The Creative Slant

Our New Offering to small business trying to get the word out.

2009-09-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Does your company need a Branding Facelift? Now offering small businesses various levels of brand strategy.

1. Brand Touch-Up - You are happy with your logo and your general message, but need some new branding collateral like a brochure or an enewletter to get more customers. We can help!

2. Brand Shake-Up - You are happy with your logo, but your message is not consistent, you need a seasoned professional to fine-tune your message and get it organized across all your marketing areas. You also want to add a branding piece like a brochure or enewsletter to further expand your audience. We can help!

3. Brand Build-Up - You hate your logo, you have been told you need a new one! Your messaging is all over the map, you have little to no branding collateral! We can help!

HOW TO USE YOUR MONOGRAMED STAMP

2009-07-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hi I’m Alexis I am part of the team at The Creative Slant. The Creative Slant is full service graphic design company that specializes in event graphics. One of the items we design is wedding invitations and custom monograms. Monograms are very popular way of adding sophistication to any wedding decor. Monograms are very versatile they can be used on the napkins, coasters, glasses, cake toppers which are very popular right now and they can continue to be used for the Thank You cards and wedding photo albums. What is cool is that The Creative Slant offers rubber stamps of your monograms. Right now for $99 we are offering a monogram design and an actual rubber stamp! Now I wanted to tell you what you can do with this stamp once you get it home. A really neat inexpensive way to add dimension to either your invites or your any card for that matter is using embossing powder to create a tactile and dimensional element to your design. What you will need: A deeply-etched rubber stamp (just like the ones you can get from The Creative Slant) Embossing powder and quality pigment inkpad (they sell these at Michaels or any specialty stamp store) You can choose either clear powder if you want the see the color of the ink you choose OR you can choose colored embossing powder It depends on what color you find that works with your color scheme A heat gun And good quality cardstock Application The best way to apply ink to the stamp is to lay the stamp on its back, rubber side up, then dab or pat with the ink pad. This way it is easy to apply a thin and even coat of ink. Apply the inked stamp to the cardstock and press down firmly. Try not to rock the stamp (which will result in a blurred image). I find it easiest to stand while stamping to get better even pressure. Remove the stamp, and apply a gnerous amount of embossing powder immediately all over the image. (The trick is to get the powder onto the stamped image before it dries. Turn the stamped image over and tap the back of the card to remove any excess embossing powder. Keeping a piece of scrap paper under the cardstock helps to catch any excess, and makes it easier to the powder back into its pot to use next time. Be sure to flick away any excess powder as it will only result in a fuzzy, blotched image. You can use a brush to dust away the excess if its helpful but DO NOT blow away the excess powder because your breath will moisten it. Now take your heat gun (if u don’t have a gun you can heat the card from underneath waving the area back and forth over the heat source like an electric hotplate or toaster and hairdryers do not work! ) I really recommend a heat gun since it makes a difference for the end result. Aim at one area of the powdered image once the image starts changing color and becomes shiny move on to the next area. Don’t wave around the card since it heats the card too much and wont emboss properly. And don’t heat too long or the image will look greasy. Too little and the image will feel rough and the grains will fall off. And now you have a monogrammed card that is a dramatic visual reminder of your new life together. Go to www.thecreativeslant.com for more ways we can make your event exceptional!

A Recession is the Perfect Time to Build Your Brand!

2009-01-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

Sounds strange doesn't it? But it is true! A financial downturn is the perfect time to build your brand and reinforce it with your target demographic as well as expand your audience. It may sound counter-intuitive but when people are not spending money is usually the best time to get them to learn about who you are.

Let me explain.

In a time of tight finances people are far more wary about what they spend their money on. It is a very logical and financially responsible thing to do. However, from a business perspective that kind of thinking is the perfect mentality required for brand building. People are studying products more intensely than they normally would simply because they want to wisely spend their hard earned dollars. So, you as a business owner should be pumping your brand more and working harder to make your presence know people will study your brand more intensely when they are watching their wallets.

You should focus more of your energy and dollars on building the public awareness about your product and it's existence. With people focusing so intently on each and every little thing they buy, you should take advantage of that mentality in your advertising and marketing plans.

If you're not involved in social networking this is the perfect time to get into it. Let people know you're out there and you offer a fantastic product or service they can keep in mind once things get rolling. If someone sees your product and studies it more in-depth than they normally would you have a rare opportunity to gain a foothold in their conscience and become a brand they are familiar with when the financial tides turn.

