What makes people want to create art, design brochures, or study feng shui? I think we are compelled to recreate nature, because we’re part of it.

People find great beauty, peace, drama, and connection in nature. Everything on the earth is interconnected, literally by the earth itself, and it’s organized, just like our bodies are composed of organized, interconnected cells. The world and our bodies are full of form, color, pattern, and purpose. We recreate these qualities in music, on fabric, in poetry, and in writing, and we search for patterns to understand more about the world through science and astronomy.

Today feels pretty warm, and I might go outside in DDA’s back yard to sit on a bench and eat my lunch. It would be great if the wall to my office could slide open on a nice sunny day, or if I took more breaks to walk.

In some ways much of my home and work environment is artificial in the sense that it is man-made, but in a very real way, as I sit in my office at a computer creating brochures, I also feel connected to nature.

I’ve been having all sorts of fun times with this sketchbook. Yesterday I began dissecting the sample flip book file in flash. I’m not used to Flash, and I’m even less familiar with the new flip book! The old flip book, which you can view in our Print Brochures portfolio, was pretty easy to work with. All you needed to do was place the desired images into a folder and make sure that the flash files were linked properly. This one is a little more complicated, and for good reason. You can have transparent or tear away pages! It also seems to run pretty fast. I remember finding a flash flip book that had transparent pages for a past print brochure Judy designed. It looked nice but it took a while to load and seemed to have a small lag. Hopefully this flip book, once uploaded, will still be fast. After talking to our lead designer, Carrie, I had a better grasp on what we are going to be doing with this project. Basically there will be one large DDA Sketchbook that you can view from a main page. The sketchbook will have spreads containing the client approved design as well as a few designs that the were shown to the client, but not chosen. As for now it seems that all DDA projects will be contained within this one sketchbook. It could change in the future though. Now you might be asking, “What if I only want to look at a particular project?” If you are interested in a particular project, we will have a link from the project in the DDA portfolio to the corresponding page in the sketchbook. If you’ve seen our portfolio recently, you’ve noticed the ‘Related Projects’ links. The DDA Sketchbook links will be similarly attached to the portfolio.

When I write copy that is incorporated into a brochure design, website design, newsletter, direct mail piece, trade show display, or even when I create a script for a corporate video or voice over for a medical animation, I try to first think about the organization I am to represent, the product or service, and the target audience, and then develop the linguistic strategy that captures people’s interest at initial glance.

To promote an active response from the target audience, I might use strong verbs that convey the right “call-to-action” message. To encourage readers to reflect on what is being presented, I might ask questions that appeal to their wants and needs. To improve their memory retention, I might play on well-recognized words, phrases, sayings, idioms, and expressions that have evolved over time through regional dialect and colloquial vocabulary.

“Discover!” “What?” “Keep tabs on…” Each of these “strategies” works to the benefit of selling the given product or service. Words and they way in which they are used have an impact that can be negative or positive, subtle or obvious.

Writing search engine optimized copy or content for a brochure or video script can often times be like riding a bike for the first time. Your initial attempt may result in a crash and some bumps and bruises but eventually you’ll find your rhythm and continue on your way. For every project, whether it be a brochure that our graphic designers have developed and our copywriters have written, or a custom medical video, several revisions may be needed before the perfect variation is achieved. The graphics must convey the proper message, the content must speak to the appropriate audience, and the marketing themes must be fresh and effective. At DDA’s full-service advertising agency, we aim to please and that is why we continually work to deliver an end product our clients can be proud to display.

From the initial kick-off meeting to the subsequent correspondences, our goal is to seek your input and assess your needs in order to deliver the results you crave. And like a determined child set on conquering his bike riding blunders, the DDA team will quickly adapt to your desires and deliver the website, brochure, or video you’ve envisioned.

As a Project Coordinator, I have overseen the completion of many a project and have been witness to the videographers’, animators’, graphic designers’, and copywriters’ ability to adapt to clients and projects. Our initial copy or designs may be close to what you have envisioned, but a minor adjustment may be needed here and there.  This is why the DDA streamlined approach to production is so effective. We seek client input and approval every step of the way. We do not move forward unless the client is comfortable, therefore the end product is guaranteed to be exactly what was initially sought after. In the beginning their may be a few wobbles, but balance and progress will certainly be achieved.

Quite often DDA graphic designers are called upon to meet with clients during a project’s kick-off meeting. The project might be a brochure design, logo design, or new website design or as was the case this past Thursday, a new package design. DDA (Dynamic Digital Advertising) was called upon to create graphics for a package design very similar to a sample package provided by the client.

While the package design served its purpose and the product sold, we felt it important to improve on the design of the package as well as the graphics. At one point, we suggested to abandon the package altogether and allow the product to stand alone. We are always looking for the best possible solution to any client project request. If that solution benefits DDA, great.

Our client’s are important to us and it is our job to deliver the best possible design whether it comes in the form of an animation, video, logo, package or website. Their satisfaction to a solution that is beneficial and produces results is our ultimate goal.  I believe our client left our meeting knowing that DDA is on their side and confident in the fact that a successful package design will be delivered!

In the fast-paced corporate and medical worlds, decisions are made and needs must be met effectively and efficiently. At Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA), we are often contracted to work on deadline-oriented projects. We’re accustomed to working with clients that, at the drop of a hat, need a complete trade show booth designed, developed, and implemented once the decision is made to participate in a show. We’re also familiar with those that conceptualize an idea to enhance sales through a direct mail wave and want to distribute each piece before the summer slow-down, and we make it happen.

