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Atricle Dump - Font Basics for Branding Your Small Business
While most companies have specific policies and a printed procedure manual written up for employees to follow, your cleaning business may have started on a part-time basis with you doing everything. Most likely, nothing was put in writing. With many different tasks pulling you in a thousand directions, putting your procedures down into writing has most likely not made it to the top of your "to do" list. But what happens when you want to go on a vacation? Or if you become sick or injured? Having a written policy and procedures manual for your cleaning business means your business can keep running if you do become sick or injured or if you decide to take some much needed time off.So how do you go about writing down the procedures you do to keep your business running? Start off by realizing this is an important task to take on. Following are a few tips to help you create a procedures manual for your cleaning business:1. Don't try to sit down and write out your manual in one sitting. You will get discouraged and most likely set the document aside and never get back to it. You do not have to tackle this p
• In Word Documents, you also want to make sure that the fonts that you use for the text will be available on the recipient’s computer. Good fonts to use are the standard fonts that come installed on PCs, which include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Courier, and Trebuchet MS.
In order to insert a small amount of customized text—such as your logo, tagline, or address information—create an image of that information and to place it in the header and footer of the page.
Another way to preserve the appearance of text is to export your document as a PDF file and send it to the recipient; PDF files embed the fonts into each document so that they can be viewed on any computer and still look right.
Some technical info about font file types
When you purchase fonts to use on your computer, you’ll often be given a choice of buying a Post Script, True Type, or Open Type font. Here is a brief explanation of the characteristics and problems with each of these formats:
• Post Script fonts are considered industry standard and are therefore preferred by professional printers. There is a format of Post Script fonts available for Macintosh computers and another format available for Windows computers; those fonts cannot be shared between Macs and PCs.
• True Type fonts are often found on Windows machines. These fonts do not print as well as Postscript fonts.
80% of your Web site is Maintenance!Once your Web site is up, you must maintain it. That means changes, and each time you make a change, you may make a mistake. I'm really grateful when people point out my Web glitches. You too can be more proactive by checking your Web site each week.If your visitors get a link that doesn't work, see incomplete instructions, or read your dull instead of passionate copy, they will leave your site immediately, and not bookmark it.Before you invite potential buyers to see your masterpiece you need to check and correct all parts of your site, and especially the home page. Use the last four of the seven tests below to guarantee you loyal customers and clients. The others from 1-3 are in part one of this piece.4. TEST YOUR PRICE. A price that is too low is as bad as a price too high. Too low a price devalues your product or service.Potential clients or buyers may think, "If it's that cheap, it must not be good." One myth is that eBooks have less value than print books. If your book has information your preferred audience wants, you must price it accordingly
Font basics
A font is a set of all the letters in the alphabet, designed with similar characteristics. This is also known as a typeface.
Fonts are usually designed to include several style variations. This can include styles like light, regular, bold, semibold, ultra bold, and italic. Some fonts also include “Expert” versions, which are fonts that include fractions and mathematical symbols.
Font families are typically packages of fonts that include all of the different versions of a font. Using fonts with large families will give you a wide range of fonts to use in your materials, for variety and emphasis.
There are many basic classifications of fonts. Four of the most common classes of fonts are:
• Serif fonts, which have little "feet," called serifs, at the ends of the lines that make up the letters. Some examples of serif fonts include Times, Palatino, and Garamond. These fonts are more traditional, elegant, and old-fashioned.
• Sans-serif fonts don't have those feet. “Sans serif” means “without serifs.” Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Helvetica are some of the most common sans-serif fonts. These fonts are more clean and modern.
• Script fonts are calligraphic or cursive fonts. Brush Script and Nuptial Script are two common script fonts.
• Display fonts are decorative and often used for logos or headlines.
There are other types of fonts as well, including handwriting fonts and all-caps fonts. However, the four listed above are the most common and useful in business communications.
