organized, she says, is to toss out possessions that do not "spark joy" by making you feel happy, inspired and positive.

Kondo's "spark joy" rule is a fine standard for a New Year tidy-up of your company's marketing wardrobe. Just like people, companies hold on too long to wardrobe items that no longer fit or flatter.

Look at each piece of "clothing" your company wears to greet the public. Does it make you proud? Or do you hesitate to hand out your old brochure and cringe at the thought of prospects judging your company by the appearance of its outdated website?

Make a resolution to renew the spark this year by getting your promotional house in order. Review the top three assets you use for marketing:

• Website. Does it look great and still fit your company? Does it present a current, clear and complete picture of the value you bring to customers? 
• Printed materials. Do they match the look and feel of your website? Do they present current information, written effectively and designed to attract your audience? 
• Social media. Do your blog and social posts inspire your clients and prospects by educating and/or entertaining them with relevant information? 

Need help to light the joy spark in your marketing communications? Call Kim Landry at 484-829-0021 or email kiml@hollistercreative.com.

	"Yum" becomes "yuck" when we are served way more than we want to consume.

In the previous century - before digital - all marketing materials were printed. Printing is expensive, so everyone thought long and hard about the amount of text that had to be included. Marketers were forced to write concisely and edit ruthlessly. This was good for us and good for readers.

Today we take for granted the ease with which we can add text to a website. That is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that businesses can continually improve their websites. The curse is that there's no stopping us from cramming websites with more, more, more.

Like patrons at a restaurant, visitors to your website want to see a menu that has everything they expect clearly identified and categorized. At a restaurant those might be Appetizers, Entrees, Sides, Desserts; the website version might be About Us, Products, Services, Contact.

Like menu item names, page titles help us choose what we want to consume. And whether we are ordering from a waiter or clicking to open a page, we have unspoken expectations about the way the "meal" will be presented and the portion size.

Most of us will be disgusted and lose our appetite if the next thing we see is a giant glob of stuff. No matter how much we may like chicken wings, cheesesteaks, crabby fries and hot fudge brownie sundaes, we don't want oversize servings of all four, piled on a single platter and served all at once. There is such a thing as too much!

The same is true of text on a web page. Serving up a giant glob of verbiage will turn off readers. Most only want a taste. For those hungry to learn more, you can provide a multi-course meal if you serve it in reasonable portion sizes, one course at a time.
Follow these tips to create appetizing web page text:

1. Start with the meat (or tofu). The typical website visitor is in eat-and-run mode, so begin each page with most important information, written as concisely as you can.  
2. Let diners order the courses. Break up the rest of the text into sections with subheads, so that a quick skim of the subheads lets each visitor choose what - if anything - to read next.
3. Offer extra helpings upon request. The most interested visitors may want more depth or detail, so give them a read-more link to a page that provides it.

Need help with writing or editing content for your website, blog, email newsletter or brochure? Call Kim Landry at 484-829-0021 or email kiml@hollistercreative.com.

Pantone Color Institute, the world's leading authority on color, has announced that 2017's color of the year is Greenery. Pantone calls it a "refreshing and revitalizing shade" that "is symbolic of new beginnings."

Kermit the Frog may jump at the chance to croak about his au courant color and  Jenna Bush Hager rocked an all-green gown at the Golden Globes. But for some of us, it's not easy being green. 

And that's okay. Greenery may dominate the fashion runways and interior decorating magazines, but green doesn't need to - nor should it - replace your existing brand colors. Presumably, those were chosen with great care. 

From time to time, however, it makes sense to freshen up the look of your website and printed materials by introducing a new color palette to complement your brand colors. If Greenery appeals to you, perhaps you'll want to try working that in.  

