Premier Creative - Graphic Design & Web Design in Gainesville, FL

2011 Football Road Trip

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:17:46 +0000

Trackside Prints

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:22:39 +0000

Gainesville SEO Case Study – Crane Industry Services

admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:04:19 +0000

The Situation:
Cliff is a long-time crane industry vet providing specialized services like crane inspection training and crane accident expert witness. He had a website, www.craneindustryservices.com, but it was not getting any traffic. The website was not ranking for any key terms whatsoever.

Objective:
Determine 4-7 key phrases to target.
Achieve a ranking of #5 or better for all keyword phrases.

Strategy:
We worked with Cliff in determining which keywords to target based on the revenue each individual service he provides brings in. Then, we compared his input with search traffic volume in order to come up with a list of seven key phrases to target.

The website itself was updated to have proper page titles, page URL’s, meta tags and more appropriately worded content. In addition, a 3-month link building campaign was launched to help raise CIS’s search rankings.

Results:
At the end of a 3-month period, all key phrases were ranking #5 or better. The website did not rank for ANY of the phrases prior to the SEO campaign. Here are the 3-month results:

Crane Accident Expert Witness
Start: not ranked
Finished: #1

Rigging Accident Expert Witness
Start: not ranked
Finished: #1 and #2

Crane Injury Expert Witness
Start: not ranked
Finished: #1 and #2

Crane Equipment Expert Witness
Start: not ranked
Finished: #1 and #2

Crane Safety Training
Start: not ranked
Finished: #1

Crane Inspection Training
Start: not ranked
Finished: #3

Crane Inspection Services
Start: not ranked
Finished: #5

That’s right, #1 and #2 for a few of the key phrases. Check it out:

Gainesville Facebook Marketing | Types of Facebook Pages

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:51:52 +0000

One of the most common Facebook marketing questions our clients ask us is, “What type of Facebook should I set up for my business?” While Facebook Pages are still the default answer, almost every type of Facebook page (note the difference between “pages” and “Pages”) has marketing potential. The world of Facebook is an always changing, so here’s a short description of the five main types of Facebook pages.

Profiles:

Profiles are the basic building blocks of Facebook and are the most familiar type of page to the everyday user. Profiles are the page that is set up for you when you register for Facebook. They are intended for individuals and Facebook will close any accounts they find being used for business purposes. It is impossible to run Facebook Ads directed at a profile page and you cannot accumulate “Likes”.

Facebook Profile Page

Pages:

Pages are the type of Facebook page specifically design for businesses and brands. Instead of “friends”, Facebook Pages gain “Likes” or, as they used to be known, “Fans.” Once someone “Likes” your Page, any updates you post will be fed directly into their News Feed (the news feed is the accumulation of posts you see when you log-in to Facebook). While you cannot message or post on individuals users walls, Facebook Pages allows you to run Facebook Ads for your business. In addition, you can send out mass emails to anyone who has “Liked” your page.

Facebook "Pages" Page

Places:

Facebook Places is a new type of Facebook page intended for use by businesses. Facebook Places is similar to Google Places, Foursquare and Gowalla. All of these services are based around geo-targeting. Geo-targeting is the ability of many new smart phones (iPhone, Android, Blackberry) to determine a users physical location. When a user physically approaches your establishment, they are given the option of “checking in.” When a user checks in, their location is broadcast to other users checked in at that location as well as to their Facebook friends. In addition, the business owner can set up special Facebook Places deals for anyone who checks in or frequent customers after they check-in a certain number of times. Facebook Places currently lacks much functionality beyond deals, but Facebook is working on combining Places and Pages into one page to fix that.

Facebook Places Page

Groups:

Facebook Groups were designed to encourage discussion amongst people sharing a common interest. Once a group has been created (anyone can create a group), they can add anyone they want that is already a friend of theirs. Anyone in the group can create events, post pictures and videos and post on the wall. There is also a chat room feature in which all members of the group receive messages in real time. Facebook Groups are not intended to be used as a marketing tool, however they do have a few potential uses for the savvy marketer. For example, the ability to post media and chat in real time would prove useful for setting up an impromptu focus group. Facebook Groups can also useful for internal communication within your business.

