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Author: Kylie Fennell

Marketing Strategy on a Napkin

Kylie Fennell

I’ve always been fascinated by stories about million dollar ideas and business strategies being formed on the back of a napkin.

It got me thinking about whether a simple marketing strategy could be formulated in the same way.

I had the opportunity to try it out this week when I was evacuated from our office for a fire drill.

Armed with a cup of coffee and a napkin, I gave it a go. So here’s my marketing strategy on a napkin.

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If I was a superhero I would be…

Kylie Fennell

Four-year-old boys and superheroes are pretty much a package deal.

I’m not sure when or how it happened. It may have started with a Batman suit my son was given one Christmas, but it has since morphed into a costume collection featuring everything from Marvel and DC comic book characters and Star Wars, to Transformers and ninja turtles.

It peaked when Book Week came around at kindy and my son was required to dress up as his favourite character from a book.

Not having time to create a costume to match one of Master Four’s favourite Thomas the Tank Engine or Peppa Pig books, I made a mad rush to the shops and picked up a ‘Marvel’ super heroes book box set. This meant Master Four was able to wear his Spiderman costume (his favourite super hero at the time) and have a book to match.

The next obvious step was to make his way through the whole box set. I now have a son who is well and truly obsessed with super heroes of all types, colours and powers. On any given day he can have up to five costume changes, as he rotates through his favourite super hero of the moment. Yesterday he was Iron Man, today he said he wanted to be a Transformer.

And I don’t mind a bit.

Let’s face it, wouldn’t many of us like to wear our own superhero costumes to work. It would sure as heck make for interesting water cooler conversations.

It did get me thinking though: If I was a superhero who would I be?

Wonder Woman 

I remember having a Wonder Woman costume as a child, complete with home-made bullet proof bracelets and a gold lasso. I totally thought I was the cat’s meow. Only in my adult years did I truly appreciate just how absolutely fabulous Lynda Carter’s version of this classy super hero was. This made me want to be Wonder Woman even more.

Then again I would also like to be…

Catwoman

I grew up watching re-runs of the 1960s Batman series, and this feline hero portrayed by both Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt.

These women brought the right amount of cool and sexiness to the role. If I was Catwoman it would have to be one of those versions, though Michelle Pfeiffer also gave a credible performance. Best not to mention Halle Berry’s ill-fated portrayal of this beloved superhero.

You know the list doesn’t end there for me. Some days I’d like to be the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson in The Avengers is one hot lady you wouldn’t want to mess with) then other days I’d like to be Princess Leia (still diggin’ those hairstyles).

Heck. Given the choice I would like to be all of them.

If office protocols and adult social norms didn’t forbid it, I would take a leaf out of my son’s book and wear a different superhero costume for every day of the week.

Instead I get my superhero fix through the characters I create in my books and until my son says “I’m too old for this”, he will be well equipped with the latest super hero costume of his choice.

So the next time you see a four year old ‘fighting crime’ at your nearest mall or Westfield, just smile and ask yourself: If I was a superhero who would I be?

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How to retarget customers without becoming a ‘stalker’

Kylie Fennell
Retargeting is a marketing term that you may not immediately recognise though you have probably experienced it.
Retargeting or remarketing usually refers to online advertising. Specifically, it refers to the practice of marketing (via online means) to a potential customer who visited your website.
Most web traffic does not convert to a sale on the first visit making retargeting a useful tool. If done well it can help you recapture a lost customer and convert them to a sale. There are some pitfalls though…and one of them is the potential to look like a ‘stalker’.
What do I mean by stalker?
Let’s say that on one particular day you view a specific product on a webpage, let’s say a ‘Fiji holiday package’, then over the next few weeks, possibly even months, you notice that every time you are online, whether it is a news site, blog or social media, you notice ads for ‘Fiji holiday packages’.
At worst you may feel like you’re being stalked, at best you are enticed to click through, revisit the original website and purchase said holiday package.
Retargeting is made possible with cookie-based technology and inserting simple Javascript code on your web pages, enabling you to ‘follow’ a user that visited your website.
Retargeting is reported to have one of the best returns on investment for marketing tools because you are targeting people already familiar with your brand.
The good news is that smaller businesses can employ this technique without significant expenditure or resources.
There are some great articles here by DynamicBusiness and CMO that explain the ins and outs of retargeting in more detail but here is a quick snapshot outlining the pros and cons.
Pros
  • Retargeting can convert leads that may have previously been lost
  • Repetition can work. Marketers will tell you that you need to hear a message 3-5 times before it sinks in and potentially entices you to respond to a call-to-action
  • It can increase brand awareness
  • You can be quite specific in what kind of visitors to your site you wish to retarget
  • Google and social media platforms like Facebook allow small businesses to create ads that retarget visitors
  • The process is relatively simple for anyone who has access to their website content management system.
Cons
  • Some potential customers may not like the idea or feeling of being ‘stalked’, especially if they have already purchased what they initially looked for
  • There can be difficulties matching retargeting across numerous consumer devices, unless the user is required to be logged in, for example, retargeted ads on Facebook
  • Some argue that it would be better to try and attract the best prospects to your site in the first place, rather than focus on converting lost visitors who may not be good prospects
  • Care must be taken to ensure your ads appear on the types of sites you want them to appear on.

