The History of Typography

Branding your business is more than your logo and the colors you use on your sign—it’s also about typography. If the font design on your marketing materials is well done, it will be appealing, eye-catching and inspire your customers to act.

But if the typography is poorly done, it’s a different story. In a study called Measuring the Aesthetics of Reading, sponsored by Microsoft, researchers found that bad typography caused the muscles responsible for frowning to activate in readers.

Another study showed that bad typography causes eyestrain. That’s certainly not the best way to introduce yourself to customers!

What is Typography?

If the term typography is causing you to draw a blank, the dictionary definition is simply “the style and appearance of printed matter.” Typography is not only the font, but also how the fonts are arranged.

3 Typography Tips for Branding Your Business

An aesthetically pleasing font does more than just please the eye. Good typography is what makes your marketing materials look professional. A few tips to get the most out of your business’s typography:

Typography Tip #1: Reflect Your Personality

The world’s top brands have typography that reflects their business’s style. Look at Apple. The corporation’s clean, careful use of a font called Myriad reflects everything about the brand, from Apple’s sleek glass storefronts to the minimalism styling of its laptops.

Typography Tip #2: Be Consistent

You’ll want your typography to be consistent across the board, from your signage to your vehicle wrap. Like your brand logo, using the same typography makes your brand more identifiable.

Typography Tip #3: Do Combinations Right

This part can be tricky and is best left to a professional graphic designer. Combining two different fonts is a wonderful way to make the benefits of your business stand out. However, the two combinations should complement each other and not compete.

Even subtle differences in typography can have a big impact on the way customers view your brand. Typography is just as important as the use of color, images and graphics used in creating your brand.

Creative Services Department at ProLabel Phactory

Provides creative services for corporate and brand identity work as well as full development of printed and digital matter, through consistent management, careful attention to detail, and consideration for each project’s requirements and context. ProLabel is also responsible for the development of online and offline applications, including the design and coding of all blogs, and design and production of customized applications (APPS), promotional materials and supporting identities.

If you’re searching for a graphic designer in South Florida to design and create your marketing materials, choose ProLabel Phactory! We have 20 years of experience and can ensure your 100% satisfaction. To find out more about our graphic designers, contact us at 305-620-2202.

Posted by Pro Label on Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Brand Management

Stuck? Not sure what to call your brand line? Grab your notebook and let’s walk through this process together. http://ow.ly/xLCJM
Posted by Private Label Insider on Sunday, March 29, 2015

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Designing Brands For Ideal Customer Experiences

 Formula for choosing a brand’s identity

1. History: Why did you create this product?

What was the story behind why you created your product and what problem is it trying to solve? This truly is the foundation and starting point for identifying your brand’s message.

2. Core of the brand:  What does your brand stand for?

What problem is it solving? Take the time to write out your history and why you created the product. Than you’ll start seeing words pop out at you. Those descriptive words than can become part of your copy, name and brand story.

3. Name: Keep it simple 

Be sure to choose a name that connects with your customer and expresses the product well and is easy to spell. If people don’t get it than they won’t buy it. Period.

4. Logos are the same: Keep it simple.

Ideas are everywhere!

5. Connection factor: How do people (customers) connect to your brand?

People buy from people. How do you customers connect with your product? Does the name resonate? Do they look at your brand, marketing material and product and purchase it? If not, we need to re-evaluate how your brand and marketing collateral are being received by your customers.

6. Put it all together

Take the history+core+name+logo+connection factor = the foundation of your brand’s identity.

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A Plethora of Options for Custom Labels

Custom label printing is sexy. No, really. Here are two quotes from LabFax.co.uk (from “Resilience Shown by Label Industry As Positive Signs Predict Growth in 2012-2013”):

“There are few industries which are showing positive signs of growth and the label industry is one of them. With a 2.5 percent growth predicted for 2012-2013, the American label sector is continuing to thrive due to constant innovation and methods to improve quality and quantity with reduced costs.”

