Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions |
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Graphic Design
What is a PNG?
A PNG, or its full name ‘Portable Network Graphic’, is a type of image used in graphic and website design. A PNG file provides a transparent background and/or a semi-transparent image.
PNG files are often used for the design of logos because they allow the image to be overlaid on a background of any picture, colour, or pattern without any background surrounding the image design itself.
However, PNG files tend to be significantly larger in file size as compared with other commonly used file types and so when it comes to website design, PNGs should be used sparingly to prevent slow page loading.
What is a JPEG?
JPEG is the most popular image format online. But what is a JPEG (pronounced jay-peg) and what are JPEGs used for?
A JPEG, or its full name ‘Joint Photographic Experts Group’ is a type of image. The term refers to a type of compression that makes image files much smaller than the ‘RAW’ files that are taken by high-end digital cameras. The result of this compression is that JPEGs are easier to email to friends and to upload to websites and social media sites.
RAW files themselves are more often used in print at a larger size, mainly because they contain a lot of detail, most of which would be lost when viewed on a computer screen or when printed at a small size.
What is a Vector?
A vector graphic is a type of image. Generated by computer, vector images are graphical representations of mathematical objects such as lines, curves, polygons and they follow x and y axis as their reference definition.
An important characteristic of vector graphics is their very high resolution resulting in the ability of such images to be altered easily with their resolution per square pixel remaining intact at any level.
Other image formats, such as GIFs and JPEGs are the opposite -- these images are pixel-based and so can't be resized without compromising on quality.
Once a vector image is ‘rasterised’ to a .gif or .jpeg, they lose their original resolution. Rasterisation is the process of a vector graphics format (shapes) being converted to a raster image (pixels or dots). Once converted such images can be used in print, web publishing and video, for example.
What is Bitmap?
A Bitmap, sometimes referred to as ‘BMP format’ a commonly used raster graphic format for saving image files. Bitmap was originally introduced on the Windows platform but is now widely recognised by many programmes on both Macs and PCs.
The BMP format stores colour data for each image pixel without any form of compression. Images in BMP format allow for crisp, high-quality graphics, but also produces large file sizes. JPEGs and GIFs are also bitmaps, but these use image compression algorithms that can significantly decrease their file size. For this reason, JPEG and GIF images are used on the Web, while BMP images are more often used in printed material.
What is GIF?
A GIF, or its full name ‘Graphics Interchange Format’ is basically an image file format that is animated by combining several other images or frames into a single file.
Unlike the JPEG, GIFs typically use a compression algorithm referred to as LZW encoding that does not compromise on or degrade the image quality. This also allows for easy storing GIF files in bytes.
Multiple images within a single GIF file are displayed in quick succession thus creating an animated clip or even a short movie.
What is PDF?
A PDF, or its full name ‘Portable Document Format’ is a reliable file format for presenting and exchanging documents. PDFs are independent of software, hardware, or operating systems.
The PDF was invented by Adobe in 1992 and is now an open standard maintained by the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO). PDFs are versatile and can contain links and buttons, form fields, audio, video, a more.
These days, PDFs can be signed electronically and are widely used and easily viewed using free software called ‘Acrobat Reader DC’.
Brand
What is brand?
Brand differentiates a product or service from others in the marketplace, it assures uniqueness, carries emotional and functional associations and offers a promise that performance will be what customers expect.
© 2018 Future Point 4 Business Limited
What is branding?
Branding is the strategic implementation of brand and the chance to create a memory.
© 2018 Future Point 4 Business Limited
What is brand equity?
'Brand equity' is a phrase used to describe the value of having a well-known brand name. This is based simply upon the idea that the owner of a well-known brand name can generate more income from brand recognition and perception. That is to say that products with a less well-known name will generate less income. This is because consumers tend to believe that a product with a well-known name is better than products with less well-known names.
