Howzabluz breeds and shows Russian Blue cats. Jill B Gilbert took cues from the owners and ran with it… creating the Texas cattery’s brand as a “cool cat” that brings to mind the Blues Brothers.
The business name “Howzabluz” and the fedora are a rich azure blue; the sunglasses and tagline “Russian Blue Cats” a deep charcoal gray.
The design has made its way to cat shows a few times since its introduction. The brand adorns T-shirts, tote bags, and stickers.
JIll B Gilbert recently reached a milestone: she has provided over 800 hours of volunteer work, saving non-profit organizations more than $USD 100,000. And she’s not slowing down—currently working on her next project!
Gilbert provided marketing communications, graphic design, and web design services on two dozen projects—many were multiple projects for the same client. The projects ranged from a highly-customized presentation for a sister organization to a U.S. National Park, to branding and logo design for childhood education and Head Start programs and a new high school, to custom presentations and brand guidelines for healthcare organizations.
Gilbert began working with volunteer matching organization Catchafire in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. Technology advances in the past 5 years made it possible to complete all of this volunteer work remotely—even for clients in the Houston area—with client meetings via Zoom or Google Meetings. She provided project deliverables in electronic format, using Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Acrobat; Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Apple’s Keynote slide software.
Gilbert remarked, “I have enjoyed working on projects with these non-profits. I am open to paid commissions and plan to continue volunteering marketing, graphic design, and web design services to worthy non-profits so they can spend their budgets to further their missions.”
You can read more about several of the pro bono projects in our blog.
P IS FOR PTERODACTYL is the perfect product for a social media ad campaign. The English language is difficult to learn because of the many exceptions to spelling, grammar and pronunciation rules. This silly, fun read-aloud book by Rapper Lushlife (Raj Haldar) and Chris Carpenter teaches kids the ins and outs of spelling and phonetics. Adults love it, too!
Who would buy this book? P IS FOR PTERODACTYL is attractive to parents with young children, parents with school-age children learning to read, and to grandparents, aunts, and uncles. More females than males would buy the book. Relatives would buy this book as a gift. Buyers are more likely to be college-educated, often with advanced degrees.
Digital marketing technology lets us target specific buyers, or personas. My marketing campaign targets a buyer called “90th Percentile Nana.” She is 55-65 years old, married or widowed, with two or more grandchildren. Her household income is in the 90th percentile of U.S. Households. She has an Amazon Prime account, a college degree, drives a luxury SUV, and has a designer Doodle dog. 90th Percentile Nana is in a book club and is tech-savvy, but prefers physical books to Kindle books. She is a foodie and an amateur chef who walks or exercises to stay fit.
Buyer’s goals:
The ad campaign goals are to create product awareness through advertising and generate sales leads. Facebook is a good fit for these goals, as it is the leading social platform with 2.7 billion monthly users; 54% Female, 46% Male. Facebook hits the sweet spot for 90th Percentile Nana’s demographics. Facebook has more users, and a greater percentage of users, in the target age and income groups than TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube.
A key element of a social media campaign is timing. SproutSocial shows the highest Facebook engagement times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. (Figure 1). The American Marketing Association recommends skipping Saturday posts.
I developed a two-week schedule for Facebook posts and News Feed Ads (ads that pop up on your Facebook feed) targeted at peak engagement times. Content and design strategies include:
Of the hundreds of social media metrics available, I selected a few to gauge the success of the P IS FOR PTERODACTYL advertising campaign:
Marketing pieces for the social media ad campaign use images optimized for Facebook. Collateral includes ads for desktop and mobile views, considering most people interact with social media accounts on smartphones—though 90th Percentile Nana might be more comfortable using a desktop or laptop computer. Marketing collateral also includes an original Acme Books logo for the ad campaign.
For further information on this digital marketing case study or to hire Jill B Gilbert for marketing communications advice or to design social media graphics, illustrations and ads for your company, please contact us.
My challenge was to design the packaging for a new energy drink and then create social media ads to post via Google Ads. The result is packaging for three flavors of Speed Whiz Energy Drink, a (fictional) energy drink that provides “All the Sugar & Twice the Caffeine” of normal energy drinks. The 500 ml aluminum can might account for the beverage’s high energy levels–most energy drinks come in smaller cans.
The Google Ads focused on the tag line, “All the Sugar & Twice The Caffeine.” That should get someone’s attention!
