design tip # 2

Donuts won’t hide the hole in your presentation…. be prepared.

design tip #1

a solid brand strategy is able to remember yesterday, focus on today and plan for tomorrow all at the same time.

Back to the drawing board… what does that really mean?

Innovation or more of the same.

For many companies back to the drawing board means going back to what they perceive as having worked before. If the wheel they made 5 years ago was their top seller and it was red, then wheel version 2.0 should also be red is often the logic applied. This is an over simplified analysis, but the point is for many companies their idea of innovation is more about work done previously and less about what will change the their industry or the world.

Being 40 something, I remember the 70’s music cranked up on the car’s 8-track tape player. In the mid1960’s, Bill Lear of LearJet® fame, got RCA® Victor to license music for 8-track tapes on player he invented based on work he started 30 years earlier and tape loop technology that had been advanced by several other people, to be used on airplanes. In 1966, Lear then got Ford® to offer the 8-track players as an option in their cars. That year 65,000 units were installed, but it changed the music world forever. For the first time you could now take your favorite music with you in a car or a plane. 8-tracks gave way to cassette tapes which were invented by Phillips® in 1963, but it did not take off until Dr. Dolby created Dolby® noise reduction in 1966 and it was applied to cassette tapes. Then came the collaboration of Phillips® and Sony® resulting in CDs, that ushered in digital music and Apple® ipods.

In a little over a hundred years music went from the invention of the phonautograph by Frenchman Leon Scott in 1857 to digital downloadable music that we can take anywhere. Cars now have ipod or mp3 jacks and music can be stored on your phone, but that is a whole different discussion. No, actually it is the same discussion. The point is that the evolution of the music industry was not one company pushing innovation after innovation by going back to the drawing board that got us to this point. It took many different individuals and companies using technologies from around the world as well as many different ideas on many different drawing boards to innovate to digital music. They simply were not trying to reinvent the wheel but rather they wanted change the music world.

As a business leader ask yourself…

• Are you anticipating where you industry is going or trying to hold it steady?

• Are you rewarding incremental change or celebrating true innovation?

• Are you going back to the drawing board or trying to revolutionize the industry?

• If you are not revolutionizing the industry, who is?

Innovation is a key business strategy. Innovation applies to all facets of your business from administration to marketing to product development and all points in between. Without innovation your business could become obsolete. Think Kodak. Think fax machine. Companies should always be challenging the status quo and realize that doing what worked before is not innovation just duplication.

Doug Stucky,

Stucky Design, Inc.

In a tight economy, specialists remain the best value.

In a tight economy where companies are looking to cut costs, working with experienced specialists still makes sense and delivers the best overall value. Most companies do not have the cash to support costly delays and errors as a result of inexperience, nor can they afford to wait to get it right the next time. Design and marketing projects are still moving forward, but companies who try to control costs by doing it all themselves or hiring someone just because they are cheaper, may find themselves paying far more in the long run then just hiring a specialist to begin with.

Budgets are definitely tighter and scaled down, but most design specialists are able to adapt and deliver affordable quality solutions that get results. The only thing more costly then do any project, is doing it and not getting the results you need. So, when you are discussing your next design project bring in the specialists, it will best value in the end.

Like it or not you are in the experience business.

Think about it, why do your customers continue to do business with your company? Is it because you are the only one with the product or service they need? Are you the lowest priced solution? Probably not. Rather there is some level of satisfaction with the experience customers have had with your company, products or services.

One of the most painful times can be when you go to purchase a vehicle. How do people describe it; it was either a good experience or a bad experience, the vehicle is almost secondary. Is office supplies about pens, pencils and paper? No, it is about selection, delivery reliability and easy ordering. Think about a restaurant, the food, service, and atmosphere all add up to the experience. Now look at your business through the eyes of the customer’s experience. What can you do to make the experience better?

Welcome to Stucky Design

At Stucky Design we look at design a little different. We consider design to be a series of ideas generated by our team. These ideas may direct us as we design your logo, but they may also direct how that logo is used, when it is used and what size it appears. Generated ideas may also direct what type of marketing your company or product uses to drive the most traffic to you. Often a brochure is what your company or product need, but there are other times with a website and a really big party are the best avenues to promote you and your product.