MyBenefitsClub: Setting up an MLM’s image

Like I’ve mentioned in my earlier post, more and more companies are farming out their design requirements to freelance graphic artists. I came across ZMI through Filipino Freelancers, a professional online service for freelancers and employers. Apparently, they want their logo to be something similar to my own logo, playful yet sophisticated, so I won the bidding.

MyBenefitsClub is a project of All U Need Concepts Co. and is the “first to introduce MLM in the Most Beautiful Manner.” After the logo has been approved, brochure and member’s application form were developed next. Since they are engaged in the business of trading of goods such as healthcare, household, car care products and accessories, they need to product catalog for members’ and buyers’ reference. More marketing materials such as powerpoint presentation and primer are still in the process of being produced.

Food and work will always be a perfect combination!

I may not be a hardcore coffee lover but I am a fully-pledged food patriot. This is my first own food account (agency work not included: Goldilocks, Hunt’s, Lee Kum Kee) and so working on Cafe Iana’s marketing materials never really feel like work at all. Too bad, I wasn’t in the picture yet when they shot the products.

Working with existing photos is always a designer’s challenge. Food is easier though so layout design is not sweat at all. The real challenge that I faced here was the delivery timetable. I was roughly given 5 days to finalize layout and finish production of 20 pieces of menu book. Having an ever reliable supplier, Aljo Chua of Print Avenue was such a life saver. Initially, we committed to deliver at least 10 pieces just to make it to their rehearsal operation. Lucky for both suppliers and client, all 20 were delivered as requested.

Up to now, I still design all of Cafe Iana’s print requirements, from streamers and flyers to thematic birthday materials. If you’re interested to see my actual designs, please visit their shop at 295 E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd., Kalusugan, Q.C. (beside St. Joseph’s College). Nah! Go there for the food. I swear their cakes and desserts are to die for.

P.S. Please give me more food-related accounts and you’ll never be disappointed with the output.

Genius Creation?

I formally came to know John Calub when I attended the BNI Harvest Chapter launch last June 2007. Funny how I sat beside him all throughout the event and kept wondering the whole time why his name was so familiar. I even asked him if he has published a book. Turned out, Christopher Tan referred me to him months ago to design his company logo but unfortunately, the transaction didn’t take place. I then attended one of his Attracting Wealth Seminars where he shared his plan of officially putting up a mastermind group.

It was such an honor to be asked to design the logo. It took us more than a month to really finalize and refine the logo. The initial idea thrown in by the group which was absolutely helpful for me, was to put together G and C to make it look like a brain. I was so pleased with myself (ahem!) when late at night as I was about to fall asleep, the solution dawned on me. Swirly thingies can be added as a binding element for G and C! Brains do have swirly thingies, right? Now, the challenge was just to find a way to put all of them together the right way. The result was satisfying for everyone.

Why outsource your design team?

It is not uncommon for small businesses to hire freelance graphic artists for their marketing collaterals development and now more and more larger companies are outsourcing their design teams too. Why? Because if a company could find a reliable team, they could save a lot. No more extra office space and utilities expense, employee benefit expense and training expenses!

Also thanks to the ever improving design softwares and Internet Technology. Print materials such as brochure, flyers and even catalogs and 150-page coffee table books can now be produced through web interaction. If you’re worried about files being too large to be sent through email, Adobe’s PDF can produce press quality files without exceeding 1MB for a letter-size artwork. No need to set up an FTP site either for files more than 10MB. YOUSENDIT can let you send files up to 100MB for FREE!

This means you no longer have to leave your desk to have your design requirements done. Just send the files, your design challenge, mandatories, etc. through email and I’ll send you the studies or final design for your approval. You don’t have to worry about the production supplier either. All you have to do is sit back and wait for your deliverables. Saves you time as well!

Role of Visual Materials in Marketing Communications

When Ms. Hannah Crisostomo contacted me on October 2006 to improve FERN-C’s brochure, I immediately knew that this would be the company’s first step into integrating good visual materials to go hand in hand with their marketing communications plan. It just took a few more months for this fastly-expanding MLM company to take the full leap of outsourcing the task to me as the designer/art director and to copywriter, Deedee Espina.

As FERN’s marketing communications consultants, it was our main responsibility to develop an integrated set of standard marketing communication materials consistent of FERN-C branding. This included enhancing their corporate identity materials (businesscards, letterhead, envelop), designing employees’ and members’ uniforms and visors, dressing up their official vehicle, redesigning paperbags, and of course, developing their print materials. The initial step was to schedule a photo shoot for FERN-C’s exclusive image bank. Art direction was crucial on this part for the photos had to be generic enough for future collaterals’ use but still had to convey the general message of FERN-C as the non-acidic Vitamin C.

In order to fully involve, educate and inform the distributors regarding what’s going on with the company and update them about the benefits of FERN-C, FERN launched its first bi-monthly newsletter, FERN-Chronicles and redesigned the FERN-C website. By the time we had released the maiden issue and launched the website, FERN-C now has an established color palette and basic look which anyone can easily recall. Now the task of developing succeeding marketing materials was getting easier.