The most important thing with retargeting is trying to create a balance between frequency of ads (not being stalkerish) and representing your brand in a way you want to be perceived. For example if you are advertising ‘luxury handmade chocolates’, you may not want your ad to appear on a site devoted to ‘healthy living’.

You need to make sure that the service you use for retargeting, is reputable and understands relevant privacy law requirements, and allows you to specify who you want to target, how and when. Additionally, you want to have access to analytics that show click throughs and preferably conversions.
Also if you aren’t comfortable with coding you may need to speak to a website developer or marketing expert. 
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Dragons and other (un)truths and legends

Kylie Fennell

Fact or fiction. So often it seems that urban myths become widely accepted facts. It’s a growing phenomenon only bolstered by the prolific use and sharing capabilities of the internet. A little faux pas or a ground-breaking celebrity rumour can reach millions of people with one innocent (or not so innocent) click of a button.

Whether it is intentional or an accidental slip-up, many of us are guilty to some extent of not letting the truth get in the way of a good story. I do wonder sometimes though if there is a grain of truth in some urban myths – in this case I desperately hope so.
Fact or fiction, mythical stories and creatures have existed in every culture for centuries. Subject of countless urban myths are dragons, the mythical creatures’ mascot.
I, like many others, am fascinated with dragons. Where did the idea of dragons come from? Could dragons have been real at one time? Do they still exist now?
Confession time. I for one believe in dragons, or at least the idea of dragons. To date, I haven’t featured this mythical creature in my own writing, but I do find them pretty darn fascinating. They are the ultimate fantasy creature.
I saw a pin recently incorrectly attributing the following quote to J.R.R. Tolkien: “Always remember, it’s simply not an adventure worth telling if there aren’t any dragons.”
I love the sentiment of this quote, but it turns out this little gem is actually another urban myth. It is believed to have come from author Sarah Ban Breathnach who coined this statement when talking about personal adventures and challenges. She likened dragons to our personal fears and happened to reference an actual Tolkien quote: “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”
Someone, somewhere, picked out the two quotes, put two and two together and got Tolkien, inspiring thousands of memes and pins around the world. But hey why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
What is true, is that great adventures DO feature dragons.
My first recollection of a love of dragons goes back to being a small child listening to an LP record by popular children’s entertainer of the 70s and 80s, Patsy Biscoe.
My favourite song was her cover of ‘Puff the MagicDragon’. Now many will tell you that the song (originally recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary) contained veiled references to smoking marijuana. Not so says Peter Yarrow from the band who maintains it is about the hardships of growing older. Another urban myth!?
The lyrics for ‘Puff, the Magic Dragon’ were based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, a 19-year-old Cornell University student and was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem titled ‘Custard the Dragon’, about a “realio, trulio little pet dragon”.
The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon Puff and his playmate Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff alone and depressed.
To be honest, all of the meaning was lost on me as a child. I just liked the tune and the idea of a dragon, who lived by the sea (in the land of Honalee) and had a human boy as a friend.
My picture of the friendly dragon was only reinforced by the film versions of Pete’s Dragon, where a young orphan named Pete is befriended by a dragon named Elliott, who also acts as his protector.
As I got older I realised that dragons were not always cute, green and loveable creatures, but it only increased my fascination.
The Hobbit is centred around outwitting and slaying Smaug the dragon; Merlin in the recent TV series featured a crafty, talking Great Dragon; and Daenerys Targaryen is the ultimate Mother of Dragons in the wildly successful Game of Thrones.
Some dragons live in caves hoarding treasure and breathing fire down on innocent villagers, others are a symbol of wisdom and strength. Regardless dragons hold a special significance in fantasy writing and history. Real or not they are the stuff of legends.