Brand equity grows with consumer experience with the brand. This process involves the consumer’s natural relationship with the brand resulting in (1) Awareness (2) Recognition (3) Trial (4) Preference, and (5) Loyalty. Good brand experiences result in users recommending and referring to others. But more than this it becomes the only brand they will buy and use in any given product category.
Does my business need a brand?
The short answer is yes! However, ultimately all businesses have brands associated with them. The question is whether the business owner has invested in creating a brand around their product or service or whether a brand has evolved simply from user experience, which, can be either good (a positive brand) or bad (a negative brand).
If customer experience is bad it is usually because the person engaged in making the sale did not adhere to a consistent set of brand values or they didn’t have a consistent set of brand values to follow in the first place. A good brand will differentiate its products or services to be of good quality and better than those from others in the marketplace. It will assure uniqueness and carry emotional and functional associations that will leave a lasting impression on customers.
A good brand will also offer a promise that performance will be – at the very least or exceed – what customers expect.
What is brand collateral?
Brand collateral is a term used to describe the collection of media used to promote a business brand. Brand collateral will also support the sales and marketing of a product or service. Brand collateral is visual element of the brand with designs that are congruent with the story, core values and personality of the brand.
How do I keep my brand collateral consistent?
A good branding company supplying brand collateral to any business will then provide a ‘Brand Guidelines’ document. This document will outline every detail about the brand collateral from how designs are compatible with the brand story, core values and brand personality to colour codes and fonts used. Your Brand Guidelines document is essentially the Bible of your brand, usable by any subsequent designer.
Is brand different to branding?
When it comes to brand and branding there are two distinct processes.
The first involves the development of the brand – concepts around the ‘why?’ of the business, the story of the business, it’s mission, aims and objectives, it’s principles and values and the 'who?' of the customer. The brand will be what customers will support, align themselves and to which they will become loyal.
Branding, on the other hand, is the outworking of the brand, the messaging, the visual elements that will carry emotional and functional association. Branding is the strategic implementation of brand and the chance to create a memory.
Marketing
What is marketing?
Marketing as a subject is vast. Put simply marketing is a managed process through which goods and services ‘move from concept to the customer’ It involves the harmony of four elements that were made famous in the 1950s by Jerome McCarthy, then a professor in the business school at Michigan State University. These four elements called the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Place (distribution), Price and Promotion.
This mnemonic device, stressing the management of the supposed four major functions, was quickly adopted by academicians and practitioners alike.
The four P’s have subsequently been added to by three more: Packaging, Positioning and People.
Website
Does my business need a website?
Not every business has a website. There are some businesses that thrive very successfully without the need of a website.
However, a business without a website is more the exception than the norm. And, usually, this is because business activity is generated by means of personal relationships that move to referrals and recommendations. In such circumstances need for a website as a marketing device is seen as being less important. Often businesses without a website are those with a single activist with no staff. The Principal of the business is likely to handle activity consistently and to a regular standard, as it is a one-person method of operation.
However, as soon as others become involved then the need for a reference point – in the modern era, a website – beyond the Principal is required. The website will become the shop window both for those working within the business as well as for those who buy.
Video
Is video important for growing a business?
Video is becoming more important than ever for businesses today and there are all sorts of reasons for this. Here are 6 reasons why video is highly effective for your business:
Video improves SEO—Google loves websites containing video and if you have keywords in the tags to the video it can help you be found much easier on search engines.
Video proves your track record—Video testimonials from satisfied customers prove you are exactly as good as you say you are. These videos help provide a second opinion of you and it is this opinion that your prospects want to hear - not yours. The emotions that can be put across on video with how much you have made a difference to them can not be taken from text on a website and becomes a powerful persuasive sales tool.
Video proves your professionalism—If your business is about you and your staff, how are potential clients supposed to know what you are like as people? If you are professional? If you are friendly? If you would be easy to work with? Video shows exactly what you are like. In staff interviews we ask questions that allow you to show off your professionalism & expertise as well as adding your personality (and sometimes sense of humour). REMEMBER people want to buy from people, not a faceless company.
