Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Top 4 Things to Look for When Selecting a Point of Sale (POS) Provider

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As a retailer, you have probably already come in contact with many point of sale (POS) dealers offering you systems. So who and what do you choose? There are four important things to keep in mind when selecting the best provider for your POS solution.
1. Track record of success - It is important to find a POS provider with a proven track record of success.
Fly by night dealers are becoming more and more common. They offer systems at cut-rate prices to get the deal and are never seen again when a support or service issue arises. Often they are out of business in less than a year. This leaves you with a system with no support or service greatly inhibiting your system's potential. This situation often leads to finding a new provider who will expect you to change hardware, software or both, greatly increasing the overall cost of your system. What seems like a great deal in the beginning, ends up costing thousands of dollars more than if a proper provider was chosen in the first place.
With the typical life of a system is 10-15 years with upgrades every 5-7 years, choosing a trusted and reliable provider is key to getting the most profit from your system solution. Look for a provider with many years in the industry, references and a proven track record of delivering the expectations set during the sale for the life of your POS system solution.
2. Service and Support - When purchasing a POS solution, it is easy to focus solely on software and hardware and forget about one of the most important aspects of a POS solution, support.
Like a car needs an occasional oil change, preventative maintenance and repairs, so does a POS system. It is important that your provider can deliver the service and support you need to keep your system running like new.
Look for a provider with multiple support options such as on-site, depot, remote/cloud based, online service portals and a help desk. Multiple support and service options guarantee that a speedy and reliable fix is available for any issue. It is also a good idea to get a maintenance contract to help reduce the overall costs of service and support over the life of your system.
3. Training - Now that you have a system, how do you use it? Systems can provide a wealth of information and are rich in features. It is important to chose a provider who can teach you how to use your new system so you can get the maximum benefits and profit returns.
Technology has allowed providers to develop many useful tools to make learning your system easier. Providers should always provide on-site training during the installation of the system, however it is beneficial to find a provider who also offers additional training resources. Examples of additional resources include remote/virtual training and in-house training sessions. Some providers are even offering online video training libraries. This type of training can be extremely useful by giving you the option to access and review information whenever you need it or hire someone new.
4. Solutions not systems - There are two types of point of sale providers, those who sell systems and those who sell solutions.
While system hardware and software looks impressive sitting on your counters or at your lanes, it is limited by the lack of other important profit maximizing elements such as personalized modules and applications. A system solution is designed to address and solve your specific needs by combining hardware, software, support, training, information and personalization with a trusted provider to automate and maximize your operational efficiency and profits.
Blake Gillum
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Pixilation Animation

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Not all animation is done by hand. Many animations are done using different techniques, and in animation school, one of the most popular was pixilation animation. While somewhat similar to stop motion animation, pixilation often uses live actors and objects and sometimes other forms of animation, such as Claymation into its fun filled mix.
Pixilation uses the technique of shooting one frame at a time, just like in like stop motion and is primarily used with live actors. While it sounds easy enough, it can be a rather time consuming process, as you have to keep things like continuity in mind. If you're filming something outside, you want make sure the lighting is consistent and that there's no differentiation in the actual photography. The overall effect can be a rewarding exercise and if you're in animation school, it's a good way to play around and get a feel for it.
Say you're shooting a sequence where two people are walking across a field. You want to shoot one frame, then have them walk maybe about a foot, then shoot another frame, all the while repeating the process until they cross to the end. When reviewing the animation, it'll look as if they've bounced across the field rather quickly in just a few seconds, giving the actors the appearance of puppets.
Try the same thing using actors walking down a busy street, and you'll see how the characters, as well as others in the background, bounce all over the pace and how it makes for a startling effect. Pixilation is a great way for students in animation school to get a grasp not only of the genre's many possibilities, but also how to experiment with the camera.
Pixilation uses the same breakdown as does most other forms of animation. There's usually a storyboard involved with sketches on how the action should progress. If you're in animation school and trying this for the first time, it's a good way to get a grasp of how pixilation works. You might make a few mistakes, but the end result can be really cool looking and serve as a great learning opportunity as your style progresses over time.
Pixilation has existed since the early days of filmmaking, with the oldest known use of it in the short Spanish film El hotel eléctrico in 1908. Since then, it's been an extremely popular form of animation that has appeared in film, television commercials and music videos.
In fact, many celebrated filmmakers have flirted with pixilation, such as Norman McLaren, The Brothers Quay, and Mike Jittlov, with the best known being Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, who's created many surrealistic animated films and influenced many animators and filmmakers.
While the general technological approach to pixilation has remained the over the decades, probably the greatest use of it appears in the critically acclaimed "Sledgehammer" video by singer Peter Gabriel that combines elements of Claymation and stop motion animation. This particular video is ruthlessly inventive, featuring Gabriel in live action and in animated form surrounded by a myriad of objects. Its breezy five-minute running time cannot mask the fact that it took perhaps months to create, due to its complex fusion of live action and Claymation. Watching this particular video in animation school, as well as seeing it countless times on MTV, still remains a visual smorgasbord. Its inventive use of rapid paced imagery, especially the dancing chickens, has inspired numerous filmmakers and animators since it first appeared in 1986.
So, if you're unfamiliar with this type of animation, and have been dying to experiment with it, it can definitely be a fun way to create something unique and different. If you're in animation school, it's also a great way to let your imagination run wild.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