“The newspaper printing business might be going down due to readers following more technological advances, but due to a huge food and beverage market in the United States, label printing continues to drive the economy.”

Bottom line? Businesses need labels to market their services and products and to operate their facilities. And labels are physical, printed objects that can’t exist exclusively on a tablet or smartphone.

I think this is exciting, and I think it’s supported by the dynamic growth in digital printing. While flexography and screen printing had been the technologies of choice in prior years, new digital presses (both inkjet and laser) can now print one label, or thousands of labels, while adding variable data information to each item, without the set-up charges of the older printing methods. Infinitely variable digital die cutting can even bypass the expensive step of creating metal dies to cut the exterior border of the custom labels.

And should the job require a long run without variable data, flexography and custom screen printing are still viable options and can potentially be more cost-effective than digital printing.

Here’s a short list of some of the label products available:

Property Identification Labels: These identify equipment, furniture, and other business assets. They can be numbered or barcoded sequentially, and they can be printed on plastic or metal foil substrates.

Bumper Stickers: These are actually custom labels as well. You can buy bumper stickers on a more durable, weather-resistant vinyl material, rather than on paper, and you can even laminate them for increased protection.

Dome Labels: These are custom labels with a raised polyurethane dome over each label. The dome gives a 3D appearance to the artwork on the label.

RFID Labels: These require an integrated system of labels, “readers,” and software, but they allow wireless transfer of data (without physical contact) using radio-frequency electromagnetic fields.

Wine Labels: With or without metallic foil treatments, these custom labels are unique in their requirements. The adhesive must stick to cold, wet bottles, and the ink cannot bleed or smear.

Food Labels: Similar to custom bottle labels, these must not contaminate the food within the packaging, so issues of toxicity must be carefully considered and controlled.

Window Decals: These include adhesive labels and static cling labels (which attach to windows and mirrors with only a static charge and no adhesive). Window decals must not degrade when exposed to sunlight and moisture, so color-fastness of inks and durability of substrates are a consideration.

Tamper-proof Security Labels: Some of these custom labels include holograms. Their goal is to deter tampering or even to self-destruct when an attempt is made to remove the labels.

Some Things to Consider When Specifying Labels

1. Label Shape (round, oblong, rectangular, or rectangular with rounded corners). A good way to save money is to choose standard shapes and sizes using pre-made, rather than custom made, dies. Or ask your commercial printing supplier about laser die cutting.
2. Label Ink Colors (one-color, two-color, process color). Some vendors will offer a limited color palette but will provide any PMS color for a surcharge. Ask about the printing method: screen printing, flexography, or digital printing.
3. Material (plastic or metal foil). Think about durability. Will the labels be used outside, in heat or in cold?
4. Special Finishing Treatment (embossing, die cutting). Do you want a special treatment for a seal used on a certificate, for instance?
5. Numbering of Labels (consecutive, random, with added barcodes). Accuracy in numbering is crucial, so make sure your vendor can handle this aspect of printing.
6. Adhesive (removable, permanent). Some labels will even stick to metal engines or cold, wet wine bottles.
7. Presentation (rolls, sheets, fan-fold sheets). Think about how the custom labels will be applied. Any kind of automated application equipment may require a particular presentation of labels on a roll or sheet.
8. Intended Use (inside, outside, in extreme temperature conditions). This pertains to the adhesive, the substrate, and potentially the coating (such as a laminate).

As with any printed product, ask for samples and test them. Talk with your commercial printing vendor about the intended use and ambient conditions, as well as the presentation of any variable-data information. Labels need to be functional first and attractive second.

“How Do People Get New Ideas?”

The Science of Creativity
Written by Jess Marranco | @JessMarranco March 31, 2015


I have a riddle for you: Everyone has some, but wants more, and some people think they have less than others do. What is it?
I’ll give you a hint: Albert Einstein and children have this in common.
Okay one more hint: Some people find it in the shower.
The answer?
CREATIVITY.