There is conjecture that the belief in dragons stems from early travellers who came across Komodo dragons, the world’s heaviest living lizards, in Indonesia. Huge fearsome looking lizards yes, but dragons…hardly.
Others track the origins of dragon stories back to the discovery of dinosaur bones. Big reptilian creatures yes, but dragons…probably not.
The lack of substantive proof though hasn’t prevented cultures all over the globe believing in dragons while simultaneously worshiping and fearing them.
Generally speaking, dragons in Asian culture (particularly Chinese) represent wisdom, luck and blessings. The dragons were seen as central to agricultural life since the dragons controlled the weather and the seasons.
Those born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon (like moi) are considered the luckiest.
Scandinavian dragons were the true fire and earth dragons, living in deep subterranean caves and vikings had dragons on the prows of their ships to strike fear into enemies.
The versions of dragons across different cultures are almost infinite, as are the descriptions. Some dragons have wings, some don’t. Some can breathe fire, others can’t. Almost always they are huge reptilian or lizard-like with scales and claws but the similarities usually end there.
I don’t have a preference for any type of dragon. Fact or fiction I don’t care. Most of the fun is in believing. Regardless of the facts, this is one case where I would never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

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Look at meme! When you want ‘viral’ attention

Kylie Fennell
Who doesn’t love a great meme.
In the world of social media marketing a planned meme that goes viral is the holy grail.
Not convinced? Not sure what I’m talking about? Don’t worry you’re not alone.
The thing is you probably already know what a meme is without realising it.
Maybe you’ve seen a funny ‘grumpy cat’ picture or ‘success kid’ (the adorable toddler, clenching a fistful of sand in his little toddler hand) and had a good old chuckle. These are two of the most prolifically shared images used to create memes on the internet.
So what exactly is a meme (‘meem’). According to wikipedia an Internet meme is an activity, concept, catchphrase or piece of media, which spreads, often as mimicry, from person to person via the Internet. It may take the form of an image, hyperlink, video, picture, website, or hashtag. It may be just a word or phrase, including an intentional misspelling. These small movements tend to spread from person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email, or news sources.
An internet meme has evolved from the original term meme “an idea, behaviour, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture”.
A meme often uses a recognisable image associated with a particular feeling or catch-phrase that has been altered or added to for humorous purposes.
 
Memes can help meet a number of marketing objectives, primarily social media engagement, search engine optimisation and brand awareness.
In its simplest form, a meme is usually funny, making it great fodder to share on social media. If it is entertaining enough it is likely to encourage social media engagement via likes and shares.
Just make sure you pick the right kind of meme. That is, one that is likely to connect with your stakeholders and unlikely to offend them or most people (remember you are hoping it will go viral, so try to be entertaining without being offensive).
If the meme relates to your business or industry or something topical in the news, even better.
Another great thing about memes is that they are often images or video, making them ideal for a number of social media platforms, ranging from blogs to YouTube to Pinterest. The use of images and video can also increase search engine optimisation.
Having a great meme can also create brand awareness, especially if you can brand it in someway, include a watermark or link it back to your sites or pages.
Overtly branded memes can be hard to pull off but when done successfully they can inspire thousands of user-made tributes, adaptations and unique creations that generate brand impressions for years.
Here are some great examples of branded memes.
You can share existing memes found on the Internet or you can create your own using sites such as memegenerator.net or www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk 
Just remember though to check the terms of use for any potential copyright issues and commercial use restrictions. Just because an image or meme is available on the Internet doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fair game. The most popular meme generator sites tend to use images that are considered as being in the public domain or out of copyright, but you should always check.
Another type of meme that is gaining serious traction is the animated gif and reaction gif.
An animated GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file is a graphic image on a web page that moves. An animated GIF can loop endlessly (and it appears as though your document never finishes arriving) or it can present one or a few sequences and then stop the animation.
A reaction gif is a physical or emotional response that is captured in a gif, which you can link in response to someone or something on the Internet. For example, if you want to share a feeling of ‘Noooooo!’ then you choose an animated gif that clearly displays this reaction.
The one shown is a ‘Thumbs Up’. For example you could create a social media update about reaching a particular sales target and attach the ‘Thumbs Up’ gif to reinforce that feeling.
Specific text can also be created to accompany a reaction gif. Using the ‘Thumbs Up’ example again, you could overlay a sentence or create a caption like “the feeling you get when you meet your sales target”.
Just one of the many sites you can use to create and share reaction gifs is http://www.reactiongifs.com/
You don’t need any particular IT skills to create a meme, just a sense of humour and some basic marketing nous.

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Surprise

The element of surprise – why fiction needs ‘Red Weddings’ and Soapie-loving tough guys

Kylie Fennell
Out of nowhere, he dropped it on me. I think we were talking about a HR memo and out of nowhere ­

the huge, bearded mountain of a man – the man I regarded as a real tough guy, someone who kept to himself and rarely cracked a smile – drops into conversation casual-like, ‘did you know on the Bold and the Beautiful…’.