When Did Advertising Become Entertainment?

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Expert Author Michael Irvin
I must have missed the memo. When did it become mandatory to entertain people with advertising? Aren't there enough lame sitcoms out there to watch? I guess I'm too old school. I come from a background where advertising was educational, informational, and about brand identity. As an informed consumer I would like to know more about the product and be less entertained. Watching cute little 3D animated characters hit on each other doesn't give me the information I need to make an informed decision. Apparently though, some consumers would rather be entertained than informed or educated. Have we really sunk that low? Really?
Advertising should educate
How can you expect potential customers to buy your product if they don't know anything about it? Shouldn't you tell them what makes your product superior to your competitors? Shouldn't you tell them the value added they receive by buying your product over someone else's? Maybe it's better that a cute little squirrel chases after an acorn tumbling down a hill. What the hell does that have to do with your product? Advertising that doesn't educate doesn't attract customers. It might entertain them for a few seconds and then they are on to the next entertaining commercial.
It should inform
So you're having a big sale next week and you decide that the squirrel chasing an acorn is so entertaining that you build your advertising campaign around it and run an ad featuring him next week to promote your sale. However the squirrel fails to tell your potential customers the location, store hours, and limits of the sale. Nobody shows up, but be assured they were entertained. Advertising should inform your customers of not only who you are and what you sell but also inform them about your promotions, your sales, and your special offers and coupons.
Advertising should promote brand identity
Remember back when car commercials used pretty women in there ads? Guys would go out and buy a car hoping that by doing so they to would have a pretty girl in their life. That's brand identity. You want your customers to identify with the benefits of using your product. You want that benefit to be a good one. You don't want to send the message that if "you eat our food you will act stupid." The customer wants to identify with his life being better for having used your product.
Entertainment is a good thing. I like being entertained. There are many good entertaining ad campaigns out there that also educate, inform and promote brand identity. My point is this: if your ad campaign, marketing strategy, or whatever advertising effort you are making is relying solely on entertainment you are missing a huge opportunity to reach new customers and educate them as to who and what you do, inform them about your specials, new products, etc., and branding your product(s) by helping them identify with the benefits of buying from you. Which would you rather be known for? A clever, entertaining advertising campaign, or a well crafted message about your product and/or services that increases your bottom line. It's your choice. Choose wisely.
Michael Irvin is a Creative Project Manager residing in Overland Park, KS a suburb of Kansas City, MO. Michael draws on years of experience in the advertising and marketing field. He's an superb graphic designer and illustrator. He can be reached by email at: michaelirvinbigideaguy@gmail.com
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Four Mistakes People Make With Poster Printing

