Reflections of Elora

Did you survive St. Patrick's Day? Here's a photo from the vault: in the reflection of this sign is downtown Elora. This is the Guinness sign which hung on The Dalby House, Elora. I have this photo hanging in my office. I took it on a warm March day, while taking a stroll downtown.

Red Barn, Salem, Bruce County

Here's my submission to a local photography group. This week's topic is 'framing'. A red barn being framed by the one-room school that my dad attended, partnered with the United Church. Salem, Bruce County.

Happy Family Day!

Thinking of family, here's a shot I took during the South Bruce Tractor Tour which South Bruce Tourism organizes every Father's Day. Even though we're a John Deere family, my Dad has a love for Allis-Chalmers and is rebuilding one. During the tour, we met a person with a large collection of Allis-Chalmers' which he had lovingly restored. Maybe someday, my Dad's Allis will be rebuilt and ready for display too!

Calculating the price before HST is added

I've always sold my photo calendars with "taxes in" to make it easy for my customers. However, when doing the invoices/receipts, I need to calculate the price before HST (Ontario/Canada tax), so that when the HST is added, the final price is what the customer paid.

I found this website that makes it easy and I thought I'd share.

http://hstcalculator.ca/ontario

Learning and networking

I joined my local chamber of commerce with the goal of gaining access to local networking and educational opportunities. Today's business breakfast shared information about accounting. Many designers I know, have challenges with managing their bookkeeping when they'd rather be designing and working with clients. That's all good stuff but in the end, the books must be done!

Do you belong to your local chamber? What's the main benefit that you've had from participating?

What kind of feeling should a new logo design have? List to give a client.

I'm sure all designers and account reps have a list of questions they ask a client who needs a new logo/website/marketing design. In addition to the questions I ask, I find it's helpful to ask a client to pick words that describe their company from this list.

What kind of feeling should the logo design have? I ask a client to pick three words that would describe their business... or if there are other words not on this list, they can suggest others. 

What words would you add to the list?

• Bold
• Bright
• Busy
• Cheerful
• Childish
• Classy
• Close Fitting
• Complex
• Complicated
• Contemporary
• Cool
• Detailed
• Dirty
• Dramatic
• Edgy
• Elaborate
• Elegant
• Executive
• Extreme
• Family Friendly
• Fresh
• Fun
• Functional
• Funky
• Graceful
• Grungy
• Italicized
• Jumbled
• Luxurious
• Melting
• Messy
• Modern
• Muted
• Neutral
• Nostalgic
• Old-fashioned
• Orderly
• Practical
• Romantic
• Scratched
• Simple
• Smart
• Sophisticated
• Space Aged
• Spaced Out
• Subdued
• Tall And Slender
• Technical
• Thin
• Timeless
• Unorganized
• Upscale
• Urban
• Vibrant
• Warm
• Warn/Weathered

Peony in June