Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Take Root Creative Blog has moved!

As you may have noticed over the last few months, there haven't been any new blog posts in a while. This is because the Take Root Creative Blog has transitioned over to the Take Root Creative website. We are currently in the process of transferring the older blog posts, but all new posts will be on our blog page. 

Sincerely, Caitlin

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Comic Sans Song

If you live in Uxbridge (or even if you don’t), by now you have hopefully seen Leah Daniels fabulous new music video for One Night. Be sure to check it out. On a typography note, here is an another music video featuring equal enthusiasm (not quite as much talent) but fun none-the-less. If you’re a fan of the font Comic Sans and don’t like all the slack it gets, you’ll be happy to see the love for the often beat-up font in this music video.



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Fun things for mid-week!

It is Wednesday night so only two more days until the weekend! Here are a few fun things to keep your creative mind fresh until then.

Vintage Desktop/iPhone/iPad Backgrounds


Want to change up your desktop or phone background? Visit the Maraid Design Blog for a collection of vintage images sized perfectly to suit the technology of your choice. (via How About Orange)




Hearing about Instagram and wondering what it's all about?


Check out this Beginners Guide from Mashable.


Mint Honey Favours

Check One Lovely Day by Project Wedding to see how to make these mint honey wedding favours. They could also work as a small gift to accompany larger presents. 


DIY Floral Print Bangles

Want a fun and easy weekend project? Visit P.S.- I made this... on YouTube to see the tutorial video for making these fun and trendy bracelets.




Friday, May 18, 2012

Facebook Tip #581 - Pinning a post to the top of your page.


Leading up to a long weekend, post your holiday hours and pin them to the top of your wall so they are easily found by your customers who may want to shop during the holiday.

How to pin a post to the top of your page

1) Write a post on your Facebook page explaining your change in hours during the holiday and click "Post" as usual.



2) Scroll to the top of your posts on your page and you'll see the one you just wrote. Click on the little pencil in the top right corner of the post and in the drop-down menu, you will see "Pin to Top." Select that option.



3) The page will refresh and you will see the post has a small orange ribbon hanging on the top right corner of the box. This means that this post is pinned to the top of your wall so as you write additional posts, this one will remain pinned at the top until you "unpin" it. What this means is that if you have a customer who is looking to find an update on your hours of operation over a holiday weekend, they can see it right at the top of your wall.



4) The next thing you'll be wondering is how to "unpin" this post once the holiday weekend is over. Return to your Facebook page and scroll to the top of your wall. Roll your mouse over the top right corner just below the orange ribbon and the pencil icon will appear. Click the pencil icon.



5) Select "Unpin From Top" and the page will refresh to reveal your post in it's proper place within the timeline of your wall.



FAQs
1) Why would I do this instead of updating my hours in the "About" section of my page?
A: Two reasons for this - Firstly, people don't trust that information that remains "stagnant" normally such as the "About" section of your page will not be up-to-date. Seeing the information on your wall shows that it was posted recently and therefore more likely to be accurate. Secondly, make it as easy as possible for your customers. Visiting your wall requires a search and one click. Visiting your "About" sections requires an additional click. Silly? Yes, probably, but make it easy and obvious for your customers - they will appreciate it.
Hope you found this post useful and have a great long weekend!
Caitlin

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Canadian Whisky History Video

Informative little animated film about the history of Canadian Club. I did not know a lot of these facts...
(via Canadian Design Resource)


Who knew Canadian Club Whisky was so damn cool?? Apparently Al Capone and James Bond were pretty into it...


Made at 1188 Films, Toronto

Animation: Ryan Paterson & Chris DeCastro
Design: Matt Bilewicz, Caila Stangl
Agency: Praxis PR

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Montreal - Under Pressure Fresh Paint Pop-up Gallery


It is always refreshing to travel to another city or town and stumble upon something really neat. In my case it was this past weekend when we travelled to Montreal. While walking around the city one night, came across this old building with signs outside directing us to come inside for an exhibit (for a requested donation). Despite the fact that it looked slightly sketchy, we took a chance, dropped a few bucks into the box and went inside.

