In the world of graphic design, how to put a price on a project is one of the most difficult things to do for a designer. As creative’s, our brains are just not wired that way. We love the creative process, but putting a value to it can be overwhelming. The first step is to [...]

Let’s face it; if you have a business, marketing is an essential component for success. Whether you are selling a service or a product, you need to tell people about it. That’s where the use of good marketing tools plays a huge role. The first step is to identify who you’ll want to sell to. [...]

Happy New Year everyone! Well, 2018 has come in and brought along some extremely cold temperatures here in East Central Illinois. It was minus 11 degrees this morning. Other than the cold, I'm especially excited about the upcoming year. The Thunderstruck team and I have several new initiatives on the agenda for 2018. To name [...]

Early last Friday morning, the Thunderstruck Team (+ one) visited the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute upon the invitation of Jill Sauer. She gave us a personal tour of the facility and we had the opportunity to witness RIT training first hand. Instructor Jeffrey Kraft from the Chicago Fire Department was also on hand [...]

After two long years, Illinois lawmakers finally passed a state budget. But not without a 5 billion dollar tax increase. Once again, taxpayers like you and I shoulder the financial burdens of this state thanks to our elected officials. Thank you very much. With the passed budget comes a 67% increase to businesses, up from [...]

In the creative business we are constantly confronted with deadlines and quick turn-arounds which can be very stressful on creative people. Sometimes the ideas ‘flow’ quickly, often times they do not. Creativity can be a struggle. That’s why it’s important to take a break every 90 minutes or so and just have a little fun. [...]

When I started my business back in 1995, one of the hardest things I had to learn was how to sell. I had to sell my ideas and concepts to my clients. I had to make those cold calls that everyone dreads. It wasn’t easy, and I hated doing it. I thought I would just [...]

Establishing a Strong Company Image (This article is an excerpt from a marketing workshop presented to the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce) In today’s global economy, your brand image is your handshake with the world. Through the internet, we can communicate with individuals and businesses half way around the world in an instant. It’s imperative [...]

What lights you up? What interests do you have that you could do them all day… effortlessly? And now for the big question: Is this what you are doing currently? Entrepreneurs know how to turn their passions into business. They find what they love to do and then dive in 100% and turn their dreams [...]

When developing a direct marketing campaign, it’s a good idea to think in a much broader scope than a single media approach. Research has shown that using a select choice of multiple media, referred to as cross-channel marketing, can greatly increase your customers and prospects response rate… often as much as 35%. Today, many marketers [...]

(NOTE: The following article is based upon a presentation at the 2013 HOW Design Conference by Johnny Cupcakes, a.k.a. Johnny Earle) On a cool and rainy Monday evening in San Francisco this past Summer, I had the pleasure to listen to a dynamic presenter and entrepreneur… Johnny Cupcakes. For those of you who might not [...]

For the past several years, I have served as the Community Service Director for my Rotary Club, C-U Sunrise in Champaign. Part of my role includes working with the Volunteer Services Chair and Committee to develop some volunteer opportunities for our club members. This got me thinking about the many local businesses that contribute so [...]

The face of marketing and communications are constantly changing. Developing technology is a driving force behind how we interact with customers. Think about it, in just the past year alone, we’ve seen an explosion of QR codes being used on everything from ads to business cards to signs. NOW, HOLD ONTO YOUR HAT… there is [...]

Here’s a news flash, the Great Recession is over. However, the effects still linger. It’s a different world now and the fallout continues to trickle down. There are some positives that came from this event, providing your company survived it, and that’s the fact that it opened our eyes to how high off the hog [...]

When hiring a design company or graphic designer to work on a specific project or campaign, many details need to be brought to light before beginning. Fortunately, a good design firm or designer will know what to ask to help make the process easier for the client. Typically, we question clients to get a good [...]

When beginning your next marketing project, do you ever think of the “design strategy?” This is an industry term among graphic designers usually spoken when we first begin the process of gathering information about a specific project or campaign. When we speak of a strategy, it refers to putting together a plan to achieve an [...]

Print Specifications and Bid Evaluation In last month’s article, we covered how to identify and select the right printer for your print job. This month’s article covers basics on how to specify your print project in terms your printer can understand and how to compare your printing bids once they have been received. Once you [...]

Selecting and working with printers When managing a print project, you need to know some of the capabilities of many printers. Each project is unique, and based on types of equipment and other factors, certain printers may be better suited for the job than others. Having two to three primary printers in different categories can [...]