These features can create an impressive end-result; however, there is one issue that can arise: “The Purple Bar” issue. If you have generated long-format interactive pdfs from InDesign, you will be well-acquainted with this “Purple Bar” reference.

Adobe has coded a few different warning messages to appear on any pdfs that have form fields. The warning message encountered frequently is: “Please fill out the following form. If you are a form author, choose Distribute Form in the Forms menu to send it to your recipients.”

Sample of View with Purple Form Error Message

This message is handy for the majority of viewers of a form document. However, the bar also appears on interactive documents that do not have any fields to fill out! This is because Adobe interprets a large amount of buttons on an interactive document as form fields. This includes Previous/Next and other navigation buttons. This has been an issue from Adobe CS3 onward, and the subject of many animated Adobe support forums. Turning off the purple bar is easily done once the end-user manipulates his or her preferences. However, this workaround is less than ideal and appears more like a programming error versus a software flaw. Another workaround has been to program the navigation within InDesign using linking versus buttons. This proves tedious and is unattractive for scalable templates.

Problem Solved!
After many hours of testing and scouring support sites, a fix has finally emerged that appears to work across platforms and versions and its easy to do. Go into Acrobat reader Document Properties>Initial View tab> Check the “Hide Window Controls” option.

Adjust Initial View from Document Properties Panel

Once the pdf is saved and reopened, the purple bar is removed:

Sample of View without Purple Form Error Message

Turning off the Window controls option should be weighed against the needs of the audience and the nature of the document.

For more information on the interactivity options in Adobe, go to Adobe TV and check out their video: Interactive InDesign PDF & SWF.

British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an example of how a strong company brand can be destroyed instantly. It’s costing the company a heap in terms of human resources and dollars to salvage their brand. We can all learn from BP’s misfortune by not losing control of our company brand.

It’s a good idea to periodically refresh employees as to what your mission is and how your brand is defined. Is service or price number one?  How about integrity or quality? There are no “right answers” but everyone needs to understand and effectively communicate the company’s differentiators and core strengths. Those key messages have to be consistent in all forms of communication, marketing and social media.

The brand’s content needs to be consistent with how it visually appeals to its customers. West End is a good example of how a brand can totally remake the image of a company by fine tuning it’s product line.  But this can not be done on a whim. You need to understand the needs of  your current and potential customers. The trick is not alienating current customers in the process of trying to expand. Check out Fuel Your Branding for more on the visual aspects of branding.

Brands can emulate a rollercoaster ride. Take Apple as an example. They release the new iPhone 4; brand value goes way up. But the phones are difficult to order due to technical glitches; brand value goes down.  Then they are unable to fulfill the large quantity of orders; brand value goes down further.  Unfortunately, these setbacks happen, but how you handle these situations can positively or adversely affect your brand. Apple addressed the iPhone 4 delays head on with an apology and explanation (they were totally unprepared for the volume because it was way more than previous iPhones); brand value goes back up. Then there is the problem with the antenna; brand goes back down. The goal is to not have these types of hiccups, but life is unpredictable and therefore all companies need to be prepared to handle these bumps in the road effectively.

Maintaining a brand is more than having a pretty new logo every year. It’s about knowing what your brand is and communicating that both internally and externally. It’s vital to avoid actions which degrade your brand and when necessary, doing damage control. Remember, it takes years to create a positive brand, but one wrong move and it can be destroyed overnight.

YouSendIt, Dropbox, and SendSpace each offer a solution to get your larger file to where it needs to be. While these companies also specialize in a number of other solutions, below is a comparison of the features and benefits specific to their free-of-charge, large file transfer service.

YouSendIt Lite
YouSendIt is the most popular file transfer service available. Their free, registration-required membership allots 100MB of transfer space. Only one file may be transferred at a time — a hurdle quickly surmounted with a .zip package. There are a number of plug-ins that allow files to be sent directly from most commonly used applications such as Outlook, Acrobat, and Photoshop. To send a file you may login to you YouSendIt online or from the desktop application, complete a standard email form, and attach your large file. The recipient receives an email with a link to a YouSendIt download page. Alternatively you may simply copy and paste this link into an email and send via your regular email client — without using the YouSendIt email form. The file is hosted for 7 days then taken down. Advanced security and a return receipt are available on a pay-per-use basis. A 1 GB per month download limit is free with this level of subscription.

SendSpace Lite
SendSpace works much like YouSendIt, but registration is not required. The limit on file sending is 300MB per file, with up to 5 files allowed per delivery instance. By registering you are able to track the number of downloads per file. Files expire if they are not downloaded for 30 days. Like YouSendIt, you may either use their email form to send the link to your recipient or simply send the link to the download page. Watch out though, the SendSpace download page is noisy with animated ads, and often times the emails sent from SendSpace are interpreted as spam.