‘What?! Did you just say the Bold and the Beautiful.’  I was convinced I must have misheard him. He gave a bashful smile and confirmed that he did in fact say the Bold and the Beautiful. Then he launched into a complete update on the latest storylines, stars and actors to a level of detail rivaling TV Soap magazine. Then he fessed up that he was a major soap fan from way back. Days of Our Lives, Neighbours, Young and the Restless, all of the classics. He was a walking soap opera wiki.
I couldn’t help but laugh. I actually snorted with laughter, and then I howled with laughter and then I cackled. The crazed cackle was enough to bring my colleague into the room to check on me.
I wasn’t laughing because of this tough-guy’s viewing taste. Each to their own, I say. I was beside myself with amusement due to the complete surprise of it. It was totally unexpected, and it made my day. Fortunately this guy, that I now know a little better, saw the humour in it and wasn’t offended by my over the top reaction.
This got me thinking about how the element of surprise can be shocking but also utterly delightful.
Good fiction, particularly sci-fi and fantasy often features twists and surprises. Everyone must remember the (often misquoted) Empire Strikes Back scene where Darth Vader reveals he’s Luke Skywalker’s father. Audiences around the world cried out ‘Noooooooo’ in unison with Luke.
Every good story should have an element of surprise. It doesn’t necessarily mean a twist at the end, just unexpected events.
A good twist in a story or surprise ending shouldn’t be predictable, but it shouldn’t be completely shocking either. What I mean by that is that a reader should be able to go back after the fact and identify clues. However the clues should be laid cleverly enough that they never give the surprise completely away. This is a sign of good foreshadowing.
Sure, readers like to anticipate certain things and surprise endings that seem to come from nowhere can be annoying. A good surprise has to add to the story. It needs to fit and add to the reading experience. It shouldn’t appear disjointed.
It can be really enjoyable to not know how a story is going to unfold, though we tend to anticipate a happy ending – generally speaking of course.
This is where Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has made surprise his signature. He is known for killing off favourite characters when you least expect it and has turned heroic fantasy on its head. The success of his books and the TV series are proof that you don’t necessarily need ‘happily ever after’ to create a great story.
Martin says that it’s important for his readers never to feel too comfortable. That they mustn’t be convinced that the hero must prevail.
“I’ve said in many interviews that I like my fiction to be unpredictable. I like there to be considerable suspense. I killed Ned (Stark) in the first book and it shocked a lot of people. I killed Ned because everybody thinks he’s the hero and that, sure, he’s going to get into trouble, but then he’ll somehow get out of it,” Martin says. (We all know what happened to poor ole Ned Stark.)
“I try to make the readers feel they’ve lived the events of the book. Just as you grieve if a friend is killed, you should grieve if a fictional character is killed. You should care. If somebody dies and you just go get more popcorn, it’s a superficial experience isn’t it?”
I’m not sure I will ever take surprises to the same extreme as Martin, and I won’t be including a ‘Red Wedding’ in my books any time soon. I just couldn’t do it to myself, least of all my readers.
However I definitely plan on a few surprises. Shocking surprises – maybe; Delightful surprises – I hope. It may not be a man-mountain who loves soap operas, but…then again…
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10 DIY graphic design tips – how to create marketing collateral on a budget

Kylie Fennell
Previously I have written about how to create a logo and visual identity on a budget using DIY tools and know-how.
It seemed only natural that I follow it up with DIY tips on how to design your own marketing materials.
Ideally every business would have the budget to hire a graphic designer for all marketing collateral, but this can be difficult for small businesses or those just starting out.
It’s possible to design your own materials, but it helps to know a few basics and to practise as much as possible. I would advise that first you try out your skills on simple items that have a short shelf life, such as flyers announcing your latest specials. Then use your marketing budget to hire a designer for high profile and big ticket items such as advertisements and glossy sales brochures.
So here are my top 10 DIY design tips.
 
1. Know your purpose and audience ­– like any marketing activity, have a clear understanding of what you would like to achieve and who you are trying to connect with. Consider the best marketing tool to reach your target market. For example, would an e-newsletter be better than a letterdrop flyer? Do you want to create a Pinterest image or infographic?
 
2. Stay true to your visual identity – Hopefully you have created a visual identity guide for your business. If you haven’t, you need to know what visual design elements, colours, fonts and style reflect your brand promise. You need to respect this and bring it through in any design.
 
3. Choose your weapon – you need to choose the right design platform to prepare your material. The right platform depends on the medium you choose but also your budget and your experience.
If you are planning on creating a lot of design materials on an ongoing basis it is probably worth investing in some design software (though you may like to download a trial or free version if it is available). The Adobe suite of Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign is quite popular. There are some great tutorials available on the internet and you can also do short courses online or in person for these programs.
While these programs have extensive functionality designed for professionals, you should be able to get to know the basics quite quickly.
Photoshop is great for manipulating images and Illustrator is for vector graphics, suited to creating logos. InDesign is for mainly print materials such as a flyer or annual report.
Canva is a great free design platform for designing social media posts and much more.
If you want to create an e-newsletter, you can use free programs such as mailchimp that has fantastic easy-to-use and ready-to-go templates. You can also distribute your enewsletter via mailchimp.
Microsoft Publisher is fine for simple brochures and newsletters and in an absolute pinch you can design basic materials in Microsoft Word and then convert/save them as a pdf file. However Microsoft Word is not meant to be a design tool, so it is extremely limited and fiddly to use for designing.
 