Creative font usage guidelines
Each type of font has certain characteristics that translate into that font’s personality. A font might be serious or light-hearted, traditional or modern, legible or decorative, or any number of other personality traits. The traits of the font that you use in your marketing materials and business communications should reflect and enhance your company’s brand.
Your company should have designated fonts to use in the following situations:
• A logo font, which is typically not one of the fonts that come installed on Windows machines: it should be more unique and interesting. Some logos will have two or three different fonts in them. If this is the case, then consider using one of those fonts as the secondary font as well.
• A secondary font, used for headlines, sub-headlines, taglines, special text such as graphics and captions, and decorative text such as pull quotes, which are the large quotes that are used decoratively in articles and documents. This can be the same font as is used in your logo. This is typically an interesting and unique font as well. This may also be used as the font for your contact information in your stationery, depending on its legibility.
• A tertiary font is optional and may be used when the secondary font is not always legible, for mid-length texts such as pull quotes and contact information.
• A serif text font, for lengthy printed documents. Printed materials are more easily read if they are in serif font rather than sans-serif font.
• A sans-serif font, for shorter printed documents and on-screen use. Text on a computer monitor is easier to read in a sans-serif font than in a serif font.
• A website font, which may be the same font as is used as the main sans-serif text font, depending on how that font translates for online viewing.
All of these fonts should have similar or contrasting characteristics. Choosing fonts with similar characteristics will make your fonts match and create consistency throughout your documents. Choosing fonts with contrasting characteristics will build visual texture and interest into your materials. For example, you could pick all thin, sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Frutiger to create a harmonious, matching suite of fonts. Or you could pick fonts with contrasting characteristics to create greater interest, such as using a serif font like Palatino for the headlines and then using a sans-serif font like Verdana for the text.
Each piece of marketing material or document created should have a maximum of three or four families of fonts on them. (A font family includes all of the bold and italic variations of a particular font, so using bold or italic effects does not count as additional fonts.) Using more than three or four fonts is confusing, and it looks unprofessional.
Practical font usage guidelines
Fonts can require special consideration when you send materials to a professional printer for reproduction, use them on your website, or send Word documents to others. Here are some basics on using fonts and preserving their appearance in these cases.
• In printed materials, it's easier to read long blocks of copy that is set in a serif font. Sans-serif fonts are usually used in print for short blocks of information, like headlines, pull quotes, or bulleted lists.
When sending your materials to be professionally printed, make sure to address your desires regarding the use of fonts. You can either include the fonts with the files you send to the printer (which might be considered a copyright license infringement), rasterize your artwork (convert it to pixels, so the font data is no longer needed), or outline your fonts (creating shapes out of the fonts, an option that’s available in most vector art programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand), so that they can be printed accurately. Outlining the fonts is the best way to guarantee that your fonts will remain accurate and sharp.
• Online, in websites, emails, and HTML newsletters, sans-serif fonts look the best: they’re clean, clear, and easy to read. There is one other trick to online font use: you have to make sure that you use fonts that will be installed on the computers of people reading your site. Otherwise, your text will appear in the default font selected by their browser, which is often Courier, a very plain font. That limitation does leave you with several fonts to choose from, though, including Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, and Trebuchet MS.
Serif fonts could also be used on websites; however, it’s best to use them in limited quantities, such as for headlines and subheads. Some fonts that are available to use on the web include Times, Times New Roman, and Georgia.
Another issue that commonly arises with online fonts is the difficulty in controlling the size and appearance of those fonts. Standard font tags in HTML don’t offer precise sizing control and need to be used several times throughout each HTML document, so making changes can be time-consuming. You can use Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, to precisely control the exact size of your fonts and to make site- wide font, size, or color changes with one simple alteration.
• In Word Documents, you also want to make sure that the fonts that you use for the text will be available on the recipient’s computer. Good fonts to use are the standard fonts that come installed on PCs, which include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Courier, and Trebuchet MS.
In order to insert a small amount of customized text—such as your logo, tagline, or address information—create an image of that information and to place it in the header and footer of the page.
