Greg
Greg’s aptitude and talent for graphic design was evident at an early age, but it seems evident that it all came to a focus in his senior year at Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Ky. After receiving considerable recognition for his undergraduate work, Greg was offered and accepted the college’s position of publications director in 1997. In that position, he soon developed the business, organizational and promotional skills that most “creative-types” abhor – but must acquire to move to the next level.
In 1999, Greg accepted an opportunity to move to the more technical side of the graphic and creative arts. As a prepress analyst and graphics support specialist for American Greetings Corp., he brought the unique perspective of a trained graphic designer and artist to the position, which provided for a heightened perspective for the work he contributed to at AG.
Since American Greetings, Greg has had the opportunity to train in a wide range of graphic production environments – from screen printing technologies to high-end color pre-press and printing. Subsequent graphics experience lead to additional acquired skill sets in advanced desktop publishing, Web design and digital photography.
As Greg’s career progressed in the years to follow, he became more immersed in the study and practice of creative marketing and advertising. Subsequent positions as a graphics specialist and creative editor allowed him to consolidate his skills at creative, design and production with the purposeful development of effective marketing tools for his customers.
Upon joining GrassRoots Marketing in early 2008, Greg made an immediate contribution to the team and clientele with his creative thinking, excellent graphic design skills and considerable knowledge of technical resources and imaging/reproductive techniques. Bringing ideas, images, and concepts to life for GrassRoots clients is his passion.
Written by Greg Kitzmiller
GK? Hey GK!
So they tell me, "Greg, you gotta blog because its what all the cool kids are doing!". I know that everyone is thinking that just because we are a web development and marketing company that we should have this built in as second nature. Well there are a few on our team that were born for the social media lifestyle, and others like myself who get caught up in their own little world and forget to keep everyone informed around them as to what is going on. Now what? The digital white space can be so intimidating, I cant pretend for it to be an easy process once a week to do this. However, I will assign it as a challenge and carry forward!
As a topic for my first blog, i thought about hitting on a couple observations of late in the design world. I have begun to notice a trend toward simplicity and a more small business look and feel in advertising and design. Just watching commercials on television, or ads in your local paper for national companies or corporations can show thats is an almost universal trend. What has surprised me the most is the unapologetic way they present themselves. Our economy has begun to change the face of advertising to allow people to accept that ads don't have to be slick and as whitty, and that its more appropriate to appear to be money-crunched that even your ads are financially starved and strained. I hesitate to say whether thats good or bad marketing, however I believe its important to know where the current trends are. The "Matrix" or "Titanic" movie style productions are not as glamorous as they once were, so whats our opportunity Mr. Small Business owner? I believe its your turn, to find your marketing foot print in the world of advertising, because big business is wanting to look like small business and it enables us compete with them once again! I believe the general public has now been trained to accept simple statements and basic imagery to "fill in the blanks" of what used to take major budgets and production costs to produce.
I will end with this statement: If you focus more on who you are as a business, rather than the illusion of what major business you can be portrayed as, then your marketing plan will be more effective and readily accepted. And guess what? You didnt have to break up your budget....phew!!!