The move is complete…

BIG Images’ move is complete!

We are now located at 767 Francis Ave., San Luis Obispo Ca 93401.

BIG Images is Growing

We’re moving…

A few days ago we signed the lease on a new building! We’re so excited about the news and have been so busy making preparations that this months’ BIG Images Newsletter has been postponed. Have no fear, though — we’ll return next month with some choice words about all this craziness we call “enriching the lives of our readers.” But, for now, let’s talk about the new shop!

BIG Images is moving 3 blocks south to 767 Francis St, San Luis Obispo, Ca 93401. Click here to view this map on Google Maps.

Our new home is at 767 Francis Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. For those of you who don’t know where that is, it’s only three blocks south from our current shop. Above is a screenshot of Google Maps showing our old location compared to the new one. Click here to view this map on Google Maps.

BIG Images is moving to a new building about 2.5x larger. Here an electrician is installing a new sub-panel. BIG Images will be fully moved by October 1, 2007.

We’re growing into a building roughly 2.5 times larger than our current building. That means we can finally hire more people and get that equipment we’ve had on our wishlist all these months.

All this craziness should be done and we’ll be completely moved in by October 1, 2007. Don’t worry: there will be no interruption to our regular workflow. See you there!

Step 6 to effective large-format graphics: Placement

Consider Where Your Large-Format Graphic will be Placed

The environment your graphic is going into is very important. In fact, it’s at least as important as its fellow rivals: subject matter, selling point, imagery and layout. And there is an implicit responsibility given to those who advertise: with every ad, poster, banner, or car wrap you produce, you are contributing to the environment around it. I’m not necessarily talking about whether you use green materials (that’s an entirely separate topic). This is about how your graphic adds or subtracts from the experience of your audience in that area.

the only way your marketing materials are going to have any effect is if they are experienced.

Start by asking yourself a few questions: How crowded is the surrounding area? How high will the graphic be placed? Are there any prevalent color themes in the area? Are you competing with other similar advertisements? How is it being mounted? In a window? In a banner stand? On the side of a metropolitan bus? On an adorable puppy?

Okay, perhaps I went a little too far with the puppy part (although that would be a decent way to get noticed...). And yes, sometimes you don’t have any information about the surrounding area of your ad, for example, if you’re working on a national ad campaign. But try to focus on what you do know.

The point is the only way your marketing materials are going to have any effect is if they are experienced. That means your radio ad must be heard, your video must be viewed, or, in this case, your large-format graphic must be seen. Beyond that, you have to make sure that your audience won’t have to fight to see your message. Regardless of where the graphic is placed, determine the most important part of your message and place it on the graphic accordingly, such as at direct eye level. Whatever you do, though, don’t put any important content below waist level of your target audience; it’s like a giant blind spot.

Also, make certain you've got the right material for the right application. For outdoor purposes, consider a solvent print on a vinyl banner. Not to toot our own horn or anything, but BIG Images prints on high-quality banner material that will be lightfast and weatherfast for at least five years. And at $7.50 a square foot, it’s pretty affordable too. If you’re looking for indoor solutions, including posters, window cling, stickers, and many others, we have product for those as well.

However things go, it’s always a good idea to discuss your options with your printer relatively early on in the development stages. They often know a thing or two about these things, and more often than not, with just a simple call you can save yourself time, money and heartbreak.

Read Ben’s Step 5 to effective large-format graphics: Visualizing the final product

Benjamin Lawless knows a little bit about the effect of an adorable puppy on the general population. If you see him downtown with his cute mutt Apollo, say hi. He’ll most likely not run away from you like a lunatic.

Cover Your Assets

War Stories from the Trade Show Floor — Cover Your Assets

Everyone remembers when Obi Wan Kenobi said to Luke Skywalker “You will never see a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” He was, of course, talking about Mos Eisley, the spaceport on Luke's home planet of Tatooine. However, had Obi Wan been in the trade show industry, I'm fairly certain he might have instead said “There is but one more wretched hive of scum and villainy, New York City’s Jacob Javits Convention Center”.

You see, several years ago I was managing the installation of a million dollar booth at Javits. Out of all the union run-ins I encountered at that show, this one stands out as the most bizarre.

There is but one more wretched hive of scum and villainy, New York City’s Jacob Javits Convention Center

This was a big project: a 20’ tall enclosed theater, conference room, reception area, themed product presentation areas, and rock concert styled lighting complete with lighting crew. The booth also had four 20’ tall columns that had to be built from the inside. The towers where designed around a very specific lift that could fit inside the column. This specific lift was such a crucial part of the booth’s construction that I had the client buy the $10,000 lift and ship it to all the shows along with the booth.

According to union ‘law’ the Installation and Dismantle Union (I&D) could only use ladders. Any tasks requiring a lift required the Lift Union and their equipment. And, for ‘liability reasons,’ the Lift Union could only use their own equipment.

So here I am with the I&D union unable to work, the Lift union telling me that I can’t use my own lift, and their equipment is too big to bother with. They tried however, but I knew; I had already done the research. That’s why I had my client buy the lift in the first place, along with all of its union approved safety equipment. The other union was sitting around waiting to see what I wanted them to do and my client was getting very nervous as the time clicked closer with no booth.

Finally I told the I&D guys to use the lift. After all, this thing needed to be built. What happened next was amazing: the twenty guys from the lift union who were on the floor at the time came and stood in a grid formation in my booth. It was a stand-in, and if any one of the union guys where bumped they would sue. The lift supervisor was yelling at me for taking food off the plates of his guys, while other guys where yelling, and my client was turning pale. I thought they where going to faint. Security was called in.