Another way to preserve the appearance of text is to export your document as a PDF file and send it to the recipient; PDF files embed the fonts into each document so that they can be viewed on any computer and still look right.
Some technical info about font file types
When you purchase fonts to use on your computer, you’ll often be given a choice of buying a Post Script, True Type, or Open Type font. Here is a brief explanation of the characteristics and problems with each of these formats:
• Post Script fonts are considered industry standard and are therefore preferred by professional printers. There is a format of Post Script fonts available for Macintosh computers and another format available for Windows computers; those fonts cannot be shared between Macs and PCs.
• True Type fonts are often found on Windows machines. These fonts do not print as well as Postscript fonts.
•
If you own a small business you should consider ways to promote yourself through public relations to compliment you advertising regiment and keeping your name out in the public and in front of your best customers. There are many ways to keep yourself visible on top of your typical advertising choices. Perhaps you might send some adverting to some newsletters as well as your newspaper print ads, radio and cable advertising. Here are some of the places you should try to place your company’s Public Relations for possible feature stories, ads or announcements:Local NewspapersLarge Company Employee NewslettersContractor NewslettersChamber Of Commerce NewslettersLocal Industry NewsReal Estate Multiple Listing BooksLocal BBS Bulletin BoardsA marketing piece might also be to insert our flyers in the daily newspaper. This usually ranges from $23.00-35.00 per thousand if we print the flyers and $25.00-50.00 per thousand if the newspaper prints them. The newspaper rarely prints flyers in house, although some do. They contract it out because their printing presses are all co
Creative font usage guidelines
Each type of font has certain characteristics that translate into that font’s personality. A font might be serious or light-hearted, traditional or modern, legible or decorative, or any number of other personality traits. The traits of the font that you use in your marketing materials and business communications should reflect and enhance your company’s brand.
Your company should have designated fonts to use in the following situations:
• A logo font, which is typically not one of the fonts that come installed on Windows machines: it should be more unique and interesting. Some logos will have two or three different fonts in them. If this is the case, then consider using one of those fonts as the secondary font as well.
• A secondary font, used for headlines, sub-headlines, taglines, special text such as graphics and captions, and decorative text such as pull quotes, which are the large quotes that are used decoratively in articles and documents. This can be the same font as is used in your logo. This is typically an interesting and unique font as well. This may also be used as the font for your contact information in your stationery, depending on its legibility.
• A tertiary font is optional and may be used when the secondary font is not always legible, for mid-length texts such as pull quotes and contact information.
• A serif text font, for lengthy printed documents. Printed materials are more easily read if they are in serif font rather than sans-serif font.
• A sans-serif font, for shorter printed documents and on-screen use. Text on a computer monitor is easier to read in a sans-serif font than in a serif font.
• A website font, which may be the same font as is used as the main sans-serif text font, depending on how that font translates for online viewing.
All of these fonts should have similar or contrasting characteristics. Choosing fonts with similar characteristics will make your fonts match and create consistency throughout your documents. Choosing fonts with contrasting characteristics will build visual texture and interest into your materials. For example, you could pick all thin, sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Frutiger to create a harmonious, matching suite of fonts. Or you could pick fonts with contrasting characteristics to create greater interest, such as using a serif font like Palatino for the headlines and then using a sans-serif font like Verdana for the text.
Each piece of marketing material or document created should have a maximum of three or four families of fonts on them. (A font family includes all of the bold and italic variations of a particular font, so using bold or italic effects does not count as additional fonts.) Using more than three or four fonts is confusing, and it looks unprofessional.
Practical font usage guidelines
Fonts can require special consideration when you send materials to a professional printer for reproduction, use them on your website, or send Word documents to others. Here are some basics on using fonts and preserving their appearance in these cases.
• In printed materials, it's easier to read long blocks of copy that is set in a serif font. Sans-serif fonts are usually used in print for short blocks of information, like headlines, pull quotes, or bulleted lists.
