How many of you have dabbled in or thought about creating a video and posting it on YouTube or some of the other video sites?

I have a degree in multimedia – I love putting images, words and sound together to get an emotional effect, it is truly one of my passions.

In the last few years I have not worked with video – my business naturally took a turn towards website development. And that is what I have been concentrating on.

Recently I had a request to put together some promotional videos for one of my clients – what fun I had!

In doing this project it occurred to me that things had changed a bit in the short time I had been away from producing multimedia projects, so I jumped in and did a little research.

Things have changed and putting together and editing a video has really been simplified – that is the good news.

The bad news? There are a lot of really bad promotional videos on the internet!

It reminded me of something I learned early on when I started working in video production – You may be the most creative person in the world and have idea’s coming out of your ears – but everything has a process and creating a promotional video is no different.

There are really no short cuts – no matter what anyone tells you. The process of creating a promotional video or anything else takes time and planning. There are some basic rules that I call “Universal Laws” this can apply to everything that you create. This holds true if you are creating a promotional campaign, video, e-book or website.

If you have ideas that you would like to come to fruition – something that you would like to develop from scratch there are 9 basic principles that must be applied in order to create a successful creative endeavor.

The 9 Basic Principles of Creation

1. Brain storm – yes think about and write down all your ideas. Don’t second guess yourself just write down everything that comes to your mind.

2. What is the purpose of the video – is it to entertain, market your business, to advertise a product – or to position you as a leader in your industry? Write down you intention.

3. Write the script – Storyboard, It doesn’t matter if you are going to be talking about a subject or using images and words to get people to notice you. You need to write out (in long hand) what it is you are going to be seeing or saying on the screen. If you have ever taken a video production class you know that you story board your video – what are the scenes – what is going to be said – what type of music etc.

4. Edit Edit Edit – and Edit some more. You want it to be perfect have another pair of eyes look at your script and storyboard.

5. Practice, yes – you need to practice and the old saying “practice makes perfect” is true – if you are recording your voice or putting yourself on video for this project then you have to practice in front of a mirror – yes really! If you are using someone other then yourself, have them practice in front of you – make sure it is what you are envisioning in your mind.

6. Gather the pieces - what are you using? In my case I wrote the promotional text, gathered pictures that would be used – created a background – and decided what type of music to use in the background.

If you are doing a video of yourself – what type of background are you going to have behind you – are you using any props etc. Please make sure that your background isn’t you sitting on a ratty old couch stating how you make all this money – honestly it doesn’t look believable (I have actually seen this!).

7. Decide on the format of the video before you start production – it is important to understand what type of formats you need (.avi, .mov, mpg4 etc. Make sure you look at the rules where you are posting the video and read the guidelines carefully.

8. Compression techniques are key – if you don’t pay attention to this detail you could end up with a grainy – low quality version once you actually post it on YouTube or other video channels.

9. Once the whole thing is put together – edit it one more time. Take a bird’s eye view of the production and see if you need to clip some of the video – take un-needed verbiage out – or add things that may make your video pop.

If you are posting the video for marketing purposes then you want it to be as close to professional as possible.

Post your video – and watch it go viral! If you follow these guidelines you will be able to present this video to your target audience and get rave reviews! Nothing goes viral as fast as a creative fun video…

If you are just posting videos for fun and personal enjoyment then you can relax a little and not worry so much – but no matter your reason have fun.

In this fast paced society – so many people think they can get rich quick or throw something together hastily and get rewards that are lasting. In my experience that doesn’t happen – those that plan, work and push through the snafus that happen in life, are those that reap the rewards of success and longevity.

So enjoy the process and in the end you will enjoy the success…

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design

Providing Creative Solutions and Amazing Results

I often have people asking me can you do a flash site for my business? They love the flow, modern look and elegance that can be obtained.

I will ask them “are you sure?” You will pay much more to develop the website and it may not be profitable.

They don’t always want to listen to that – but I owe them the truth! I could say oh yes (because I would make a lot more money) that is exactly what you need. But that is not what 99% of online businesses need.

As a young designer, I thought the only type of website to have was a flash site – in total! I loved the look and the artistic feel. I loved the animation, and movement of all the elements on a page. Their just wasn’t anything I didn’t like about flash.

Then – I gain real life experience – and business know how, you could say I came down to the real world – and realized it wasn’t just the dazzling effects in a website that caused it to be successful, in fact just as important as having a cutting edge website (or more important) was having a website that a search engine could index (list). A website that could be marketed with keywords and a website where search engine spiders could come through and pick out all the information they needed to get the word out about your website.

This cost-free marketing is invaluable and if you can not really Search Engine Optimize, then how will you get listed? Pay per click – or banner ads – all options but not the best options when it comes to marketing on a small budget.

When you have a totally flash website – you are on your own. Figure it out, how are you going to reach a broad audience? TV ads, bill boards, magazine spreads, and internet marketing – sound expensive because it is. You can have flash element – that is great, but the flash site its self only works if you have a big marketing budget like Coke or Pepsi.