4. Look for inspiration – if you have never designed marketing materials before, start looking around for inspiration. Find examples of design you like. Look online, in magazines, in stores. You can use them for inspiration and try to replicate some of the components yourself. Just remember though, you must not copy or use someone else’s design without their permission.
 
5. Prepare your tools – prepare your text and images first and perhaps create up a rough mock-up of your layout with pencil and paper. It’s great to have a plan.
As part of the plan understand your requirements. If you are printing your material you will need higher resolution images and files. If you are using a professional printer asked them for details of their requirements, that is, what file types will they accept and what resolution or ‘dpi’ (dots per inch) do they need. Large format and professional printers may require 300dpi.
If you are creating a material that will be used primarily onscreen, you will want smaller files and smaller image resolution. For these images you may only need 96dpi or 150dpi, depending on how big the design element will be.
If you don’t have any high quality images of your own to use, check out sites such as shutterstock.com, istockphoto.com or www.123rf.com. You can buy images from here at quite affordable rates, just check the terms of use. You can also find free images at sites such as Pexels but once again check the terms and conditions carefully and provide attribution when needed. Do not just lift images of the internet and assume they are free to use. You can also create your own images using programs such as canva.com or picmonkey.com.
Other useful sites include the following: stock.xchg, flickr, Open Clip Art Library, deviantART, everystockphoto and PicFindr.
Get to know the terms of usage on each site and whether there are any copyright restrictions on the images you would like to use.
 
6. Understand colours – you will want to know what colours support your brand (hopefully these are spelled out your visual identity guide) and how those colours work together. You will want to know the exact colour breakdowns to replicate your colours. You may need them in RGB, CMYK or Pantone. I explained a little about colour theory and different colour breakdowns in a previous blogpost as well as the different colour breakdowns. You can also use sites such as EasyRGB to help you match colours.
 
7. Keep it simple – if you aren’t very experienced with design you want to keep the style as minimalist and simple as possible. This means lots of clean or white space, very little text and nothing too busy. These rules also apply to more experienced designers. Just because you may know how to create a fancy looking fleur de lis with elaborate swirls using Illustrator, doesn’t mean you should.
The less words the better. If you can get away with seven words or less, than you are off to a great start. If you need to say more, limit your headline to seven words, follow-up with a brief sentence or two of supporting text, then include a call-to-action such as a website address.
ALWAYS include a call-to-action.
Try to use only a couple of fonts. Refer to your visual identity guide for your preferred fonts for headlines and body text, but don’t be scared to use another font or two as part of your design elements. Just make sure it doesn’t look too busy and the fonts all complement each other. Choose fonts that reflect the style you want to portray and make sure they are legible.
You can download free fonts at sites such as fontspace.com or Googlefonts. Just check the terms for commercial use, and remember you may need to embed the font or convert your file to a picture or pdf file so your fantastic font doesn’t get lost when opened up on another computer.
 
8. Look for balance – when you are laying out your design have a good balance of space, text and images. Arrange the text in a way that the eye doesn’t jump all over the place. Try and use a grid (a lot of the programs you use will have the option of placing a grid over the design) to make sure spacing is consistent and placement of text and images is balanced.
 
9. Triple check everything – before you finalise your design, check and proof all spelling and grammar. Check phone numbers, names and web addresses. Triple check it and get a second pair of eyes to also check it. Also ask for second opinions on your design. Perhaps create a couple of versions and ask your staff, friends or family, which one they prefer and which one they think you customers will prefer.
 
10. Practise ­– as they say practise makes perfect and the same applies to design. These tips alone will give you a good start when it comes to DIY graphic design but never underestimate the value of engaging a good designer. 
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My favourite things to bring me out of the writing doldrums

Kylie Fennell
Staying motivated to write when you are tired, grumpy and exhausted is an ongoing challenge and sometimes downright depressing.
Since I write a lot for a living, sometimes it’s hard to put fingers to keyboard with the enthusiasm my fantasy writing deserves.
Often I listen to my favourite music to keep me inspired. I have a few different playlists for different moods, which I will share with you another time.
For now though, I wanted to stick to a ‘musical’ theme and tell you about some of my favourite things. Things that bring me out of the doldrums and remind me why I like fantasy writing so much.
So here is my ode to my favourite things – fantasy and non-fantasy related – inspired of course by the Sound of Music, which happens to be one of other favourite things. 
(To be sung to the tune of My Favourite Things)
War of the roses and everything written
Heroic young princes making me smitten
Wizards and hobbits protecting a ring
These are a few of my favourite things
Cream colored unicorns and crisp apple strudels
Mulled wine by the fireplace
The whole kit and kaboodle
Dragons that fly with the sun on their wings
These are a few of my favourite things
 