At this point, the show superintendent came down to the floor. This was one of the most chaotic events of my career. What did I do? Simple, I pulled out my show binder and showed the show superintendent the lift authorization paperwork I had his office sign. The paperwork that said my I&D guys could use the lift as long as they followed proper safety guidelines, had the correct safety harnesses, and had a rider on my insurance policy naming the I&D union and the convention center.

The point is, read the show rules and regulations. Know before you get there what oppositions you are likely to encounter. If anything in your build does not conform to the show regulations request specific permission for your situation and request it in writing.

In short. Do your homework and be prepared.

Written by the man, the myth, the legend: Ken Pettit.

Adobe RGB vs sRGB

Over the course of the next few months I will be writing about color, offering some insight into what BIG Images likes to see in computer files, and why. This month I am discussing the difference between two color spaces: Adobe RGB and sRGB.

One of the most oft-debated topics I hear (and take part in) regarding color is which color space to use for images. Before I continue, let me just say that I do not intend to answer this question for all time, but I will offer you the opinion of a professional printer, and tell you why I believe as I do.

BIG Images prefers files in the Adobe RGB color space.

Keep in mind that BIG Images is all about getting the best possible print that technology can offer. To do this we need the best possible input into our workflow. Simply put — the more color you give us, the more we can print. This is why BIG Images prefers files in the Adobe RGB color space (there are a few exceptions, but those are beyond the scope of this article). Adobe RGB is simply larger than sRGB, allowing more color information to be stored in an image. To illustrate this I have included a visual comparison of Adobe RGB and sRGB. The white, outer shape, is Adobe RGB and the smaller shape inside it is sRGB. This demonstrates that Adobe RGB is physically larger and can capture more color information than sRGB.

Adobe RGB is the outer, white shape, and sRGB is the inner, colored shape. You can clearly see the areas where Adobe RGB captures more color than sRGB.

This image demonstrates the difference between Adobe RGB and sRGB. Click on the image to toggle between the Adobe RGB and sRGB version.

So, lets apply this to a photograph. Here as an example photo saved from Photoshop. This image was saved out as two versions, one with the Adobe RGB color space applied, the other with sRGB applied. By clicking it you can toggle the image between Adobe RGB and sRGB to see the difference between the two color spaces. You should notice a distinct difference in the saturation — the Adobe RGB version has more intense colors. This is exactly what you would notice when printing this image at BIG Images — your Adobe RGB images will be more saturated.

Don’t get to excited though. You cannot simply convert an under-saturated image to Adobe RGB and expect it to look more saturated. This is like trying to take a very small web graphic and enlarging it to print on a 4’ x 8’ banner. The end result will be of a lower quality.

And this leads me to the topic of next month’s article. Now you know why I like Adobe RGB for large format printing. Next month I will offer a few workflow tips to help you take advantage of this larger color space to produce better quality prints.

Article written by Jon Beebe.

Step 5 to effective large-Visualizing the final product

When dealing with large-format graphics, there is always one problem that consistently rears it's ugly head: many people can't visualize what the graphic will look like. Most often, it is just too difficult to wrap your brain around the actual size of the graphic. Most computer monitors are between 17" and 24", whereas almost all large-format graphics are 3' x 5' or larger. Sure you can squint at your monitor from across the room, but that can't possibly give you a decent sense of scale when it comes right down to it.

In previous months, I've discussed the importance of legibility and simplicity in large-format design. Unfortunately, without a decent perception of size, you're taking a crap shoot with your marketing campaign. You see, whether it's a client, a boss, or employees and freelancers, everyone involved in your marketing efforts needs to have the same idea for the impact it will have. Particularly if you're dealing with a large-budget marketing campaign, the entire crew should be able to speak using the same visual vocabulary.

…the entire crew should be able to speak using the same visual vocabulary.

This best way to prevent a major marketing catastrophe in this area is to create a real sized mock-up. I cannot stress the importance of this particular solution enough. It doesn't matter what you use, whether it's the actual material you're producing the graphic on, or if it's just a bunch of taped-together butcher paper. It may sound a little childish, but if the graphic isn't too big, grab some markers and draw a rough draft of your designs' layout right on it. This is a good excuse to keep an eye on your text sizes, determining what size the different elements need to be for good effect.

An even more accurate preview can be created using (and yes, I know it's a horrible name), the Rasterbator. This free tool allows you to upload any image, and it will enlarge it, slice it and give you a pdf for download. When you print the multi-page pdf, just place and tape the images together, and you should have a relatively accurate representation of your graphic at a more respectable size.

Read Ben’s Step 4 to effective large-format graphics: Use simple imagery for maximum effectiveness

Benjamin Lawless isn't a big man, by any means, but he'll surprise you.

Plan B — Trade Show Preparation

Let's face it: the tradeshow environment is not a zen garden. There, you will never find balance and peace. Instead, you'll find situations like the Samsonite luggage commercial of old. You know the one: hulking gorillas crash into suitcases with all their might, shredding its contents.

I've seen and heard of all manner of horror stories from the show floor, and they can be truly grisly. 'Bob the tattooed flowerist' drives over your case of graphics while delivering the ferns you ordered. FedEx decides your booth needed a vacation — why else would its last known location be Palm Beach, Florida?

…most of the problems that arise at a trade show are small, but if left unchecked, the sum of them will create overwhelming stress.

