On Fonts--Make or Break Your Design!

I know that some folks cannot afford a designer, or prefer to make their own marketing materials in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint or some other everyday program. That's OK. But, if you are one of these people, let me give you one piece of advice: do not use the following fonts. They're the telltale sign of a non-designer/rookie/newbie/person-with-no-taste. And they won't win you any points with customers either--they may just lose you a few or scare potential clients away. This is of utmost importance if you are a salon and spa owner. As a business that sells beauty, creativity, fashion, trends and of course, design, you must stray far from many of the fonts that came installed on your computer. The following fonts are the worst that you can use, for they are as cliched as they come:
Now that you've wiped them off your computer's hard drive, here are a few good replacements:

1. Myriad Pro: I use it as my backup any time a client does not already have a readable font for long chunks of text. Also, all of my personal promotional postcards use Myriad Pro for lists and paragraphs.

2. Swiss 721: A great modern alternative to Arial, shown here on one of my recent Valentine's Day Promos.




















3. Feel Script: A Veer exclusive, this font is unique and on top of 2008 trends. I just bought it as a birthday present for myself!















4. Hellenic Wide: Ooh, I'm in love with this one. Recently used (I think!) by Whole Foods' talented design team in their holiday promotional flyers and banners, this awesome font shows pizazz without even trying. (image from Veer)

5. Bouer Bodoni: Why use Times when you can be chic and classic with this much more clever serif font? Beautiful. (image from Veer)

the secrets to successful Spring Salon Marketing!

I know, it's only January and you've just finished recovering from Christmas, and you're scrambling to get Valentine's Day up and running. Because of the winter holiday rush, Spring somehow becomes the most underrated and forgotten marketing season. From what I've learned over the years working with my salon clients, though, is that Spring holds the most opportunities to attract new clients, increase retail sales and up the overall number of appointments made.

So, get out your to-do lists and add some of the following steps--and watch your salon have a growth spurt!

Mother's Day: Every mom--especially those with young kids at home--deserve pampering. Period. And husbands need hints. This is the holiday to 1. heavily advertise for gift cards in the newspaper, online, and local publications that men pick up and 2. give away free stuff. How about handing out mums (the flowers) on mother's day? Or a box of chocolates? Or better yet--in the weeks before Mother's Day, have every client enter a mother they know into a drawing for a high-value gift card. Market it with big signs and counter cards all over the salon.

Easter & Early Summer: Retail is the name of the game. Whether you're promoting shampoo as a basket-filler, or you're advertising deep conditioners as your "Get Fresh" spring campaign, don't forget a retail promotion this spring. Overwhelmingly successful time and again is the "Buy Two, Get One Free" deal. Make sure you're offering your BEST products with the deal. That means no "free hairbrush" or "free travel samples"--because your clients know when they're being duped! They want the best, so be sure to give it to them.

Wedding Season: This is a big one! Start thinking about it now. If you offer bridal party hairstyling and makeup, consider creating a special bridal services menu. Make it even more high quality than your basic salon services menu, and your brides will know you mean business. This is also when you should think about buying high-budget advertisements in the bigger magazines and newspapers. If there's a bridal edition/issue/insert in the local publications, make sure you know about them in advance! Brides must see your branding everywhere before they think you're a legitimate choice for their big day.

Prom & Graduation: They're the next generation to spend money in your salon, so it's best to lure teens in now! Their moms may not let them get elaborate highlights and edgy haircuts, but prom & graduation may be the first time they set foot in a salon. Advertise your prom & graduation services in every single local high school newspaper and yearbook. Consider creating a student discount, or a two-service prom package ("makeup and updo for 30% off") and put this in your ad!

By late summer, you should be selling hair removal, tanning and back-to-school haircuts. But we'll think about that later!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Graphic Inspiration

I'm trying to turn my brain off from red/green/snowflakes/candles and change my focus to Valentines and spring flowers, but it is difficult! Especially as I sit here up to my elbows in Christmas cards. (I've sent out a total of 117 so far! And counting!)