Leia in white dresses with side bun hairstyles
Musicals and Pixar movies and medieval trials
Winter is Coming and there’s no hope of spring
These are a few of my favourite things
When the vamp bites 
When the Siren sings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don’t feel…so bad
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Image courtesy of https://imgflip.com/i/8n79v 

6 DIY steps to create a visual identity and logo

Kylie Fennell

One of the first marketing tools you will need to develop for your business is your visual identity. 

Your visual identity is a core component of your overall brand.
When we talk about brand we mean much more than a visual identity, and when we talk about visual identity, we mean much more than your logo.
Brand is the overall promise or experience you give to customers and the set of expectations they have of you. It is what will influence people to choose one product or service over another.
You can refer to my previous blog post about developing your brand story for more information on how to build your unique brand story.
Here we will focus on your visual identity.
What is visual identity?
Visual identity is all of the visual design elements that make up your brand. It includes you logo, but also your brand colours, preferred fonts and style.
A successful visual identity will reflect your overall brand promise.
It is critical that your visual identity is delivered consistently across all communication platforms and touchpoints, whether it is advertising, uniforms, emails, websites or internal memos. This will help to build brand awareness and create a sense of belonging and pride for loyal customers, employees and other stakeholders.
Your visual identity must be clear and represent your organisation in a professional manner that speaks to your target audience. 
Where to start?
Just a word from the wise, visual identity is worth investing in, that is, engaging a professional designer who has a good reputation and impressive portfolio. It is entirely possible to create your own visual identity, but if you get it wrong it can be an expensive mistake to fix later on.
That being said, many organisations when they first start out find it difficult to find the budget for professional designers. There are a few options available to you, where you can completely DIY, or do a lot of the groundwork yourself first, to minimise the budget you need for a designer.
Here I will cover off some points to enable you to DIY or develop the foundations of your visual identity.
From a practical perspective you will probably want to start with your logo, as this will enable you to print your business cards and create the marketing platforms you immediately need such as our website.
Don’t jump into this too quickly, as there are many other parts of your visual identity you should consider first that will influence your logo design.

1. Consider your brand promise and style

You should have already developed your brand story by now and have an understanding of your values, strategic vision, point of difference and key target markets.
Go over your brand story and have it clear in your mind, how you want to be portrayed.
Start researching other logos and brands that portray a similar style of brand or statement that you would like to make.
Remember you want to differentiate yourself from the competition so look at their visual identities as well to make sure you can stand out.
Cut out or print copies of images that give the feeling you want to create. For example, are you going for a retro style, a completely modern style, or something whimsical? Whatever you choose try to keep your personal preferences out of all of these decisions. The visual identity must speak to your key target market, not necessarily yourself.
Also decide if you will have a tagline or short slogan to represent your business and whether it needs to be incorporated into your logo and other design elements such as footers in document templates.

2. Choose colours
Building on the above thought process, consider what colours you would like to use for your business.
Different colours evoke different feelings and represent different types of businesses and services. Refer to my blog post on the meaning of different colours to inform these decisions.
Remember again that the colours should represent your brand and your organisation. They don’t need to be your favourite colours. Where possible you should try to differentiate yourself from the competition.
When selecting your colours you are looking for one or two main colours that will feature heavily in your logo and marketing collateral. However you should also choose supporting colours to give you more choice in design materials. All of your colours should complement each other.
It helps to obtain a basic understanding of colour theory as well as warm and cool tones. You can buy a colour wheel from an art supplies shop to help you. I have also used paint sample cards from the hardware store to get inspiration for different colours and mix and match them with other colours to see if they work well together.
Basic colour theory
There are a number of colour schemes to consider when trying to ensure the colours go well with each other.
Here are some basic themes.
Complementary colour scheme – these are colours directly opposite each other on the colour wheel such as red and green. Used together they have a big impact.
Analogous colour scheme – these are colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. They can create a harmonious feeling.
Triadic colour scheme – these are colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. This can be a quite vibrant scheme.
     
