Quote for the day: Donna Karan on Design.

Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable.”
– Donna Karan

Words You Should Get Straight to Avoid Looking Silly.

When you sea words used in the wrong context, you want to bough your head and prey for people to take more time with there writing.

(That sentence was more difficult for us to write than you could ever imagine…)

But just in case you’re not clear on some of those homophones, here’s a refresher course.

See vs Sea
I see the typo in line two of your article.
In that picture of a beach, the sea is churning in the background.

To vs Too vs Two
We’re going to the meeting in fifteen minutes.
She spent way too much time on that sketch. (This “too” is so important, it deserves an extra “o”)
We have two extra postcards in our samples folder.

Their vs They’re vs There
Their plane was grounded for mechanical reasons. (Shows possession. Whose plane? Their plane.)
They’re going to meet us at the restaurant instead. (Contraction: They + are.)
Your new desk will be right over there. (Shows direction.)

Bough vs Bow
When the bough breaks, it’s going to land on the tree house. (It’s a tree branch!)
When my sister walks into the room, she demands that we bow to her out of respect. Yea, right.

Bear vs Bare
A grizzly bear came to the campsite while we were hiking, and ate all our food!
After he shaved his head, it was completely bare.

Pear vs Pair
I don’t like apples, but I’ll eat pears all day long.
I was asked to pair the words on the left with their meanings on the right.

Gait vs Gate
His gait was one of confidence and assurance.
There was a large gate in front of the driveway, blocking entrance to photographers.

Compliment vs Complement
Receiving a compliment from my professor was a rare moment.
The colors the painter chose complemented each other nicely.

Your vs You’re
Your house is beautiful. (Shows possession)
You’re going to miss the game if you don’t hurry up! (Contraction: You + are)

Capitol vs Capital
The committee met in the Capitol Building.
New York is the dance capital of the world.
*Pay special attention, because this gets confusing. The Capitol building in America is in the Capital city.

Principal vs Principle
The school principal organized the fundraising event. (The Principal is your “pal”.)
It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s just that I disagree with his principle argument.

Stationary vs Stationery
She stood stationary in the middle of the room, not even blinking.
She chose pink stationery for her wedding thank you notes.

Desert vs Dessert
After being stranded in the desert for two days, he wondered if anyone would ever find him.
After dinner, the waitress brought ice cream for dessert. (Dessert is so good it deserves an extra “s”)

Affect vs Effect
The release of the iPad affected the stock market.
The effect of the hurricane came in the form of millions of dollars in damage.

Rein vs Reign vs Rain
When you ride the horse, you have to hold on to the rein, or you’ll fall off.
The king’s reign lasted for 30 years until his death.
The weathermen are predicting rain this weekend, but they’re usually wrong.

Phase vs Faze
When she was 17 years old, she went through her rebel phase, and snapped out of it by 19.
The wind didn’t faze the runner one bit- she still made up ground on the turn.

Prey vs Pray
When animals target their prey, they often stalk slowly.
My grandpa taught me how to pray to Jesus when I was little.

Cite vs Sight vs Site
I had to cite my reference for the blog article.
They say if you look at the sun too long, you’ll lose your sight.
The construction crew set up their materials on the job site.

Allot vs A lot
The committee will allot half the money to your organization, and half to mine.
He didn’t have a lot of money, so he made do with very little.

Hair vs Hare
She cut ten inches off the length of her hair and donated it to charity.
My favorite fable is “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

Flower vs Flour
For her wedding, she instructed her bridesmaids to hold a single flower rather than a bouquet.
The cake recipe called for flour, eggs, and butter.

Son vs Sun
The best day of my life was the day my son was born.
The teacher explained to the class that the sun is a burning ball of gas.

Bored vs Board
The little kid was so bored with the tee ball game he sat down in the outfield.
When a hurricane hits, residents of the island board up their windows for protection.

Brake vs Break
Only the front brake works on my bike, so I have to be extra careful when I’m stopping.
If you don’t stop tapping your pencil on the desk I’m going to break your arm.

Find vs Fined
If you find my keys at your house, call me immediately.
They were fined for their late fees associated with their account.

Hear vs Here
It was so quiet in the room you could have heard a pin drop.
Come here. Right now.

Heal vs Heel
If you want that wound to heal properly, you have to take good care of it.
Getting a bruise on your heel is extremely painful.

Hire vs Higher
We’re going to hire a new employee this month!
We could see for miles as the hot air balloon rose higher in the sky.

Hour vs Our
My mother-in-law will be here in ONE hour!
Our new home is located on the northeast side of town.

Knew vs New
He knew he was going to miss his deadline.
When my dog chewed up my brand new bag, I wanted to scream.