You’re probably wondering why I am interested in lip balm. Since I live in Houston, I need it when the humidity drops below 70% or if I have spicy food for lunch and wipe my lips too often. But seriously… my challenge was to create two marketing pieces for Cheetos Lip Balm. Cheetos introduced the lip balm in 2005—I am not making this up—and it was a marketing flop. Today, I think that marketing such a product could be a success because of the prevalence of social media marketing channels. After all, pickle- and bacon-flavored lip balms are available, as well as dozens of other sweet, spicy, and savory flavors of lip balm.
You can see my Cheetos Lip Balm blog post below. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek in places (pun intended). Enjoy!
The top three graphic design deliverables my clients request are new or updated brands, brand guidelines, and custom presentation templates.
PowerPoint has been around for more than 35 years. It still rules the roost as the leading slide presentation tool, despite the emergence of tools like Google Slides, Keynote, ZOHO Show, Canva, and Prezi. Organizations large, mid-sized and small use it to communicate all sorts of messages–sometimes well done, and other times not so well done.
With hundreds of free and paid templates available, many of my clients request custom, branded slide templates. Why? Because custom templates do a better job of communicating your brand.
A custom template allows you to showcase your brand. Your brand is more than a logo; it is your company’s personality. Your brand is how others perceive, interact with, and build trust in your company.
Your organization’s personality really shines when you ditch a deck of boring “bullet” slides for a mix of text and graphics. Use a custom template to consistently communicate your brand. See the template above, created for The Venture Mentoring Team. This template fits the organization’s mission, vision, and values, and takes advantage of their logo style and colors. It is a complete package that truly changes how they can communicate from now on.
If online presentation tools don’t meet your needs, if you want more than the built-in templates that come with your software, or have trouble finding a template you like, then a custom template may be for you.
I have designed dozens (hundreds?) of templates for PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote (for Mac users). If you need a custom, branded presentation template and don’t have the know-how to do it yourself, then consult a pro!
The Wisconsin Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (WAFCC) is an advocate for the State’s ninety free & charitable clinics. The organization provides state advocacy, education opportunities, consulting services, and telehealth services to clinics. WAFCC fosters collaboration, networking, and resource-sharing. They selected Jill B Gilbert for two branding initiatives–brand guidelines and a custom presentation template consistent with these new guidelines.
Brand guidelines are the rules an organization–large or small–follows to ensure their brand is consistent across various digital and print communications. These guidelines typically communicate the organization’s voice, style, logo, type, and colors.
They show the accepted use of the logo, any color variations, and placement, including very important “Do’s and Don’ts.” If an organization uses specific graphic styles, icons, or illustrations, the guidelines contain these, too.
Brand Guidelines are meant to be flexible, changing as the organization grows and changes. The WAFCC Brand Guidelines are a living document, soon to be updated with examples from the new slide presentation template.
The most common methods of communication are email, PowerPoint (/Google Slides/Keynote/Other) presentations, and social media.
Branding is important in slide presentations, because it sets the tone for your organization’s message. Consistent style and message are key!
Jill B Gilbert designed a template that was a great match for WAFCC’s message and style needs.
The Justice Hub School provides underserved youth in Houston’s Third Ward with academic and leadership skills to succeed in life. Jill B Gilbert was pleased to create a colorful new brand and a stylish custom presentation templates for this public charter school.
Our graphic design team created two templates aimed at different audiences–prospective donors and board members, and prospective students. Both templates employ Justice Hub’s new brand and color scheme. The image above shows the second, less formal, template on an iPad Pro.
I have a client that needs graphic design work for multiple brands, and wants all of their brands in a single portfolio. Their services generally target the same audience, and the audience can choose one or more services; these services do not compete with one another. My client seeks consistency in the way they portray the different services in digital and print media.
If your organization manages more than one brand, you have different options to manage them. Your branding strategy–key to your marketing strategy–depends on your target audience and customers.
Whether you already have several brands, or you anticipate new product or service lines, you can find a structure that works for your organization.
Two options for managing multiple brands are:
If the products or services aim to fulfill different purposes or have different visions, you may want to to separate your brands. If your products or services reflect an overarching vision or purpose, you might choose the parent/sub-brand option.
Your company’s vision, values, customers, and market position can guide your choice of options.
Procter & Gamble uses a multi-brand strategy, with individual brands for each product line. Some of their product lines include Tide, Gain, Crest, Pampers, Bounty, Swiffer, Oral B, and Gillette. Some of their products compete with each other, for example, Tide and Gain, but Procter & Gamble gets a piece of the laundry market share from both products, aimed at different consumers.