The point is nothing ever goes as planned. So, what then? What can be done in advance to minimize the inevitable? You plan for disappointment and heartbreak, and in short, you develop a Plan B. Luckily for you, I've been there, and I've found two objects that will save your hide almost every time.

The first is what I call a Contingency Kit. It's simply a large tool box with the following in it:

• Safety pins
• Shoe strings
• Sewing kit
• Lint roller
• Breath mint
• Deodorant
• Aspirin
• Pencils and pens
• Note pads
• Business cards of booth staff
• Cell phone chargers: if you get one for Nokia and one for Motorola you've covered the majority of the market
• Wet wipes
• Paper towels
• Shoe kit
• White out
• First aid
• Extra power strips
• Extra extension cord
• 2 to 3 prong adapters
• Trash bags: I recommend big Hefty bags
• Roll of paper towels
• Cleaner: Windex, et cetera
• Extra light bulbs: at least 2 of every kind on the booth
• Extra velcro
• Extra brochure holders
• Tape of many kinds: packing, gaffer, electrical, carpet
• A dvd with all the booth's graphics: brochures, cut sheets, posters... everything
• Avery 6875 full sheet label: if you have a laminate booth, these can be used to print a patch of the laminate to cover holes

Also of immense help is a show binder. It's where you keep all the information relating to this show, and this show only. Within it, you should put:

• The phone number and directions to the closest tradeshow display company (bigger shows will have them onsite)
• The directions to the closest hardware store
• The directions to the closest print shop: Kinkos, Staples, et cetera
• 3 DVDs with files of all the graphics used in your booth from business cards to the big tradeshow posters: one goes with the booth, one in your luggage and one with you
• All show contacts
• All Staff information: flights, lodging, cell phone numbers
• Show schedule for you and your staff
• List of restaurants close to the show
• List of restaurants to entertain at
• Show rules
• Copies of all correspondence regarding this show
• Copies of all contracts and agreements

You might find that these lists have more than you need, or maybe not enough. The point is to think of every little thing ahead of time, and plan for the worst case scenarios. With the Contingency Kit and the Show Binder, you know that if you lose your booth, you'll have a place to order a rental, ASAP. If your graphics get ruined, you have the art and can print a temporary replacement. If a light burns out, its covered. Even if somebody pops a button, there's no worries.

And my final word of advice on the subject: NEVER ship the Contingency Kit or the Show Binder with the booth and NEVER ship them to the show floor. If you keep them together and the booth gets lost in shipping somewhere, you're up a creek. Keep your Plan B as safe as possible: ship the Kit and Binder to your hotel. And ALWAYS insure them for at least twice their value. You'll spend at least that much in taxi fares and labor costs should you need something you should have had in the kit.

Now, don't worry: from my experience most of the problems that arise at a trade show are small, but if left unchecked, the sum of them will create overwhelming stress. I hope that these tips will equip you to handle emergencies quickly so you can eliminate the problem and the stress immediately.

Written by the man, the myth, the legend: Ken Pettit.

Large Format Printing for the rest of us

Large Format Printing has not been on the scene for very long. Outside of a few key industries, the benefits of a company like BIG Images are not immediately obvious to the uninitiated. In this article I am going to describe how a few of BIG Images’ clients have recieved invaluable solutions to their printing needs.

Preserving the Past

An old photo panorama, circa 1920, preserved through BIG Images digital printing process


BIG Images only prints with water-proof and light-resistant inks. Our photo-paper is equally strong, able to withstand fading and preserve its whiteness for years. This enabled a customer of ours to preserve a turn of the century panorama for future generations. Our customer had an old photograph that had been taped together from many smaller photographs. We were able to help them create archival quality, fade resistant prints for everyone in the family, preserving their heritage for future generations. This project was completed using our

10.5 mil photo paper

, our

uv-blocking luster laminate

, and 1/2” thick black gator board for a rigid backer.


Interior Decoration

BIG Images’ printing methods offer a low-cost way to create custom wall-coverings. As an example, one of our customers wanted to decorate her children’s bedroom doors. She brought us images of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, which we were able print full size, as large as her doors. She was then able to simply apply these large stickers to the new doors for a unique look all her own. This project used our water-proof and scratch resistance adhesive backed vinyl.

Display Boards

Tri-fold display board
It is very common for businesses or students to need quick and cost-effective signage for their projects. Businesses need presentation material to market their new products and services. Students need display boards for end-of-term presentations, thesis defenses, and senior projects. BIG Images one-off printing methods allow for quick and professionally printed tri-fold presentation boards that fit within a small business or student budget. Our low-cost photo-paper & Fome Core (used to produce the tri-fold board pictured here) is a perfect solution for presentation boards.

Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday Banner
Everyone has a birthday. Why not celebrate with a huge birthday banner and let your friends and family know just how old they are! With a custom and personalized printed banner you can add that singularly fun and attractive one-of-a-kind feel that guests will not soon forget. Go ahead, embarrass your friends and surprise the guests with a themed banner. All our banners are printed on high-quality 16.25mil vinyl banner.

large-format-printing-for-rest-of-us_5.jpg
Article written by Jon Beebe.

Announcing the delicious:designer

At BIG Images, we’re out to prove you don’t need to shell out hundreds of dollars for fully-featured design software. Producing something worthwhile also doesn’t need to be more difficult than helping a walrus move into a skyscraper. Design is life, and it should be experienced without barrier.

Announcing the delicious:designer 2.0 — powerful design tools for common people.

