Author: creat585_wp

5 Tips To Get Your Giving Tuesday Campaign Ready

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Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement to encourage individuals to give back to the nonprofits in their communities, is coming up on December 1, 2020. Whole Whale has predicted that $605 million will be raised on Giving Day this year, an 18 percent increase from 2019. Do you want your organization to benefit from a part of that expected $605 million dollars? One of the keys to a successful Giving Day campaign is to create a campaign strategy and to effectively communicate with potential donors.
Below are five tips that will help you create a dynamic and visible Giving Day campaign that will draw donors and encourage them to give.

Tip #1: Start NOW
It’s important to start organizing and planning for Giving Tuesday as early possible to make sure that your donors have the opportunity to participate. This also gives nonprofits the ability to put together a campaign that not only aligns with the organization’s brand and mission, but gives potential new donors time to ask questions and learn more about the nonprofit’s initiatives. In addition, you will be able to leverage donor and community partnerships for more exposure around Giving Day.

Tip #2: Identify Your Key Initiatives & Messages 
Getting started early allows nonprofits to be thoughtful about how key initiatives are highlighted in the Giving Day campaign, as well as how they develop key messages to grow knowledge about support for them in the community. Perhaps, you need to create new key messages or leverage those already in place but it’s important to show consistency as it relates to your overall brand.

Tip #3: Choose a Branded Theme
Visuals matter when creating an impactful Giving Day campaign! Make sure that your campaign consistently uses the same colors, logo, hashtag(s), tagline and unique design all the way through until you say your final thank you to volunteers and donors. Choose colors that are eye catching and a tagline draws people to support your cause. Your theme should be tied directly to your key business initiatives and Giving Day messages.

Tip #4: Organize Your Collateral & Platforms
Decide what collateral you are going to use to reach out to your target audience. A few options include printed postcards, social media, emails, flyers, and digital advertising. Choose your digital platforms (i.e. social media, email, website ) that you want to use to connect with your donors to grow your exposure. Make sure your print, social media and email drives people to your branded website to make sure they get the whole message. Additionally, ensure that all of your collateral is branded with logos, emails, key messages, colors and taglines that represent your organization and Giving Day campaign.

Tip #5: Communicate Often & Early 
Make sure you are talking to your target audience early on in the campaign and do it consistently so it becomes top of mind for them. Adapt your messages for specific audiences and make sure you are reaching out to them on platforms where they are the most active. One of the keys to success here is creating a multi-pronged content strategy and have it approved well in advance of needing to execute it. It’s important to communicate before, during and after your Giving Day event.

Need some more help? Contact bridget@creative-vortex.com for fresh marketing and design ideas to get your campaign off the ground.

Three Reasons a Professional Logo Design Will Benefit Your Business 

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A logo is an easily identifiable mark of your business and should give a great first impression of a business to clients and customers. In most cases, a brand identity is built around a logo and will carry through on marketing collateral, digital presence and social media. Designing a logo should be taken very seriously and considered in the larger context of your brand identity (i.e. colors, elements and messages) and brand essence (what the brand actually stands for).

Determining the need for a logo is easy but executing the perfect logo for a business is a whole other experience. In most instances, people understand the need and really want an amazing logo but are concerned about cost and time commitment. If you search the internet for logo design results will include a myriad of websites that offer a logo for $38 … even going as low $29. Just insert the name of the business, your favorite color, and industry into a form, click a button and then choose from more 100 logos design that will perfectly match your business. People can walk away with a jpeg file in just minutes. But, can that logo do everything that you need it to do? Was it built to reflect your business identity and customized for use on all the different digital, print and social media platforms available?

Approaching a professional designer can be intimidating for fear of asking a stupid question or being worried about how much the designer will charge. As far I am concerned there are no stupid questions when it comes to my industry. You don’t need to know everything about graphic design … that’s my job, not yours. As for costs, they will vary according to different design agencies or designers but will typically range according to your needs. Most importantly, what is included in those costs is far more comprehensive and the final, customized product will serve as an asset to your marketing and digital goals.

Still not sure? See below for my top three reasons to hire a professional designer.

#1 – Designed Around a Concept and Strategy 

A logo should serve as a foundation for your brand. A professional designer will know how to use the theory of color in multiple or single colors, leverage different design elements and balance typography that circles back to the organization’s mission and business focus. The designer will also know how to incorporate subtle meanings that will set the business apart from the competition.

#2 – Different Formats and Variations 

A professional designer will have the skill to create a responsive design logo that can be used in many different platforms, including signage, advertising, marketing, digital and social media. The designer will be able to provide more than just a jpeg file, but also stacked and vertical options, reversed color, vector and png files (needed for print), and a bug (an element from the logo for profile images).

