Ever wonder how graphic designers use color so effectively? The secret lies in selecting the right palette of colors, in part based on understanding the psychology of colors. Now you can pick a perfect color palette for any project using an easy online calculator.
Sidewalks are infrastructure and infrastructure is a reflection of our social nature. Sidewalks are, or can be, important public spaces. They might, or could, be the public space with which we’re most familiar. Sidewalks build community and promote the healthy lifestyle and walkable neighborhoods that many people say they want. Consider what happens on sidewalks:...Continue reading
I recently wrote about the web design standards from the U.S. government, and how you could use them to improve the design of your promotional items such as web sites, presentations, documents and emails. The design standards include color palettes that you could download, but they weren’t in a Microsoft-friendly form that most people could...Continue reading
Tax dollars at work! The U.S. government has published draft visual style guidelines for web sites. You can download their font files and color swatches. The guide is intended for government web sites, but you can apply the same advice and resources to your brochures, and white papers.
When I wrote about government brands, the NASA brand was one of my top two. So I was thrilled recently to find free online the 1976 NASA Graphics Standards Manual.
Public and social sector marketers (and lots of other people) don’t have the graphic design resources to produce brochures. Download my free trifold brochure template for PowerPoint template and create your own trifold brochures. In our digital world, I believe that there’s still a place for the printed, trifold brochure. It’s multi-faceted and tactile Because...Continue reading
Looking for tips on designing infographics? This Fast Company review of a recent book on the subject might get your ideas flowing.
In my series on page layout, I argue that documents are a core product for public sector marketers. That makes page layout a key skill for making those products useful and powerful. Empathways in Boston has developed the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency, a proven program to help women build greater upward economic mobility.
It’s primary election season in California. Sometimes we compare elections to the corporate hiring process, talking about “the best person for the job” or “tossing someone out of the office.” Extending that comparison, the campaign process becomes analogous to interviewing candidates. In my voter’s pamphlet (with its awful governmental page layout), several candidates emphasized their...Continue reading
Pardon this blatantly commercial post: Now you can have my series on organizational narrative, plus additional content not found on my blog, in one handy e-book! I’ve created a new Downloads section where you can get my e-book explaining how to apply the hero’s quest to telling the story of your organization. Villains, victims, heroes,...Continue reading