World Graphics Day has been celebrated on April 27 since 1995. It is a day designated by the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) to recognize the role of communication design and the profession of graphic designers around the world. April 27 marks the birth date of Icograda in 1963.

Design affects our everyday life. We see it everywhere – billboards, clothing, street signs, advertisements, flyers, websites. But design affects everyone differently, and it also means something different to each of us. So in honor of World Graphics Day, Paladin wants to know “What does design mean to you?” As a professional staffing firm dedicated to the creative profession, we want to know what YOU think.

Submit your answer along with three of your top designs that best represent you, your passions, and your abilities. The top five entries will be featured on our website on April 13 where they will be open to voting. The entry with the most votes will win an iPad! The winner will be announced on April 27.

Deadline for entries is April 8, 3:00pm ET.
Enter today!
http://www.paladinstaff.com/graphics-day-contest/

Want to know what’s top of mind with today’s top marketers? At Paladin, we keep a pulse on what’s trending in marketing and advertising by listening to the leaders through local events, online webinars, top industry pubs, Twitter, blogs and other social channels.

Recently, a fellow board member of a local marketing group sent a quick email request asking “What new or ‘go-to’ marketing book is on your desk?” I thought I would share some of the responses from this influential group of senior marketers, along with a few of my personal favorites, too.

• “Marketing Metaphoria: What Deep Metaphors Reveal About the Minds of Consumers” by Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay H. Zaltman (more…)

This week, Paladin participated in the Heartland Mobile Council’s MobileU101 conference. As companies awake to “the year of mobile,” this event discussed strategic approaches to mobile marketing.  But is this really the time of mobile?

Motorola’s Dana Warszona, a panelist, said the mobile tipping point for Japan came about 4 years earlier compared to the US. She and her fellow panelists Andrew Koven, President, E-Commerce & Customer Experience, Steve Madden Shoes and Julie Krueger, Senior Vice President, eCommerce and Direct, OfficeMax felt that the US is just now at that point. They stressed that for retail companies, in particular, this is the time to pull the infrastructure together and to get smart on mobile and to do it quickly. Two-thirds of retailers are already doing mobile or in the midst of implementing it.

They advise moving away from simply the siloed campaign and to develop mobile as a part ongoing strategy and business operation. For consumers mCommerece is coming and it will mean that cash registers and credit cards will become obsolete. Krueger said that mobile will do away with kiosks and that the in-store experience will change radically. Warszona pointed to Best Buy as example of a company that was truly tying mobile into their business operations.

Koven said, “Mobile is the second coming and we’re [Steve Madden Shoes are] going to lead. We’re not going to wait and see.” 

How are these initiative being done? Krueger said that companies are not yet investing in additional human resources needed for mobile. Her current teams are adding it to their work load. But as the tide turns and mobile heats up, we will see companies ramp up the internal resources needed to manage this growth.

Staff, roles and ownership for mobile were reoccurring discussions during the conference. Which departments should own the mobile marketing strategy or execution? Will marketing generalist take mobile marketing on as an additional tool in their tool belt or is mobile best developed and managed by specialists? As Mobile Marketing emerges, we look forward to following this debate and the trends.  We would like your input on the topic. To weigh in, please take our poll - http://tinyurl.com/2bfolsr . We will be happy to share the results with you.

Here are a few recent articles and links related to mobile marketing:

 Mobile Marketers: Just Do Something

Chicago mobile event highlights opportunities of mobile marketing

Heartland Mobile Council

What Apple’s Acquisition of Siri Means for the Future of Mobile Search

Twitter Stream from the event

Over the last few months, several of our corporate clients have discussed significant changes in how they execute their marketing and communications efforts. Several are planning to drastically shift how they use their agency partners and will bring key projects in-house. Others are looking to outsource marketing and creative functions to concentrate on their core business. These clients differ across industries and size including global b-to-b manufactures, financial services firms, non-profit organizations and professional services firms. Because of the number of clients grappling with the same issues, we want to dive in further to find out if these are unique occurrences or growing trends.

We are turning to the marketing and communications community to hear from you. How are you executing marketing and communications efforts?  Take our poll and check back for results: TAKE POLL NOW

In the mean time, here are a few articles I have come across recently on related topics that may also be of value in this discussion. Feel free to share your comments, insights and opinions on the topic here and on our poll.

Tough economy forces marketers to reorganize http://tinyurl.com/yfjghjd

Small ad agencies go over big http://tinyurl.com/yg98soe

Down economy drives small businesses and EAG http://tinyurl.com/yghcv6h

Marketing Business Services in Down Economy http://tinyurl.com/yl8etfc

Avoid the temptation to cut marketing budgets http://tinyurl.com/yf9ahe2  

In-house SEO vs. SEO Provider http://tinyurl.com/yf87yr9