Video is fast and effective—The average 'window shopper' only stays on websites for around 30 seconds to browse through a website. In that short amount of time video can explain who you are, what you do and the benefits of using you whilst introducing staff members and showing off your facilities, products or services in practice. Can your website do that in 30 seconds?
Video is versatile—You can use your video in several different places: your website, YouTube, in email shots, as DVDs in direct mail, on social media pages, in presentations, on screens at exhibitions, on loop in receptions, point of sale displays and more!
Video saves you money—A salesperson's expenses can be very costly over the course of a year. Using a video can substantially decrease your cost per customer contact as people can see the benefits of products, services or facilities without you having to come out and perform a demonstration or paying for a client to come to you. The video message can be reproduced in any language and allows you to promote yourself to a global market.
Should I have video on my business website?
The first website was launch on 6th August 1991. Things have changed a lot since then. Not least our behaviours in how we use and engage with websites. One behavioural shift that has taken place over the decades since that momentous launch is the extent of our laziness.
Once, when website technology was new, fresh and of the moment users were happy to scroll through paragraphs and even pages of text and images. Nowadays most users are unlikely to scroll much beyond the half page. And, where there is a video to play, one that outlines much of what the website text says, users will most often play the video first and look at selected text around the website thereafter.
If your website doesn’t have a video but your competitors’ websites do, then your business is likely to come second, third, fourth or beyond when it comes to websites being information friendly.
In addition to this, however, Google’s purchase of YouTube in 2006 has altered the landscape of the World Wide Web significantly. Google algorithms rank websites with video content much more favourably. This alone increases the visibility of your website across the Internet. So, in answer to the question: ‘Should I have a video on my business website?’ The answer from us is a resounding ‘Yes!’
Social Media
What is Social Media?
Social media is a collection of websites and Apps, often called platforms or tools that people use to build profiles from which to share content, ideas, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and various forms of other media. Messaging, including real time messaging (often called Instant Messaging (IM)) encourages conversations and interactions between people and groups.
What is a PNG?
A PNG, or its full name ‘Portable Network Graphic’, is a type of image used in graphic and website design. A PNG file provides a transparent background and/or a semi-transparent image.
PNG files are often used for the design of logos because they allow the image to be overlaid on a background of any picture, colour, or pattern without any background surrounding the image design itself.
However, PNG files tend to be significantly larger in file size as compared with other commonly used file types and so when it comes to website design, PNGs should be used sparingly to prevent slow page loading.
What is a JPEG?
JPEG is the most popular image format online. But what is a JPEG (pronounced jay-peg) and what are JPEGs used for?
A JPEG, or its full name ‘Joint Photographic Experts Group’ is a type of image. The term refers to a type of compression that makes image files much smaller than the ‘RAW’ files that are taken by high-end digital cameras. The result of this compression is that JPEGs are easier to email to friends and to upload to websites and social media sites.
RAW files themselves are more often used in print at a larger size, mainly because they contain a lot of detail, most of which would be lost when viewed on a computer screen or when printed at a small size.
What is a Vector?
A vector graphic is a type of image. Generated by computer, vector images are graphical representations of mathematical objects such as lines, curves, polygons and they follow x and y axis as their reference definition.
An important characteristic of vector graphics is their very high resolution resulting in the ability of such images to be altered easily with their resolution per square pixel remaining intact at any level.
Other image formats, such as GIFs and JPEGs are the opposite -- these images are pixel-based and so can't be resized without compromising on quality.
Once a vector image is ‘rasterised’ to a .gif or .jpeg, they lose their original resolution. Rasterisation is the process of a vector graphics format (shapes) being converted to a raster image (pixels or dots). Once converted such images can be used in print, web publishing and video, for example.
What is Bitmap?
A Bitmap, sometimes referred to as ‘BMP format’ a commonly used raster graphic format for saving image files. Bitmap was originally introduced on the Windows platform but is now widely recognised by many programmes on both Macs and PCs.
