Every designer, artist, cook, etc. is influenced or inspired on some level by others in their field. Trends are often started this way. A look or design style starts as a seed and then blossoms across a field and sparks ideas, spin-offs, look-a-likes or those that fully without care steal the idea as their own.

Driving on the way to work today I was listening to entertainment news that involved the band Coldplay. Apparently they didn't just sample Joe Satriani's melody they completely ripped it off. Below is the video that compares ... Continue Reading

People typically come to Effusion because they’ve seen and loved our work or know people that have worked with us and want a similar experience. We sign-on new clients and referrals regularly throughout the year that trust our design expertise because of this.

Some clients are more hands on and that's fine, where others tend to micromanage the entire project which strikes us as odd since they hired us to make them look good in the first place.

Your Design Firm Are the Experts

While we can certainly appreciate our clients that have ... Continue Reading

Have visions of sugar plums started dancing in your head?

Scheduling your next marketing project by Dec. 19 with Effusion gets your company at least three holiday treats:

• An additional tax write off for 2008 • A jumpstart on your 2009 marketing • An amazing chance to win an iPhone 3G or iPod Touch just in time for the holiday gift exchanges

The first 10 clients to start a project by December 19th are entered into an iPhone 3G/iPod Touch give-a-way. Odds of winning are 1 in 10.

Yes the odds are really that ... Continue Reading

A brand is not a logo, it's not your company's identity or even a product.

A brand is an emotional and visceral reaction or connection to a business or product. Whether the emotion is love or hate the ultimate goal is an illogical reaction. Branding attempts to manage the signals that help evoke that reaction. Branding occurs in the heart and not the head, the "I want" and "I need" connection is invaluable.

Take Coca Cola for instance. Without brand value, they estimate their worth at 50 Billion, WITH brand value they estimate ... Continue Reading

I sure didn’t come from money. Still, I wasn’t deprived either. If anything, I can thank my maternal Grandmother for showing me how being thrifty and creative can make the things that we surround ourselves with really gratifying. That and a general belief that she had:

“It’s better to have one nice thing than to have many cheap things.”

Grandma wasn’t talking about straight label shopping. Grandma was talking about plain old quality — though we know many brands (or labels) that are associated with quality. In fact, that’s what Effusion Creative Solutions ... Continue Reading

It's the fourth quarter, the last month before the New Year. If year-end marketing budgets haven't been spent yet or you're anxious about getting started early for next year, this is the month to get serious about gearing up for Q1 2009. By having business in the pipeline now you'll be ready to go to kick-off the month of January.

This year more than ever, your marketing strategies should be offensive — instead of defensive. With the right creative moves set in motion now, this will help keep your business ahead of ... Continue Reading

Where was I? I was sleeping like a baby without an ounce of shopping anxiety.

If you've ever waited tables, Black Friday traditionally is a lot like working at Sizzler on Mother's day: lines out the door, crazy people, running out of product, a lot of apologies and my favorite — parking lot rage.

It's not a fun day for employees or shoppers but it's the day that kick-starts the holiday shopping season nonetheless.

With all of the in-store and pre-television/radio ads, Black Friday becomes one big blur of who is selling ... Continue Reading

It's very interesting to see how the malls are marketing this year to get people through their door. We just visited our local mall and 9 stores out of 10 had major discounts or FREE posters in nearly every window.

Nearly ... Continue Reading

So there I am in the Starbucks drive through for the usual morning wake-me-up. I get to the window and the barista says "Your coffee was just paid for by the car in front of you." (who by this time has fled the scene)

She proceeds to tell me that every car in front of the next car is doing the same — it's this game they play to see how many cars will pay for the next. That day I was the 44th car in a row to follow suit. My ... Continue Reading

Well, it’s here. We are in the final week of November. If you live in the good ole U.S.A., that means we take time out as a nation on Thursday to give thanks for all of our blessings. For most of us, it means we get together with family and friends and eat a huge feast. It may even be the only time of year we get together with certain members of our family. This got me thinking about all we are thankful for in our marketing design business.

One thing that is ... Continue Reading