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Author: Sheila

Home Author is Sheila (Page 4)
60 posts, 228 Comments
http://apexcreative.net
Sheila Patterson is the owner and Creative Director behind Apex Creative. GCU professor by day, brand identity expert by night, she loves all things related to design. When she's not creating amazing logos and websites, you can find Sheila tormenting her husband and two feline furbabies, catching the latest Game of Thrones episode, or reading a good book. Naps are nice too.

The Disastrous Results of Using Cheap Web Design

January 13, 2014SheilaBusiness Tips, Graphic Design, Marketing4 Commentsbranding, business, cheap design, client, competition, Groupon, marketing, mill, niche, template, website

So I’ve looking into getting back into martial arts. And I found a great Groupon for a Tae Kwon Do school that was right down the street from me. While I was at it, I started researching some other schools that offered Krav Maga, a type of street self-defense, as well. Then I ran into a website that looked just like the one where I bought the Groupon from. I was excited. “Ooo,” I thought,…

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The Single Most Common Mistake Almost All Businesses Make

December 31, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Marketing2 Comments2014, advertising, business, marketing, mistakes, networking, plan, SEO, social media

I get it. Times are tough. And this mistake is a very common one; a lot of people either are confused about where to start or don’t have the time or money for this activity. But if they don’t do this one thing for their small business, they may as well kiss that business goodbye.

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5 Freelancer Myths

October 28, 2013SheilaFreelancing, Graphic Design8 Commentsdesign, design firm, free, freelancer, graphic design, marketing, myth, professional, projects, testimonials

As a freelance graphic designer, I’ve come across a few myths in regards to my chosen profession. People seem to have some understandable, and sometimes strange, objections or concerns to hiring a freelancer. Hopefully this should clear some of those up.

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What to do When Logos Look Alike

October 16, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Logo Design, Random7 Commentsbranding, business, client, logo, Logo Design, similarities, unique

Panic! Okay, maybe not quite yet. I’ve run into this a couple of times, mostly after I’d designed a new logo for a client. Once or twice they’ve come back to me, worried that their logo looked like another logo floating around out there.

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Redesigning Your Logo Won’t Save You

September 13, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Geeky Stuff, Logo Design, Marketing6 Commentsbusiness, logo redesign, rebranding, Yahoo

Like everyone else, I’m throwing my two cents in at Yahoo’s decision to update its logo. And like everyone else, I must admit, I’m becoming so used to these sterile logo redesigns that it almost doesn’t even elicit a response from me. A “meh” will suffice.

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7 Things Game of Thrones Taught Me About Branding and Marketing

August 23, 2013SheilaBranding, Geeky Stuff, Marketing, Random8 Commentsbranding, client, customer, Game of Thrones, graphic design, logo, loyalty, marketing, reputation, spoiler, tagline

As a graphic designer who dabbles in marketing and branding, I’m always on the lookout for new inspiration. I never thought I’d find it watching GoT, but the more I studied the plot and characters, the more I realized that it had more in common with solid marketing principles than I had previously thought.   *spoiler alert The following assumes you are a fan of Game of Thrones, and have at least watched through Season…

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Next Time You Need to Focus, Try This Silly Trick!

August 5, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Geeky Stuff, Randombrain, concentration, deadline, distraction, exercise, focus, hemispheres

Do you ever sit down at your desk, with a ton of work to do, but can’t seem to concentrate? I get that all the time. And it always seems to happen right when a deadline’s looming.

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Why I Renamed My Design Business

July 25, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Freelancing, Random6 Commentsbusiness, freelance, graphic design, professional, rename

Introducing…Apex Creative Hi all! To my loyal followers and fans, thank you for all of your continued support, and for your interest in what I’ve been up to. As you may be wondering, why the heck would I change my business name now? Especially as my brand equity has grown and organic search results are up. All I can say it, it’s been a long time coming. Ever since I started freelancing, I’ve struggled with…

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The 10 Logo Commandments

July 19, 2013SheilaLogo Designbad logos, color, creative, custom, good logos, graphic design, Illustrator, Logo Design, Microsoft Word, Photoshop, simple, timeless, unique, vector, versatile

What makes a good logo? When we’re talking about good logo design versus bad logo design, it’s helpful to know what we’re talking about exactly. If you ask 10 different designers what qualifies as a good logo, you’ll likely get 10 different answers. But if you keep digging, eventually you’ll start hearing a lot of the same thing being said.

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How to Graciously Turn Down Projects

June 28, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Freelancing, Graphic Design2 Commentsbad fit, clients, fire, good fit, no, projects, red flags, yes

Clients turn us down all the time. Aren’t we ever allowed to return the favor? I say, heck yes! Sometimes, for one reason or another, we get that feeling in our gut that something just isn’t quite right. And it’s always best to heed rather than ignore those red flags. But let’s say you’re in the middle of your meeting with a potential client, and then you realize you should turn down the project? Do…

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