Another disadvantage, surveys show that people don’t always click on paid ads as often as they do the more organic listings.

Most of us are not rolling in dough – most of us are small businesses that need to just get out there and do our own marketing, on a shoe string. We as business owners, realize we do need to invest in our business, we also need the advantage of having a website that can be marketed through all means possible – especially search engines.

Another disadvantage, a flash sites complexity. You are dealing with a programming language call “Action Scripting” what happens if your web developer disappears or decides to charge you – an arm and a leg?

I will tell you – it will not be easy to just pick up the phone and find somebody on the spot, Action Scripting is a highly specialized programming language – and it will cost you a pretty penny if you can find someone who can actually go in and re-code what needs to be done.

I have been doing websites before Macromedia had even put flash on the market. So for me it was such fun eye candy and as an artist I was drawn to the really spectacular images and movement.

But before you get talked into spending that extra money on a “beautiful Splash page”, or full flash site, think about it – realize that in the long run you may run into trouble and if you cannot get your website out in front of a lot of hungry clients – what is the purpose of building one at all??

My opinion is based on over a decade of working in the industry. I would love to hear yours…

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call (801-910-4825), or drop me a note! pamela@artistadesign.com

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

How many of you have dabbled in or thought about creating a video and posting it on YouTube or some of the other video sites?

I have a degree in multimedia – I love putting images, words and sound together to get an emotional effect, it is truly one of my passions. In the last few years I have not worked with video – my business naturally took a turn towards website development. And that is what I have been concentrating on.

Recently I had a request to put together some promotional videos for one of my clients – what fun I had! In doing this project it occurred to me that things had changed a bit in the short time I had been away from producing multimedia projects, so I jumped in and did a little research.

Things have changed and putting together and editing a video has really been simplified – that is the good news. The bad news? There are a lot of really bad promotional videos on the internet!

It reminded me of something I learned early on when I started working in video production – You may be the most creative person in the world and have idea’s coming out of your ears – but everything has a process and creating a promotional video is no different.

There are really no short cuts – no matter what anyone tells you. The process of creating a promotional video or anything else takes time and planning. There are some basic rules that I call “Universal Laws” this can apply to everything that you create. This holds true if you are creating a promotional campaign, video, e-book or website.

If you have ideas that you would like to come to fruition – something that you would like to develop from scratch there are 9 basic principles that must be applied in order to create a successful creative endeavor.

The 9 Basic Principles of Creation

1. Brain storm – yes think about and write down all your ideas. Don’t second guess yourself just write down everything that comes to your mind.

2. What is the purpose of the video – is it to entertain, market your business, to advertise a product – or to position you as a leader in your industry? Write down you intention.

3. Write the script – Storyboard, It doesn’t matter if you are going to be talking about a subject or using images and words to get people to notice you. You need to write out (in long hand) what it is you are going to be seeing or saying on the screen. If you have ever taken a video production class you know that you story board your video – what are the scenes – what is going to be said – what type of music etc.

4. Edit Edit Edit – and Edit some more. You want it to be perfect have another pair of eyes look at your script and storyboard.

5. Practice, yes – you need to practice and the old saying “practice makes perfect” is true – if you are recording your voice or putting yourself on video for this project then you have to practice in front of a mirror – yes really! If you are using someone other then yourself, have them practice in front of you – make sure it is what you are envisioning in your mind.

6. Gather the pieces – what are you using? In my case I wrote the promotional text, gathered pictures that would be used – created a background – and decided what type of music to use in the background.

7. If you are doing a video of yourself – what type of background are you going to have behind you – are you using any props etc. Please make sure that your background isn’t you sitting on a ratty old couch stating how you make all this money – honestly it doesn’t look believable (I have actually seen this!).

8. Decide on the format of the video before you start production – it is important to understand what type of formats you need (.avi, .mov, mpg4 etc. Make sure you look at the rules where you are posting the video and read the guidelines carefully.

9. Compression techniques are key – if you don’t pay attention to this detail you could end up with a grainy – low quality version once you actually post it on YouTube or other video channels.

Once the whole thing is put together – edit it one more time. Take a bird’s eye view of the production and see if you need to clip some of the video – take un-needed verbiage out – or add things that may make your video pop.

If you are posting the video for marketing purposes then you want it to be as close to professional as possible.

Post your video – and watch it go viral! If you follow these guidelines you will be able to present this video to your target audience and get rave reviews! Nothing goes viral as fast as a creative fun video…

If you are just posting videos for fun and personal enjoyment then you can relax a little and not worry so much – but no matter your reason have fun.

In this fast paced society – so many people think they can get rich quick or throw something together hastily and get rewards that are lasting. In my experience that doesn’t happen – those that plan, work and push through the snafus that happen in life, are those that reap the rewards of success and longevity.

So enjoy the process and in the end you will enjoy the success…

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design

Providing Creative Solutions and Valuable Results