Today is
Are you still looking for help with your graphics?

This could be the end of your search.

When business sucks, don’t give up, advertise!

Even though I’m just a one-man band, you are going to get more help than you will expect. I am not going to just hurry the job so I can get paid. No, I'm going to talk with you about what you want. I“m going to ask questions. I’m going to help you get a design that you like. No templates, no clip art. And I’m going to design something that truly works on a business card as well as a truck. I can really help you with a complete look, from business cards to a web site to vehicle lettering, it’s my pleasure to help. And I get a kick out of the customers who tell me they have never before looked at signs the same way after hearing my pointers. This is why I have good customers who have been with me for years. May I invite you to use my services too? I’ll be dedicated to your satisfaction.

About those vehicle signs...

I'm noticing a number of vehicles that now use what are called vehicle wraps; the entire rig is covered with amazing four-color graphics. Pretty eye-catching, right? Except it's quite expensive, and the sad part is that so far they all are hard to read! I can't right now remember more than one company that was advertised. Why that one? Because it was so hard to understand that I made an effort to find out what it said! Now of course I recognize it but the rest are mysteries when I see them. Tip: if you are able to afford a wrap, maybe you should make sure it's useful to the viewer! There is an interesting phenomenon that lets the owner "see it", missing the fact that others don't.

Are You Running a Home Business?

You may not need exterior signs for your business but you certainly need to identify yourself as a provider of whatever service or product you offer. You need a really nice looking business card to hand to new contacts. You also should have some magnetic signs for your vehicle so that you’re identified while on the road, yet you're able to remove the signs when you are driving the family to the movies.

I can help you with coordinated look for your business cards and your advertising. You need a good, recognizable identity that carries across from the vehicle to any printed ads or phone book use. I can even help with designed letterheads and even invoices! And maybe the biggest surprise is that I can make you a database that tracks your sales or time-use and generates the billing. I use Panorama and it works for either Mac or PC. This alone could be one of the best moves you could make.

And of course I’d be able to build you a nice website, or improve one you might already have. I've been helping customers with their sites since 1995.

About Web Sites...

When I started learning to create websites, I’d read books that said, “The good news? Anybody can make a Web site. The bad news? Anybody can make a Web site!” There hasn’t been much change in that comment. The problem is that many people are still building sites with 1995-era thinking; there have been some big changes in the “how” of page coding, moving away from the plain vanilla HTML code of the first days of browsers to the current XHTML with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The advantages of using these “new” methods is that your site is tighter, faster loading, and can provide real savings for you and convenience to your site visitors. I have rebuilt a few sites that I converted from code that used old-style tables and was heavy with Javascript code used to simply handle navigation. If you have a site already, perhaps it is in need of some updating? Not just adding some new photos or putting up the latest news, but actually updating the way the page code is written.

Use Me as Your Company’s Art Department

Here is a short list of what I do: graphic design for print: business cards, business forms, newsletters, and catalogs, ads for local publications like the Mountain Democrat, Gold Panner, Foothill Style, and your professional directories; design or redesign your company website, and maintain it. I can also help you with writing the copy for your ad, brochure, or website. If you wonder why you’d need me to design something for print, understand that I actually want to come up with something that is specific for you, not a template or clip-art solution like you often get from a print shop.

That was Then, This is Now

I have several customers who have more success with their Web sites than with expensive phone book ads. People are recognizing that they can find your information faster on the Internet than by thumbing through a phone book. And what about the old standard of direct mail? Have you considered a move away from costly printing and postage to try a PDF? Here’s an example. You can send monthly specials, even catalogs to customers and invite people to visit your Web site for more information. Maybe set up online shopping with Paypal and avoid the expensive monthly charges required for credit card processing capability, no matter how many sales you generate!

I Also Make Signs: vinyl banners, from simple and cheap, to beautiful full-color work at a very nice price; vinyl lettering for your company vehicles, small plastic yard signs or 4x8 signs on Crezon® (a popular sign material for real estate property or industrial buildings) or plastic sign faces for commercial use. Need an A-board? I can make one with Crezon® that costs less than the plastic variety that I see all around the town. Magnetic signs are a great way to mark a vehicle that gets used for occasional business use and they will keep your name, website, and phone number in view for all the traffic around you on the road; you would be surprised at how many people will see even this small sign as you drive around; a home repair customer says his magnetics get him enough calls while he is on the road (he sees people writing down his number while they are at a stop light) to stay busy. Tip: Are you starting a new home business? I can make up a nice business card and a set of magnetics for a very nice price. And if you want to start a blog or build a new Web site to promote your product or services, I can help you with any or all aspects (page coding? artwork?).

Do You Want to Save on Labor Costs? Think “do-it-yourself”. I can make your vinyl lettering and sell it to you at a per/foot price just as I do for the rafting industry. It’s the same high-performance vinyl that I use for vehicle identification. If you’re interested in doing the labor, you can get the parts from me and have at it. And I will do a much better job of preparing the graphics than I see on many other “order vinyl lettering online” sites where letter spacing is simply not shown to be part of the “service”. Ask me about this.

I believe you need somebody (like me) who will help you focus on your specialty and make the most of that to make people want to call you. Remember, a little money spent on getting the job done right will be repaid by increased sales.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words...

Take a look at some online samples, or call me and I’ll invite you to come see real examples; real projects on the table are certainly more compelling than a small image on a computer screen.

I’m Available for Consulting

If the potential for personal attention to your job and high quality production at really great prices doesn’t move you to call, how about some help that could help you keep your print job from ending up on Jay Leno’s Headlines? I’m good at working with submitted copy; I'm careful about vocabulary and grammar. Give me a call (530 622 6567) or just drop by; let’s talk about how I can develop your project and get you some business.

Steve Tyron serves up graphic design and opinions from an office in a building that was once industrial gray but is now curiously minty-green, located in Diamond Springs, CA.