What You Need to Know About Instagram's 5 New Filters

For the first time in more than two years, Instagram has released new filters for us to go gaga over. Now, 300-million photographers have five new ways to make their photos look fabulous. Sorry, Kelvin filter, you get no love, still.

Filters are what have made Instagram a delight to use; they enable us to make our mundane photos look professional and aesthetically pleasing with stylish tones and artsy style.

Per the usual deal, the filters have names that do not make a whole lot of sense, unless you know the mentality behind the creators. Right now, the filters are unknown but soon enough, they will be as known as the other filters. We will be able to look at a friends picture and say, "Yup, that's the slumber filter, alright."

So what are these filters? 

Crema. The crema filter delivers a smooth, creamy, luxurious look. The designers over at Instagram named it that because it does just what we think it would do from the name- it gives a warm, yet cool effect to the image.

Ludwig. The Ludwig filter gives us a minimalistic design and look that is done via taking colors away while enhancing light in the photo. It was named after the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who is known for the "less is more" mentality.

Perpetua. This filters gives photos an organic, earthy look via utilizing green and blue hues. It was named after the Cape Perpetua forest in Oregon.

Slumber. No, this one will not put you to sleep; rather, it will give your photos a vintage look with some desaturation and haze. If your photo has lots of blacks and blues, it will look even better.

Aden. This one is reminiscent of pastels and works beautifully with portraits and photos that have some harsh light. No knowledge of why it was named Aden, though. 

These new filters seem very cool. As a Chicago graphic design company, we tend to use Instagram a lot for showcasing work and think these filters will do a great job. 

Our Chicago photography studio team is excited about them as well. If you are a highly visual business, then consider using Instagram, especially with these filters out; they will help your social media marketing go to a new level. 

Need a professional graphic designer to help your business look as good as the new Instagram filters? Then contact Intagraphix, a Chicago graphic design agency. 

Social Media Cards for Your Business

Social media marketing is a must for the vast majority of businesses out there, especially if it is a business that is just getting its legs beneath it in the last few years.

One way to promote your business with social media and other digital marketing efforts is to handout social media cards. These are like business cards but the focus is on your social media profiles. Each card has the platforms you use as well as the link to your direct account.

Why have these? Well, they are a great "leave behind" along with your business card. Since social media is so heavily engrained in business these days, businesses have to mention their social media accounts; putting this info on a business card can crowd the card.

Our Chicago graphic design team has made many social media cards, one company in particular that benefited from these cards was Phoenix Insurance -- an Allstate Insurance Agency in Libertyville.

Sedrik Newbern, an insurance agent in Libertyville, needed a great way to promote his social media accounts for the agency as well as his site. He came to our Chicago graphic design firm to create a social media card that was funky and effective. Some useful at networking events.

Our graphic designers used bright colors to attract the eye, while keeping the Allstate branding, that were appealing and trendy.

Does your business need a new way to promote its site and social media accounts? Then chat with Integraphix, a Chicago graphic design company. Not in Chicago? We have teams in NYC, LA, Phoenix, and Charlotte.

A Logo Redesign for a Chicago Dentist Office

Right around the six year mark, a long time client of our Chicago graphic design firm, Rubino Dentistry, updated their logo. Along with updating and redesigning a logo, Rubino rebranded their Park Ridge dental office.

On the right, you will see their updated logo; this design features the green branding and color scheme of the office, and the tooth symbol that was part of their old logo (below). As part of their rebranding, we altered the name from "Ross E. Rubino, DDS PC & Associates" to "Rubino Dentistry" since the former (still the official name but not operating name) was quite a mouthful. Their new name is easier to use on all forms of marketing, including print such as business cards, stationary, flyers, etc. Also, it is easier to use for digital marketing, such as social media marketing, search engine optimization, and more.

The new logo, in addition to many other print marketing pieces, such as letterhead and brochures, are able to give the company a look that is more modern yet elegant.

If you have not updated your logo or branding in the last 10 years, then it is time to update your logo. Don't want to update your logo but want to rebrand in other ways such as letterhead, slogan/taglines, color scheme, or some other way? Then contact Integraphix, a logo design agency in Chicago. 

We have designed logos for businesses in the following fields: medical, public relations/communications, marketing, landscape, legal, film, hospitality, financial, clothing, and interior design.

Does Image Size Affect Page Load Speed?

When you put stuff on a web page, it will slow down the page, the more you add on. You can't help it, you have to have text on a page and you have to put images on the page.

However, how can you make sure to have images on a page but still have a web page that loads in an efficient time frame? Does that matter if it loads slowly or not? While this post is inspired by our Chicago SEO squad, it matters for us professional graphic designers, such as our Chicago graphic design team, because we make images for websites-- images, graphics, logos, etc. So we need to know this stuff too!

Well, to start, it does matter for two reasons. Humans hate slow web pages. When you have a web page that loads slowly, a person will wait only a couple seconds before they bail. This will increase your bounce rate for search engine optimization rankings. Also, search engine crawlers hate slow web pages because that makes them do their job slower. A slow page will get penalized by search engines.

So what can you do to keep a page optimized with images, graphics, and such while keeping the page quick? Keep you images to a smaller file size, while keeping them at a good resolution. Images consume the most download bytes on a web page and take up the most amount of visual space. 

Optimizing images is both a delicate science and an intricate art.

Do you have questions about the information here or would like to hire a graphic designer? Then contact Integraphix, a Chicago marketing firm.  

6 Things to Consider When Designing a Business Card

While the role of business cards have changed over the years, websites, social media, and other factors have taken over many of the responsibilities, a good business card is a must. It is what you leave with clients, connections, potential clients, etc. and it is how they remember your name and that they met you.

A bad business card will still accomplish those things but in a negative way. People will remember they met you but they'll see your card and have a poor association with you.

Here are 7 things to consider when designing a business card, according to the graphic designers at our Chicago graphic design agency.  

• The size of the card and the colors used. Decide how large you want the cards to be before you think about what the design will look like. If the card is too small for the design, then you will have a smushed card. Remember that the size of the card has to accommodate Bleed. For color, you can choose between RGB (red, green, blue) basis or the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and key/black) basis. It is often better to work in CMYK because it can mask colors better on light backgrounds and reduces the amount of color reflected by the paper.

• Prepare the bleed area. If you are using a white background, then you do not need to worry about the bleed area. To prepare for this, you need to highlight the area surrounding the document. This is often about 3 mm thick of space but this will often depend on the printing company. 

• Avoid the borders. This looks less classy when you use this method of design as well as it runs the risk of having lop-sided edges. Printers have a margin of error when cutting cards and having borders on the cards emphasizes any mistakes. 

• Use colors that compliment each other. Colors that compliment each other will be aesthetically pleasing. You want to have colors that are consistent with your branding (colors on your site, social media, etc). 

• Make sure it is readable. If you use fonts or font sizes that are too hard to read, then guess what? People will not read your card and it is rendered useless. When designing business cards, this is something that people forget to consider. 

• Include important info. These days, that important info can be different than what it was in the past. Have your name, position, contact info (number, email, and social media), and possibly a QR code (be careful with these). 

Using a good business card is important. Make sure that your card is something you can be proud of. This means hiring a graphic design agency that knows how to make your designs to be proud of. Chat with Integraphix about your next design need!