Facebook Group Page

Community:

Community pages are strictly informational pages that Facebook began populating recently. Each word/phrase you enter in your personal profiles under, “Favorite Music” or “Interests” links to a community page. On that page, you will find a Wikipedia-like article describing whatever it is. For example, if you list “Basketball” under “Activities” on your Facebook page, it will be linked to this community page that describes the sport of basketball: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Basketball/108614982500363. You cannot create a community page, they are automatically generated.

Facebook Community Page

-Scott Shelton
Scott is a Web Designer and SEO specialist from Gainesville, FL.

We Love Halloween!

admin — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:06:52 +0000

This is easily my favorite time of the year to do work for clients. It’s a perfect time for an artist like me to really shine and have some fun with my projects. Why? Because I love movies like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Hatchet. AMC Fearfest is always on at my house this time of the year.

As a kid, I can specifically remember drawing a monster during history class. I finished up my beastly creation while leaning down to grab my backpack and noticed something different about my classmates. They were all gone. I was so engaged with my monster sketch I didn’t even notice the bell ringing or the students filling out of the room. I’m not sure if the teacher working at his desk thought I was a very diligent student still taking notes or a slacker drawing a monster all over the pages of the Renaissance period. The beautiful thing about these creatures was that they didn’t have be symmetrical. If one of the creature’s eye was too big or a hand was misshapen it was quite alright to leave it like that. It was liberating as an artist to not be bound by having to make something look perfect or photo realistic. It was my first real taste of what I love so much about art, the experience.

So this time of the year is really a special time for me and for a lot of my coworkers as well. We love Halloween, here’s some of our favorite designs:

Delta Gamma, Halloween T-shirt Design:

Delta Gamma, Halloween T-shirt Design 2:

Club Ice, Dead Sexy Flyer:

Premier Creative, in-house design:

Delta Phi Epsilon, Halloween T:

Alpha Chi Halloween T:

Happy Halloween Folks

Neil McKinney

Senior Graphic Designer
Web Design • Custom Artwork • Branding & Identity
Email: NeilM@creative.premiercorporations.com

Premier Creative
805 NW 13th St.
Gainesville, FL 32601

Explore: creative.premiercorporations.com

Like: facebook.com/premiercreative

Follow: twitter.com/premiercreative

Keeping Web Design Local in Gainesville, FL

admin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:53:38 +0000

“Keeping it local” is by no means a new idea. However, as the world seems to be shrinking at an exponential rate with the advent of supremely efficient means of communication widely available, it is more important than ever. A few decades ago the rallying cry was the auto industry with Ford and GM encouraging us to, “Buy American.” Times have changed and “buy local” is a lot more geographically specific than it used to be. These days, buying locally means purchasing goods and/or services from providers in your own state, city or even neighborhood – not just your own country.

The widespread availability of the Internet has made the option of purchasing from foreign providers much easier for you average consumer or business purhchser. High-volume retailers across the county and overseas are often able to provide superior pricing when compared to local vendors. That’s no secret, and neither is the fact that these prices come at a steep social cost.

Web design is a little different from the classic local vs. foreign goods debate in that you’re purchasing both a creative service and a digital good. On the surface, it may even make sense to outsource web development since you technically never have to meet anyone in person to launch a website. Today, I’m going to explain why it’s beneficial for YOU, the client, to go local for web design.

Service and Communication
The quality of service and communication is easily the biggest advantage of opting for a local web design studio. Nothing compares to the quality of face-to-face communication, especially when something as integral to your business as the website is on the line. We want to know your company inside and out so that we can represent it properly online. We have worked with many clients on many web design projects in Gainesville, FL and strongly believe that an open and engaged line of communication is the single most important aspect in developing a successful website. We welcome all of our clients in to our web design offices at 805 NW 13th St – right here in Gainesville, FL.

