Deac from Philly asks: “Hey Chris, Do you have a video on your design process, maybe a 5 step video on how you go about the design process with a client.”

Yes, I have a website design and development process that we follow for every single website project. This video will detail our website development process from start to finish.

Almost every Web Developer and Website Designer can attest that much of their work is repetitive. We find ourselves completing the same tasks, even if slightly modified, over and over for every website project we take on. Following a detailed website design and development process can speed up your work and help your client understand your role in the project. This video tries to show how developing a process for Web design can organize a developer’s thoughts, speed up a project’s timeline and prepare a freelance business for growth.

Chris A. Hughes
Founder of A Nerd’s World

The post OUR WEBSITE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Jake Carruthers shares his tips on website design for beginners.

Are you interested in having Jake design a custom logo for your business? Contact us today

Chris A. Hughes
Founder of A Nerd’s World

The post GRAPHIC DESIGN TIPS FOR BEGINNERS first appeared on A Nerd's World.

The post 100 Best Guerilla Marketing Campaigns first appeared on A Nerd's World.

At A Nerd’s World, we opted to do something creative agencies never do – open up a retail store.

Yes, that means you can literally walk in off the street, speak with one of our nerds, and order your services on the spot. 

We pride ourselves in standing out from the crowd while being recognized as having the best website design in Toronto – and we want that to be obvious to someone passing by on the street. 

Location is everything. 

Located at 986 Bathurst Street, we are just north of Bloor – at one of the busiest intersections in Toronto. For that actor walking by in need of a new headshot or that small business owner thinking of redesigning their website – they now have the incentive to get it done, and they have a name of a local website design company in mind without having to do any extra research – even if they never step foot in the store. 

On a recent trip to Chicago, I was inspired to add more bold signage to our window storefront. I contacted Mural Form and Jason Rouleau visited our shop and made our design into a reality. This is the second hand painted set of sign that Jason Rouleau has completed at A Nerd’s World. We highly recommend Mural Form for their unique style in signage that will draw attention to your business. In 2013, Jason Rouleu of Mural Form painted the tallest mural in the world on 200 Wellesley street east – measuring in at over 29 stories high. 

The new addition on our store windows can be seen from blocks away. There is no question as to what we do with our vibrant signage. Every design we create is unique – so it was important that our sign be one-of-a-kind as well. After serving over 3000 happy clients around the world we are certainly proud to call ourselves “World Famous.”

Our services are also listed on a hand painted sandwich board in front of the store – so everyone can see that we specialize in web design, photography, video, logos, copywriting, and seo.

Clients around the world get a sense of who we are. 

Getting personal is important – while many of our clients are not located in Toronto – being able to show them our storefront and what happens inside is vital. 

We also change the storefront sign every year to reflect our passion for design – it is always evolving and so are we. It is the perfect way to show off our professional graphic design skills while acting as a billboard for our services. 

If you’re looking for web design in Toronto and you happen to drive down Bathurst Street – you’ll easily see our big bright sign and remember us – and that’s the way it should be.

Chris A. Hughes

The post Our New Hand Painted Store Windows by Mural Form first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Art has been a major influence in my approach to the interior design and marketing of A Nerd’s World. Andy Warhol is a pop art icon who created unique pieces through different mediums such as the blotted line technique, silk screen paintings, photography, and film. Ironically, he was the most known anti-social socialite in the art world. Warhol knew the importance of marketing his brand, by appearing at events and surrounded himself around the underground talents of his time such as Edie Sedgwick, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Velvet Underground to name a few. His art was admired by many and inspired others like myself. 

There are three ways Warhol influenced A Nerd’s World:

1. Our beloved personalized business cards were shot with the same film and Polaroid “Big Shot” camera that Warhol used (click here to view).

2. We have video portraits of our nerds playing 24 hours a day on the big screen televisions in our store. The simple videos pay homage to the famous video created by Warhol called “15 minutes of fame”, where the individuals on the screen sit in front of the camera for 15 minutes doing whatever they please (click here to view).

3. Warhol used mainly tertiary colours when he created his famous portraits such as the Marilyn Monroe. The tertiary colours are a primary and a secondary coloured mixed. He did this because they would stand out more and were not as used by other artists. Our hand-painted signage on the A Nerd’s World front windows display the popular used tertiary colours inspired by Warhol’s art. The reason is because, we too, want to stand out from our competitors and draw the attention of the drive by traffic on Bathurst st. towards our one-of-a-kind shop (click here to view).

