Anyone who has been handed a 3thought business card, immediately notices the large hole in it. Most people say, “oh cool”, or “wow, that’s different”. Few actually read the text that’s running around the outside of that hole. And that text read’s, “Helping companies find a visual point of view”.

So what is a visual point of view?

As a business owner, you speak to your audience with every piece of collateral, advertising, online interaction and promotion you create. EVERYTHING you say, do and create is a piece of your brand. Now more than ever it’s important you’re sending the right message, and there’s little room for inconsistent or contradictory messages. Is your message authentic to who you are as an individual or company?

Before 3thought designs, we take the time to understand who you are, and who your audience is. It’s that understanding of your company’s core DNA that let’s us create a visual point of view your audience wants to connect with.

If you’re interesting in learning more about branding and finding your visual point of view, you should join us for breakfast as we discuss: “Building Your Brand in a Digital World”. Presented by the Toolbox, inc.

Get more info and register!

We believe that every business should have a website. A website is the equivalent of having a 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year salesperson. Your site is often the first impression potential customers get of your business, and these days people are making decisions about who they’re going to do businesses with based on what they find on the internet. But take a moment to think about these questions.

• What if your website isn’t quite up to par?
• What if your website isn’t very good at making sales?
• What if your competitor has a great website and they’re taking away potential business?
• Could your website actually be hurting your business?
• Might it be time to reevaluate your own website?

There’s tons of reasons to consider a redoing your site, and if you’re serious, we suggest you start by taking our website redesign survey and evaluating your current situation.

Believe it or not, the life of a graphic designer can be fun and rewarding. We tend to be creative people who get to work with other creative people, and that can make for a fun working environment. Most design agencies are pretty casual – not too many shirt and tie days in this business. Our work environment often reflects that same laid back creative attitude. Given all those perks, graphic design is still a job, and like any job there are going to be some pros and some cons. You will need to master a few skills to be successful. We meet a lot of people from all walks of life who are interested in becoming graphic designers. To them, we offer these points to ponder.

Why the heck do you want to become a designer? Seriously? It’s usually the first question we ask any intern or potential new hire. You better have a good answer, too. I guess we feel that to make a great designer you need to have a passion for art, advertising, marketing, creativity, and, oh, yeah – actual Graphic Design! You also need to have the right attitude because this business has deadlines and budgets. You need to collaborate with teams of people on projects and always remember, at the end of the day, this is a business. It’s not all just about creating pretty pictures and making things the way YOU like it. The projects you will work on are for companies who expect the work you create will make them money. This is fundamental to the job requirements. Are you willing to take that on?

So you thought it through and you still want to be a graphic designer, huh? Well, you better start taking some classes. But where do you start? We recommend a four-year degree. Yes, you can technically become a designer without any sort of formal education at all and make a living, but it’s not easy, nor the norm. Typically, agencies look for people who have a four-year degree as a minimum.

*Very Important: There’s more to design than just knowing how to operate a computer. Here’s a list of classes we recommend people take if they truly want to become a successful well-rounded designer.

• Art fundamentals such as drawing and painting
• 2d and 3d design
• Art History
• Typography
• English Composition (classes like creative writing or journalism)
• Web Design and Development
• Print Production
• Photography
• Communication
• Psychology or Sociology
• Some kind of basic Business or Management

Notice how we didn’t say anything about learning the design programs? Why? Most of your potential bosses are looking for someone who can think and learn. You need to have a strong core of fundamental knowledge that you can adapt to different situation.  Yes, you need to know how to use the programs but Matt’s pretty convinced he could teach a 3-year-old Photoshop. We can teach you which buttons to mash, but we don’t have the time – nor the inclination – to train how your brain works. Being a graphic designer is more about the ability to understand color, balance, composition, typography, people’s motivations, the ability to make complete sentences and know the difference between your and you’re, and they’re, their and there. The ability to compose a photo, communicate with a team, manage a project, tell a story, solve a problem, and be responsible enough to all those things on time and under budget.

You say you have what it takes to be a designer? Do you have a thick skin and can take criticism? Are you able to use that feedback to make things better? Have you gone above and beyond the classroom? Have your reached out to alumni of your college and local agencies for for internships, advice and portfolio reviews? Have you connected with the design community online through blogs and Twitter  – or even in real life through meetups? Do you have your own website? Have you participated in design competitions and art shows or read design magazines and books? Are you familiar with the latest trends? Being a well rounded designer is about all of these things.

