Printed materials (newspapers, magazines, books, newsletters, etc.) are the stuff of much debate these days. Graphic designers, including those of us here at Ratio7, have had to learn and adapt quickly to the Web and digital age. And we've happily succeeded! But we still do print, despite the naysayers saying it is dead, or dying. Why? Not everyone has an iPad! Sure...
Applications (apps) are changing the world. In fact, a recent article says that the smartphone is actually more a personal computer than the PC actually ever was. By the end of 2011, the majority of cell phone users will be using smartphones. And now that iPads and it's competitors are so popular, there are apps for everything! 300,000 options at...
A catchy, memorable business name is the starting point for an eye-catching logo. While a poorly imagined name won't necessarily kill or stifle your business, great business or product names can spread more easily and help your customers find you more easily. Can you imagine Google as anything different? A great business name can be informative as well as catchy, letting...
Colour trends vary by genre: home decor, fashion, automotive and, not surprisingly, digital media. Like fashion, certain colours and colour combinations are often in or out, hip or passe'. Who can forget peach and teal from the 1980's or burgundy and hunter green from the 1990's? But, like fashion, certain colours and combinations gain new popularity because of their retro...
Smartphones are ruling the technology roost. More than 2.5 billion will be sold worldwide between 2010-2015 and by next year, smartphones will be the most common form of mobile phone in use. This means a vast majority of your customers and web visitors will be visiting via their mobile phones and a computer. But is your website ready? If you go...
Colour is a crucial element in graphic design, whether digital (the Web) or analog (print). Colour in design is a surprisingly complex issue. There are a variety of different colour models used in graphic design but the most common are RGB (Red, Green and Blue) and CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and keyBlack). When these colour models are used in print,...
Branding is a funny little term that means so much. Your company's culture, its image, what it wants to convey, how it wants to entice is all part part of "branding". But the most important part of branding is the emotion it wants to evoke in the viewer and potential customer. A great film for all business owners about to work...
Whether you are having a site built by scratch or doing a redesign of your existing site, it is really important to examine the reasons you have a website at all. Sound obvious? It isn't. If you look at your own favorite sites, you will find that they serve many different purposes. For a graphics team like Ratio7 to build...
E-books are all the rage. Increasingly people are getting their information online or via devices like Amazon's Kindle and e-books are perfect for this. They are also a great way to market yourself as an expert. You can write an e-book yourself or work with a ghostwriter and pay to have it done. Either way, one of the things that...
Whether you are a small business or a solo brand, promotional videos offer something to your customer that they can't get any other way. A video brings your business and your brand to life, allowing customers the ability to connect and experience you and what you offer in an authentic manner. There are a variety of ways to use promotional...