Gotta Keep It Green in Marketing & Communication

I FINALLY got around to retaking the photo for my website header last week, and it’s something I should never have had to do in the first place. I broke one of the basic rules of design/marketing/communication: Whenever possible, make content “evergreen”!

Below is the former photo I used for my header. See the error?

I included my business cards in the photo, which I loved at the time and had no plans of changing. The thought had not crossed my mind. But we all know these things change! And sure enough, I recently changed my business cards…

Instagram post: June 27, 2017

…drastically! The entire look and feel changed, and it was bugging me that this photo remained on my home page. I have an instance (i.e., Instagram) where it’s cropped, but because of the aspect ratio, that photo wouldn’t work as a replacement header photo. So in essence, that header photo is now obsolete, as it pertains to my business. I added more work to my plate by having to recreate the photo, because I broke the “evergreen” rule.

My mistake wasn’t necessarily that I chose to include the business cards; you’ll notice that I still included the new cards in the updated header photo. My mistake was that I didn’t take any photos without any cards! That would have left me with some flexibility to use that image in other places if I chose. So this time around, there are two photos: one with cards and one without.

Obviously, not all digital content will be evergreen, but creating content that can be easily adjusted and/or re-purposed makes life so much easier. I dropped the ball on this one, but rest assured that I’m hyper focused on it now!

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