The BMP format stores colour data for each image pixel without any form of compression. Images in BMP format allow for crisp, high-quality graphics, but also produces large file sizes. JPEGs and GIFs are also bitmaps, but these use image compression algorithms that can significantly decrease their file size. For this reason, JPEG and GIF images are used on the Web, while BMP images are more often used in printed material.
What is GIF?
A GIF, or its full name ‘Graphics Interchange Format’ is basically an image file format that is animated by combining several other images or frames into a single file.
Unlike the JPEG, GIFs typically use a compression algorithm referred to as LZW encoding that does not compromise on or degrade the image quality. This also allows for easy storing GIF files in bytes.
Multiple images within a single GIF file are displayed in quick succession thus creating an animated clip or even a short movie.
What is PDF?
A PDF, or its full name ‘Portable Document Format’ is a reliable file format for presenting and exchanging documents. PDFs are independent of software, hardware, or operating systems.
The PDF was invented by Adobe in 1992 and is now an open standard maintained by the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO). PDFs are versatile and can contain links and buttons, form fields, audio, video, a more.
These days, PDFs can be signed electronically and are widely used and easily viewed using free software called ‘Acrobat Reader DC’.
Brand
What is brand?
Brand differentiates a product or service from others in the marketplace, it assures uniqueness, carries emotional and functional associations and offers a promise that performance will be what customers expect.
© 2018 Future Point 4 Business Limited
What is branding?
Branding is the strategic implementation of brand and the chance to create a memory.
© 2018 Future Point 4 Business Limited
What is brand equity?
'Brand equity' is a phrase used to describe the value of having a well-known brand name. This is based simply upon the idea that the owner of a well-known brand name can generate more income from brand recognition and perception. That is to say that products with a less well-known name will generate less income. This is because consumers tend to believe that a product with a well-known name is better than products with less well-known names.
Brand equity grows with consumer experience with the brand. This process involves the consumer’s natural relationship with the brand resulting in (1) Awareness (2) Recognition (3) Trial (4) Preference, and (5) Loyalty. Good brand experiences result in users recommending and referring to others. But more than this it becomes the only brand they will buy and use in any given product category.
Does my business need a brand?
The short answer is yes! However, ultimately all businesses have brands associated with them. The question is whether the business owner has invested in creating a brand around their product or service or whether a brand has evolved simply from user experience, which, can be either good (a positive brand) or bad (a negative brand).
If customer experience is bad it is usually because the person engaged in making the sale did not adhere to a consistent set of brand values or they didn’t have a consistent set of brand values to follow in the first place. A good brand will differentiate its products or services to be of good quality and better than those from others in the marketplace. It will assure uniqueness and carry emotional and functional associations that will leave a lasting impression on customers.
A good brand will also offer a promise that performance will be – at the very least or exceed – what customers expect.
What is brand collateral?
Brand collateral is a term used to describe the collection of media used to promote a business brand. Brand collateral will also support the sales and marketing of a product or service. Brand collateral is visual element of the brand with designs that are congruent with the story, core values and personality of the brand.
How do I keep my brand collateral consistent?
A good branding company supplying brand collateral to any business will then provide a ‘Brand Guidelines’ document. This document will outline every detail about the brand collateral from how designs are compatible with the brand story, core values and brand personality to colour codes and fonts used. Your Brand Guidelines document is essentially the Bible of your brand, usable by any subsequent designer.
Is brand different to branding?
When it comes to brand and branding there are two distinct processes.
The first involves the development of the brand – concepts around the ‘why?’ of the business, the story of the business, it’s mission, aims and objectives, it’s principles and values and the 'who?' of the customer. The brand will be what customers will support, align themselves and to which they will become loyal.
Branding, on the other hand, is the outworking of the brand, the messaging, the visual elements that will carry emotional and functional association. Branding is the strategic implementation of brand and the chance to create a memory.
Marketing
What is marketing?