For the past two years we have been hard at work developing and simplifying complex technology, specifically applications suited for design and print. And this month, we're proud to announce our greatest achievement — the delicious:designer — an easy-to-use cross-platform vector design application. Unlike most design applications, the delicious:designer runs within your web browser, allowing access to your designs from anywhere in the world.
Furthermore, it's platform-independent. That's right; design on your Macintosh, Windows, and Linux computers with equal ease and comfort. It works wherever the internet does.

This is a small screen-shot of vector node-editing in the delicious:designer. Read more about this full-powered creative design app here.

Oh, and it's free. Yes, you read correctly. $0.00. You see, we don't believe that anyone should have to fork over thousands of dollars before they ever start creating. The tools in which you build your creations should be as free as the dreams that inspire them.

Our beta version, to be released on May 25, includes features that are common in most desktop design applications, such as:

• A full suite of bezier-editing tools
• Bitmap import
• Text frames
• Font Previews
• Export to a multitude of file formats

And the delicious:designer has many features not offered through traditional design packages, such as:

• Cross-platform compatibility
• Access to your files from anywhere in the world
• Embed your vector art directly into any web site or blog
• Collaborate with friends and customers

Ancillary techonogies

The delicious:suite of technologies includes two more that will be released on the 25th of May. The delicious:viewer and second:skin. These are based on the delicious:designer technology, and offer benefits for bloggers, web masters, and Second Life residents.

The delicious:viewer

The delicious:viewer gives everyone the ability to embed vector images into web pages and blogs with the ease and predictability of a jpeg. Once the image is online, anyone can zoom, pan, and even edit it, right on the page.

Read more about the delicious:viewer here.

Second:skin

The residents of Second Life know there aren’t many options for tailoring your own Second Life clothing. They typically require thousand-dollar professional design suites or the barely functional free design apps that come with your computer. Based on the same code as the delicious:designer, second:skin gives anyone the ability to create beautiful clothing for their Second Life avatar with ease.

Read more about second:skin here.

The delicious:designer. On May 25, beautiful design will finally be easy.

BIG images would like to thank Benjamin Lawless for the fantastic illustrations.

Step 4 to effective large-format graphics: Use simple imagery for maximum effectiveness

Tip 4: Use simple imagery for maximum effectiveness.

Figure 1a. With no negative space to give this image room to breathe, the message "go see this movie" is lost in a colossal headache.

Figure 1b. Lending a bit of class, sofistication and impending doom to this horror movie makes this image look a bit more ominous, and far more viewable.

You've all seen it: illegible and completely useless large-format ads that do nothing but give eyesores and headaches to everyone around. What is that poster trying to say? Why do I feel mentally and physically assaulted? How can we learn to never, ever make something like this crime against humanity again?

In previous months, I've discussed the importance of legibility in your advertisement designs. This is especially important when it comes to keeping your text short so that your message is straightforward and diluted to it's core. Well, there is a similar golden rule that applies to imagery, and it's this: Simplicity.

Too much imagery can drown out your message in a crazy whirlwind of galactic proportions. One image is best, and preferably if it has plenty of negative space. Negative space is any portion of the image that surrounds the main subject. Sometimes, it's referred to as the background. Many may be tempted to use the negative space as graphic real-estate for adding text or making graphic elements as large as humanly possible, as you can see in figure 1a, but this gets you nowhere. Giving your advertisement room to breathe gives your product an air of class, refinement and luxury; it makes whatever you're selling desirable. In figure 1b, you can see how I eliminated the unnecessary starburst background and only made the text "watch your brains" large enough to be legible (for an in-depth discussion on this topic, see my previous article: sizing your fonts correctly).

Notice that in figure 1b there's an awful lot of negative space. That's on purpose. For every successful design, negative space has to be considered and arranged almost as carefully as your subject or text. Don't be afraid to experiment with your negative space, and make sure to use it to direct your audience's eyes around the graphic.

On a side note: whatever the application, we seriously advise against the use of collages. Trust us. Since they tend to not have negative space, they’re a pain on the eyes. Think about it: one large spacious picture often will say more than 10 small ones. Leave your ancillary product pictures on a brochure. Just keep your large-format graphic large and pristine. If you absolutely must have multiple product or other photos on it, limit it to a maximum of three, and include bullet points outlining what it is you’re showing. Following with another previous article, keep these bullets short and easily viewable. You'll be glad you did, and so will the general populace.

Read Ben’s Step 3 to effective large-format graphics: Contrast is your best friend

Ben Lawless is a sophisticated yet simple man, and he would rather everyone was prepared for the zombie apocalypse. Watch your brains.

Cash on the Ground

I’m sure you’ve all noticed the floor graphics sprinkled throughout your local grocery store. These highly effective and affordable large-format images have proven to increase sales by up to 20–30%. In fact, floor graphics have become part of the standard marketing package at many larger stores and retail chains. The market for printing these floor advertisements is projected to grow to $2 billion in the next 5 years. If your competition is not already marketing with it, they will be.

Benefits of floor graphics

With a price of $13.75/sqft the advertising opportunity is very cost-effective compared to radio, newspaper, and other more traditional methods. Floor graphics are inexpensive enough to use as short-term signage, and durable enough to use as long-term signage.

BIG Images printed this floor advertisement, designed by Whizbang Ideas, for use in grocery stores. Placed strategically at seafood counters, promoting impulse buys.

Floor graphics are an inexpensive and novel way to create brand awareness, especially in retail environments. Most customers don’t choose the brand they’ll buy until they’re in the store — strategically placed floor graphics influence this decision. Typically the image is placed directly in the customer’s line of sight as they look where they walk.