There are several other schemes you could use, but it is best to refer to a colour wheel or an expert to better understand them.
Warm and cool colours
You need to decide whether warm or cool colours best reflect your business.
Warm colours are vivid and energetic, and tend to have red and yellow tones.
Cool colours are more calming with blue and green tones whereas white, black and grey are neutral.
You don’t want to mix warm and cool colours (as a general rule) but this doesn’t mean you have to completely rule out whole colour groups. Since most colours are made up of a combination of the primary colours red, blue and green (blue and yellow), it’s possible to have warm and cool versions of the same type of colour.
For example, lime green can be a very warm colour if it has a lot of yellow in it, but it can also be cooler if it has more blue in it. A warmer lime green may suit a gym business as it suggests energy, where a cooler lime might suit a day spa and massage business where you want people to come in and relax.

3. Understand your colour breakdown
Once you have chosen your colours, it’s important to get exact colour breakdowns so the same colour can be replicated everywhere. Just because a colour may look one way on your screen, and when you print it, doesn’t mean it will look the same way on someone else’s computer or printer.
If you choose a specific lime green, you want it to be the same lime green on your business cards, as it is on your signage, as it is on your uniforms. This maintains the integrity of your brand.
This can be achieved by understanding the breakdown of your colours in terms of red, green (blue and yellow) and blue. As a minimum you will want to know you RGB and CMYK breakdowns. Your Pantone or PMS breakdown will also be helpful. You can try and determine the breakdowns yourself using the tips below, but this is one area where engaging a professional designer to help you can be worth it.
RGB – this stands for Red-Green-Blue and is the most appropriate colour breakdown when choosing a colour for computer screens. For example, websites and documents designed to be viewed electronically.
Teal is the main colour for my business and is a cross between teal and turquoise. It can be represented by the following breakdown.
RGB 0-138-151
You can check the RGB breakdown of a colour you use in a word document by selecting the text or background colour in a shape and clicking on ‘format’. When you choose colour, choose ‘more colours’ and then choose the RGB slider.
CMYK – this breakdown is used for printing with ink. It stands for cyan (a blue colour), magenta (a reddish colour), yellow, and key (representing ‘black)’.
The CMYK breakdown for my main colour is as follows:
CMYK 100-0-31-24
You may be able to check the CMYK breakdown for your RGB colour by choosing the CMYK slider instead of the RGB slider in Word, using the same process as described above. You can also try to use an online approximation tool to convert your RGB to the CMYK code.
PMS (Pantone Matching System) – Pantone colors are a result of specific mixtures of ink and can overcome some of the inconsistencies you may get with calibration between different printers that can result in minor CMYK variances. You would use a PMS or Patone colour when you want the colour to be as completely accurate as possible.
You can use programs such as Illustrator or Photoshop to help select a PMS colour close to your CMYK colour. You can find some instructions at this website.
The Pantone approximation of my main company colour is as follows:
Pantone 321C

4. Choose your fonts
Font choice is also important for different communication mediums and can evoke different feelings.
You should try and choose 2-3 fonts maximum (not including the font you choose for your logo) that will be used across your communication materials.
You will want to choose at least one serif font and one san-serif font.
Serif fonts are fonts where most of the letters have little tails, so the words run into each other. Times New Roman is an example of a serif font.
San serif fonts don’t have tails on the majority of the letters. The letters don’t run into each other, it is more like printing than say running writing. Arial is an example of a san serif font.
Generally speaking san serif fonts are great for headings and serif fonts are good for body text, as they encourage the reader’s eyes to flow onto the next word.
The exception is online or on websites, where san serif fonts are more user-friendly. Verdana is a very popular web font.
It’s a great idea to think ahead what fonts you want to use, as well as what size and style of fonts (bold, italics, underline) for specific situations and documents.
You can even create email signatures and templates for documents you intend on using a lot to ensure the fonts are consistently used. You can also develop rules for spacing, bullet point style. This consistency will support you brand and give your communication materials a professional look.
A couple of words of warning though. I recommend choosing popular fonts that would be available to most people when they open Microsoft Word or similar documents. Customised fonts are great in terms of building a unique brand but can cause difficulties if you don’t know how to protect their use and there may be licensing costs.
If a person receiving your communication material electronically doesn’t have the same font, their computer will choose a default font, defeating the purpose of selecting fonts for your brand in the first place.
There are a couple of things you can do to protect your font and the integrity of its appearance, such as converting documents to a pdf file or learning how to embed fonts. However sometimes this isn’t always feasible so it can be better to choose popular fonts.