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People always seem to make mistakes when it comes to poster printing. Do you want to do this when you make your posters for your company? The best way to avoid mistakes that have been made in the past is to read about them before you have anything printed off. This way, you can keep from making these same errors over again. Below are four mistakes that people make that you should think about before sending your material off to the local printing company.
1. Spelling Mistakes
The biggest problem of all is that people print off words that have not been spelled correctly. There is nothing that can make you look less professional to potential clients and customers. At the same time, though, this is a very easy error to make. You need to look everything over a few times before you decide that you are done with it. You should also have a team of people who did not do any of the writing so that they can look at it with the eyes of a customer.
2. Poorly Displayed Graphics
Many times, the graphics that you decide to use will look great on your computer screen. The printing services will not be able to replicate the same thing on the paper, though. Computers are vastly ahead of printers as far as clarity is concerned. Do not order a large amount of posters until you have seen what the finished product is going to look like. You may need to make some changes when you see the paper version.
3. Text That Blends Into The Background
Again, this mistake is due to the use of a computer in the process. Blue may look like it stands out against black on the backlit screen, but the two colors will really blend together after the poster printing process as been completed. If you hang the finished product up in a dim room, no one will be able to read anything that it says. This makes it effectively worthless since you can be sure that people will not work hard to figure out what it says. You must make things obvious or they will just keep on walking past the poster.
4. Incorrect Contact Information
From time to time, people print documents with the wrong contact information. This could happen simply because an intern made a mistake or because you took the address from an old postal address file. Regardless, you should read over this to make sure that it is correct. Do not just skim over it because you have read the address for your company so many times. Without the right contact information, no one will be able to get in touch with you.
Let Master Copy Print, one of the industry leading printing companies, provide you with your high quality digital printing solutions for your business. We offer booklet printing, catalog printing, magazines, brochures, CDs & DVDs as well as many other printed materials you may need for your business. In choosing print shops to promote your business, consider Master Copy Print now.

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Monday, April 9, 2012

Understanding Brand and Identity


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Identity, as a logo, is a foundational component of a 'brand' but it is often misunderstood as being 'the brand'.
A strong visual identity is a good-start on the road to building a brand, but unless the visual identity is reinforced with a fully-realised brand that permeates the entire company, when the market comes to engage with your business, there is the risk that their expectation of your brand and their actual experience of the brand will differ dramatically.
Brand is the composite totality of all interactions between the market and your company; each and every time your company interacts with the market, a brand-experience is created. It is a continuous process and to be successful it must not only be a positive experience, it must be a consistent experience.
From a visual design perspective type-faces, colour palettes, image styling and contextual language are all components of brand design, they effectively form the collateral component. Effective brand design has to involve and extend throughout the entirety of a company, from the manner in which Customer Service answers a telephone, to the definition of a product set and the expression of company policies or values to market.
Brand is particularly important to businesses experiencing rapid growth or those opening new branches in new territories. Once a company begins to grow, the personality of the CEO or Senior Sales Staff that drove the business cease to become as readily accessible to market as it once was. Therefore, the role of engagement and experience has to be transferred to the brand, and the brand values have to be encapsulated in process.
All companies have a vision statement, these are often platitudes produced to create a 'feel good impression' with a prospective client or customer. 'Vision & Value Statements' need to be translated into process in order to have purpose; by translating them into process they then perform an active role in the company. A 'proposition' is then able to deliver tangible value for the company and the customer.
A strong brand also creates a strong-identity within the company itself, reinforcing the corporate culture which creates greater employee retention, and a strong well-designed corporate culture is more capable of innovation. In situations, where employees need to be replaced if they have moved on, a clear and defined brand makes it easier for new employees to adopt the personality of the company and perform their role in the market.
Brand can therefore be distilled into: identity, collateral and process. Without each of these components being fully realised and operating as functional tools in the day-to-day operation of the company, the brand will not be performing at its optimal level, and if the brand is not performing then neither is the bottom line.
Scott Richards is a media consultant and has worked with some of the world's largest brands developing their digital identities, media strategies and marketing collateral.
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Choosing the Location of Your Display Stands and Store Fittings


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When you are the manager or owner of a shop you have many responsibilities such as ensuring you provide good customer care and maintaining the condition of your various stock. However it is important as well to consider the other elements of running a store that many managers tend to forget - which are the layout, appearance and set up of the store and the isles themselves.
A good store manager will always recognize the importance of a correct layout in their store and will realize that this has a range of important psychological effects on the way that customers interact with the store and the products therein. This is particularly important with regards to your display stands and store fittings which are only useful if they are used in the correct way.
In this respect designing a store has some things in common with designing a website and you will do both with many of the same ends. With a website you see you will consider seriously the color scheme, the positioning, the navigation etc regarding the position of your content and of your adverts; and with a shop you need to likewise think about how your customers are going to find their way around your store, and where their eye will be drawn as they go.
Consider your display stands and your store fittings like adverts - they are there to promote the items you want to help sell, but they may not be what the customer is actually looking for when they come in. Thus you need to place them in clever places in order to catch attention and in order to encourage shoppers to want to buy the things they're advertising.
One way to do this then is to put them in the window of the shop, or in the doorway. This way it is the first thing that your customers see, and even people who don't enter your shop will see them. This way you might find you at least plant the 'seed of an idea' in their mind so that they think about the offer you are promoting and perhaps come back at a later date.
Likewise it is very possible to funnel your customers and to anticipate the way they are going to go around your store. For instance, if you have a product that everyone wants (in a newsagents this might just be milk, in a games store it might be the latest and most high-profile game), then you simply put the display stands near that on en-route to that so that they spot them on the way. You can achieve something similar here as well by periodically altering the layout of your store. When you do this you leave your customers searching for the new items and this way you can ensure they are more likely to see your display stands and the other things your store has to offer.
And finally POS stands will go down well because you know your customers will pass these if they are buying something, and because they will already be committed to spending money and so more likely to add something to their basket.
If you use your display stands wisely you can increase the value of each of your customers to you. Click here for a variety of store fittings.
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Modern Graphic Design Tips