#3 – Return on Investment 

A strategic and professionally designed logo will grow with your business and stand the test of time. It will give your brand credibility and strength to become a well-recognized image of your business, which will ultimately attract new clients and retain current customers.

It’s important for businesses of all sizes to have a strong, identifiable logo that ties together a brand identity and unifies a business presence in all places it is leveraged. Working with a professional designer is a bigger investment of financial resources and time in the beginning, but in the end will serve your business well into the future.

My shameless plug … please reach out at bridget@creative-vortex.com to get started with creating a new logo or refresh the one you already have!

Kinn Inc.

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When I first met Alex McKinnon, founder & CEO, in December 2012 the passion and dedication he had for his brand was contagious and shared by everyone on his team. I was excited to partner with this organization to help bring their brand to life, especially since it focuses on pet health. Kinn makes the Kleanbowl, a healthier pet food and water bowl that is germ-resistant and helps to promote overall health for animals. As a consumer of this product, I personally believe that this product is making a real difference for our furry companions and will continue to help the fight against COVID-19. I use Kleanbowl in my home with my two dogs and they are healthier for it. This #dogmom is so happy to be on a team that puts pet health first!

Creative Vortex created the packaging, website design & graphics, marketing materials, email communications, trade show booth, virtual event materials and trade publication ads.

One Percent

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The whole concept of time has changed amid the quarantine period. People have taken on the reality of managing their life from a kitchen table or living room couch. Some of us are lonely, bored and anxious. Some of us are overstimulated by duties that tripled overnight. How do we manage our time so that it still serves us?

1. Create a schedule
For those of us that suddenly have an empty social life or those that are overwhelmed by working full-time and making sure kids finish school, our schedules have changed dramatically. One of the best ways to take back your power in this situation is to create a schedule that gives your day meaning and ensures that you care for yourself. Schedule live fitness classes on Zoom, run outside two miles a day, attend a virtual happy hour or networking session, attend a drive-by birthday party, etc. Make sure you delineate between your work and when you do other things so you don’t end up in front of your computer all day. Try to keep it normal, but if you end up working a few hours in the evening because you spent three hours helping your child with schoolwork during the day don’t sweat it. Just make sure you don’t work all night. Keep it realistic. Don’t worry, you can write a new schedule every day if you want to!

2. Exercise
Make time for exercise! Don’t give up on your new year’s resolutions just because life changed significantly. There are so many online fitness courses to take right now and gyms have quickly ramped up online classes for members. If you absolutely need people to work out with, there are even several organizations that offer live virtual fitness classes to keep people motivated. If all else fails, go outside and walk around the block several times a day. If you have kids, take a daily break from school and work at the park or in the backyard and make sure that it is equally about you as it is for them. Play soccer, create family-friendly obstacle courses, race each other … just make sure everyone’s heart is racing. This is an excellent opportunity to make exercise a habit for everyone!

3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Work on your communication skills with the people you live with, as well as those you work with. If it’s not working for you voice your concerns and frustrations, as well as suggest a compromise that might work for everyone. It might take you a few tries to get it right, but eventually you will. Don’t be afraid to bend the rules a little bit. You aren’t living or working in your normal space right now and emotions are high. Give yourself, your co-workers and your little ones the grace and space needed to feel comfortable. However, make sure you set boundaries (this ties back to creating a schedule!) to make sure that you accomplish tasks by the end of every day. For example, schoolwork has to be done before 2 pm, no work calls after 6 pm, run every morning at 7 am, etc.

So many of us talk about changing things in our life to make ourselves feel more empowered. This really is an opportunity to assert yourself more at work, incorporate more exercise, try a new hobby, engage with family members more, carve out time just for you or to ask for more help. We all make choices every day, and ultimately, we choose what and who is part of our life. I like to think of this as the One Percent Rule. Do one percent better than the day before and before you know it you will see a difference!

SvenSax

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I had the pleasure of working with @svensax to create a new brand logo. A musician for 20+ years, Marcel Sven Saxlund had worked as a lead singer, rapper and poet and was expanding his artistic resume to reflect his current state of being.

The desire for the new minimalist logo was to include personal and layered meanings of Marcel’s Swedish and Norwegian ancestry. This included his Saxlund family crest (a deer) and Viking symbols, such as a bow of a Viking ship. Not an easy task, but we both loved the final design!

“Bridget completely embraced and fully understood how personal this would be to me. She created something beyond my expectations. … There’s something so personal about capturing a distinct mindset and vision and turning that into a tangible symbol. Mission (irrefutably) accomplished.”