Grocery stores and retail are not the only application. Floor graphics are a great way to improve safety by placing warnings in key locations. They also can act as event signage, helping to direct traffic. We have seen customers use footprints (or puppy-prints) to help guide foot traffic. Other uses include:

• Trade-show booth & exhibit marketing
• Lobbies. For example — in the entry of a bank to promote a new home-equity loan
• Aisle graphics in car dealerships
• High-school and college basketball court logos
• Subtle enhancements to new museum exhibits
• Featured band performances at night clubs
• Interior decor

What is a floor graphic?

Floor graphics (or floor decals) are an adhesive-backed product that will stick to almost any smooth, non porous floor (surfaces like tile, sealed concrete, linoleum, hard-wood floors, etc.) They are designed to be used for about 6 months and removed with no adhesive residue left behind.

The surface of a floor graphic is slip-resistant vinyl designed to match the slip-rating of most flooring, so customers will not notice a surface-change as they walk over them.

A contour-cut floor graphic in BIG Images’ entry.

Floor graphics are a very specialized print process — very few print shops have the production capabilities today. BIG Images’ print production facility is an ideal center for producing this medium, and we are proud to offer you this affordable new marketing tool.

Break the square mold!

Floor graphics can be easily contour-cut for interesting shapes that are more likely to be noticed by customers. BIG Images has the capabilities to rapidly contour-cut any floor graphic up to 40” wide. For those designers reading this — simply create Adobe Illustrator paths for the cut lines and our machine will follow them precisely, giving you complete control of the final shape.

More information abou BIG Images floor graphics

For more information about BIG Images’ floor graphics give us a call at 1-805-781-9301. Or read about BIG Images floor graphics solutions here.

Article written by Jon Beebe.

Trade Show Etiquette

So here we are; it’s April and many of you are in the thick of your tradeshow season. With that in mind, I decided to discuss what NOT to do on the tradeshow floor. Without fail, every time I attend a show, I see staff blunders, gaffes, and other faux pas. How do you set yourself apart in this rough and tumble world? Well, let me tell you.

Sitting

The tradeshow environment is a tough one. I know that. By the end of the day your entire body feels weak and numbed. I also know that the next day you’d rather have your legs amputated than stand on them, but buck up! When you’re sitting, you look lazy and less approachable. In that state, lead-generating opportunities will pass you by like grandma getting passed on the highway.

Talking with other booth staff

Remember: this is not the breakroom and you’re not at the show to talk with “Bob” from R&D. Save the conversation for dinner. Otherwise, if you’re in the middle of chumming it up, show attendees will not even try to interrupt your conversation to ask for information. The same goes for the cell phone as well; if you need to take a call, excuse yourself from the booth.

Eating

If you eat at your booth, you’re telling your prospects, “I’m busy. Spend your time, attention and money elsewhere.” Once you’re away from your booth and ready to chow down, avoid food that will cause bad breath. This is no time to to make a reservation at The Stinking Rose (no matter how good it tastes) – your pores will stink for days to come.

Scratching, picking, digging...

Most of us spend our days in semi-private environment. When the need to scratch, pick or adjust arises we are free to address our source of discomfort immediately. Well, being on a show floor is a lot like being on stage. People are all around and watching you. So the odds of being caught scratching are pretty high. Just Don’t Do It.

Talking smack

You only get one chance to make a first impression. At a trade show, you are making that impression on someone at every moment. How will you and your company be remembered?

/div>Several years ago I was staffing a booth with a couple of other people when in walked a very beautiful woman along with her blind husband. They asked a couple of questions and left. A few moments later one of the other staff members started talking about this woman’s features in great detail, then said “it’s a shame, a woman like that, and her husband can’t even see what he’s missing.” At that point her husband made his way back from two booths away and said, “I might not be able to see, but I can hear”

The point is this: whether it’s about other booth staffers, competitors or attendees, your conversations can and will be overheard. Will what you say encourage trust in you as a person? In the end, our decision to buy is based on what we think of you. What you sell is almost ancillary.

80/20

Remember the 80/20 rule – listen 80% of the time and talk 20%. Many people, when put in the show situation, tend to “throw-up” on the attendees. You’ve seen it, I’ve done it. It’s just wrong.

For example, the attendee asks a question, “Does your product do this?” Then you reply, “The product does this and that and my company was founded in 1912 by a farmer and a goose. I started working with the company when Carter was president. Boy, it was a hot summer.” You did nothing but point out that you’re uncomfortable being there.

Listen to the customer. Process what they want to know, then respond with pertinent information. Wait, then ask if your response adequately answered their question. If you’re nervous, take a breath or two before speaking. You’ll be glad you did.

The bottom line

For a successful trade show, make sure you are as approachable and professional as possible. Remember that at any given moment, you will be on center stage. The customer is looking at your booth and asking themselves, “Do I need what they have?” Then they’ll look at you and decide, “Do I want to work with them?” That is not a good time to pick your nose.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. At a trade show, you are making that impression on someone at every moment. How will you and your company be remembered?

Written by Ken Pettit.

Step 3 to effective large-format graphics: Contrast is your best friend

In my last column, I discussed making your text large enough to be legible so you're sure your audience can easily read your large-format marketing materials. Well, that's only one of many aspects to ensuring legibility in your marketing efforts. This month, learn how to maximize your target audience by building adequate contrast into your designs.

Tip 3: Use contrast to ensure maximum legibility.