Transaction and Information Security
No one likes to hand over sensitive information to an untrusted source. When dealing with out-of-town web developers, you end up having to hand over not only credit card information, but also sensitive information about your business. While there have certainly been security improvements across the board when it comes to online transactions over the last few years, the malicious parties responsible for stealing sensitive information have been working just as hard. When it comes down to it, the only truly secure transaction takes place offline. We have a variety of payment options here at Premier Creative and encourage our clients to come in and see our office here in Gainesville, FL.

Social Awareness & Economic Effect
The classic reasoning behind “keeping it local” is that supporting local business keeps money in your community, creates local jobs and prevents the outsourcing of work. In addition to these reasons, we think it’s important to consider what’s going on behind the scenes with any company you choose to do business with. This is especially true when dealing with foreign web design firms where working conditions and compensation are an unknown. Considering the prices some of these shops are able to offer, you would naturally assume that they are less than ideal. Working with a local web design firm allows you the clear conscience of knowing there are no negative social implications tied to your purchase.

Premier Creative strongly supports all efforts of keeping business local here in Gainesville, FL. We’re proud of our community and know that for it to prosper in the long term, we must be socially conscious when making purchasing decisions. Thanks for reading.

Until next time,

-Scott Shelton

Scott is a Web Designer and SEO specialist from Gainesville, FL.

Facebook Fan Page vs Facebook Profile – Which is better for your business?

admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:10:32 +0000

One of the most common questions we get from clients when it comes to social media marketing is whether a Facebook Fan Page or a Facebook Profile is better for business. Let’s begin by defining the terms and then look at the advantages of each format.

Facebook Profile:If you’ve ever used Facebook before, you’re already familiar with the functionality of a profile page. When you sign-up for Facebook, you’re signing up for a profile page. While profile pages are intended for individuals, they can easily be set up to represent a brand or business. However, Facebook does not technically allow Profiles to be used for business purposes and will delete any accounts they find doing so.

Facebook Fan Page: Fan Pages are the designated place for brands/businesses on Facebook. You must have a Facebook Profile to create a Fan Page. The profile you create the Fan Page with will become the “administrator” of the Fan Page.

Why you should use a Facebook Profile:

Ability to tag your brand in photos
Ability to message people directly

Why you should use a Facebook Fan Page:

Works seamlessly with Facebook Ad interface
Ability to set up customized, interactive landing pages
Ability to send out emails to all of your followers at once
Made for businesses so there’s a place to fill our yours hours, payment options and website instead of interests, favorite movies, etc.
If Facebook finds out you are using a profile for business purposes, they may delete the account.

In our experience, it is almost always best to go with a Fan Page. Facebook knows they need to nurture the business experience, so they continue to add functionality and perks to Fan Pages. In addition, the functionality of Facebook Ads integrating with Fan Pages is invaluable. Organic growth will only get you so far, especially in the beginning. Facebook ads are are a necessity in creating a successful Facebook Fan Page. Landing Pages also add a level of customization and professionalism that can really help your business stand out. Here’s a few of the things a business can easily use a landing page for:

Email Sign-up Form
Display a restaurant menu and/or take reservations
Coupons
Branded games and contests
Videos
You can even have a fully functioning online store right on Facebook!

What about Facebook Places?
It’s too early to say exactly how useful Facebook Places will be for businesses. However, it is pretty clear that location based services are the future of social media. Expect Facebook Places to become a huge part of the Facebook business landscape over the next few years. For now though, Facebook Fan Pages are your best bet cashing in on Facebook.

-Scott Shelton

Scott is a Web Designer and SEO specialist from Gainesville, FL.

Your Files Have Been Uploaded – Thanks!

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:47:24 +0000

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Illustration Tips for Adobe Illustrator: Line Quality

NeilM — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:34:15 +0000

Using Adobe Illustrator CS3 on daily basis has allowed me to become quite familiar with most its settings. I do a lot of custom illustration work at Premier Creative and it has really forced me to make custom brush settings in Adobe Illustrator. Using the pen tool (Bezier curve) was the usual practice for me when I first began at Premier Creative. The pen tool is great, but if you are someone like me who loves to draw and enjoys the natural medium of drawing on paper, a tablet is the way to go.