Piece vs Peace
I had the biggest piece of cake in the entire room.
The sleeping baby looked serene, and at peace.

Plain vs Plane
The room was plain and empty; perfect for decorating!
We’ll hop on a plane to Florida; the drive takes too long.

Steal vs Steel
My sister tried to steal my favorite jeans when I wasn’t looking, but I busted her.
The walls were reinforced with steel to make them stronger.

Not Just Another Marketing Piece.

“Dear ____________,

Recently, I asked the Marketing Department to create a list of our ideal customers; the types of people and organizations we were most interested in having as customers. Your name appeared on that select list. However, I noticed that it has been a while since you last ordered from us. Since you are the caliber of customer we want most, this concerns me. So, I have to ask: Did we do something wrong?

If we’ve dropped the ball on you, I’d sure like to know so I can help smooth it over.

Over the last year we’ve focused management resources and invested heavily in our customer service operation. Our on-time delivery rates are now the best in the industry and our defect rates are the lowest.

The Dallas Business Journal recently ranked us #3 on “The Dallas 100” list of fastest growing companies and rates us one of the best places to work in 2009.

We strive to be a Class-Act Operation all the way through.

If you’ve been going somewhere else for your printing these last few months, I’d be honored if you would give us a chance to earn you back as a valued customer. To express our appreciation, I’d like to pay the shipping on your next order with us. All you have to do is enter this coupon code ______ when you check out and the standard shipping cost will be on me.

Or, if you feel like you have unresolved issues with us, please e-mail me at ___________.com and let’s discuss it.

I’d love to earn you back as a customer.

Warmly,

______________”

Deeper Than a Headline.

We’ve talked about writing effective headlines before, but obviously there’s more to writing great web copy than just that.

This article about web copywriting hits on some really great points, and takes its own advice in the process.

The steps outlined are:

Say Less.
* People are much less patient on the web than they are when reading other mediums. Most of the time they want to get in, find what they’re looking for, and get out.

Use the Inverted Pyramid.
* Like with writing for a newspaper, the most important information should come first, with the smaller details near the bottom of the piece.

Front-Load.
* Along the same lines as inverted pyramid writing, put the most important information near the front of the site (near the homepage), or near the top of the page if the content extends below what the reader can see in the window.

Use Headers.
* Headlines not only function to get the readers attention, but they also serve to tell the reader what they’re about to read. A quick scan of the page is all it takes to determine if the info they desire is there or not- this is the exact reason why headlines are so important to begin with.

Use Relevant Calls to Action.
* Consider why the reader is there in the first place, and use appropriate wording. Make the phrases you choose visible and to the point. For example “Learn more” or “Subscribe to our newsletter.” The articles makes the interesting point that “the user should be in control, and likes to feel in control.”

Establish Trust.
* You have only a short time to capture your audience’s attention, and you have to make them trust you immediately. You must walk the fine line between “overselling, and stating the facts plainly and clearly” and being “enthusiastic, but not pushy.”

Use Active Voice.
* Active = proactive = positive connotation.
* Passive = reactive = negative connotation.

Design Studios are Catty.

“We must as an industry jealously guard our relevance by presuming we are the only people in the world with the ability to create beautiful things.”

Hopefully you don’t like how that sounds. But elitism is rampant in our industry. Why? Because we have degrees in design? Because we spend all day thinking about design? Or because we feel a need to protect our relevance in the world?

It’s human nature. People need to feel important. They need to feel superior. But it’s a grossly exaggerated tendency in graphic design, and it should stop.

Right, right… “Those who live in glass houses.” We’re guilty too. You can probably even read posts on this very blog that border on elitism. (if not hitting it square in the bullseye.) Like all good designers, we’re quite passionate about what we do. It’s sometimes tough to draw a line between that passion, and simple defensiveness.

But today, we’re going to take a positive step in recovery. We want to care about design in a more open sense. We want to encourage design in our clients, and in the people in our lives. We work very hard to make the world a more beautiful and organized place, but we can’t do it all alone. None of us can. The more great design that happens in the world, – whether it comes from our studio or not, -the better for all of us.

It’s time studios start teaching what we do instead of jealously guarding it. It’s time for us to start encouraging our clients to appreciate design by participating in it, rather than turning our noses up at their attempts. A client who dares to organize a document is not stealing food from our mouths, they’re participating in our profession. It’s time we start to reward that and encourage it. Nobody is good at something with their first effort.

Can we teach and encourage ourselves out of a job? Impossible. The more clients participate, and understand the difficulties of design, the more they will understand the importance of it. The more they will value the time we spend, and understand the place of professional design in the workflow.