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Expert Author Tom M Wiseman
I think everyone will agree when I say that good graphic design stems from an in-depth understanding and knowledge about color balance, visual cues, and the power of a well thought out layout.
Whether you design websites, business cards, pamphlets, magazine covers, logos or anything else, you need to understand who your audience is and be well versed in your medium. Simply throwing together some text and stock photos or graphics won't cut it in today's market, especially considering the number of talented folks out there.
No, what you need to do is learn your trade and enhance your skills in anyway and whenever you can.
Let's start off by examining color palettes. If you can't look at a piece of graphic art and decide instantly whether or not the colors flow naturally and enhance the overall piece, it may be time you take a look at some examples so you can get an idea of what colors balance with one another instead of clashing.
When you start adding colors to whatever project you're working on, remember that there needs to be some sort of theme. You don't want to just add colors willy nilly and hope that it will look good in the end. The colors you choose should enhance the project and help to visually relate the message that piece is trying to convey.
As an example, try to visualize a website for a truck accessory retailer. Do you think using neon or pastels would work for this type of site? Of course not. What about using those same sort of palettes for say a cake or doughnut bakery? They probably would work in those instances right?
Additionally, if the message is supposed to be uplifting or inspirational, you probably don't want to use dark colors. Keep with the lighter shades for these and use the darker colors for more technical or industrial projects.
Let me state here and now that very rarely, if ever, should you use more than 5 or 6 colors on any given project. This does not include colors used for shadowing or highlights, but should be a general rule of thumb for the project's palette.
If you don't believe me, check out the countless home-made websites out there using 10 or more colors on a single page and see what you think of those sites after viewing them.
Visual cues are everything and more often than not, the difference between a good and great design is something that at first seems insignificant. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the subtle graphic nuances that great projects have, and typically everything else does not - something that makes that project stand out.
It can be a background image that blends well with the rest of the design, some abstract design that fades in or out, little extra graphics scattered about in just the right way, the right font and typography, or some sort of visual magic trick that makes you think you see something without it really being there. Shadows do wonders for the last category by the way, and there are lots of examples out there to follow.
It's the little things that will set your work apart and make people envious of you and your skills, but remember not too over do it. Too much of anything is not recommended and will most likely result in the project taking on an amateurish look rather than one created by a professional.
When starting a new design project, take care of the basic layout first, keeping in mind that you can always change it later if you need to. Then add in your fonts for any text you may have remembering that the right font will go a long way in sending the message you want. Hopefully at this point you're feeling inspired by what you see and can then start to design the custom graphics that will be placed at strategic locations. A key point here is to remember where someone's eyes will land first, second, third, etc... and to make use of that. If you want the name of the company or the title of an article to stand out from everything else, then it should be near the top and designed in a such a way that a person's eyes will naturally gravitate to that area first. Using a gradient or pattern overlay for the text just might be the ticket here.
Once you have everything in place, step back and take a hard look at what you've created, possibly getting some other opinions. Decide whether it conveys the proper message and if it needs any enhancing. Does it have the right colors and do they all blend well with one another? Does any item stand out from the rest? If so, is that a good or bad thing?
Finally, though you should be keeping this last factor in mind during the entire project, you need to know who your audience will be. Will the main demographics tend to be younger, say between ages 14-21? If so, then you'll probably want to create something with a well known theme, perhaps along the gaming genres, barring any copyrighted material of course. Older audience? Perhaps a stylish, antique looking theme would be better suited here.
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