Archive for June 2012

Judy Cole is an esthetician and masseuse in Dallas, Texas who needed a logo, branding, marketing materials, and a website. Starting from scratch, I created all components for her that resulted in a consistent and professional look and feel that she can use in all of her marketing materials. Take a peek at the project and her new website.

Many businesses have a profile up on Yelp.com where customers can rate and review their services, products, etc. However, sometimes enabling a way for customers to rate and review you publically can end up with less-than-desired outcomes, such as negative reviews.

Maybe you had a bad day and were snappy, or the fish that was delivered was bad to begin with, or the customer was in a pissy mood and was out to get someone that day... who knows? That customer was unhappy and decided to make your life terrible by posting it for the world to see on Yelp.

Though it hurts your feelings or upsets you, negative reviews are not always bad. Here are a few ways to deal with them:

• Take it lightly: If you have mostly great reviews, then take the bad review with a grain of salt. Realize some people are just upset and angry and you just happened to be the target that day.  Once more people give positive reviews, it will make that bad reviewer look out of place (and perhaps a little insane).
• Get insights: If you are starting to see more and more poor reviews, then it is time to use these reviews as motive towards improving your business. Think of it as a really inexpensive way of performing a poll. Look at the most criticized elements of your business and make a conscious effort to turn it around. To follow up and see if there is an improvement, start providing a "rate your service" card for customers with their bill. You can encourage customers by creating a contest: those who return it get entered into a drawing for a prize (and while you are at it, now you have their email address where you can send them your own newsletter mentioning monthly deals, etc).
• Humor: This is my favorite. It requires you to take a step back and think outside of the box. This pic of the sandwich board shows a great way that one restaurant dealt with their bad review and turned it around.

These are just a few ways to help you get beyond the drudgery associated with a bad review. There are some more options that I will post in part 2 later.

Have you had a bad Yelp review, but business has continued? What are some other ways that you have dealt with those negative reviews?

Ever see your friends or associates post too-good-to-be-true status updates on Facebook or dream-like scenes on Pinterest? Their image or status update makes everything seem so perfect, beautiful, incredible, etc.

Well, the reality is our society is easily tricked and convinced with thoughtful wordplay and creative images. This is the reason that graphic designers, web designers, marketing consultants and advertising agencies have jobs. If done well, we make things pretty and enticing. The result is an unconscious effort to buy, believe, or participate in the perspective being "sold."

Below is a hilarious parody on how dissimilar reality and social media profiles/updates truly are. This just shows that if done right, images and words can convolute your perception of the truth.

Music is a great complement to the visual arts. It helps build bridges between the left and right side of the brain.

I've been playing drums for 2 decades now (wow- that feels crazy to say!). I have admired many different drummers throughout my amateur drumming career. One of my drum heroes is the beautiful and talented Sheila E. She is not only an incredible drummer and singer, but commands attention with her flare and pizzazz.

Check her out on the Letterman Show:

I worked a bit this last season to bring some more color into my office, painting my chairs a bright orange and trimming small pieces out with a light teal. In addition, I painted two pieces using a deep pthalo blue, which is a deeper teal. Now, each day I enter into my office, it feels more and more inviting.

On a different note, my 4 year old daughter has been intrigued with finger nail polish. This has driven us to search out new polish colors. After a bit of time in my office, we both were inspired to paint our nails teal. Now with my sparkly teal nails, I match my office a little better. This makes me feel more at home on groggy Monday mornings.

My "Tropical Sierras" show is now on display at Uncorked at Squaw. Some of the pieces on display include "Squaw Dreams" acrylic on canvas, and many works painted on reclaimed cabinet doors. Uncorked Squaw is located in Squaw Valley just 10 minutes south of Truckee, CA. They are open for wine and appetizers every day at noon.

Sky Rondenet is a Lake Tahoe film maker and post production artist who needed a website to show off her beautiful work.

After helping her transfer her domain and guiding the layout of her new site, I helped bring SkyRondenet.com into a new light. Built on WordPress, her new site integrates the social network sharing capabilities she needed, as well as provides a contemporary look and feel that compliments her work. The result is a stunning, yet functional website that properly highlights the work of this talented cinematographer. SkyRondenet.com