There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” — Edward de Bono

Creativity was present through major human accomplishments that changed the course of history: the formation of revolutionary inventions like the wheel, the origin of new concepts like the theory of relativity, and during the introduction of new art forms such as cubism or jazz.

Today, as technology advances at such a rapid pace, it’s increasingly clear that creativity is thriving; also that creativity and its cousin innovation never sleep. Constant competition to advance the world as we know it has made creativity that a more sought-after attribute in employees, in employers, in medicine, in music, in design, in entertainment -- in everything.

So we know it’s prevalent and that we all want more of it, but we have questions. Where does creativity come from? What’s the science behind it? Are some of us more creative than others? If so, can we learn to be more creative? And if we are in fact born with it, is creativity lost somewhere along the journey from childhood to adulthood?

Like many matters of the brain, creativity is a vexing puzzle even to the world of medical science. However, it’s an exciting time for the science of creativity with truly groundbreaking pieces of the puzzle continually surfacing.

Before we dive in, here’s a disclaimer: I am not a scientist. Not even close. In fact, I myself had some misunderstandings about creativity before I began my research. This post is an attempt to explore what we know about creativity, starting with one indisputable fact: creativity is vital to human growth and progress.

What is Creativity? 
Creativity is the ability to generate new ideas and new connections between ideas, and ways to solve problems in any field or realm of our lives.” 

I like this definition of creativity, though it’s lacking one piece that many feel is a critical component of creativity: the act of bringing those ideas to life. So essentially, creativity is the conception of original ideas and the action of bringing them to fruition. According to Linda Neiman, founder of Creativity at Work, “If you have ideas and don’t act on them, then you are imaginative but not creative.”

Given the complexity of the subject, psychologists have tried to break creativity into parts in an effort to understand it better.

James Kaufman and Ronald Beghetto are credited with introducing the “Four-C” Model of creativity, which looks a little something like this:

The Four-C Model of creativity was developed to help “broaden the concept” and differentiate the levels of creative expression. In the words of Beghetto and Kaufman, “The Four-C Model provides a framework for including creativity in the curriculum and helping students develop their creativity to higher levels,” which I’ll get into a little more later on.

More widely accepted is simply the “Little-c,” “Big-C” model: 

·         “Little-c” creativity refers to everyday creativity and problem solving, such as coming up with a new recipe in the kitchen, finding a new way to organize your home, coming up with a new project for work, etc.

·         “Big-C” creativity refers to revolutionary creativity that changes the way people think, feel, live, etc.

Overall, creativity is pretty all encompassing. It’s a human attribute, a function, a prerequisite, and an intricate process.

While Little-c creativity can be attributed to a productive, successful, and enjoyable day, and Big-C creativity to moving humanity forward, one might argue still, that Little-c creativity facilitates the Big-C creativity. The greatest innovators of our time didn’t consistently have moments of Big-C creativity. Their days were likely filled with Little-c moments all consistently connecting together to lead up to that one, brilliant Big-C revelation which they then worked hard to bring to life.

Making Connections
One thing I’m going to stress when it comes to creativity is connections. Creativity is all about making connections and that’s important to understand.

As Steve Jobs once said:
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.”

In a fascinating presentation at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in 2011, neuroscientist Dr. Vilayanur S. (V.S.) Ramachandran uses the neurological phenomenon synesthesia to explore excess connections in the brain as they relate to creative individuals. Synesthetes, or those possessing the synesthesia trait, most commonly associate particular numbers and/or letters with colors (referred to as color-graphemic synesthesia), but the condition may also include associating words, days, or months, with - not only color - but specific tastes and sounds.
 Check it out: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-science-of-creativity

Published for the First Time: a 1959 Essay by Isaac Asimov on Creativity | MIT Technology Review

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