In any decision involving color choices, consider these factors:

1. Aesthetics. Choose colors that work well together. Colors that visually have the same value tend to vibrate when placed next to each other. An easy rule of thumb is to choose one main color, a secondary "pop" color and several supporting colors.
2. Gender Preference. Consider your audience when choosing color. In the most widely published study on color preferences, most American men and women chose blue, followed by green and red. Purple got only female love. Men liked bright colors and shades; women liked soft colors and tints. Color preferences differ in other countries.
3. Perception of Trust. The one color Americans always associate with trust and reliability is blue. As Color-Meanings.com notes, "Blue is sincere, reserved and quiet, and [does] not like to make a big deal out of things or attract too much attention."

 

Need help designing a logo, website or brochure? Call Kim Landry at 484-829-0021 or email kiml@hollistercreative.com.

Client's Challenge
Previously undiscovered work by one of America's best-known modernists will be featured in a high-profile exhibition starting March 18 at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Bucks County.

"Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography, and Sculptural Form" is a groundbreaking exploration of Sheeler's fashion photography for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines between 1926 and 1931, when he was employed as a commercial photographer by the publisher, Condé Nast.

The Michener Art Museum is known for its world-class collection of Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings and exhibitions of artists with ties to the region, in addition to exciting cultural events, myriad art classes and summer camps. The museum's website does an excellent job of showcasing all those ongoing offerings.

For the special Sheeler exhibition, the museum wanted a separate website. For that, museum leaders selected Hollister Creative. They challenged us to make the entire site design a reflection of Sheeler's unique sensibility, creating an environment that would inspire interest in the exhibition and drive ticket sales.

CharlesSheeler.org is a responsive website. Click the image to visit the site.

Our Solution
Visually, Hollister's designers followed the spirit of the artist to design the website as he might have designed it. In structure and content, the designers worked with the Michener team to settle on four content priorities and use these to guide the sitemap.

• The Exhibition. For website visitors unfamiliar with Sheeler and his work, this section's Overview page will be the most visited after the home page. Here the text and images had to pique visitor interest and entice them to take a deeper dive into Sheeler's world and mind.
• The Artist and The Era. These sections were planned for website visitors who know more, or want to. Pages provide scholarly and educational text about Sheeler's life and times. On one page, an interactive timeline points up important events. On another, visitors explore the many influences on his art.
• Visit. This section is for everyone, providing complete information about visiting the museum: ticket information, travel directions and, significantly, suggestions about other local sites of interest for those who may want to expand their visit into a full day or weekend enjoying historic Doylestown.
• Programs & Events. The museum has planned numerous Sheeler-related events throughout the exhibition run. We planned this calendar page to make it easy for website visitors to scan the offerings and click through for details on those of interest.

Three Quick Tips
If you are facing the challenge of developing an exhibition website, here are some tips to guide your thinking:

• Segment the audience. Any cultural offering will attract an audience with widely varying degrees of knowledge and interest in the subject matter. Make sure you have a design accessible to all and content to engage every visitor, from the casual tourist to the art scholar.
• Understand the context. Every cultural institution has a unique perspective that played a role in its decision to host a special exhibition. Take time in discovery meetings to understand the institution. This will provide context for the exhibition and guide your design in a way that resonates with your client.
• Let yourself be influenced. All artists are influenced by the people, places and things they encounter in their lives. As the exhibition website designer, open yourself to influences from the artist's era through photographs, typography, colors, patterns and textures popular at that time.

Click to view more Case Studies with Tips.

To talk with us about your challenge, call 484.829.0021 or email Kim Landry at 

kiml@hollistercreative.com.

If you are fond of cleverness, this month's giveaway item is just your type! The "Be Bold or Italic" zipper pouch will tell everyone who sees it that you're anything but regular! Oh, and it also helps you keep track of the small items you carry around in your bag, briefcase or backpack. Featuring art by Wasted Rita (how fun is THAT), the pouch measures 7.25 x 9.5 inches and is made from 95% recycled material. A great item for writers, designers and anyone who appreciates the power of typography.

Want to win this item?   Email us a request! Three subscribers who have not won a giveaway item in six months will be randomly selected to receive one.