There is a fragile eco-system at work whenever marketing material is distributed, whether large format or small. Your message, which should be the most important part of your marketing efforts, has to coexist with and more often than not subdue, other elements vying for a potential customer's attention. Depending on the piece, the message could be in the ring with the baddest of the bad, such as other imagery, the format of the piece, surrounding space, and even the typeface the message itself is rendered in. And that war rages on way before anyone important ever actually sees it.

When it is finally glimpsed, your message finds another challenge to contend with. You see, everyone sees color differently. Our perception of color can be affected by anything from our biology to simple things like our mood and diet. Many designers don't even consider the consequences of their color choices on marketing materials, and that leaves your message completely alone, with noone to notice it. After all, if something is difficult to see, people won't bother looking at it.

And so, controlling contrast on your marketing materials turns an ignored design into a successful marketing campaign. I would even go so far as to say that contrast is your best friend.

So, wherever you have text, you should use contrast to make it completely distinguishable from it’s background. That means if you have a dark background, place white text on it, and vice versa for a lighter background. Be mindful to use colored text and drop-shadows sparingly, because they can have a nasty habit of obscuring your text, even though all you wanted to do was to distinguish it from its background. White or black text with no shadow is usually the best.

In most cases, one of the reasons why colored text doesn't work is that designers aren't being careful to separate their normal values. The normal value is the shade of gray you get when you take out all the hue and saturation from a color and are left with only the brightness. Basically, if you were to run the graphic through a black and white copier, you’d see only its normal values. If you have a red blurb and a blue background with the same normal value, it will be very difficult to distinguish the text from the background, even though the colors are supposedly different. Since everybody sees color a little differently, making certain the normal values are different may be the only real way to be 100% certain your text will be read.

Finally, before sending your graphic along to the printer, proof the normal values by either printing it out in black and white on your desktop printer, or just converting a copy of your file to grayscale in Photoshop. You'd be amazed at what sorts of problems a hard proof will help you spot.

Read Ben’s Step 2 to effective large-format graphics: Size your fonts correctly

Ben Lawless wants to remind everyone to not drink beer with contrast. It may be your best friend, but it sure as heck ain’t your drinking buddy. Contrast will always expect you to pick up the tab. Trust us on this one.

Color Illusions

How Color Can Play Tricks With Your Eye

Color is one of those elusive subjects; it is very difficult to communicate precisely. Many variables, from lighting conditions to the surrounding environment to the age of the viewer, have an effect on the way we perceive color. Some variables in particular change the way colors are perceived when prints become large. In this article I show you some visual aids to demonstrate how a color can be perceived differently simply by changing the surroundings.

The Luminance Illusion

Lets start with a simple grayscale example. The image below demonstrates how our perception of depth and shadow effects the way we perceive color. To be more precise, the following illusion will show how the eye perceives the luminance of an object different from the actual luminance values. Press “Play” to reveal the illusion.

The Cornsweet illusion: our eyes perceive the luminance of the top and bottom object as different, when they are actually the same luminance, or brightness.

You will see that the top and bottom grey are actually the same value! This effect is know as the Cornsweet illusion. You can read more about it here at Wikipedia.

Discounting the Illuminate

This next illusion demonstrates how the surrounding lighting environment changes the way we perceive color. The cube on the left is lit by a yellow light, the cube on the right is lit by a blue light. Slide the bottom slider to reveal the illusion. Clicking “Revealing Color Table” will show swatches of the colors used in the cube surrounded by white light, thus revealing their true color values.

Color Constancy: “…a feature of the human color perception system which ensures that the perceived color of objects remains relatively constant under varying illumination conditions” —source: Wikipedia.

As you can see the "blue" squares on the left and the "yellow" squares on the right are actually both neutral grey. The surrounding environment causes us to perceive them as having a color. This is known as Color Constancy, where the eye adjusts to varying lighting conditions allowing us to perceive colors as relatively constant. This is why the yellow squares of the left image still look yellow in the right image, even though they are actually grey in the right image.

The Same-Color Illusion

Our last illusion demonstrates something a little simpler and more subtle. Click "Play" to see it in action.

This demonstration shows that two spectrally-identical circles will be perceived differently when surrounded by different backgrounds.

The two circles pictured above are the same color. By coloring the surrounding space with slightly different colors we change the circles perceived color. For all the graphic designers reading this: imagine that the circles represent your customer’s Pantone™ swatch (which they chose from a color pallet previewed on a white background). Your printer might match the color dead-on, but because of the surrounding environment, each will be perceived incorrectly.

Conclusion

Hopefully this helps you understand how our eyes can perceive colors differently under varying conditions. If you are interested in reading more on this subject I suggest you check out the following resources:

Purves Lab: This is where the sample images you saw above came from. Purves lab is a wealth of information and examples about how we perceive color.

Wikipedia: Visit the Optical Illusions category at Wikipedia for a collection of illusions and their explanations.

Article written by Jon Beebe.

Color Perception and the Human Body

Part 1: Color Perception and the Retina

figure 1a. Human retina as seen through an opthalmoscope

The retina of the eye is formed by a layer of cells lining the inside of the eye. It is viewable through the pupil of the eye and is the object of interest when an optometrist examines the eye with a light. Along with the many blood vessels running through the layer, two discrete spots are discernable from this vantage point: the fovea and the blind spot, or optic disk (See Figures 1a, b). The fovea is also referred to as the focal point. It is this slightly indented region, containing high concentrations of cone cells, upon which the lens focuses entering light. All other areas of the retina are responsible for the perception of peripheral vision (1. Kolb, 2005, 2. Silverthorn, 1998).

