Brand Tweet # 17: "Can I use images from my website for my brochure?" http://www.pmw.net/tweets 100 days to building a better brand!

No. You cannot just take an image off of your website and use it for your print materials. Images used on the web have a resolution of 72 DPI (dots per inch). This is because of the limitation of the screens. However, in print our eyes can register so much more detail that typically the resolution used is 300 DPI. So if you grab an image from online without resizing it you will be in trouble. If you grab an image that is 4" x 4" from online and convert it to 300 DPI it will end up being slightly smaller than 1" x 1"! That is a HUGE difference.

Brand Tweet # 20: "What's in a Font?" http://www.pmw.net/tweets 100 days to building a better brand!

I am a designer and it is really painful for me to see a marketing piece with every font in the book thrown in there just for the heck of it. Limit yourself to 3 fonts in any marketing piece. This doesn't include styling like bold and italic. But generally, use a display font for your headline, and a good font family like Times or New Baskerville for the body. They will give you sufficient options to design a professional looking piece of marketing literature. When we brand a client, we usually spec out a display and body font for use in most of their marketing. Sometimes a certain piece will require something different because of a theme but consistent font usage will contribute greatly to brand recognition.

Brand Tweet # 23: "Flash has its place" http://www.pmw.net/tweets 100 days to building a better brand!

There is such a stink being raised about Flash. The answer to the use of Flash in your site is simple. Treat it as an image. Do not embed navigation in it because the search engines will not be able to follow the links. Make sure you use alt image tags on it to reinforce your keywords, and enjoy (guilt free) the impact that flash can bring to your site.

Brand Tweet # 27: "Postcards have their place" http://www.pmw.net/tweets 100 days to building a better brand!

For ongoing targeted marketing postcards can be very effective, but they must be done in a series. It takes seven or more impressions before your market starts to see that you are in it consistently.

A little bird told me - Brand Tweet # 42: "Signage: Sometimes the Truck Says It All!" http://www.pmw.net/tweets 100 days to building a better brand!

Have you ever seen a truck that looks like a sign shop threw up on it? There is everything including the kitchen sink on there. I saw as much content as was on their website! Who is going to read all that at 60 MPH? Keep it simple: logo, tagline, phone or website. Most people will not have a pen handy so the phone number must be catchy, or the website should indicative of the product.