Dropbox
This company’s primary business is file syncing, but with their free membership comes a snazzy way of delivering files quickly. Dropbox works as a virtual online storage space accessible via a shortcut installed across any number of your personal or work computers. Upon registering and dowloading the application, the Dropbox folder is installed directly on the desktop. If are online, anything transferred into this folder is automatically synced with your global Dropbox account. Subfolders can be shared from the Dropbox folder by sending an invite to new or registered users. To send files to someone without a Dropbox account, simply place the file in the “Public” folder of your Dropbox directory. With a right-click on the file, you may copy the public, downloadable link to this file and send to your intended recipient. The file size limitation is 2GB total for your entire Dropbox. Controlling the file expiration is done by removing the file from the Dropbox directory.

Each company provides a free service aimed at getting your large files where they need to be. In addition to the lite membership levels there are several subscriptions tiers for each, allowing increasingly larger file space, security options, and other enhanced features.

If file expiration control and larger file size is your primary concern, the Dropbox option may be for you. If unlimited downloads and trackablility are paramount, SendSpace may be the way to go. And if ease of transfer from your commonly used applications such as Outlook and Acrobat is what you desire, be sure to check out at YouSendIt.

While this concept is straightforward, unfortunately new ideas, collaborators and goals often change the course and timing of the project. Behind the scenes, we refer to this as scope creep. Scope creep refers to unaccounted-for changes in a project’s original scope. This phenomenon can occur when the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled. A few hours here and there – next thing you know, 20 hours have been tacked on.

Here are a few strategies for thoroughly planning and defining a project that solve for some of scope creep’s favorite weak spots:

• Creative brief: A creative brief is a document used to develop creative deliverables: visual design, copy, advertising, web sites, etc. Make sure the creative brief is completed before the work begins – especially in advance of copy writing or design. Be sure to review it over the phone or in-person with your client to ensure that all questions are addressed. Check out this workshop from the people at Dare for more information on developing a solid creative brief.
• Role playing: Imagine you are the target audience. What happens next? What information is important? What is left to be desired? Have a colleague that hasn’t worked on the project evaluate it. Make sure that you’re communicating what you intended.
• Call to action (CTA): Determine what you want the audience to do and how you will measure success. Once the audience has reacted according to your CTA, what happens next? Are statistics and metrics needed? Do you want to capture email addresses for an opt-in?
• Q&A: As always, don’t be afraid to ask questions during the planning process. The key from an agency perspective is to provide an insightful question that gets your client thinking. Instead of “What color do you like?” say “Blue is calming and red is action-oriented. What emotion do we want to communicate through our color scheme?” The client will take the time to think through the various options instead of going with a gut reaction that might be second-guessed in the next round of revisions.

While scope creep is inevitable for almost every project, there are steps you can integrate into your workflow that will lessen the blow. Expect that the scope will change and make sure you address this with your client. Some clients may want to pay for these changes as they go in the form of a change order, and others may want you to include room for revisions in the original estimate. If you go with the latter, make sure you clearly define the terms of the revisions that are covered in the original contract.

Unlock the ball and chain
Stop checking your Inbox every time a message pops up.  It’s a distraction and  prevents you from doing your job effectively.  Check your email first thing in the morning and respond to time sensitive messages, then close out of your email program. Don’t just minimize or turn the volume down so you don’t hear the “ding”. Turn it off for ONE HOUR and yes this means you also can’t check your Blackberry or iPhone.  Follow this same pattern throughout the day, you’ll be amazed how much work can be accomplished when you are not being distracted every 2 minutes.

Don’t be super email man or woman
Responding to every email within 30 seconds of receiving it may sound like a great idea, but it comes at a price.  Yes, your client or co-worker will appreciate the quick response, but it may also set the expectation that you will  respond to every email within 30 seconds.  If it’s urgent, respond. However if the request is not time sensitive, mark it as “to do” and come back to it later.” What if I client needs to reach me and I am not on Email?”  Trust me, if it’s an urgent matter, they will find a way to reach you. Another option is to set an “Out of Office” message letting people know when you will respond to their email.

Spam-a-lot
Spam accounts for upwards of 30 percent of all email.  Use your spam filter to identify and sort out spam from your Inbox.  Take the time to mark mail as spam so your system can appropriately block future messages.  Tired of getting the same ten emails from the same company?  Don’t just delete the email, update your spam filter and take the time to unsubscribe from those unwanted email lists.

