We’re Hiring Soon: Graphic Designer

September 26th, 2017

Atlas Branding is looking for a talented, self-motivated, entry-mid level graphic designer to join our branding studio fall/winter 2017 in Asheville, NC. Please only apply for this job if you are looking for serious employment.

Candidates must be willing to relocate to Asheville, NC.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Brand identity, print design and art production
• Packaging, label design
• Responsive web design
• Signage and retail graphics

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• BFA/BA in graphic design, this is not a marketing/photography/advertising position
• 0 – 5 years of design experience
• Ability to draw/illustrate by hand
• Ability to design/illustrate in a variety of styles
• Skilled in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign
• Prepare web design files in Photoshop (coding abilities are not required)

PORTRAIT OF AN ATLAS DESIGNER

• Equally comfortable with the conceptual and implementation phases of work
• Can collaborate, take art direction and be critiqued
• A self-starter who is detail oriented, can prioritize projects and meet deadlines
• Open to learning new things and discerning relevant design trends

HOW TO APPLY

• Cover letter and Résumé
• Portfolio (PDF/URL) (No PDFs over 15 MB please)

Send your materials to Creative Director, Lisa Peteet.

Only expect an e-mail or call if you are considered for an interview. We review every portfolio we receive.

No walk-ins or phone-calls please, this will not benefit your application.

Advice on how to apply? Read this:
How to get a design or advertising job part 1 >>
How to get a design or advertising job part 2 >>

2015 American Web Design Award Winners

June 29th, 2015

Atlas Branding recently had the honor of receiving two 2015 American Web Design Awards from the publication Graphic Design USA. Graphic Design USA is a nationally recognized graphic design magazine that for more than 50 years has promoted design awards for excellence in the design industry across the country. With only 9% of the entries selected as winners, the American Web Design Awards are a highly anticipated and competitive exhibition that displays just how influential web and digital design is today.

Atlas shares in its winning entries with Sparc Design and Honey Darling Events. We are humbled by these awards and are very grateful to our clients Sparc and Honey Darling for collaborating with us throughout the website process.

A Rose by Any Other… Naming Your Business

November 10th, 2014

In the words of William Shakespeare, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?”  Many people think that selecting a name for a business should come naturally and without a lot of work, research, or process. However for most, naming can be a very drawn out and even laborious process.

Here’s a quick list to consider when naming your company.

• Will the name fit who you are as a business?
• How will your name resonate with your clients or customers? What will it mean to them?
• Will the name limit your potential and future growth?
• Are there any negative connotations to the name?

The right name needs to be timeless and memorable. The name should stand for something unique to your business, your values, and your big picture. Selecting the wrong name may hinder your branding efforts and bottomline for a variety of reasons. While it may not make or break your business, it certainly can make your communication efforts an uphill battle.

Click here for some examples of Companies that have struggled with their names. 

Naming requires a creative, disciplined, but more importantly, a deliberate and strategic approach.
We can help. 

5 Principles of Great Branding Pt. 5: Great Visual Design

November 5th, 2014

Image Credit – CBS Outdoors

Today we wrap up our five part series on defining what we believe make up the top five principles of crafting a great brand experience.

5. Great Visual Design 

Often times, this is the most neglected and difficult principal, and yet it is possibly the most important one. The assumption by many is that the message and saturation are the most important elements of branding. However, since we are such a visually saturated culture, in just a matter of seconds, someone is sizing up your brand and deciding whether or not to go further. For this reason, you must ask yourself, do you have distinctiveness and differentiation in the quality of your visual design?

You need to stand out and be distinctive in the minds of your clients through providing a great design experience.

When hiring a creative agency or contractor to help you with your branding needs, and we know this sounds counter-intuitive, but don’t just look at their brand or website design as a deciding factor for whether or not you should work with them. Pay attention to their portfolio in the results and design they’ve achieved for their clients. Chances are if you don’t like the agencies’ work, you are not going to like the work that they do for you, regardless of how cool their website or logo looks.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR GREAT VISUAL DESIGN

Pros – Initiates attention, gets your customers interested and pulls them in to the experience. Great design tells a story that beckons your customers to learn more.

Cons – The danger here is when the creative design experience becomes such a dominate force in the work that it over shadows the needs and desires of what the client hoped to achieve by branding in the first place. Sometimes establishing a visual design can be too conceptual or miss the mark completely.

Application – Crafting a creative design experience isn’t just about being innovative for the sake of being innovative. That’s just showing off. Instead, your firm should collaborate with you to plan a strategy and move forward with a process that works to meet your communication goals. You need to design an experience that people will both enjoy and connect with.

Visual Design Example

We often find ourselves amazed and excited to see what the e-mail marketing platform, MailChimp will come up with next. Their brand has a mascot named Freddie who is a friendly mail delivering chimp that has become an extension of their brand’s personality. MailChimp will take part in traditional advertising, but in a very non-traditional way. Their ads, campaigns and ideas make you work to figure out who this friendly little chimp is. Their campaigns generate buzz and excitement by supportors of the brand as well as people with no exposure to it. We could continue to gush about MailChimp, but you get the gist.

READ ADDITIONAL ARTICLES ON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT BRANDING: 

• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.1: Consistency
• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.2: Relevance
• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.3: Connection
• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.4: Character

® 2014 All creative content is the copyrighted property of Atlas Branding and may not be duplicated, manipulated or re-produced in any form without Atlas’s pre-approved consent. 

5 Principles of Great Branding Pt. 4: Character

October 16th, 2014

Image Credit – Zappos and Entrepreneur

Today we continue our five part series on defining what we believe make up the top five principles of crafting a great brand experience.

4. Character

Character is the moral and ethical center of your brand. This can include your brand’s values as well as your reputation within the community. Get to know who your business is in the minds of your customers and clients. It may be different then how you and your staff perceive it.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR CHARACTER

Pros – In tandem with connection and relevance, character allows you to humanize your business. This can start a movement among your loyal fans as they grow to believe in your brand, your values and support it. They connect with your company or product because they believe you deliver on your promises.

Cons – One can abuse character when you oversell your character to the point of being viewed as sanctimonious and self-righteous by the public. Or, if you lack follow through, you may be seen as a hypocrite and inauthentic.

Application – Character is challenging as you can’t always control what your customers think of you and how they will talk about you to others. That said, you can be clear and honest about your story communicating it in your actions and follow through in how you conduct your business.

Character Example

One example we come back to regularly is Zappos.com, an online shoe and apparel company that is committed to its  10 core values and working hard to deliver WOW through customer service. In everything Zappos does, it puts the customers and employees first. It creates an amazing customer culture where people desire to work and that comes through in how the employees interact with each and every customer.

READ ADDITIONAL ARTICLES ON PRINCIPLES OF GREAT BRANDING: 

• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.1: Consistency
• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.2: Relevance
• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.3: Connection
• 5 Principles of Great Branding Pt.5: Great Visual Design

® 2014 All creative content is the copyrighted property of Atlas Branding and may not be duplicated, manipulated or re-produced in any form without Atlas’s pre-approved consent.