5. Now design your logo
Once you have figured out all the above, you should be able to work on a logo that represents your brand, using appropriate colours and fonts.
When it comes to your logo you may want to get a professional to design one for you.
A professional designer will create a logo based on your brief about style, colours etc, but they will also give you the logo in different file types such as JPEG, PNG and EPS and on different backgrounds.
Without going into too much detail here, what you need to know is that you will need a high resolution version of your logo for high quality and large format printing, and a lower resolution one for on screen applications such as the website. Some file types also have a transparent background, which works really well for some design situations.
You may also want a colour one and a black and white one or even grayscale depending on where it will be used.
Some organisations have landscape and portrait versions made to suit different design situations. Additionally you can have logos with different background colours eg. One with a white background and one with a dark background, depending on where the logo will be used.
A professional designer will create all of the different versions for you.
However it is possible to create your own logo versions using design programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop.
You can also use DIY logo design online services such as freelogoservices.com, logomaker.com, logoyes.com or vistaprint.com.au

6. Create a visual identity guide
Once you have locked in the above details and have your logo, you should compile the key information in one guide that can be referenced by anyone who needs it. A Visual Identity Guide should be accessible and referred to by staff, printers, designers and marketing officers to ensure your brand is protected.
In your visual guide, outline your style, logo and how it should be used, fonts, colours and colour breakdown and guidelines and samples of how to use all of the above.

There you have it, a DIY guide for developing all or part of your visual identity. To stay in the know about my writing projects and to receive regular writing tips and articles like this, sign up here.

10 awesome words to use in everyday conversation

Kylie Fennell
As a writer I have a natural passion for words.
I’ve also claimed, rather cheekily, to be a purveyor of fine words. Maybe a more accurate description is that I’m a word collector.
Just like someone who collects stamps or Star Wars figurines, I find extreme pleasure in discovering unusual, underused or just interesting words. I then file that word away for later reference and an appropriate time to use them.
I tend to fall in love with certain words and look for any opportunity to use them in my writing and everyday conversation.
I don’t intend to sound impressive or elicit a certain response from my audience (most of the time). My motivations are entirely selfish. I find joy in using overlooked and sometimes unusual words.
So this blog post is clearly just an excuse to share some of my favourite words.
 

 1. Flummoxed – adjective. Confused and turbulent; baffling or baffled
Many years ago I was watching a popular comedy series on Australian TV (the Late Show made by the same people that brought us The Castle). One skit featured the word ‘flummoxed’ repeatedly and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Somehow I convinced my newspaper editor to let me use it once in a police brief. The story was about a crime spree involving a gang of youths turning up at unsuspecting businesses and ‘chucking brown-eyes’ before disappearing. Understandably the victims of these crimes were ‘flummoxed’.  Brown-eye is another unusual word or phrase Australians like to use but is best left for the Urban Dictionary to define. Most of the other definitions below come from www.dictionary.com
2. Skullduggery – noun – shady behaviour; dirty work, hanky-panky. What a fabulous word. A dodgy sounding word for dodgy situations. It sounds downright underhanded and it is.
3. Debacle – noun – a complete collapse or failure. A journalist’s favourite, often used in conjunction with fiasco. Eg. The government’s plan to [insert initiative name] is a debacle. The Minister has distanced himself from the fiasco.
4. Saturnine – adjective – sluggish in temperament; gloomy; taciturn. Eg. He wore a saturnine expression.
The word even sounds a little depressing.
5. Cerulean – adjective, noun – deep blue; sky blue; azure. Eg. Her eyes were the same cerulean as the summer sky.
So much prettier sounding than sky-blue.
6. Dragoon – verb – to force by oppressive measures; coerce. This word sounds like dragon, which makes it immediately attractive to me, and evokes feelings of power. Eg. ‘The King’s men dragooned the farmers to hand over their crops’.
7. Vex – verb (used with object) – to irritate; annoy; provoke. vexing, adjective Eg. She is always late. It is most vexing.
I can’t use this word enough. It’s the most accurate way to portray how annoyed you are without swearing. Thank you Jane Austen for introducing this word to me.
8. Beseech – verb (used without object), besought or beseeched, beseeching. To make urgent appeal. Eg. Earnestly did I beseech, but to no avail.
This word sounds as dramatic as its meaning. A great word for my medieval fantasy novels but more fun to use in everyday conversation. ‘Don’t play cricket in the house, I beseeched’.
9. Genki – a Japanese word that roughly translates to happy, enthusiastic, energetic, lively, full of health and happiness. A common exchange in Japanese: ‘O genki desu ka?’, ‘Hai, genki desu’. A little like ‘how are you?’ And ‘I am good’, but good just doesn’t cut it when there is a word like ‘genki’.
10. Ganbatte – Another Japanese word. I lived in Japan a while back, and I love the fact there are some words that don’t have a direct translation in English. My writing also has some Japanese themes so I’m naturally drawn to this language. Ganbatte roughly translates as keep at it, be courageous, do your best, work hard and good luck. It is used everyday in the workplace to encourage each other to do a good job. It is also used to wish people ‘Good luck’. However it also suggests you should word hard as well as wish for good fortune.
When it comes to my writing and editing projects I live by the mantra ‘ganbatte’.
So there it is. Some of my favourite words. What words do you love? What great words do you think should be used more?
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