The blind spot gets its name from the fact that, due to the lack of either photoreceptor (rods or cones), it is literally an area of the retina incapable of detecting light. This is the area in which the long axons of ganglion cells, which carry light information from all parts of the retina, converge to form the optic nerve (the nerve connecting the eye to the brain). It is also the entry and exit point of veins and arteries that feed the retina (1. Kolb, 2005, 2. Silverthorn, 1998).

figure 1b. Cross section of the eye

figure 2. Light absorption of visual pigments

Among the layers of cells within the retina, the rods and cones are the only photoreceptive cells; they are the cells that react in response to light (See figure 2). Rods are responsible for night vision. The retina contains around 90 million rod cells which grow in concentration the further the distance from the fovea. Rods are 100 times more sensitive than cones, thus enabling them to function in extremely dim light. Their sensitivity is greatest in the blue area of the spectrum (498 nm), making reds difficult to see at night. Despite their sensitivity, many rods synapse on (communicate with) one bipolar cell, creating a large receptive field. This means that the signal to the brain is not specific as to which particular rod within the group signaled the perception of light. This high rod to bipolar cell ratio is responsible for grainy night vision, in much the same way that the large crystals in high-speed film produce a grainy image (2. Silverthorn, 1998, 3. Rod Cell, 2007).

Alternately, Cones are responsible for the perception of color. There are approximately 4.5 million cones in the human eye, concentrated mainly at the fovea. They are less sensitive to light than rods, but can perceive finer detail and respond more rapidly. The greater acuity is due to the lower ratio of cones to ganglion cells. In fact, at the fovea, many cones answer to only one ganglion cell. This exclusivity allows for much finer pinpointing of the source of stimulus. Three variations of cones exist; they are commonly called red, green and blue cones; however, they are better termed short-wave (which peaks at 420nm in the blue-violet range), medium-wave (534nm in the bluish-green range), and long-wave (564 nm in the yellow-green range). Notice that reds (700nm) are poorly detected by the long-wave cone (not to mention, the rod). Thus well-lit conditions are required in order to perceive reds. Additionally, the ratio of each type of cone is not a set value. Short-wave cones occur in much lower concentration than medium and long, while the ratio of the medium to long varies wildly from person to person (see Figure 3)(2. Silverthorn, 1998, 4. Cone Cell, 2007). Amazingly, these variations have no effect on color perception; a person with an abundance of long-wave cones can pick out a true yellow as easily as one whose medium-wave cones dominate.

figure 3. Concentrations of red, green, and blue cones in two individuals

Looking at the retina in cross section, one observes that there are many cells positioned between the incoming light and the photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) (See Figure 4). The only exception is at the fovea, where the cells are parted to allow direct access to the cones. Light emerging from the lens of the eye passes through the cell layers and is finally absorbed by the pigmented epithelium that serves to prevent the scattering and reflecting of light. The rod cell is stimulated by light at its cylindrical end where sections of the cell membrane are invaginated into a multitude of layers to form a stacked-pancake appearance. These folded layers create greater surface area to house high concentrations of the molecule Rhodopsin. Upon exposure to light, rhodopsin breaks down into its two component molecules: opsin and retinal (a derivative of Vitamin A). The dissociation of this molecule causes a chain reaction within the cell which will ultimately send a signal to the bipolar cell upon which it synapses. Cones are stimulated by light in a similar manner, except that, rather than housing rhodopsin in their conical stacks of membranes, they posses one of three variants of photopsin. Each photopsin is responsible for the variations in wavelength absorption among the three cone types. Like rhodopsin in rods, photopsin breaks down into two components, opsin and retinal, upon exposure to a sufficient level of light. A chemical chain reaction occurs as a result. In broad daylight, all of the Rhodopsin in rod cells dissociate due to the high sensitivity, leaving only cones functioning. After the exposure, the cells enzymatically re-combine opsin with retinal to re-form rhodopsin in rods and photopsin in cones (2. Silverthorn, 1998 3. Rod Cell, 2007 4. Cone Cell, 2007).

figure 4. Cross section of the retina

As mentioned earlier, photoreceptors synapse upon bipolar cells, and a bipolar cell may have many photoreceptors that synapse upon it (either rods or cones, but not both). When a photoreceptor is at rest (not stimulated by light), it secretes a constant amount of the neurotransmitter, glutamate, into the synapse between itself and the bipolar cell. When light stimulates the photoreceptor, the chain reaction begun by the breakdown of rhodopsin or photopsin causes a reduction in the amount of glutamate secreted into the synapse. Depending on the type of bipolar cell, it will be either stimulated or inhibited by this change in chemical concentration. In turn, multiple bipolar cells can synapse upon a ganglion cell and either excite or inhibit it. The ganglion and its corresponding photoreceptors create what is termed a receptive (visual) field (6. Photoreceptor, 2007 7. Receptive Field, 2007).

figure 5. On-center and off-center ganlia

There are two parts to the receptive field, the "center" and the "surround" (Figure 5). There are also two types of ganglia: on-center and off-center. A ganglia which is on-center will be stimulated when light-induced signals are primarily focused on the "center", but inhibited when along the edges or "surround" of it's receptive field. Conversely, an off-center ganglia will be excited by stimulation of the "surround", but inhibited by the "center". Both types of ganglia will give a weak response if light is evenly distributed between the two areas. The Horizontal cell is responsible for the "center" and "surround" signal that is perceived by the Ganglion. These cells, whose activities are poorly understood, connect to all the photoreceptors within the receptive field of the ganglion cell and receive signals from these photoreceptors. Stimulation of the horizontal cell causes it to feedback onto the photoreceptors in a manner which inhibits them. Photoreceptors receiving minimal light become completely inhibited. Photoreceptors receiving the most intense light also experience the inhibitory effects of the Horizontal cells, but the light intensity overrides the signal. In this manner, dimly lit photoreceptors are silenced. This process, termed lateral inhibition, increases contrast and sharpens edges (6. Photoreceptor, 2007 7. Receptive Field, 2007 8. Horizontal Cell).