Marketing as a subject is vast. Put simply marketing is a managed process through which goods and services ‘move from concept to the customer’ It involves the harmony of four elements that were made famous in the 1950s by Jerome McCarthy, then a professor in the business school at Michigan State University. These four elements called the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Place (distribution), Price and Promotion.
This mnemonic device, stressing the management of the supposed four major functions, was quickly adopted by academicians and practitioners alike.
The four P’s have subsequently been added to by three more: Packaging, Positioning and People.
Website
Does my business need a website?
Not every business has a website. There are some businesses that thrive very successfully without the need of a website.
However, a business without a website is more the exception than the norm. And, usually, this is because business activity is generated by means of personal relationships that move to referrals and recommendations. In such circumstances need for a website as a marketing device is seen as being less important. Often businesses without a website are those with a single activist with no staff. The Principal of the business is likely to handle activity consistently and to a regular standard, as it is a one-person method of operation.
However, as soon as others become involved then the need for a reference point – in the modern era, a website – beyond the Principal is required. The website will become the shop window both for those working within the business as well as for those who buy.
Video
Is video important for growing a business?
Video is becoming more important than ever for businesses today and there are all sorts of reasons for this. Here are 6 reasons why video is highly effective for your business:
Video improves SEO—Google loves websites containing video and if you have keywords in the tags to the video it can help you be found much easier on search engines.
Video proves your track record—Video testimonials from satisfied customers prove you are exactly as good as you say you are. These videos help provide a second opinion of you and it is this opinion that your prospects want to hear - not yours. The emotions that can be put across on video with how much you have made a difference to them can not be taken from text on a website and becomes a powerful persuasive sales tool.
Video proves your professionalism—If your business is about you and your staff, how are potential clients supposed to know what you are like as people? If you are professional? If you are friendly? If you would be easy to work with? Video shows exactly what you are like. In staff interviews we ask questions that allow you to show off your professionalism & expertise as well as adding your personality (and sometimes sense of humour). REMEMBER people want to buy from people, not a faceless company.
Video is fast and effective—The average 'window shopper' only stays on websites for around 30 seconds to browse through a website. In that short amount of time video can explain who you are, what you do and the benefits of using you whilst introducing staff members and showing off your facilities, products or services in practice. Can your website do that in 30 seconds?
Video is versatile—You can use your video in several different places: your website, YouTube, in email shots, as DVDs in direct mail, on social media pages, in presentations, on screens at exhibitions, on loop in receptions, point of sale displays and more!
Video saves you money—A salesperson's expenses can be very costly over the course of a year. Using a video can substantially decrease your cost per customer contact as people can see the benefits of products, services or facilities without you having to come out and perform a demonstration or paying for a client to come to you. The video message can be reproduced in any language and allows you to promote yourself to a global market.
Should I have video on my business website?
The first website was launch on 6th August 1991. Things have changed a lot since then. Not least our behaviours in how we use and engage with websites. One behavioural shift that has taken place over the decades since that momentous launch is the extent of our laziness.
Once, when website technology was new, fresh and of the moment users were happy to scroll through paragraphs and even pages of text and images. Nowadays most users are unlikely to scroll much beyond the half page. And, where there is a video to play, one that outlines much of what the website text says, users will most often play the video first and look at selected text around the website thereafter.
If your website doesn’t have a video but your competitors’ websites do, then your business is likely to come second, third, fourth or beyond when it comes to websites being information friendly.
In addition to this, however, Google’s purchase of YouTube in 2006 has altered the landscape of the World Wide Web significantly. Google algorithms rank websites with video content much more favourably. This alone increases the visibility of your website across the Internet. So, in answer to the question: ‘Should I have a video on my business website?’ The answer from us is a resounding ‘Yes!’
Social Media
What is Social Media?
Social media is a collection of websites and Apps, often called platforms or tools that people use to build profiles from which to share content, ideas, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and various forms of other media. Messaging, including real time messaging (often called Instant Messaging (IM)) encourages conversations and interactions between people and groups.