Well, maybe you’ve done all those things and maybe you haven’t. Every person is different and every designer is different. Those are the qualities 3thought looks for in a designer. We also look for things you can’t teach like a sense of style, creativity and a good eye. For us, it’s all about passion, responsibility and the desire to soak up knowledge and understanding, and not just pump out a project because it looks pretty. It’s about being able to design and work smart while understanding the challenges and audience to create something that not only looks great, but functions just as well.

So, Design Professionals, what advice do you give aspiring designers? Do you agree or disagree with what we’ve said here? Have we left anything important out?  We’d love to hear from designers and aspiring designers. Let us know what you think in the comment area below.

If you design websites, the question you most often hear is:
“How much is a website?”

This is not an easy question to answer, and the easiest way we have found to explain why is to ask “Well, how much is a house?” This instantly resets your frame of mind. We, as people who are familiar with living in homes, understand that houses come in all shapes and sizes. They offer different amenities and features and levels of quality. We all know that those factors affect the price.

Here are some examples to help you value your options for a website.

Pre-Owned & Furnished Condos

These are those do-it-yourself website builders. The cost to gain entry is generally pretty low which makes them seem very attractive. But they were essentially designed for someone else (a generic someone else). You don’t have a lot of control over the set-up and general aesthetic. Pretty much you just move in your furniture (i.e. some copy and images), and make it work. Although this is fine for some people, many find it restrictive to live within the rules that someone else set up.

Image via Wikipedia

Modular Homes

This style of website generally involves purchasing a template and having it customized. You get to pick a base design, and then you can upgrade with add-on features. You will work with a designer to decorate everything to your taste. Here, you have more options to get the features that are right for you, and generally this is still a pretty affordable option. However, if you decide that you want a modification that isn’t part of the standard options list, it can get very costly and cause more than a few headaches.

Custom-Built Houses

Here you get it your way. Every part of the layout, every finish, each and every tiny detail was created just for you. You work with a team to architect exactly what you need and then they get work to build it to your exact specification. These types of website generally have a higher initial cost, but can provide greater value because they are exactly what you want/need and generally you are more satisfied with them in the long term. Just as you can custom build a 2-room cottage and a 23-room fully automated mansion, there is still a wide range within this category.

So, what does this mean…

Well, it means you should follow a similar process for purchasing a website as you do your home.

1. Make a list of all your must have features.
2. Make a list of your nice to have features.
3. Decide how much sweat equity you are willing to invest. (this would be upfront copywriting and design as well as on-going maintenance)
4. Look at your budget and come up with what you can realistically afford.
5. Realize that you may have to adjust your expectations.
6. Select the best value for you knowing it may be more or less than someone else.

If you would ever like to discuss your options for creating a website for your business, we’d love to grab a coffee and chat. Drop us a line via our contact page.

Last week, the 3thought team attended a roundtable presented by AIGA Boston for FutureM called “Design 2014”. The theme was to discuss how we apply the design thinking of tomorrow in today’s world. We left with our brains buzzing and they really haven’t been quiet since.

This week’s 3 thoughts are dedicated to the philosophical discussion of design. What makes a designer? What is design? What is the role of design? Here are some ideas that really resonate with our approach to design.

1. Jan Kubasiewicz, Head of Graduate Program in Communication Design at the  Dynamic Media Institute, MassArt,  explained there is a constant underlying exchange of information between everything. This happens not only with standard media and methods of communication, but also within simple interactions and observations, and much of it is subconscious. Designers need to exercise a heightened awareness of this information current. When they are effective, they are able to influence it and guide it to accomplish their purpose.
2. Michael Hendrix, Associate Partner, IDEO, stated that designers use a combination of methods and sensibilities to practice their craft. Methods are skills that can be taught. These include methods of execution such as layout, typography and various types of software. Methods also include conceptual methods such as ideation, research and storytelling. But it is the sensibilities that separates a true graphic designer from a production artist. Designers have sensitivities and intuition that tap into emotion, connotation and all the subtleties of communication. It is these sensibilities that cannot be taught. These are the qualities that are innate in designers and makes them different from other professionals.
3. Design Thinking is integral to business. All the members of the panel were clear that the future of design is going to be built with teams. No one person is going to have all the skills necessary to solve all design or business problems. But a designer’s approach to framing, defining and solving problems is applicable and often necessary to finding solutions in all areas of business and across all industries. The leaders of tomorrow need to be able to recognize the talents of diverse disciplines and build the right team on visionaries to guide them forward.

Do these ideas resonate with you and how you want to work with designers? We’d love to hear your thoughts.