Where to find great design and other inspirational goodness....

As sharing is caring, we thought it only fair to draw attention to a few design blogs and websites which inspire the studio here at Trident. New designs spring up everyday and we thought it might be an idea to share some of the most inspirational blogs with you. Each blog gives you a plethora of different topics and disciplines, we are sure you will stumble upon something of interest. We understand that there are so many more blogs out there, but for Trident these are a great start to gain inspiration. Get bookmarking!



designboom
http://www.designboom.com/eng/

Covering the fields of art, design & architecture since 1999, designboom.com currently has 4 million readers monthly, 2.7 million unique readers from 190 countries. designboom is the leading independent publication for key  “contemporary issues and critique of all aspects of art, architecture and design, especially those topics which enrich the discussion between creative professionals, industry and society ” The milan-based, free internet resource offers photo reports from major international design shows, architecture and art exhibitions; interviews in the contemporary creative scene.


The best feature of this blog is the daily and weekly newsletters, they include high res pictures which are so inspirational, designboom makes a regular appearance in the Trident Studio tweets. We love this blog a lot, it’s our number one resource for inspiration.

Setemberindustry
http://www.septemberindustry.co.uk/

Septemberindustry “has always been about quality not quantity since day one, which is why the site isn’t updated daily, but rather biweekly or triweekly”

If you’re looking for a carefully curated selection of the very best contemporary graphic design - exceptionally crafted work that truly inspires - you’ve come to the right place. It prides itself in
 showcasing large/exclusive images of each project contributed by the original designers, studios and photographers (not just taken directly from their site). They don’t do anything smaller than 800px wide because you can’t truly appreciate the finer details in the “blog-friendly” 500px wide format. Septemberindustry is far more editorial and is a definite breath of fresh air from all those websites which simply choose logos and advertisements to follow a trend.

This blog gives a refreshing glimpse into what life is like for the editorial designer and the clients who take risks that go in their favour. The best feature of this blog is the actual content, its rich and thoughtful, on the best images and projects are shown.


The Cool Hunter
http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/

Since its inception in 2004 The Cool Hunter has become the world’s most-read culture and design site, a leading authority on all things creative and a truly global hub for what’s cool, thoughtful, innovative and original.

The Cool Hunter is a natural fit for its readers - creative influencers who stay in the know and ahead of the curve. Global in outlook, The Cool Hunter readers are connected, creatively aware, confident, stylish and sociable. They value architecture, design, style, music, fashion and  entertainment. They work, play and travel internationally and bring with them distinguished tastes and a demanding appetite for quality information.

The Cool Hunter is not a trend-spotter, trend-watcher or trend predictor. They select and celebrate what is beautiful and enduring from all that is sought-after in architecture, design, gadgets, lifestyle, urban living, fashion, travel and pop culture. The Cool Hunter digs deeper, finding tomorrow’s icons.

When Trident first caught a glimpse of the site, the imagery and the categories made our hearts skip a beat, we’ve been given a visual heart attack! The best feature of this site in the content and its topics, they vary and each picture is so inspirational.

BEHANCE
http://www.behance.net/

The Behance Network is the world’s leading platform for creative professionals across all industries. Members create multi-media portfolios that showcase their work within the Network. Behance has millions of visitors. You have immediate access to a “global pool of top talent, and a constant stream of the best creative work from around the world - the Behance Network is revolutionizing the way creative professionals manage their careers and companies find talent”. With this said the site is the perfect place to see developing trends which stem across the globe. People of all disciplines display their work and its of a very high creative standard. A definite must to keep on top of the design game!

The best feature of this site is you can search the topics, i.e graphic design and it comes straight from the designer/ company over a site supporting loads of all links. These searches can be specifically tailored to what your looking for.

99% Picture
http://the99percent.com/

One of the best features of this site is the 99% section within the Behance site, through articles, tips, videos, and events, they share best practices that help creative professionals move beyond idea generation into idea execution.





 Amazing blogs, very very useful during your day to day working life, whether your a designer or not you can find something of interest!

Being the nerds we are, we’re always finding new blogs and websites so expect more of the above soon. If you write, or have discovered a blog you think might be of interest, feel free to get in touch and share the love.

5 Ways to Maximise Your Print Spend

In today's climate, every £1 spent on marketing has to make itself count. There are endless ways in which you can boost how far your marketing budget can go. This article will focus on ways in which you can maximise your print spend for direct mail or brochure printing. This could also be applied to magazine printing.
Here are 5 ways in which you can make each £1 work harder for you.







1. Target your mailings to the right audience, there is no point sending out a blanket wash of mailings to people whom it is not relevant. It would be better to spend a bit of time keeping your database up to date, print and mail less, and save your budget for your next campaign.