When sending your materials to be professionally printed, make sure to address your desires regarding the use of fonts. You can either include the fonts with the files you send to the printer (which might be considered a copyright license infringement), rasterize your artwork (convert it to pixels, so the font data is no longer needed), or outline your fonts (creating shapes out of the fonts, an option that’s available in most vector art programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand), so that they can be printed accurately. Outlining the fonts is the best way to guarantee that your fonts will remain accurate and sharp.
• Online, in websites, emails, and HTML newsletters, sans-serif fonts look the best: they’re clean, clear, and easy to read. There is one other trick to online font use: you have to make sure that you use fonts that will be installed on the computers of people reading your site. Otherwise, your text will appear in the default font selected by their browser, which is often Courier, a very plain font. That limitation does leave you with several fonts to choose from, though, including Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, and Trebuchet MS.
Serif fonts could also be used on websites; however, it’s best to use them in limited quantities, such as for headlines and subheads. Some fonts that are available to use on the web include Times, Times New Roman, and Georgia.
Another issue that commonly arises with online fonts is the difficulty in controlling the size and appearance of those fonts. Standard font tags in HTML don’t offer precise sizing control and need to be used several times throughout each HTML document, so making changes can be time-consuming. You can use Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, to precisely control the exact size of your fonts and to make site- wide font, size, or color changes with one simple alteration.
• In Word Documents, you also want to make sure that the fonts that you use for the text will be available on the recipient’s computer. Good fonts to use are the standard fonts that come installed on PCs, which include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Courier, and Trebuchet MS.
In order to insert a small amount of customized text—such as your logo, tagline, or address information—create an image of that information and to place it in the header and footer of the page.
Another way to preserve the appearance of text is to export your document as a PDF file and send it to the recipient; PDF files embed the fonts into each document so that they can be viewed on any computer and still look right.
Some technical info about font file types
When you purchase fonts to use on your computer, you’ll often be given a choice of buying a Post Script, True Type, or Open Type font. Here is a brief explanation of the characteristics and problems with each of these formats:
• Post Script fonts are considered industry standard and are therefore preferred by professional printers. There is a format of Post Script fonts available for Macintosh computers and another format available for Windows computers; those fonts cannot be shared between Macs and PCs.
• True Type fonts are often found on Windows machines. These fonts do not print as well as Postscript fonts.
Classically Corporate Identity has favored logo related issues that either represent admirable aspects of a company or that engender feelings or emotions companies want potential or actual customers to experience. Although we still hope to show admirable attributes and evoke proper emotions through Corporate Identity, there is a need today to provide more.As with so much of life the Internet has forever changed the way we identify our businesses.Identity is made up of many things but at its most basic level is comprised of Image(s) and Information. Image may be an actual graphic component or a series of key words or phrases that create a mental picture or a combination thereof. However, everything is information (small i). But in the case of Corporate Identity information must be restricted to that which pertains to the fundamental tenets upon which the business has been established and / or will thrive.The first of these factors, Image, has been defined, discussed and theorized about for centuries. It is the domain of artists, literati, philosophers, psyc
• A sans-serif font, for shorter printed documents and on-screen use. Text on a computer monitor is easier to read in a sans-serif font than in a serif font.
• A website font, which may be the same font as is used as the main sans-serif text font, depending on how that font translates for online viewing.
All of these fonts should have similar or contrasting characteristics. Choosing fonts with similar characteristics will make your fonts match and create consistency throughout your documents. Choosing fonts with contrasting characteristics will build visual texture and interest into your materials. For example, you could pick all thin, sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Frutiger to create a harmonious, matching suite of fonts. Or you could pick fonts with contrasting characteristics to create greater interest, such as using a serif font like Palatino for the headlines and then using a sans-serif font like Verdana for the text.
Each piece of marketing material or document created should have a maximum of three or four families of fonts on them. (A font family includes all of the bold and italic variations of a particular font, so using bold or italic effects does not count as additional fonts.) Using more than three or four fonts is confusing, and it looks unprofessional.
