Boxy is sexy

[JayTurner19]

Hey ev'body, I do most of my work for a mortgage company, and having a little trouble breaking out of the clean & corporate box look. Any tips out there for different ideas?

[colonel5]

being tastefully artistic, I work for a company that sells and fixes printers/copiers/toner etc, also very corporate and clean look. But i've found that I can push the limit sometimes and the higher ups like it.

The idea is to take what seems to be a cold industry (i.e mortgages) and give it a warm feel, when I present different concepts I usually have one that my boss likes to call my "spicy" option. The approach is to pitch it as something to make the company "unique" sometimes they go for it, usually they don't, but its worth a shot ;o)

[JayTurner19]

I like your thinking. Im tryin to squeeze in an idea here and there to change it up a bit. For my next trick i will shamelessly advertise myself in a tri-fold mailer.

[FreedomDesign]

Just remember, sometimes it takes more skill to work 'inside the box' and make it a great creative. Although I know what you mean about conservative work, it gets taxing.

[greyghost]

I feel for ya. Most of my work comes from Florida... GOBS of mortgage ads and business cards and postcards for direct mailing. I am out of house photos - been using the same ones in every new way I can possibly imagine for about a year now. I get new houses, I run through them all before I know it. Sigh.

I like the "warm it up" idea. Will have to try that for the next one. :)

[Satchel]

I also feel for ya... I work with a very strict brand, cant change things at all - unless we go through a painful process and usually it gets turned down anyways. We did not create the brand and have to "ask" our agency of contract if we can change anything... not too cool, but it's my job!

And I also feel for grey - we have limited photos of certain things... so we use them over and over and over again, in every way you could imagin - it gets pretty boring!
S.

[PersonasBinar]

Has your boss ever shown up on Monday with 750,000 clip art images he bought at a liquidation somewhere for 10? As usual he's pretty pleased with himself.

[cjoe]

Has your boss ever shown up on Monday with 750,000 clip art images he bought at a liquidation somewhere for 10? As usual he's pretty pleased with himself.

lmao!

[jlknauff]

...having a little trouble breaking out of the clean & corporate box look. Any tips out there for different ideas?

Try drugs.

Not really, look in mags for other industries and try to find ideas that will work in your industry. Shock people. Look for humor or something over the top.

[SurfPark]

How about approaching Mortage design in a way you approach music or travel design? Take the ideas of one industry and apply them into your industry. It will be different visually and probably function differently too.

[LeftBrain Artist]

Pander to peoples fears. Play up features like "terrorist proofed" or "lava resistant foundations". Barren lots may be unnattractive, yet provide a "clear view of the surroundings and offer few hiding spots for foreign invaders". You might think crummy foundations in the basement make for a hard sell, not so if they're advertised as "escape tunnel ready, make your own exit into the earth's core while the world above explodes into chaos".
Show pictures of citizens running amok around the featured properties, with the houses themselves islands of tranquility in a world gone mad.

Hell, the government's done most of the work already - softening up the public to make such advertising successful. All you have to do is have the balls to pave a bold new path in real estate marketing, and you'll be rollin' in the dough in no time.

I should mention that I've done very little work for the real estate industry, so you can be assured that my fresh perspective is well outside of the box, so much so its gone back into an entirely different box far removed from the first one, and is therefore a foolproof design strategy. If you can't make it work, its due to your poor skills as a designer and you should be ashamed of yourself.

What everyone else said should work too.