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The post Be Inspired first appeared on A Nerd's World.

I suppose it’s time I introduce myself… by now you likely know that my name is Sean Farris (aka. the guy with the Grinch hands in the video still above) and I am indeed the Art Director here at A Nerd’s World. Some of you watching this may have met/spoken with me along the way, many have not. So – hello!

More than anything, I wanted to provide a little insight into not only how I came to be where I am now, but what being or even hiring a creative entails. First and foremost, this sort of work is tough. At this point I am 15+ years into this and I’m still learning each and every day. With that said, understand that though a great deal of enjoyment can be had within the creative space, I likely work longer hours than most people I know. But hell, that’s not any different than the path my life has taken since the moment I finished high school. Whether it was touring in numerous punk rock bands or holding down two or three warehousing jobs at a time just to make ends meet, work/life balance was never something I was all that good at.

Now – young designers, perhaps those finishing up a program at (insert school here) here in Toronto, allow me talk to you for a moment. Let me first say that yes, you will likely have to do some work pro bono as you start your career and yes, clients will try to pay you far less than your worth… but don’t let that stop you from pursuing your passion. After all, you get to make stuff for a living! Know your worth and don’t be afraid to stand by your work.

Next up – clients. We as a creative team understand that you have a business to run and we respect and love that you’ve chosen us to be a part of that. But as you start this path, we beg of you to remember two things. One, logo design and branding is more than just “drawing”. Color theory, kerning, relative spacing and form are all things that come with years of experience and with that comes a certain cost. There is a reason people seek out great doctors, lawyers, etc. We love working with you, corporations and start up businesses alike – we just ask for a little understanding. Second, of course we are here to make your branding and graphic design dreams come true. However, we are not mind readers. Our greatest work is done working alongside our clients to put to paper the vision that drove them to start on this path to begin with. We are professionals, but we need your help to better understand the ins and outs of your industry. Only then can we really hit that mark we all want so damn desperately!

Look, Toronto is a great big market. To recent design graduates – congratulations! To those still in it, keep at it and follow your gut for as long as it carries you forward. There is plenty of work out there for you once you enter the ring of moderate insanity that is graphic design. But, never step into it with any level of assumption and expectation. Work hard, create, paint, make music and live the creative force that has taken you this far. To business owners looking for a creative team to execute their grand brand vision – take the time to greater understand your needs and work right alongside us to ensure that your knowledge and our expertise comes into play, creating something incredible! We’re here for you and look forward to what lies ahead.

As for me, I’ll keep walking this path as a Toronto graphic designer – always learning, growing and striving for something more. Hell, maybe I’ll even get back to that punk rock thing again soon. It’s been awhile and perhaps it’s time I set my own example.

Just create.

The post Meet Sean Farris, our Graphic Designer first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Chris A. Hughes

The post 5 Mistakes to Avoid when Building a New Website first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Is print advertising dead? This is a question that i’ve been asked time and time again with the rapid surge of social media and online marketing. While many businesses have completely migrated their advertising efforts to the web driven by its cost effective nature, exposure potential, and convenience – print still maintains its stance as a powerful and necessary component of any ad campaign or marketing push here at A Nerd’s World in 2015. Let’s take a closer look at print media and some advantages it has over its digital counterparts.

Tangibility – A printed advertisement is a physical thing. Magazines, newspapers, menus, flyers and business cards can stay in houses or offices for months or years, while Internet ads will disappear into cyber space instantaneously.

Credibility – There is something about print that gives your business a sense of legitimacy. The overwhelming bombardment of popups and banner ads on the web can be overwhelming and the fear of spam and viruses is enough to make people wary of clicking. There is no imminent danger in a print ad.

Branding – Print ads are excellent aid in solidifying your brand identity. Your ads should have a consistent aesthetic in terms of fonts, colors and types of images to establish brand recognition.

Target Marketing – Placing ads in publications such as specialty magazines can effectively reach niche audiences that may be more difficult to target online.

More Engaging – Consumers are more engaged when reading printed material, unlike websites, which are often skimmed in as little as 15 seconds. A study also shows that people read digital screen text 20% – 30% slower than printed paper.

Less Print Ads – With more and more businesses relying solely on the Internet for their advertising needs, the decline of print publication can actually be used as a marketing advantage. Publications are less crowded, allowing more room for your ad to shine, and possibly even cheaper prices for that ad space.