Here's a random compilation of tid-bits that are giving my brain a rush of inspiration:

1. Anything with a hand-sewn, or homemade feel. Even if it's done entirely on the computer, like this "W" from the Brocade Home site.








2. Williams-Sonoma's homey, retro package designs really put me into a creative mood!












3. Feminine Abstract art, that is totally messy yet totally "together" all at once. This piece is from the website of a talented artist whose etsy store I recently stumbled upon.












4. My new thomaspaul paper mousepad. It's the coolest thing ever! You can write on a page, rip it off, and the rest of the pad is used as a place to rest your mouse.

Gingerbread House Decorating

Without further ado, here are a few photos of the family Gingerbread House Extravaganza 2007.

The mess begins...

When my husband Jeff participates, he always finishes first!
(And yes, it is really funny that Jeff sometimes participates.) This year, he did a train station.


















Rachael and her castle. Very Anthropologie, if you ask me! (Hers was better than mine.) She would kill me if she knew I just posted this photo of her in the early morning with no makeup!
















Hannah's disaster area. It had started out so cute, but towards the end, she decided to demolish it art-school style. (She's an art student.) Mom was unhappy with her, since they always display these all Christmas long.
















Me, still working after everyone else had long finished. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am a perfectionist. (I need to repeat that sentence a few times.)
















Jennifer's Christmas Explosion. It looked like something out of F.A.O. Schwartz! It's so multi-dimensional and complex--can you tell she's the aspiring actress of the bunch of us?!

















Ellie's cabana in the foreground. This is the first year she's actually been serious about doing a house. At age 12, my little baby sister is finally growing up (sob!).
















My pink & brown house. Yep, I'm kind of addicted to that color combo at the moment!


















And the whole lot of them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow, Jeff and I are headed south to visit our families, who conveniently live only 10 minutes away from each other. We'll do a meal at each house, and then separate to hang out with our own siblings.

At Jeffrey's house, everyone plays football, watches football and does typical boy stuff. At my family's house, all five right-brained artist sisters (ranging from the youngest--age 12--to me, the oldest) sit down for four straight hours to meticulously create gingerbread houses. Every year, the houses get drastically more creative and elaborate. Meanwhile, we guzzle coffee (well, maybe just I do that), lick icing until we're sick, and catch up on each other's stories that we've missed through the year.

Above is a photo of our houses from last year... Stay tuned for photos of Gingerbread House Decorating 2007!

And then I've got to start thinking about designing my Christmas card! Procrastination!

No Pottery Barn Allowed!

I must admit, I've never been a huge fan of Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel or even Restoration Hardware. I think it has something to do with my inner need to be ever so slightly different. Don't get me wrong--their stuff is beautiful and quite high quality, but it's just not for me.

However, Jeff and I did give Restoration Hardware a try--two weeks ago, actually. Yeah, we bought a huge chaise longue in a silver sage suede fabric, thinking it would work sorta eclectically with the French shabby-chic feeling we've got going on in our current living room.

Well, when this custom chair arrived, I cried. It was truly horrifying. It didn't mix well with our existing furniture, not even in a mod-traditional kind of way. Instead of looking sleek and quirky like we expected, it just stood out as bright-colored and junky. Of course, it's a beautiful piece on its own or with similarly styled pieces, but not with our stuff. Definitely not with our stuff.

So now we've got to sell this beast of a chair on craigslist or ebay, which won't be easy, especially since we want to get back exactly what we paid for it. Now that we've been burned, I want to only buy large furniture I've seen in person from here on out. (I'm sure I'll eat my words later.)

All of that to say, I'd like to be free of the cookie-cutter stores for a bit. Give me antiques, obscure creative bits, delicate handmade goodies. Or at the very least, I want my eyes opened to lesser-known online stores.

If anyone has any great ideas for creative online home-decor boutiques, please direct me! Until then, here are some non-Pottery Barn items I've got pretty high on my Christmas decor wish-list:

Wisteria--Sparkly Reindeer















Ballard Designs--Rosette Ornaments














Ballard Designs--Mercury Glass Urns














Horchow--Lighted Little Christmas Tree in Gold Urn
















Anthropologie--Winter Village Dish Towel