I often advise new companies to launch new products and ad campaigns during financial downturns simply because people are more likely to study your product and collateral than they normally would. It most likely won't translate to immediate sales but you will see them when people have money to spend. Don't think you have to stop or even cut back your advertising and marketing, just take a different approach and take advantage of the mindset of the market.

Graphic Designers - The link between client and audience

2008-12-10T14:45:00.001-08:00

On the one hand, a client is often too close to the message to understand various ways in which it can be presented. The audience, on the other hand, is often too broad to have any direct impact on how a communication is presented. What’s more, it is usually difficult to make the audience a part of the creative process. Unlike client and audience, graphic designers learn how to construct a message and how to present it successfully. They work with the client to understand the content and the purpose of the message.

Respect Your Mother Stickers and Tshirts

2008-12-03T17:40:00.001-08:00

Go to our Zazzle store and get your "Repect Your Mother" t-shirt, stickers or bags!

What Do Graphic Designers Do?

2008-12-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

Graphic designers help their clients find an audience.
Designers make things that are out there in the world, being seen, read, understood and acted on by other human beings. They clarify and enrich what things mean to people. They tell their client's story.

Designers create solutions to design problems.
In order to create solutions to the problem, they need to understand the problem. And, in order to understand the problem they need to first listen to their clients.
Then designers think about visual forms and how they are put together to convey meaning. These forms are a kind of visual language. Points, lines, planes, volumes, spaces, areas, textures and colors, as well as how they are used to create symmetry, proportion and rhythm, are basic aspects of the designer’s visual vocabulary.

A core responsibility of the designer's job is to present information in a way that is both accessible and aesthetic.

New price-sheets for wedding invites

2008-12-03T16:07:00.001-08:00

The Creative Slant has created a new price-sheet that helps you estimate costs for your wedding invitations. Give us a call to start getting your guests excited for your upcoming special day. Your invitations and elements will be completely unique and completely you because it should be!

Serving up fresh invites

2008-08-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Working with a Graphic Designer

2008-08-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

As a client it is often hard to look at things from the designers point of view. As a designer the same is true. Here is a look at the common interaction blunders that can put any project off track and ways to avoid them.

What do graphic designers do?

2008-08-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

Are you thinking about hiring a graphic designer? Do you think you need professional design help but are not sure where to look or what is available? You are not alone. Here is a look at what a graphic designer can and cannot do for you.

Wedding Websites - A review

2008-08-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

There are many options for creating a website for your wedding from a complete custom page to hosted template that allows you to upload words and images. Here we look at some of the most popular sites and consider what elements you might want to include on your site.

Wedding Invitations - printing

2008-08-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

There are may ways a invitation set can be printed. They can be printed on a desktop printer like the ones many people have in their homes or offices. Sometimes this labor intensive but cost saving method can still allow room in the budget for a custom designed invitation that is provided to you as a high resolution rgb file. You will need to purchase all the paper and envelopes and may have to cut and trim many sheets of paper.

Commercial printing or offset printing involves separating artwork into cmyk plates and look very clean and professional. Trimming and collating are included. Commercial printing also has the ability to ad specialty inks such as metallics, pastels, clear gloss, and spot colors. You can think of spot colors as a type of paint or premixed color that can be used when a color is hard or impossible to made with a combination of cmyk (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). Commercial printing also has the ability to add dye-cuts, embosses, debosses, and foil stamps which can add exceptional beauty to an invitation.

Another method of printing no longer cost effective enough to be used on a large scale but still popular for wedding invitations is letterpress. This method creates a distinctive look and feel as the areas of color are actually pressed into the paper. While standard commercial printing can deboss areas they cannot match the quality of a letterpress.

Another method used for wedding invitations is thermography. This involves heat setting the areas of color, which can only be solid colors and leaves a raised texture. Most popularly used for inexpensive business cards this can also be a cost effective solution for invitations on a tight budget.

Wedding Invitations - the elements

2008-08-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

There are many elements to consider when planning wedding invitations. From the initial Engagement Announcements and Save The Dates to Thank You Cards you will want all of the elements to coordinate and follow your theme. A good way to do this is to establish a monogram. A monogram serves as a logo or icon for the couple and can be made up of first names or simply initials. This is a great way to coordinate bridal shower, bachelor party, and bachelorette party invitations as well. At minimum a wedding invitation set needs to include the actual invitation and corresponding envelope and a response card and coordinating envelope. Other items could include Rehearsal Dinner Invitations, Maps, and Area Information Cards.