Marcel Sven Saxlund
Svensax

Kith & Kin Boutique

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Founded in June 2019, Kith & Kin Boutique specializes in unique clothing for women that captures the laid back and trendy clothing style of Southern California. Situated in the heart of San Clemente, the boutique is deeply rooted in the community and focused on helping women discover their personal clothing style.

Creative Vortex was hired to design their logo, business cards, clothing tags, gift certificates and sales slips. We choose to be classically beautiful in black & white with a sophisticated customized typeface for “kith & kin” and balance the playful side with the script typeface for “boutique”. Our end game was to keep the branding stunningly simple and give the retail items in the boutique ample space to shine.

Tips for Working From Home

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Today there are millions of people conducting local and global business from their homes. Given the heightened concern for maintaining social distancing due to the coronavirus, a significant amount of these people are new to working from home. And, the people working from home might not even be alone given that a large number of schools have switched to virtual classrooms. I have been working remotely for more than 13 years and I wanted to pass on some tips that might help make working remotely successful for an extended amount of time.

Technology

Obviously, a trusted and working computer is essential to being successful. Whether it’s your computer or the organization’s computer, make sure you have the appropriate software and applications and you are aligned with what everyone else is using.

A lot of people transitioned to working from home quickly, but if you have time make sure that the technology works and you have everything necessary to succeed, including dependable Wi-Fi. If your bandwidth is low and is struggling, shut down other programs to lighten the load. If on a video call, turn off the video and participate with audio only.

Communicate

When first starting out, it’s okay to over communicate with team members. The cadence will probably be different than it was when you were all in an office together, but you will find your rhythm. Providing regular status communication will keep projects on track and show what each team member is working on.

More prep might be required from leaders. Remember that not everyone needs to be included in each video call, conference call or webinar. It’s pretty important to be respectful of time and other people’s schedules.

Work Environment

Every working environment and work culture is different. Leaders should give team members a chance to contribute to the conversation and figure out what works best for your team. Are there times of the day that leaders expect a timely response? Is a response window of 2 hours expectable? Or times of the day that team members are not responding immediately? Create the basis of trust. Don’t threaten to make random workstation checks and call-ins three times a day. Be aware of how other team members work best. Are they an early morning person? Are they in a different time zone? Be flexible and intentional to have alignment and trust.

Distractions

Right now people are living with the reality that their children are home all day and don’t have another person to care for them. Or people are scrambling to ensure that older and more fragile family members in need of immediate assistance are taken care of. It’s important as a team member to know that and respect it.

Grace

Have some grace. There will be a transitional time if your team is not used to working remote or if they are needing to care for other people. Have empathy and learn what your team members might need to make the transition easier. It’s okay to expect the best from people, but also necessary to show respect to others before you even get it.

Time Management

Make sure you use your time wisely! A time tracking application is a great way to manage time and I have been using OfficeTime with a lot of success. Be sure to create a to-do list at the end of each work day to prioritize the items that need to be tackled the next day. This way you start each day with a clear agenda of what needs to be accomplished.

Personal

On the personal side of things, I book time on my calendar to ensure that I get regular exercise and get out of my house every single day. Additionally, I block out important family obligations for each week/month.

Be sure to have some fun through scheduled morning coffee video meetings or lunch meetings. Show and share what you are drinking or eating. Take a few minutes to care about your people and then focus on work.

MyJane

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Founded in May 2018, MyJane is the first premium, curated cannabis experience for women. Its mission is to give women the confidence – through education, accessibility and community – to make informed wellness choices about cannabis for their own lives and the lives of those they love. MyJane curates the best CBD and cannabis products to help women address stress, pain, sleep and other concerns. MyJane was acquired by ManifestSeven in January 2019 and serves as its retail subsidiary serving women.

Creative Vortex was hired in August 2018 to design and produce marketing collateral, investor presentations, packaging and a website to help MyJane attract investors and launch its service in Orange County in November 2018.

DESIGN SAMPLES

  • The images were chosen to showcase the lifestyle of the MyJane customer featuring middle aged women who are active, radiant and polished.
  • The website was designed and built as a custom WordPress site for desktop and mobile.
  • The packaging was designed to showcase the MyJane “J” pattern with the purple and rose brand colors on the inside and sides. The pale pink ribbon was selected to balance femininity with the solid purple.
  • The investor pitch deck was created to tell the story of the MyJane customer and what she wants from a cannabis delivery service and showcase the MyJane wellness community and MyJane experience all while showcasing the earning potential for the cannabis subscription delivery business. The pitch deck introduced gray tones into the color palette to appeal to the mostly male investors.
  • The marketing materials were designed to be feminine, informative and fun. Since the website was being redesigned when the first marketing materials were produced, they were copy heavy and directed the audience toward social media.
  • The script font that was paired with the san serif font brought in texture as well as femininity and personality.