Although initially anxious about meeting tight deadlines while maintaining quality work, I’ve come to embrace this type of environment. When I’m given unlimited time to work on advertising copywriting for a brochure design or search engine optimization (SEO) copywriting for a website, I struggle (as many of my clients do) to commit to the written word. Eventually, I get in the writing zone and produce the creative copywriting that works to sell a company’s products or services. But, it is when I am pushed to work on a project and have it complete within a specified time frame that I find some of my best writing emerges.

Just as I know that I’m able to generate some of my better ideas at night once I’ve had time to reflect on the day and culminate all of the information gained, I know that I function best when encouraged by a deadline. Learning about oneself, recognizing good and bad qualities, and adjusting your lifestyle accordingly is, what I’ve found, to be the key to obtaining success in whatever measured terms one deems appropriate.

This past weekend, I went wine tasting with my husband. As novices, we don’t necessarily swirl the wine in the glass just so or perform all the well-known techniques just right, but we enjoy experiencing the different tastes and smells each bottle has to offer. Under the wine umbrella, there are different variations, including but not limited to merlot, chardonnay, blush, pinot grigio, and riesling, and within each type there are those that are dry or more acidic, those that are sweet or tart, and those that are aged six months to six years and so on. The flavors of each can run the gamut from fruity with specific floral aromas to spiced with a carmel or butterscotch aftertaste.

At the end of the trip, my husband and I were able to agree on a bottle to take home that suited our tastes best. I couldn’t help but think that this process could be applied to that of website design, brochure design, video production, trade show graphics, and more in the field of advertising. While other advertising agencies often utilize a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to design and development, Dynamic Digital Advertising (DDA) takes on every project as a unique venture that needs customization based on the business, organization, and target audience.

Just like in wine tasting, in website design, there are many different types of websites - ecommerce,  Flash, database, corporate, medical, etc. - and within a certain type, the possibilities (like the flavors) are virtually endless. But unlike the vineyards, we (at DDA) make sure our clients end up with a final product that is exclusive to their company and tailor fit to their distinctive needs. With our team of professionals, we don’t just choose from an extensive list of existing materials, we create it from scratch.

The importance of good decision making in a project is not to be underestimated. The launch of a website can be significantly delayed if a client cannot confirm approval on content. The design of a brochure can be compromised if a client requests the wrong image. The production of a corporate or medical video can be disjointed if a client gives feedback on one item, but not another.

In our 14 years of experience as a full-service advertising agency, we have come to realize that it is critical to implement an efficient process for every project from website design and development to print design and video production. Throughout the course of a project, we ask for client approval at specific benchmarks to ensure that we continue in the right direction.

By adhering to a strategic development process, by having our clients identify key personnel to take on the role as decision makers, and by obtaining quick feedback, projects are completed in a timely manner with successful results. If this is not done, then projects lose enthusiasm, and subsequently get shelved and become out of date.

Not only is it important that good decisions be made, but as Jim Rohn states, “It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.”

This past weekend, my sister came home from college and explained an assignment that she was given to not listen to music, watch television, follow news, or be exposed to any form of mass media for five days straight. At the end of the assignment, she will be required to write a paper on how she was affected by the experience.

Of course, with all of the things that she has learned during college, I like to engage her in debate; and this was no exception. Her professor wanted to see how the students would ultimately come to realize how people in today’s world use media as a coping mechanism in their daily lives. Playing devil’s advocate, I questioned her on why people listen to music. Although many people now wear iPods almost as another appendage and listen to music as an escape from reality as if they are the feature in their own music video, others listen to feel the beat of the music in their soul, to be moved by it so much so that it evokes emotion. My point to her was that media is all about perception.

Advertising, by definition, is a paid form of communicating a message through the use of various media. While some companies see advertising as a superfluous expenditure in hard economic times, and subsequently cut their budgets, others see it as a means to improve their business, gain greater exposure, and obtain a better ROI. At DDA, we not only help in the development and implementation of a client’s project — whether it is a website design or a brochure design — but we help them understand all the ramifications of choosing one form of media versus another so they get the most bang for their buck.

It’s now nearing the end of the week and my sister (giving it her all) was not able to avoid mass media. Our culture is so immersed that it almost makes it impossible to remove from our lives, even for a five-day period. In some ways, media has gone to extremes with negative results, but in other ways media has allowed us to communicate with people in the next town and across the world. Right or wrong, media is here to stay; it is our perception that shapes how we will take advantage of it at home and in the office.

How did we ever get along without email? It’s hard to imagine communicating to colleagues, friends, or family any other way. Whether you use email to say hi to your sister in another town or use it to send important files to your colleague in the office right next to yours, email is not only useful it’s necessary.

One of my main projects this week was to design an Email Newsletter for a very important client of ours who has used many of our other advertising services, such as trade show graphic design, brochure design, and website design. Their request was to have us create an Email Newsletter that their Sales Reps could use to send to their customers daily with product sale information. So, not only is email used for communication, we are also using it, and have been using it, for email marketing… which has become a useful sales tool for many companies.

I know I would much rather find a marketing piece in my email box rather than my mailbox. It’s a much greener alternative!  Think about how you would get through the day without email. Would your productivity be slow? Would the phone be attached to your ear all day? Would you be spending more money on postage? While you ponder those questions, I will finish answering the many new emails I just received.