Are you looking for a creative agency in Toronto to help design your print ad? We have a brilliant team of in-house Nerds that specialize in logos, flyers, brochures, business cards and more.

Contact us today for a quick price quote!

The post Print Is Dead They Say… Not So Fast first appeared on A Nerd's World.

With the power of the Internet, and more eyes watching than ever, it’s important for a business to communicate its unique message clearly. The easiest way to recognize a company and distinguish it from others is by its logo. Below, I go through 5 common logo design mistakes that you should avoid if you want to create a professional logo.

1. Designed By An Amateur

Avoid websites that promote ridiculously cheap logo packages such as Fiverr. You get what you pay for and $5 doesn’t buy much.  A business should look professional. New business owners often invest a lot of time and money in property and equipment, but do not often match it by investing suitably in their logo.

Here are the most common reasons why many logos look amateurish:

-The business owner wanted to save money by designing the logo themselves.
-Friend claims to know about graphic design does it as a favour.
-Wrong designers are commissioned.
-The job was given to an on-line company that offers really cheap logos.

All of the above can result in less than memorable logo.  If your logo looks amateurish, then so will your business. A proper business should know where to look when it wants a new logo.

Here are the advantages of hiring an established and professional logo designer:

-Your logo will be unique and memorable.
-You won’t run into any problems down the line with reproducing it.
-Your logo will have a longer lifespan and won’t need to be redesigned in a couple of years.
-Your logo will look professional.

2. Copying Logo

This is the biggest logo design mistake of all and, unfortunately, is becoming more and more common. As mentioned, the purpose of a logo is to represent a business. If it looks the same as someone else’s, it has failed.

3. Contains Stock Art

Using stock vector graphics in a logo puts your client at risk.

This mistake is often made by business owners who design their own logo or by amateur designers who are not clued in to the laws on copyright.

Downloading stock vector imagery from websites such as VectorStock is not a crime, but it could possibly get you in trouble if you incorporate it in a logo.

A logo should be unique and original, and the licensing agreement should be exclusive to the client: using stock art breaks both of these rules. Chances are, if you are using a stock vector image, it is also being used by someone somewhere else in the world, so yours is no longer unique. You can pretty easily spot stock vectors in logos because they are usually familiar shapes, such as globes and silhouettes.

4. Designing For Yourself

Never impose your own personality onto a client’s work.  You can often spot this logo design sin a mile away; the cause is usually a designer’s enormous ego. If you have found a cool new font that you can’t wait to use in a design, well… don’t. Ask yourself if that font is truly appropriate for the business you’re designing for? For example, a great modern typographic font that you just love is not likely suited to a serious business such as a lawyer’s office.

Some designers also make the mistake of including a “trademark” in their work. While you should be proud of your work, imposing your personality onto a logo is wrong. Stay focused on the client’s requirements by sticking to the brief.

5. Poor Choice of Font

When it comes to creating a professional logo, choosing the right font is the most important decision a designer can make. More often than not, a logo fails because of a poor font choice.

Finding the perfect font for your logo design in Toronto is all about matching the font to the style of the icon. But this can be tricky. If the match is too close, the icon and font will compete with each other for attention; if the complete opposite, then the viewer won’t know where to focus. The key is finding the right balance, somewhere in the middle. Every typeface has a personality. If the font you have chosen does not reflect the icon’s characteristics, then the whole message of the brand will misfire.

Bad fonts are often chosen simply because the decision isn’t taken seriously enough. Some designers simply throw in type as an afterthought. Professional font databases, such as MyFont and FontFont, offer much better typeface options than those over-used websites that offer free downloads.

To conclude, Logo design is essential to the success of your growing business. The logo is part of your company’s marketing campaign, a strong image that your market can latch onto. It represents the nature, character, and values of your business and image really is everything in business. A company can either thrive or wither away based on the way it presents itself to the public. It’s for this very reason that your logo and corresponding brand can set you apart from your competitors. The way you present yourself and your business to the market at large should be positive, powerful, and leave a lasting impression. Our art direction and design team create custom business identities to breathe new life into our clients’ websites, banners and stores. A visually stunning logo and the branding it builds can make or break a business. Set up a free consultation with the the best logo designers in Toronto today!

Chris A. Hughes

The post 5 Mistakes In Logo Design first appeared on A Nerd's World.