This last week I spent a good portion of my free time deliberating over new designs for my business cards and flyers.
The biggest complaint my customers have had is finding the cafe! Visibility is pretty limited so I chose to include a map on both the business cards and the flyers. I originally had a Google map pasted in there but it wouldn’t scaled properly so I ended up tracing it with the pen tool in Illustrator. The Starbuck’s and Wee Book Inn logos are popular landmarks here on Whyte Ave. A friend suggested I should have added the Princess Theatre as well but unfortunately they aren’t organized enough to even have a website, nevermind a logo.
The green is a major change! The cards used to have a bright red text on them (against the better wishes of my designer friends). Months ago I painted one wall of the cafe green and I want to continue to white/wood/green colour scheme.
Another major change in both flyers and cards is the amount of information. I had previously thought a minimalist look was pretty snazzy, and while it might look neat it’s essentially useless to anyone who picks up the card. So I included a long list of service we have and I highlighted the two I felt people use the most: “download anything”, and “type your resume”.
Download anything
I pride myself on having the best and most unrestricted computers on Whyte Ave. Other cafes or libraries really crack down how well you can use the computer and what you can do. I let my customers install whatever they want and look at whatever they want. This means someone can download all the file sharing software or porn (yes porn) they wish.
On the topic of porn: a great deal of my regular customers like to use dating and otherwise “private” websites. I have a very strict “I don’t care” rule as long as nobody else is being bothered, including staff, and most people are pretty modest anyway. The set up in the cafe is great for this. The computers aren’t super secluded so it’s not just a bunch of creepy people sitting in the back of the room. Instead each monitor is separated by the box and a good deal of desk space. This provides some good respect for the individual while leaving the cafe friendly and open.
Type your resume
Most of my customers don’t own computers, hence their visiting an internet cafe. There are a fair number of younger patrons who stop by the type up or print off a resume. With the number of (assumed) low-income young people living around Whyte Avenue and in the university area I want to encourage the continued use of the cafe as a cheap place to come in and type up your resume.
Along the resume tangent I have been considering offering a resume “doctoring” service where a customer drops off a rough version of their resume and I can take a look at it and spruce things up for them. Any pricing suggestions are welcome.
All that is left with the re-branding is to change the website and ordering a new sandwich board.
I’m slowly moving toward a completely decentralized way of working. I wrote earlier about migrating all my email to GMail and having access anywhere. I also use Google Docs for school projects and I’ve recently been trying out Microsoft Office Live. It’s a really decent product I hope to make more use of in the future.
Several months ago the U of A