Adobe has multiple products under a single brand. Creative Cloud, their main product line, includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, and more. Adobe markets Creative Cloud to very different audiences, and allows individual users and teams to select the apps that best meet their graphic design, photography, and other creative needs.
In closing, if your organization manages several brands, make sure that you have a clear strategy. And make sure to document this strategy and also provide clear brand guidelines so you can communicate consistently and clearly with your target audience.
Pruitt, Jeff, Approaches to Branding Multiple Brands, Inc. Magazine, accessed 02 November 2021.
Pruitt, Jeff, 4 Branding Structures When Multiple Products and Services are Involved, Inc. Magazine, accessed 02 November 2021.
Dearth, Brian, Multi-Brand Strategy: 5 Top Trends in 2021, Vaimo, accessed 14 January 2022.
Adobe Creative Cloud, accessed 14 January 2022.
Procter & Gamble Brands, accessed 14 January 2022.
A couple of weeks ago, a client selected my design firm to help with getting their brand on merchandise to sell at events and in their online store. I asked if they had their brand in various layouts and file formats for digital and print purposes. If the answer was, “Yes,” they were ready to go.
It turns out that what they really wanted was a new or refreshed brand, as they felt the current one was outdated.
If you want a new or refreshed brand, find answers to the following eleven questions before you speak with your graphic designer.
Arm yourself with plenty of information before you start the design process. If you don’t know where to start, seek advice from a graphic designer in knowledgeable in design, business and marketing issues and trends.
Believe it or not, a brand is more than a logo or graphic design; it is about your organization’s message, and how you communicate that message verbally and visually. So, it follows that business goals are connected to your brand. What is your organization’s “big picture?” Are you expanding into new markets? Are you planning new products, services, locations, or methods of reaching out to current or prospective clients?
Think about how the graphic design of your brand fits into your marketing plans. If you have an established brand, you might want to update it to capture new markets. If you plan to launch a new brand, how will you generate brand awareness in the marketplace?
Do/will you use digital marketing–social media, email, blogs to communicate with current and prospective clients– or traditional print, TV, radio and merchandise marketing methods? Where and how will you display your brand?
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What 3-5 adjectives describe your brand’s personality? For example, “youthful, urban, and edgy,” “corporate, seasoned, and traditional,” or something else? Do you see your brand as casual or formal; modern or traditional? Where do you see your product or service positioned in the market?
If you closely tie your business model to your values and mission, then your brand design may reflect them. A preschool might want to incorporate a school or students. An environmental organization might want to use a tree, a leaf, something green, or something related to the earth.
Images and colors mean different things in different cultures. You may think that all firms that cater to your target audience have brands with similar elements, and you want your brand to stand out. Or, you simply might not like the color orange or purple.
What do you like or dislike about your competitors’ brands? Your graphic designer should create a brand that stands out from the competition, at the same time keeping in mind that you are going after the same audience.
If you are a tech startup, do you admire the designs of Apple, Dell, or Microsoft?All of these are quite different, yet recognizable worldwide–and each has gone through a transformation over the decades. What do you specifically like about the brands you admire?
Knowing what you like and dislike is valuable information that will help you to launch your new or refreshed brand. You may think the colors or typeface are outdated, or you may think you want to start over with a new design. Either way, this is a great opportunity to enhance your overall brand strategy.
When you embark on a branding initiative, your graphic designer will ask you to make a series of decisions, from design choices like brand style, images, color and typography (fonts) to technical choices like file formats, resolution, and the size your brand will be displayed. Where you are on the scale from Decisive to Indecisive will impact your ability to meet project objectives, scope, schedule, budget, and timeline.
Do you make decisions quickly? Do you make decisions based on feelings or facts? Do you get bogged down in “analysis paralysis?” For a description of business decision making types, read more here.
When I say, “You,” I really mean “you and your key stakeholders in this branding effort.” I recommend that you seek input from your key stakeholders before reaching key project milestones, but I do not recommend building your brand “by committee.”
Spending time to answer these eleven questions–including input from key stakeholders–can better position you for success in your branding initiative. Credit to 99 Designs for their original post; I added my perspective to their eleven questions.
Is all this effort worth it? Clients who understand the importance of branding say it is. If branding is new to you, So You Think You Need a New Brand might provide some insight.
As always, if you lack the internal resources to do a branding project, seek outside help. And, if you don’t know where to start, seek advice from a graphic design professional that also understands business and marketing issues. You will be glad you did.