I now use a Wacom Intuos3 here at work now and it has literally changed my daily work flow when I’m putting together artwork.

Most of my work prior to getting my tablet was hand drawn. These hand drawn jobs requiring custom artwork would then be scanned and redrawn again in Adobe Illustrator. With most of my experience in illustration being pencil and paper, the labor intensive quality of the point and click pen tool was a necessary, but time-eating devil. Don’t get me wrong, the pen tool method can produce great results and is still a preferred method for many users. However, when you have a tight deadline, skipping this step and drawing directly to the computer is kinda like sawing off the handles of your toothbrush to shave some weight from your back pack when you go on a hike. Anything helps, trust me.

That being said, I wanted to share with you some tips on settings to make your experience much more natural. Right out of the box I’m going to tell you that you need to take time to master this like anything else, which is why I would like to show you the benefits generating different line qualities. Line quality is crucial to providing a depth of field in your illustration. One method of creating a more natural looking illustration is putting together your brush palette.

I’m going to assume you already know a little about Illustrator. If you have any questions at all, please email me!

Materials used in this blog:

Adobe Illustrator CS3
Wacom Tablet

First, open brushes palette:

Brush Tool Bar

As you can see here I have a few brushes already set up. 4 total. Creating images with the same line quality can lend itself to becoming “flat” or “stale”. With vector art more experienced illustration designers tend to vary their lines quite a bit. To avoid creating a very flat looking illustration, I use thick lines for outlines (lines that I want a heavy emphesis on), and small lines for inner detail or background information. So I’ll start my drawing by making a few custom brushes before I even begin.

Now that you have the brushes palette open, click the “new brush” icon on the bottom, it’s next to the trash can on the bottom right of the palette. You should get a screen like this.

Click “New Calligraphic Brush”.

Brush 1

Click the bottom box that says Pressure and drag the variation all the way up. This allows for line variation on the fly and give a manual pressure that dictates the line quality. I cant stress enough how important this is for the illustration. Adjusting the angle can be quite useful as well, so give it a try. This palette can be your best friend. I would suggest making several different brushes from small to medium to large.

This 2nd brush is slightly larger and has the angle set at 50. This brush would be good for sharper more tapered lines.

Brush 3

Here we have my 3rd brush, all is the same as 2, but the angle of the brush is round.

Brushes in action

Here I want to show you the subtleties of each brush, and that’s really what I’m looking for variation.

After you have put your brushes together, I have one more setting to show you. By double clicking or right clicking the paint brush tool(on the toolbar), you get another set of options. I particullarly love this setting, becuase of its smoothing quality. This will be your saving grace when you first start using a tablet. This tool allows a degree of autocorrection when it comes to lines. Tweaking this setting will allow for some very smooth lines.

Brush Tool Options

You can try these settings at first if you like, but I would suggest a little back and forth with the settings before settling on anything. The better the tablet settings, the less I find my self needing my Fidelity settings jacked up. Also another great tweak here is in the lower part where it says options. I would suggest keeping “Edit Selected Paths” off.

Remember, the best thing to do with this post is to really just find these settings and mess with them yourself. It’s a much better way to go than using the default stock brush.

Here is an illustration for a logo that I worked on recently that uses all the brushes shown above.

Lilly Pad Warrior

Neil McKinney

Senior Graphic Designer
Web Design • Custom Artwork • Branding & Identity
Email: NeilM@creative.premiercorporations.com

Premier Creative
805 NW 13th St.
Gainesville, FL 32601

Explore: creative.premiercorporations.com

Like: facebook.com/premiercreative

Follow: twitter.com/premiercreative

Gainesville Social Media Marketing Showcase

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:27:02 +0000

Today we’re going to take a look at some of the social media marketing projects we’ve put together for clients here in Gainesville and the surrounding area. We have an experienced team here to assist you with any and all social media marketing from Facebook to Twitter to Google AdWords to Youtube. Take a look and don’t forget to become a fan by “liking” our pages!