Headspace Halifax Website Design

Brand Guideline Documents: Not worth the paper they’re written on

Posted on August 25th, 2010 | By Kyle Racki Filed under Marketing 0 Comments

I was recently beginning a new website design for a client. This included brainstorming concepts, looking at other design inspiration, and experimenting with texture, type, colour and layout.

Then I received the client’s brand guidelines which outlined exactly how the logo should be used, what type of imagery (right…Read More

Why good design makes you rank better in search engines

Posted on October 16th, 2009 | By Kyle Racki Filed under Design, Marketing 8 Comments

Many business owners think of graphic design as just eye-candy. They’ll use terms like, ‘I need you (the designer) to pretty it up.’ Or, ‘I’ve got the basic layout done, I just need you to make it look good.’

Of course we know that true graphic design is about communication,…Read More

Facebook Advertising - as much ROI as Google?

Posted on March 22nd, 2009 | By Kyle Racki Filed under External Articles, Marketing 0 Comments

Another great post by SEO Moz - Facebook Advertising - An Opportunity for Deep Targeting at Very Low Cost

Let’s face it - social media is the big buzz word right now. But even so, I highly…Read More

How to get awesome links

Posted on March 19th, 2009 | By Kyle Racki Filed under External Articles, Marketing 8 Comments

This post is heavily based off of the vlog from SEO Moz; Whiteboard Friday - How to Get Awesome Links

At one time, SEO for most businesses meant stuffing a few keywords inside meta tags. Things have certainly changed. Among many other…Read More

12 things you need to know before commissioning a website - part 4: SEO

Posted on June 01st, 2008 | By Kyle Racki Filed under Business, Marketing 1 Comments

1. Know your audience
2. Content
3. Content Management Systems
4. Hosting and Domain
5. Bandwidth
6. Web standards
7. Search Engine Optimization
8. Browser Testing
9. Accessibility
10. Design/Usability
11. Open Source or Proprietary?
12. Flash or HTML?

The previous…Read More

Personification in advertising

Posted on May 29th, 2008 | By Kyle Racki Filed under Marketing 2 Comments

This post is not meant to be particularly insightful or surprising—just a simple observation that may generate discussion. I don’t claim to be an expert in advertising, though I did work in an ad agency for a couple of years, and had some fun coming up with headlines while throwing…Read More

The distinction between design and advertising

Posted on December 21st, 2007 | By Kyle Racki Filed under Design, Marketing 0 Comments

It’s been said that ‘advertising is a knock-knock joke, design is a conversation.’

Interestingly enough, many firms that began as design boutiques, eventually turned into advertising agencies. There was just more money in advertising. Why is it that advertising and design is perceived this way?

There’s definitely a quick-turnaround mentality…Read More