Boy were we glad we did! The theme of the exhibit was skateboarding and the work ranged from painting, to installations to furniture. The building itself (which you can see in the background of the photos below) must have been quite glamourous in its day but has since decayed into such ruin that it is practically un-rentable. The landlord donated the space for this pop-up gallery which began last August. Check out some of our favourites below!

Caitlin

Eaglesk8 by Julien Deniau


Bombs, Bubble Gum & Babylon by Gawd
'Sans Title' by Joel Marleau










Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Your logo and the files you should have




Has this happened to you? Your business sponsors an event and they ask for your logo. You send them a small jpeg or something off your website and they say that it's too small.
Here are Take Root Creative, we make sure our clients have their logo in multiple formats so that when a particular need arises, they have the file necessary. What file types should you have? I've compiled a nice little list you can use to check through your computer and see what you have and what you are missing.
  1. PDF  This stands for Portable Document Format and is now the standard for sending files between printers, designers etc. Why? A PDF (as long as it's created properly) holds it's data in a way that will keep it looking the same between computers. What is it used for? Send a PDF when you sponsor something and they need your logo. Also send a PDF when you run an ad in the newspaper or a magazine. This is basically your go-to format when your logo is requested by someone else.
  2. .EPS  This stands for Encapsulated PostScript and will be something that you might never need but it is the raw file of your logo so you will want to have it. What is it used for? If you decide many years down the road that you want to change your branding colours but your designer has retired, the .eps file can be edited by anyone without having to completely re-design your logo.
  3. JPEG Most business have their logo as a jpeg. They can vary in size and are a useful format for things you will do on your own computer. What is it used for? Jpegs are often used in Microsoft Office or for social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter. Ask for both a high resolution jpeg and a medium-lower resolution jpeg.
There are many other types of files you may encounter over the life of your logo, but these three will cover most of your needs. If you don't have all of these format, contact your designer and ask them kindly to put them onto a disc for you. PDFs and .EPS files can be large and therefore not sendable by email.
Have a question about anything you've read here? Email me or leave a comment below.
Caitlin

Friday, April 6, 2012

New Products - Tealish at La Petite Fleur


I am a HUGE fan of loose leaf tea (and have many tins of various flavours to prove it) so I was very excited when I heard that La Petite Fleur would be bringing in Tealish to the store. Based locally in Ontario, not only does Tealish turn up the design factor on their tea packaging, but they focus on the health benefits of the different flavours of tea. Check out the tea below as well as some accessories for enhancing your tea-drinking experience!

PS: I have Toasty Almond which smells like fresh baked goods right out of the oven!


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Our Picks - from the Uxbridge Public Library

Have you been in to the Uxbridge Public Library lately? You may be familiar with the vast selection of fiction reads for both children and adults, but there is also a diverse collection of non-fiction books. Check out a few of our favourites below!







Friday, March 16, 2012

Signs of Spring {From the Shops of Uxbridge}

With all this warm weather and spring just around the corner, your local stores have brought in lots of colourful spring products to get you in the mood for the season. Check out some of our favourites below!

[Elemi Organics, On the Lamb, Rutledge Jewellers, Blue Heron Books, Little Acorn, La Petite Fleur, Presents, Presents, Presents]

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Should your business be into Pinterest?

Want to be ahead of the curve when it comes to social media? If your business does anything visually related, get signed up with Pinterest.

How does it work?


Firstly, you have to either request an invitation or be invited by a friend who already has a Pinterest account but it it free. Once you have your own login, you can add the 'Pin It' button to the bookmarks bar of your web browser. Now you are ready to begin 'pinning' to your account!

While you are browsing the web, look for images that inspire you or you think your customers will find inspiring. When you see a web page with an image you want to pin, click the 'Pin It' button on your bookmarks bar.

A new page will load with all the images on that page placed side-by-side.


When you roll over the image you want to 'Pin' you will see 'Pin it' appear over top. Click your image.


Click on your image and it will load with a drop-down option to choose your Pinboard. (You have the option to create new Pinboards here at this stage too) And you also write a description underneath of the image. 


When you are done, click 'Pin It' and you will have added that image to your board. The next page that loads will give you the option to share your pin on Facebook, Twitter etc. 

Where does it go and how do I find it?

