Resource Roundup: The Best Business and Design Tips and Freebies
This summer approaches Amp’d Designs 5-year anniversary as an “official” business (and 6 years of self-employment)! 🤯 I can’t believe it’s right around the corner.
Over the past 5 years I’ve curated quite a large library of blog posts, resources, and tips for business owners and fellow designers.
This month, I’m collecting the best into one place. These are the most useful, informative, and opinionated pieces I’ve created to help businesses and designers alike grow sustainably and professionally.
For Business Owners
Freebies:
An assessment of your current logo and brand identity, website, and business operations. This guide will help you determine what’s working well and which areas need work.
Free Cold Emailing Template and Guide
My friend Emma and I collaborated to bring you this guide for writing cold emails that actually get responded to.
Free Website Home Page Checklist
Core elements needed for a high-performing Home page that converts.
On Branding:
What is Branding? And why a logo design is more than just a logo
The word “branding” gets thrown around a lot by different types of service providers, and truthfully can apply to a bunch of different things. It’s confusing! This covers what “branding” actually means, and how it comes into play in design.
“Why is My Logo Blurry?” Understanding your branding files
.jpg? .eps? .svg? Vector? DPI? What does it all mean?! If you’ve ever been left scratching your head about what file to use when, I’ve outlined it all for you here.
What Are All These Different Logo File Formats for, and Why Do I Need Them?
An even more in-depth breakdown of file types and colors (Pantone? CMYK? RGB?) and why all these things even matter in the first place.
Everyone has different opinions of what “good design” looks like, but there are qualities that every strong logo should have in order to effectively support your business.
Already have a logo, but not feeling it 100%? Here’s how to know if it’s time to rework things.
On Web Design:
How Can I Get My Website to Show Up on Google?
What actually is SEO? Hint: it’s more than keywords and a fast loading speed. This article breaks down what it really takes to show up in search results — and it was fact checked by my friend and SEO expert Sarah Moon.
Anatomy of a Website Home Page that Converts Visitors to Customers
Since most customers are going to land on your website’s Home page first, it makes an incredibly powerful first impression. Paired with my free Home Page Checklist, here’s how to ensure it makes the right impression.
On Packaging Design:
My Packaging Design Background
A walk down memory lane with some of my favorite packaging projects from pre- Amp’d Designs.
On Business:
The Difference Between Graphic Design and Marketing
Not every designer does marketing, and not every marketer does design. Here’s a breakdown of what each entails so you can hire the right pro for the job.
How to Write a Cold Email That Works
Along with our free Cold Emailing Template, I interviewed Emma of Salt’d Studio about how to get leads by reaching out cold, while still being authentic and approachable.
How to Stay Productive Working from Home
If you’re still adjusting to remote work life, I’ve got you covered! I’ve been working from my home office for almost 6 years now. Here are my best tips for running a home business.
Not ready to hire a designer yet? Here’s stuff you can do yourself:
Design You Can Do Yourself: Steps to Keep Your Visual Brand Consistent
How to keep your design looking fresh and impactful even without a professional brand design.
How NOT to Design Your Logo: Common Mistakes in Branding
Common pitfalls to avoid to make sure your logo works well for your business.
Why Logo Design Contests Don't Work
There are lots of low-cost options for logo design and branding, but running a contest is one to avoid. Here’s why this does more harm than good.
If you’re tired of throwing things together yourself:
How to Know if You’re Ready to Hire a Designer
For when you’re feeling overwhelmed doing it all yourself, and think it might finally time to bring in an expert so you can get back to doing other more important tasks.
How to Find the Right Graphic Designer
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to graphic designers. So where do you even start?! Here are the most important questions to ask yourself and potential designers.
Most thought-provoking Instagram posts:
For Designers
Freebies:
Free Project Kick-Off Questionnaire
This guide includes every single question to ask when beginning a new branding project, so you can get the most important details you need to create a design that nails it for your clients.
Free Cold Emailing Template and Guide
My friend Emma and I collaborated to bring you this guide for writing cold emails that actually get responded to.
For Designers page: my trusted tools
Did you know I’ve shared all the tools I use to run my business? That’s right, you have permission to steal them!
My friend Johanna and I totally flipped the script on all those creative coaches that say you can sell $10k packages in no time. Watch the replay of our more realistic advice here.
Blog posts:
In November of 2022, Pantone and Adobe broke up, and PMS colors became unavailable in Illustrator. Many designers decided to boycott Pantone colors and omit them altogether from branding projects. The hard truth: that’s bad service for your clients. Here’s why.
Essential Tools to Start a Freelance Graphic Design Business, and what you don’t need
The must-haves for launching your design business — and I’m letting you in on a secret: there are a few things you can skip and come back to later.
How to Write a Cold Email That Works
If you’ve been trying to generate leads by sending cold messages to clients you’re interested in, but it’s gotten you nowhere, let us help! This is an interview with Emma of Salt’d Studio about how to reach out authentically. It goes along with our free Cold Emailing Template.
Most thought-provoking Instagram posts:
About Amp’d Designs
The story of why I became a designer in the first place, and how it led to starting a business. (This was my very first blog post!)
What Kindness Means to My Business
I truly believe in building relationships and collaborating with kindness. Here’s how this comes into play when we work together.
1 Year in Business: 5 Take-Aways
Another oldie, but a goodie because this article highlights key lessons learned for new business owners.
This post shares some fun facts about me as a designer and human otherwise, as well as some of the core values that drive Amp’d Designs forward.
Back when I launched Amp’d Designs, I took a business class at Mountain BizWorks. In it I wrote my mission statement — which I still stand by today — and one of its key pillars is to “empower business owners with branding knowledge.”
Education has always been incredibly important to me, personally as a designer, and professionally as a business owner aiming to remove the mystery around design services. I love helping businesses better understand design and enjoy the process, and I love helping other designers build sustainable and fulfilling design practices, too.
It’s been a lot of fun creating these resources and building my blog and social media, and I look forward to continuing it over the next 5+ years! If there’s a topic you’d like to see talked about, send me a message! I’d love to address it in a future resource.
OTHER RECENT POSTS:
Common tricky design client situations, how to steer them back on track, and how to prevent them altogether.