CC’ing everyone – including your grandmother
Avoid the temptation to copy every person in your office on every email.  Unless there is an action item or a specific need to copy people, don’t. They will thank you for it later.

Filters are not just for coffee
Use the tools your email program already has to help you manage your Inbox.  Set up filters to reply or file messages appropriately.

Keep it short and sweet
Email messages should be short and to the point.  Remember everyone else’s Inbox probably has just as many unread e-mails.  Use proper grammar, be concise and have a well thought out message with a clearly defined action. Remember people cannot often hear the “voice” behind the content of an email. A phone call or in-person meeting is often the best method of communication, especially if you don’t have good news to share.

Key highlights of Gmail

• •  Consistency – Whatever computer I’m on, the status of my email is the same as when I left it. If I have read an email on any computer, it shows up as read the next time I access my email or mobile device. This feature has saved me a tremendous amount of time. Apple mail lacks this level of consistency.
• •  Grouping of emails with the same subject line – I frequently will go back and forth with a colleague on one subject. In Apple mail (and most other mail clients), each email is a separate line item. In Gmail, all my emails get grouped in a single line item. So when I want to go back in time, I just need to find the subject and the whole email chain is in one place.
• •  Multiple labels instead of single folders – Apple mail only allows me to put an email in a single folder. Gmail uses labels instead of folders. I can assign multiple labels to an email and then search any combination of labels to only see those emails that I’m really interested in.
• •  My inbox stays cleaner – Using filters and labels, I can designate select emails to be automatically filed without passing through my inbox. Google’s powerful search capabilities allow me to access multiple labels simultaneously, eliminating my fear of filing emails where I can’t find them. In Apple mail, if I did not remember which folder an email was in, I would not be able to access it.

Multiple Gmail labels and 10 grouped emails in one line.

Like any email solution, Google mail has room for improvement. I would like to see a more user-friendly interface and a more visually differentiated navigation system. In addition, some changes to minimize scrolling would greatly improve the user experience.

No email system can be all things to all people. When it all comes down to it, you need to decide which features are “must haves”. I have found Gmail’s consistency feature to be my “must have,” so I am going to stick with it. If it doesn’t work for you, there are lots of sites that compare email clients. You can start at Wikipedia and go from there.

The champion crusader of the event was keynote speaker David Spark of Spark Media Solutions, whose presentation on the 14 Successful Techniques for Building Your Industry Voice with Social Media provided clear insight into social media’s prowess.

Some favorite tips:

Ride current hot news and cultural memes.
As sure as Crystal Bowersox is going to sweep American Idol, connecting your industry topic with buzzworthy news is sure to drive visits to your blog.

Own a phrase.
David Spark did an experiment here to see what it took to be the number one return on a google search of the phrase “making money with podcasting”. Over the course of a few months, he posted a series of 15 interviews with successful podcasters on the topic and tracked his google progress. Each part of the series included links between the blogs, a technique to drive traffic.  The result? By the end of the series his articles were returning the top hits in google when users typed in “making” “money” and “podcasting”. The trick is title your articles with a phrase that is common enough to be searched but not too common to reign in.

Take advantage of contests by using a social media layer.
Your company’s active online community is a resource. Boxee, an open source social media center, created a contest to staff their convention booths. The contest entrants submitted a video demonstrating their presenter ability. The 4 winners were flown to Las Vegas where they successfully represented the Boxee company. The best part is that the people who take the time to enter your contests are passionate enough to be stellar advocates for your product or service.

These are just the tips of the social media iceberg. Cleverly working known SEO triggers, engaging your company’s online community, and being active and consistent will ensure your social media plan packs a superhero punch.

Determining who are the best prospects to sell your service to and reaching out to them in a way that makes them perceive you as the perfect match for them.

Today’s opportunity:

Bill Builder has a list of architects whom he wants to get work from.

Old School Solution:

Bill goes on each architect’s website, finds out what kinds of projects each architect does, sends out a customized email or direct mail to each one and follows up with a phone call.

Problems with this solution:

• Slow
• Labor intensive
• Information is only as current and complete as the prospect’s website. Bill needs to know what the architect is working on right now and what projects are in the pipeline because those are the jobs that Bill wants to get.

New School Solution:

Bill sends out an automated email campaign once a month with a link to his website (which shows all of the kinds of projects Bill has built.) Bill has a tracker on his computer desktop that notifies him when Art, one of the target architects, opens the email. The tracker shows that Art has now clicked to go to Bill’s site. A chat window opens on Art’s computer with a message,  “Hi Art, let me know if you have any questions…”  The tracker now shows Art exploring the restaurant renovation pages on Bill’s site and then he leaves the site. Soon thereafter, Bill picks up the phone, calls Art, and says, “Just wanted to follow up on the email I sent. I just finished renovating Chez Suzanne on Geary Street. How about meeting me there for lunch so you can see the quality of my work and we can discuss what you’re working on.”

