art work

[greenoak]

dang ...im working on new artwork for my website and showed about 6 people at the store and all but one hated it..... one even said it looked takky....they said the store was a lot more sophisticated than the design i made.....these critics were good customers and with great taste......apparantly not on the same page as me....
now i dont know what to do.... a compromise i guess...i love bright colors and the bushman font!!!! the one who liked it was my star salesperson...she said it really looked like the store.... outside the box etc etc....and happy colors...different...

[Spider]

Humans are creatures of habit and don't really like change. Some can do well with it but, as a species, change is a sign of danger. (You come home late at night and feel a sense of comfort when you approach your house - it's the same. Another time there might be a slight change, so small that you cannot see it but you feel a sense of wariness, apprehension.)

So, those who didn't like your new design might be feeling this distrust of change. Maybe they'll come round to liking it.

[Business Attorney]

Or maybe it is you and your salesmen who don't like change and the design is too "comfortable" for the two of you and doesn't reflect the fact that your store, and web design, have come along way since you started.

Getting input is valuable. The companies that are best at marketing do it all the time. While you shouldn't necessarily abandon the artwork because of a small sample of 6 people at the store, that should be a sign that perhaps you ought to seek more opinions, including those of people who count the most - customers and potential customers.

[Harold Mansfield]

I'd take the opinion of customers to mean a great deal, but you also have to take them with a grain of salt. Most customers have no web knowledge.
If it's something that is going to be a turn off, then I would strongly reconsider.
The opinion of my friends who know nothing about the internet other than what they see on T.V holds no weight with me because they compare everything to You Tube and Facebook, and think that Google was started by 2 guys in a garage on 2 old computers and $1200.

When my customers voice an opinion, I listen.

I don't think of my website as a personal template of what I like as much as I do what people will respond to and appreciate. My website is not for me. I don't use it. They do.

[greenoak]

thanks a lot..... its coming along on a more middle ground..i guess the plan is to be outside the box but maybe not as far as i really want to be...
..its really giving me an appreciation of the web workers/ artists who put together the look of a page....
the trouble is my field of customers is pretty broad...from real antiquers to wild arty types to the women who have the leisure to do lunch to young women making thier homes......the 4 or 5 who i asked were in the ladies who lunch group..and thats a heck of a group!!! .. so as usual its real confusing...

[Harold Mansfield]

Ann, it's not as confusing as it seems. The basic principles of design and marketing hold true no matter how diverse or different your demographic is.
Everyone has a diverse demographic. Everyones customer group is different from someone elses, but the basics remain the same across all niche's and demographics.

If you study ads for soft drinks, luxury cars, or greeting cards..they all follow a basic structure. The only thing that is different are the words and pictures.
How the message is presented is pretty much the same.

[greenoak]

right.and i have the framework down.... ..im more talking about the look of it...the colors of the whole thing and the style of the heading....im in art and design....so its important...imho, the first view of thepage has its own message....to convey that we might have a giant 6 ft chicken out of recycled metal aND A very classical well made stylish harvest table in the same store is a broad message........

[Patrysha]

to convey that we might have a giant 6 ft chicken out of recycled metal aND A very classical well made stylish harvest table in the same store is a broad message........

No it's not really, because the message is not the product it's that "we have everything you need to turn your house into a home, no matter how unique you are and how wild or refined your taste"

[greenoak]

we all see it different....but to me its all about the product....because we have something hard to find....hardly anyone has that chicken and the great amish made table for 500$ ...we really are outside the box in our product offerings , thats our draw, and thats what i am wanting to show....also imho, nobody is going to drive 4 hrs for a nice general phrase....
we made good progress today...a younger customer from the high ends of chicago voted today and liked the wilder brighter heading....so that pushed us back towards that style........so now its back to where i like the best. it might as well please me and be in tune with my GUT....since thats how we usualy run everything anyway, in product and presentation anyway....its so dang subjective!!! my best salesman said that one we picked rteally looks like us....

[Patrysha]

I think we are misunderstanding each other, because that is not a phrase that I would suggest as one to use to market...just a general one that I threw out as a way to describe your messaging.

[Harold Mansfield]

Why don't you post it for review? It's strange to speak of something that we have no idea what you are talking about.

[greenoak]

i was trying to talk about how you make decisions and how you value your own view in a situation....
so no thanks on the review!!!! please dont go there...also none of it is available to me online...i couldnt get to it if i tried....what i showed the first group was just a flyer from someone else......in very muted colors...and what we gave up on yesterday isnt there now... ..
. i know/am making a wild guess....i dont think you will like it at all.....or not understand it at all..we are in a lot different field than you are....like i dont understand your tumbeling blocks....but i was amazed and in slight awe when i saw them.... but i wouldnt critique how it was working for you...i wouldnt have a clue............we obviously interact with customers a lot differently, with different visual codes..........and i need to stick to my way because its working and has worked for a long time.... ..
i have tough skin but i wouldnt subject myself to trying to defend my choices about retail style on line with people not in my retail field...anyway we are obviously not pros at web design...... it would be like me trying to critique your ideas about what colors and songs to use in trying to appeal to the club dance scene.....or telling dh what new computer or toner to buy.... or advising a lawyer what suit to wear in front of judge judy...that wasnt my idea....
our business is pretty secure and very very active and we have a real history of things that work....its always serious to me and i have done a lot as far as marketing and selling...so i hope i dont sound like an egomaniac..........
... i would ask for a review on a forum of stores or people in my field but not here.... also i cant ask about the stuff you really know about because i dont do that part... i get so much from this community!!! and try to give back ...
my point in the thread is how to weigh your customers opinion....and how you would look at your own opinion in that situation....i like to hear your general opinions...where we really have things in common.... like how to please customers.or how you make decisions......which is what we are all about...not the nitty gritty of what would best appeal to MY customers...
patrysha,,you are right ....,that is the message im working on.....thats what my group of pictures is trying to show....