Practical font usage guidelines
Fonts can require special consideration when you send materials to a professional printer for reproduction, use them on your website, or send Word documents to others. Here are some basics on using fonts and preserving their appearance in these cases.
• In printed materials, it's easier to read long blocks of copy that is set in a serif font. Sans-serif fonts are usually used in print for short blocks of information, like headlines, pull quotes, or bulleted lists.
When sending your materials to be professionally printed, make sure to address your desires regarding the use of fonts. You can either include the fonts with the files you send to the printer (which might be considered a copyright license infringement), rasterize your artwork (convert it to pixels, so the font data is no longer needed), or outline your fonts (creating shapes out of the fonts, an option that’s available in most vector art programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand), so that they can be printed accurately. Outlining the fonts is the best way to guarantee that your fonts will remain accurate and sharp.
• Online, in websites, emails, and HTML newsletters, sans-serif fonts look the best: they’re clean, clear, and easy to read. There is one other trick to online font use: you have to make sure that you use fonts that will be installed on the computers of people reading your site. Otherwise, your text will appear in the default font selected by their browser, which is often Courier, a very plain font. That limitation does leave you with several fonts to choose from, though, including Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, and Trebuchet MS.
Serif fonts could also be used on websites; however, it’s best to use them in limited quantities, such as for headlines and subheads. Some fonts that are available to use on the web include Times, Times New Roman, and Georgia.
Another issue that commonly arises with online fonts is the difficulty in controlling the size and appearance of those fonts. Standard font tags in HTML don’t offer precise sizing control and need to be used several times throughout each HTML document, so making changes can be time-consuming. You can use Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, to precisely control the exact size of your fonts and to make site- wide font, size, or color changes with one simple alteration.
• In Word Documents, you also want to make sure that the fonts that you use for the text will be available on the recipient’s computer. Good fonts to use are the standard fonts that come installed on PCs, which include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Courier, and Trebuchet MS.
In order to insert a small amount of customized text—such as your logo, tagline, or address information—create an image of that information and to place it in the header and footer of the page.
Another way to preserve the appearance of text is to export your document as a PDF file and send it to the recipient; PDF files embed the fonts into each document so that they can be viewed on any computer and still look right.
Some technical info about font file types
When you purchase fonts to use on your computer, you’ll often be given a choice of buying a Post Script, True Type, or Open Type font. Here is a brief explanation of the characteristics and problems with each of these formats:
• Post Script fonts are considered industry standard and are therefore preferred by professional printers. There is a format of Post Script fonts available for Macintosh computers and another format available for Windows computers; those fonts cannot be shared between Macs and PCs.
• True Type fonts are often found on Windows machines. These fonts do not print as well as Postscript fonts.
There's no question about it, without advertising, it doesn't matter how good your product or service is. If people don't know you exist, you're not going to sell a thing. However, just advertising isn't enough. You have to be able to write the kind of ad that will force people to dig into their wallets. The problem is, many of us don't know how to write that killer ad. Well, believe it or not, when you break it down to the actual essentials, there are only 3 keys to writing a killer ad. This article will explain each one and why they are so key. The rest is just gravy.The first key may very well be the most important of all of them, the subject of your ad. It doesn't matter how good the body of your ad copy is. If your subject is weak, guess what? Nobody is going to read your ad. The problem with most subjects that I see is that they are either bland and boring or they are so ridiculous as to their claims that nobody with half a brain could ever take them seriously. What you need to do is focus on writing subjects that have a little mystery to them. For example, a subject line like "You'll NEVER Believe What John
When sending your materials to be professionally printed, make sure to address your desires regarding the use of fonts. You can either include the fonts with the files you send to the printer (which might be considered a copyright license infringement), rasterize your artwork (convert it to pixels, so the font data is no longer needed), or outline your fonts (creating shapes out of the fonts, an option that’s available in most vector art programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand), so that they can be printed accurately. Outlining the fonts is the best way to guarantee that your fonts will remain accurate and sharp.