Advantages:

• Automated monthly email campaign prevents “I’m too busy” syndrome.
• Know which of your prospects is interested in your service in real time via the tracker.
• Be able know what specific service your prospect is interested in right now.
• Use chat to initiate a relationship immediately. If you are not viewing your tracker when the prospect is looking at your site, there is a button that opens a form to ask a question which can be answered when you have time.
• Since you do not tell your prospect that you are watching their activity on your web site, they do not feel their privacy is invaded. Instead they think that you just happen to do exactly what they need done.
• Minimum time required with maximum results.

Summary:

Spend your time doing your business. Use your marketing firm to set up an automatic periodic marketing system and only spend your time on pursuing true prospects.

This phenomenon happens frequently in the design world. For many reasons, designers don’t get all the toys at once and we end up “rearranging” over and over again. Frequently, there are good reasons for this. Usually, there is an assumption that the job will get done more quickly if the designer is given ten percent of the information to “get him/her started.” As the example above illustrates, most of the time, that is not a correct assumption.

Years of experience in the design world have taught me one important truth: if I start a project with the content and information in an organized package, the result is better, the cost is lower and the project is completed more quickly.

What does an organized creative project look like?

• A concise description of intent
• A description of the target audience
• A listing of historic considerations
• A clear definition of the scope of the project.

What does an organized production project look like?

• A clear, detailed description of the project including deliverables, deliverable sizes, and all deliverable attributes.
• A hierarchy of what is the most important down to least important
• All the assets (images, graphics, required fonts, text content) or clear descriptions of stock images to be searched for.
• Any existing corporate brand standards

If the above is presented in an organized package, here is what is gained:

• Time and money savings: The project can be completed much more quickly with less time spent on endless email threads
• A better product: The design does not need to be patched up to squeeze in those last minute items.
• A more creative project: Designers can focus on designing rather than sorting through emails looking for content, etc.
• Happy clients: Clients can move on to other projects, confident that their project will be well designed, on time, on budget.

All this sounds great, right? So why is it not done more?

• MULTIPLE PLAYERS within the client’s company – all contributing on different schedules
• WORKING STYLES – some people like to see a framework so that they can then fill in the “blanks”
• HABITS – some people just get in the habit of handing off one element at a time.

How to move toward a more perfect world?

• The MULTIPLE PLAYER situation – Clients can identify all players in a project and their roles up front and define one leader. Then the leader can partner with the agency account executive to organize, drive and manage the project.
• The WORKING STYLE situation -  Agency account executives can paint picture of how different requests can add unnecessary hours. They can make recommendations on how to organize the gathering of information to minimize costs. Personality traits or insights of all parties should be shared with the account executive so he or she can better manage communications.
• The HABIT situation – Not gathering all information early on is costly because the designer ends up spending a lot of time organizing and reorganizing the content, keeping track of what is still missing, and reading through multiple emails looking for content. By working closely with the agency account executive at the planning stage, this can be easily avoided. He or she will organize the job with a systematic approach to save time and money.

Most important take-aways?

• Gather all content up front
• Spend time with your agency account executive up front, as you would with an architect to streamline the work flow of a project and optimize the  timeline, budget and deliverable quality.

PDFs are the standard these days for invites, flyers, guides, instructions, and a plethora of other business documents. Why not spice them up a bit? Now this universal file-type can be enhanced with numerous new features. Here are just a few ideas:

• Navigation menu: Add a navigation menu to lengthy PDFs for easy navigation between sections. You can design a home page listing all sections, and even create a menu bar at the bottom of each page of the document with “forward” and “back” buttons.
• Email integration: Do you want your audience to be able to share the PDF easily? Add the email feature and with a click of the mouse, readers will be able to email the PDF as an attachment through their preferred email client. Another handy email feature allows you to create a form and have the results emailed directly to you – just like any web form. Check out the “Request Brochure” page on our sample.
• Embed videos: There are two ways to embed videos into PDFs. One requires an internet connection, but keeps the actual file size down to an easily emailable size. The second method actually saves the full video file in the PDF. This method doesn’t require an internet connection, but the file size can get rather large, depending on how big the video is. Check out our sample for the internet connection-required version.
• Page-turning animation: Make your PDF look like a magazine or book with the page turning animation feature. This feature will change the end format to a SWF file, but you can design and create the entire document in Adobe.

Check out our sample: History of the Phone