Amacrine cells are poorly understood, but are thought to work on the bipolar cells in a manner similar to horizontals, adjusting brightness and allowing the detection of motion.

References

1. Kolb, Helga, Eduardo Fernadez, Ralph Nelson. "Webvision: The Organization of the Retina and Visual System." John Moran Eye Center. 2005. University of Utah. 20 March, 2007 http://webvision.med.utah.edu.
2. Silverthorn, Dee Unglaub. "Human Physiology, An Integrated Approach." New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.
3. Rod Cell. "Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia." 2 March 2007, 0121 UTC Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 19 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_cell.
4. Cone Cell. "Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia." 19 March 2007, 1448 UTC Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 19 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_cell.
5. Thompson, L.T. "Sensory Systems II." Aging and Memory Research Center. 14 Dec. 2006 University of Texas at Dallas. 19 Mar 2007 http://www.utdallas.edu/~tres/integ/sen3/display7_09.html.
6. Photoreceptor. "Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia." 16 March 2007, 2051 UTC Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 19 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoreceptors.
7. Receptive Field. "Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia." 23 Feb. 2007, 1635 UTC Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptive_fields.
8. Hubel, David. "Bipolar Cells and Horizontal Cells." Eye, Brain, and Vision. Harvard Medical School, Neurobiology Dept. 20 March 2007 http://neuro.med.harvard.edu/site/dh/b12.htm.
9. Horizontal Cell. "Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia." 13 March 2007, 1500 UTC Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 19 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_cell.

Article written by Christine Dahlquist.

Trade show results through design consistency

Increase your trade show results through design consistency

Feet throbbing, calves aching, staring blankly at the ceiling as I lay on my back in my hotel room; glad this was the last day of the tradeshow. It’s amazing, the simple things a numb mind will focus on, like the fire sprinkler over my bed... Tradeshows — the three ringed circus of the corporate world.

Your booth needs to communicate everything in 3 to 5 seconds.

There is one last task before I can go to sleep, however. I have to figure out what I’m going to take home. We all know tradeshows are a cacophony of chaos and these bags of cheap swag and brochures next to my suitcase are proof. This is the process (you’ll want to pay attention here):

• Cheap pens, key fobs and other useless giveaways — trashed.
• T-shirts and neat toys my boys will like — set-aside.
• Letter openers, pocket knives and the likes — trash, airport security will make me toss ’em anyway.

So, here’s the question… how do you design in such a way as to keep your literature out of the hotel room trash can? The answer is simple but implementation is not.

In order to save your marketing materials from a recycle-bin fate, I need to see a rock solid image and branding campaign. It needs to carry across every aspect of your company’s marketing materials, from web site to tradeshow booth. Let's say your booth has a modern style— a bright white booth with sweeping red accent lines and dramatic black and white imagery. The literature you hand me, in stark contrast, is more earth-tone colored with stylized illustrations. Back in my hotel room, when I’m flipping through my mound of tradeshow junk, how do I connect you and your modern booth with the earth-toned literature in my hands? Most likely I wouldn’t. Trash.

Here's a real-world example that got it right. Retail Anywhere with the help of 20|20 Creative Group produced one of the best integrated campaigns I’ve ever seen. Then to top that off, the design of each piece clearly demonstrates their understanding of each medium used.

This booth is clean, bold and effectively communicates what they do. No guessing here.

At tradeshows you have 3 to 5 seconds to catch the attention of the show attendee. This is only done through big bold graphics that concisely convey what you do. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this and am amazed at how many times it’s ignored. Your booth needs to communicate everything in 3 to 5 seconds! Simply “Acme Company - We sell widgets.”

The colors, the imagery, the text. They all flow from the booth to the brochures, creating a visual tie that the trade show attendee will not soon forget.

The marketing materials match the booth. They delegated more detailed information to the brochures where it will be read, and away from a tradeshow poster where it will be ignored.

The literature you give out at the show is a great place to give more details about your company and product. This literature should look like the booth. The attendee will place your booth, the face of the person they talked with and the conversation they had with your staff in the same memory slot as the brochure.

The site carries the look of both the booth and literature.

Your company web site should also carry the theme of your marketing materials and tradeshow booth. This is the best place for very detailed information. Here an attendee can search and read to their hearts content. This is where you want people to go. The attendees can easily pass your information to the correct individual within their company. Best of all you can track what is being read and if your site is configured right you can track who is reading. Don't fill your tradeshow poster with information that really only belongs in your brochure or on your website.

So here’s the bottom line:

• Your booth should convey your message in 3 to 5 seconds.
• Your literature should repeat the same look and message of your booth. When people pick up your literature, it should have more detailed information and point them to your website.
• When they get there, your site should look like your booth and literature. It should be easy to navigate and you should track the activity of visitors.
• But, above all, make sure your entire marketing campaign is both informative and interesting. That's the best way, really the only way, to save your campaign from a recycle bin fate.

Written by Ken Pettit.