• Online, in websites, emails, and HTML newsletters, sans-serif fonts look the best: they’re clean, clear, and easy to read. There is one other trick to online font use: you have to make sure that you use fonts that will be installed on the computers of people reading your site. Otherwise, your text will appear in the default font selected by their browser, which is often Courier, a very plain font. That limitation does leave you with several fonts to choose from, though, including Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, and Trebuchet MS.
Serif fonts could also be used on websites; however, it’s best to use them in limited quantities, such as for headlines and subheads. Some fonts that are available to use on the web include Times, Times New Roman, and Georgia.
Another issue that commonly arises with online fonts is the difficulty in controlling the size and appearance of those fonts. Standard font tags in HTML don’t offer precise sizing control and need to be used several times throughout each HTML document, so making changes can be time-consuming. You can use Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, to precisely control the exact size of your fonts and to make site- wide font, size, or color changes with one simple alteration.
• In Word Documents, you also want to make sure that the fonts that you use for the text will be available on the recipient’s computer. Good fonts to use are the standard fonts that come installed on PCs, which include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Courier, and Trebuchet MS.
In order to insert a small amount of customized text—such as your logo, tagline, or address information—create an image of that information and to place it in the header and footer of the page.
Another way to preserve the appearance of text is to export your document as a PDF file and send it to the recipient; PDF files embed the fonts into each document so that they can be viewed on any computer and still look right.
Some technical info about font file types
When you purchase fonts to use on your computer, you’ll often be given a choice of buying a Post Script, True Type, or Open Type font. Here is a brief explanation of the characteristics and problems with each of these formats:
• Post Script fonts are considered industry standard and are therefore preferred by professional printers. There is a format of Post Script fonts available for Macintosh computers and another format available for Windows computers; those fonts cannot be shared between Macs and PCs.
• True Type fonts are often found on Windows machines. These fonts do not print as well as Postscript fonts.
Developing a business brand can be one of the most rewarding and challenging of experiences. The rewards of a successfully orchestrated brand identity can be found in that feeling of complete accomplishment. Yet, the challenges of this brand building experience can make any business owner give up before they have even begun. So, how does one avoid the pitfalls and shame of a butchered brand that so often consumes a company's meager marketing budget? Even the largest companies make the worst branding mistakes. However, by following these three simple steps, any size organization can build strong and lasting brands that are unique and recognizable: Arm Yourself Build Strategically Maintain The Brand Arm Yourself The foundation of great brands is those individuals who are hired to create them. So, at the start of the brand development process, an effective and experienced team should always be on board. Make no mistake. The worst thing a company can do is hire a self-taught graphic designer instead of an adv
• In Word Documents, you also want to make sure that the fonts that you use for the text will be available on the recipient’s computer. Good fonts to use are the standard fonts that come installed on PCs, which include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Georgia, Palatino, Courier, and Trebuchet MS.
In order to insert a small amount of customized text—such as your logo, tagline, or address information—create an image of that information and to place it in the header and footer of the page.
Another way to preserve the appearance of text is to export your document as a PDF file and send it to the recipient; PDF files embed the fonts into each document so that they can be viewed on any computer and still look right.
Some technical info about font file types
When you purchase fonts to use on your computer, you’ll often be given a choice of buying a Post Script, True Type, or Open Type font. Here is a brief explanation of the characteristics and problems with each of these formats:
• Post Script fonts are considered industry standard and are therefore preferred by professional printers. There is a format of Post Script fonts available for Macintosh computers and another format available for Windows computers; those fonts cannot be shared between Macs and PCs.
• True Type fonts are often found on Windows machines. These fonts do not print as well as Postscript fonts.
• Open Type fonts are the newest type of font. They are cross-platform compatible, but many fonts aren’t yet available in this format.
With this information about the creative, practical, and technical aspects of font usage, we hope that you can make font choices that will enhance your brand.
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