Intimated By The Blank Page?

Back in the late 80's I was a college graduate with an art degree and a teaching certificate. My career as an art teacher started at the high school level. Since I always approached a blank page as an opportunity, it was fascinating to me to watch some students stare at a page. For some, the blank page represented too much choice and they would sit frozen, afraid they'd "mess up" before even starting to draw. 

I'd often break up the fear of failure by asking if they'd like me to get started drawing on their page; "sure" they were always happy to relinquish their pencil. Their excitement quickly turned to a quizzical look when I'd lightly draw an X on the middle of the page, hand them back their pencil and say, "there, you don't have to worry you will mess up the paper, I just did it for you! Erase the X and get busy drawing." While that might seem harsh to some, it was meant to remind students that drawing with a pencil is not permanent, have some imagination and explore your options. 

One of the coolest aspects of our industry is how decoration can change the appearance of an item. In an earlier post this week, I shared an image of full color mountain scene on a tumbler and as well as the same tumbler with a one color logo; completely different results. Popular low cost items that sit on our desk like a coaster or travel with us in purses, pocket and backpacks like a microfiber cleaning cloth are a blank page. What can you do with the surface?

• Outline all your convention stops
• Share dates you will be doing seminars in the area
• Provide wellness tips
• Highlight challenges your business service solves
• Send an image of your customer service team and provide their contact information
• Include a QR code with a question to get recipients to watch a video about your business
• Provide a map to your new business address
• Share images of your community engagement
• Remind employees about your company's core values 

 Here's a cloth we did for the town of Apex a while back; highlighting all of the trucks that perform valuable services for residents and businesses in the area. These were distributed at PeakFest

Sharing your story and connecting consumers to that story does not have to be expensive or difficult; it merely requires an ability to see the potential on a white surface as opportunity!