Problem: A stubborn, lazy ass needs to be motivated into action.

Solution: Tie a carrot to the end of a stick; dangle it above and just out of reach of the ass you are trying to mobilise.

Key success factors: The ass must like carrots and the ass must be stupid.

Outcome: A blinkered stupid ass moving forward trying to reach an unattainable goal.

Hmmm, I wonder who the real ass is in the above situation.

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Ralf is a Pretoria based illustrator who combines German precision with a playful sense of humour. He offers a wide variety of styles from photo-realistic 3D and vector illustrations to water-colour, line art and stipple.

When did you first think “WOW, this is what I should be doing for a living”?

Actually it never seemed to be an option, in my early days of employment during the late 80s, I was advised that illustration is a dying trade and with the onset of computers it would probably become obsolete. Illustration work was limited to Storyboards, marker renderings, and presentation layouts… for me anyway.

It was only in the early 90′s, after finding a job as a graphic designer at a small packaging studio in Johannesburg, that I realised how much illustration was still being done. I became the in-house illustrator, instead of “graphic designer”, so I guess it took off from there.

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5pm Thursday 9 Dec 2010

Adele* kicks off her heels, steps precariously onto the edge of the chair and hoists herself up on the table. Peter* loosens the knot of his tie and slides it over his wine induced ruddy face to tighten it, pirate-style across his forehead.

His whoop-whoops of encouragement can be heard above the 80′s karaoke soundtrack and Adele responds by shaking what her mama gave her.

Debbie’s* PA, Alice* decides to take over the PA system and declare her undying loyalty to Debbie (the bestest boss in the world) even if it means keeping mum about Debbie’s office romance with the guy in accounts.

Thankfully the ‘guy in accounts’ left early, his wife had him on a strict curfew of one meal only this year; no turning the company luncheon into a meal marathon and staying for ‘supper’ too!

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For many companies, it has become customary to hand out yearend gifts to clients. These range from pens to BMWs and are hence often the subject of much debate.

So, before you saddle up the gift horse, consider these questions:

Why?

This is a deceptively simple question; the answer to which can be more complex than expected.

• Are you handing out gifts because your competition does?
• Are you doing it because your clients expect you to?
• Is it a gesture of thanks to existing clients?
• Is it an opportunity to market your company to potential or new clients?

Who?

Some clients are valued for their spend, some for their loyalty, some for their long-term support, others for their potential spend, loyalty and support.

• Who are you handing out gifts to this year?
• Will the gifts be customised to the personal profile of the recipient?
• Will certain clients ‘qualify’ for ‘better’ gifts than others?
• How will you manage the process of multiple recipients in one company?
• Who will not be getting gifts this year?

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You’re at a party, the music is pumping, the dance floor is rocking, the guys / gals are looking fine, you’re confident and ready to cross the great divide and engage in intellectual, meaningful dialogue with the hottest, happening crowd in the place; hoping to make lifelong friends and maybe more.

But as you stand plastered to the wall, you see connections being made around you; people requesting, accepting, sharing, engaging and commenting. You also notice that although you can see them, they don’t seem to see you. Why? You’re put together; designed to attract, you’ve got a mindful of useful information to share, you can be funny and you want nothing in return, just an opportunity to introduce yourself.

You tap shoulders, ask people to dance, offer to buy drinks, the come-on lines roll off your tongue; compliments, jokes, invitations…. why don’t they see you, why don’t they hear you?

Social media can make you feel like the desperate loser trying to infiltrate the in-crowd at a party; you feel like a rubber ball hitting a brick wall; each time getting bounced back further than you were before.

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If you’re into the social and cultural scene in Cape Town, you might have bumped into Dax Villanueva, the extremely good looking gentleman socialite who breezes in and out of events like a rolling stone.

His website “Relax with Dax” is the platform where social adventures and event newsletters are shared, where the latest and greatest restaurants, pubs, bars and clubs, as well as festivals and shows, are rated. You can also catch up to the minute commentary and restaurant musings on his Twitter feed, where his following boasts something more than a hefty handful. The difference between Dax Villanueva and the average tweeter/blogger, is that people want to hear what Dax has to say. His comments are punchy, powerful and accurate and he seems to have the ability to pinpoint both the lowlights and highlights of a scene within minutes.

Dax Relaxin'

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I have compiled a list of the five tools I believe are essential for managing brand integrity and gauging client perception of your brand.

1. Corporate identity (CI) manual and Pantone colour guide (or other printed reference)

CI manual
Unless you are a multi-national giant, you don’t need a 300 page CI bible, a simple easy-to-use guide will do. At the very least it should cover basics such as:

• Brand background and tonality. This should give some insight into the big idea behind the development of your brand as well as introduce its personality;
• Logo application and usage. Rules such as how the logo should be used on various media, when to use the strap line, minimum size, logo placement in relation to other images, text and colours etc;
• Colour breakdown and usage. This should detail the makeup of all your brand colours in all the various formats: CMYK, RGB, Hexcode, Pantones etc. (See A guide to choosing the correct colours for your brand for a more in-depth look at the various colour formats);
• Font usage. What fonts to use in your corporate communication. It should include size, styles, colours and formats for headings, body copy, etc;

Pantone guide (or other printed samples)
Every printing firm operates differently to some degree, therefore when printing full colour CMYK jobs or simple once-off digital banners, it is essential to have a printed sample of your brand colours as reference. Purchase a Pantone Colour Guide if your brand colours have Pantone references, this will make the colour matching job easier  (See A guide to choosing the correct colours for your brand for a more in-depth look at the various colour formats).

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You’ve chosen fluorescent orange and it sums up your brand perfectly; it’s energetic, bright and fun. No one could possibly miss such a vibrant colour logo.

The problem is that many colours are very difficult to manage over the various printing and production processes. This post will hopefully serve as a practical guide to choosing a managable colour for your brand.

Take into account your budget and on what kinds of media your brand will be represented. Ask yourself:

• Will I be doing mainly paper based printing such as brochures and leaflets?
• Will I be printing things like banners, pens, coffee mugs or doing embroidered shirts and caps?
• Will my brand only appear online?

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Clients are sometimes stumped by all the confusing terms used in the various printing processes. I’ve written a blog post to help you decode some of the jargon and explain which one works best for specific projects. This is printing 101.

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Monday this week brought jest of the champagne, scone and cupcake kind as the Power of 9 team raised their glasses to one remarkable lady.

This post was originally compiled by Sanja Stanojevic who has since left Power of 9.