2. Reduce the paper weight of the brochure / mail piece by a few gsm. It will most save you money and most people will not notice the difference if you drop your brochure from 130gsm to 100gsm text paper. This could save you a few hundred £'s on a 32pp brochure for 10,000 copies. You may even save on the mailing cost if the weight of the brochure falls into the lower weight mailing band.

3. Work with your printer to look at other options on paper brands and types. Some of the lesser known papers may well be more cost effective and give you an equally comparable result in terms of whiteness, brightness and smoothness and print quality. You may already be on the right paper, but it's worth having that conversation.

4. Work with your printer to look at the most cost effective paginations for their press / process of printing. You may be able to get more pages for the same amount of money if you work with how their press is set up. For example: 120 pages is far less economical than 128, so it may work out cheaper to print 128 pages rather than 120, and you get more space to talk about what you want to talk about!

5. Spend money on design - this is probably the most important part. If the design is not working and giving people the right reasons to call you, then it does not matter how good the printing is, they will not call. Good design should give people a reason to call within 5 seconds of them glancing at the page.

For more information on how to maximise your print spend for your next campaign, please visit http://www.tridentdesign.co.uk
We have over 30 years of print management experitise to save you time and money.

Colour Trends 2011, messages and meanings

As a Graphic Designer it is important to think beyond the now and focus on the future so with this said I live permanently in the future; there are six seasons in my year instead of four. With each season brings a new set of Design Trends, these are used and followed by the biggest brands in the world, within all sectors especially fashion and design.


These trends are woven into the core design process to develop outcomes which offer the end user and in my case the client a product which is high in impact. Knowing these trends will add value, to the work you produce and its these benefits that can be given back to your clients for a positive effect on their businesses.

This blog will help give insights on colour and addresses how best to integrate these qualities into your work, insuring your intended message is communicated.









PANTONE Spring Summer/ Autumn Winter Colour Reports 2011 are essential guidelines that can be applied to so many projects... branding, packaging, signage, point-of-purchase, displays, advertising, logos, websites and more. Created for everyone whose colour choices are critically important for the success of a project, this blog will prove a valuable tool and resource that will enable you to jump-start your imagination.

These reports feature the top colours for
2011 you can download this previews at PANTONE COLOUR TRENDS WEBSITE


What’s interesting about this particular set of colour trends is they are vibrant and eye catching. They could definitely draw attention from the sea of marketing out there, these are definitely thought provoking to say the least. Using the colour harmonies featured will be an effective use of colour when designing and its important to adhere to these guidelines.

Whats interesting is the colour of the year, its a vibrant more of a spring colour in my opinion.







Its said this colour is for All Seasons, Honeysuckle is Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new colour, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.

Create Attention, interest, desire, action - in your advertising

Is your current marketing grabbing the attention of your customers??

The AIDA model for marketing communication is simple and easy to remember! It is widely recognised as is an effective tool to guide you when creating any type of promotional material.

AIDA stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action – the four areas that any promotional material should address. 

When writing your copy, use a separate paragraph for each section, and keep it concise! The aim isn’t to tell the reader everything about your company and products – this is likely to bore them, and besides, you want to leave some intrigue so that they contact you to find out more!

Attention
People are bombarded with marketing messages every day, and anything that you produce will be competing with thousands of other messages for attention. Remember to tell your client about the three second rule and explain the need to grab their attention quickly!
The Attention section should be restricted to a single sentence, usually displayed as an eye-catching headline. The two most powerful attention-grabbing words are new and free – you should aim to get one (or even both!) of these into your headline.

Interest
Now that you’ve got their attention, you need to keep them interested, so that they will carry on reading! This section should be just two sentences, each one describing a different benefit of your product/service.
Don’t forget that benefits should always relate to your client’s needs or wants – don’t just list the features of your product! For example, the guaranteed turnaround time that we offer is just a feature, but the likely benefit is that we can meet peoples’ deadlines and offer peace of mind. If you’re not sure whether something is a feature or a benefit, a good test is to ask – could the reader ask “so what?” in response?

Desire
This is where you make them really want your product! That’s why we save the top benefit for this stage – we have got them interested enough to keep reading, now we hit them with a reason why they just have to have your product! Again, make sure it is expressed as a benefit rather than a feature, and keep it to just one sentence.

Action
Now that we’ve stimulated desire, we must tell them what to do next! Do they need to phone someone, visit a website, call into a branch, fax a form back? Whatever response mechanisms you choose, the action section should tell the reader what to do as clearly as possible, in just one sentence. You don’t need to include all response mechanisms in your call to action - additional contact details can be given elsewhere if required.

Team Trident - Hinckley Pancake Race

On Tuesday 8^th March, Adam, Rhian and Rebecca took part in Hinckley’s Pancake Race in the town centre.  

Rhian made it into the final 6 but was outrun by 4 other finalists! – Maybe next year we will win!

We thought we’d share the fun with you all, take a look at this photo!