If you visit www.pinterest.com and login, you will see all of your boards and pins. The best thing about Pinterest is that when you click the image, it takes you to the website from where you pinned it. This means that you can pin images from recipes, craft techniques, knitting patterns - pretty much anything! 

How does this effect my business?

Use Pinterest to make note of things you find on the web quickly and easily. It creates a virtual online sketchbook in an organized way. Use Pinterest to bookmark trends within your industry, window display ideas, or advertising concepts you may want to try. Instead of having to bookmark something and then sort through hundreds of bookmarks later, Pinterest gives you a visual reference accessible from any computer. 

Connect with your customers by becoming a visual resource for their needs. Is your business involved in home decorations and accessories? Create relevant Pinboards for your customers to follow to stay on top of trends. Chances are that if you find it inspiring, so will your customers. 

What can I do with this?

Try to add a button to your website that says "Follow me on Pinterest" to encourage site visitors to follow your pins. Follow the pins of other local businesses. Pins posted by people you follow will show up on your Pinterest main page and you can also 'Explore' by changing the category at the top of the page.

Check it out and have fun! And if you're looking for someone to follow,

Follow Me on Pinterest

Cheers!

Caitlin




Tuesday, February 21, 2012

New sketchbook/notebook

For those of you who I visit regularly to brainstorm new ideas and advertising concepts with, you always see me with my blue notebook. I take down notes, sketch out ideas and develop concepts in this book. I have had many past notebooks of various shapes and sizes, but this blue one has definitely been a favourite. It is the perfect size and has graph paper on the inside with a margin and a title space at the top.

A few days ago I came to the realization that I only have a few precious pages left and will therefore need a new one! I began to search to find this same book and without any luck I started to panic a little. Luckily a short while later I found a new book that has a similar format of graph paper and a strong binding that can be folded open easily with breaking. Bonus: the outside is covered in Pantone chips! Let the brainstorming continue!





Thursday, January 12, 2012

Mini Entrepreneurs

It always warms my heart when I hear about kids who are already at a young age showing interest in running their own business. For a client of mine it was her nieces who said that they wanted to operate a lemonade stand and a cupcake bakery. What would an aunt do? Well in this case she tapped my expertise to create two logos for these upcoming entrepreneurs and then gave them some tools to get the businesses rolling! Check out the logos below and if you happen to come across any young people with entrepreneurial aspirations, give them a big congratulations for they will be the movers and shakers of tomorrow!




Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Year Resolutions

Confetti

There is something very refreshing about starting a new year when you own a small business. It's the anticipation of what the year will bring and the opportunity to set new goals. It can also be overwhelming because of the pressure to use this fresh start to your advantage. Here at Take Root Creative, I tried to create some goals that are easily achievable while others will take a little work. I believe that all of these things will have a positive impact on the business and myself, so here's to 2012!
  1. Read one article a week about an inspiring entrepreneur
    • When I do take the time to read about other entrepreneurs (usually in the National Post, Globe & Mail, or Mashable) it always gives me new energy and drive so why not have that every week?
  2. Create one new offering a month for my clients
    • This is easier when you have a retail operation, but as a service based business it takes some brainstorming but the end result is worth it!
  3. Engage more with other professionals in my industry on Twitter
    • I currently use Twitter for research, posting my own thoughts and responding to other people, but there is a lot more engaging on important topics that could be happening.
  4. Attend at least one design conference
    • Living within about an hour of Toronto, I have no excuse to not do this
  5. Take lots of photos and become more observant of the world around me
    • I have heard more than one person say that when they stop their daily rush to take a photo, you not only get inspired by the little things in your everyday life, but you appreciate them more too.
  6. Learn how to make cinemagraphs (Not sure what these are? Click here and here to see the work of a master in the field. PS: it is not a video)
    • This is a big challenge since I would want to do it effectively
  7. Visit other local designers/artists in their studios. 
    • There are a lot of blogs that showcase creative people in their studio and I find it incredibly inspiring. Why not do that locally instead of in front of my computer (where I already spend a lot of time)?
Do you have your own business resolutions? Personal ones? Print them off or write them down and stick them in a place where you'll see them everyday. It will take you one step closer to making it happen.