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Digital technology has also made it possible to easily digitize existing photography, slides, print, and archival materials for assimilation into different media formats and digital communications.

Receptive vs. Assertive Outreach

Receptive marketing instruments, such as a Web site, require viewers to seek out the site and browse at their leisure. Assertive instruments, by contrast, such as an e-mail brochure or a CD/DVD presentation, are sent to current and prospective clients for immediate viewing.

As an example of a clever hybrid, postcards created from images on the Web site for the Gund Partnership are packaged in a transparent vellum envelope and used to develop awareness of their special projects, awards, staff appointments, and Web address.

Digital brochures can be used to highlight a new project or marketing campaign. They usually include specific information that works as a "teaser" to pique interest and attract a client to the firm's Web site for additional information.

Cepezed uses both Web site and CD as a portfolio of architecture projects to reach their client base and show their unique array of well designed products. The design of both a Web site and a CD requires a clear graphic organization of projects and text with easy-to-navigate menu and details.

Internet Communications

Web sites provide several advantages over traditional print communications. Digital technology is more economical than print and bulk mail, and it allows for instant dissemination of information and access to a global audience. In addition, Web pages can be readily updated.

Most design firms' Web sites include all or some of the following: home page, firm profile, and sections on solution groups (such as cities and communities, health, learning, office), practices (such as interiors, preservation, lighting design), current and past projects, and media attention.

Digital formats for Internet-based communications are fairly universal, and most can be viewed on any computer operating system. The ease of access to the Web and availability of software for developing digital communications provide firms with a new media channel that can enhance communication, coordination, and collaboration with clients.

For instance, the Web site for the Australian firm architectus clearly describes the firm's international design experience and accomplishments. It contains a full menu, is well written and easy to navigate, and includes tools to communicate with clients on specific projects.

Traditional print marketing campaigns are designed to identify and reach a few potential clients. The Internet works in reverse, connecting clients seeking design services with professionals who can help them. When you establish a Web site for your firm, you must carefully identify keywords that can be used to direct search engines like Yahoo and Google to your site.

These keywords can be based on specific architectural services or special expertise. You can also take advantage of client, consultant, vendor, and organizational affiliations by having their Web sites provide links to your firm's site.

For example, the HarleyEllis Web site includes links to partner companies and information on careers and the industry. Resolution: 4 Architecture provides useful links to online and print journals that have written about them, making it easy for potential clients to read about their commissions and recent work.

Film, Video, and Animation

Electronic media presentations have become independent art forms based on architecture, photography, graphic design, motion graphics, and even cinematography. Because the content is ultimately in digital form, it can be easily updated and refreshed.

Archimation is a German architectural and digital media company that provides visual communications for architects and developers. Their Web site showcases various design, illustration, and animation visualization projects.

Electronic brochures and other forms of advertisement can be customized to target a client's unique concerns. This makes the material seem particularly personalized and relevant and greatly enhances the potential for making connections and building relationships. Video can be used, for example, to show a president speaking about the firm's history and credentials or a project team leader demonstrating expertise or providing commentary concerning a project's critical issues.

Time-based media such as video, virtual reality, and animation afford designers the opportunity to communicate the experience of moving through an architectural space in a way that still photographs and drawings cannot. Such communications have opened a window to marketing the spatial experience of architectural form and materials as never before. Marketing professionals can now create presentations that take prospective clients into and through architectural interior, urban, and landscape spaces.

Digital Media Package

Multimedia productions typically combine various formats and are becoming the marketing and design media tool for the 21st century. CDs and DVDs are inexpensive, and a single disc can house large volumes of data. The Ellerbe Becket CD is one component of their office identity program, which includes brochures, postcards, flyers, and a Web site that collectively advertise their main brand concept, "Mission Critical Marketing."

The relatively small size of a CD is convenient for mailing to clients. Making copies of a CD is inexpensive. The minidisk is the same size as — and resembles — a business card but contains much more information. It can be played in a regular CD drive and can contain a presentation for prospective clients to review at their convenience.

The most progressive marketing strategies incorporate electronic communications intended to capture the client's imagination by means of Web sites, e-mail, video, animation, virtual reality, and multimedia. All of the new digital media applications can demonstrate the experience of architecture and design through a comprehensive sensory presentation of visuals, sound, and movement.

A digital media package is a powerful tool that can communicate design vision and complex problem solving clearly and in a graphic format that is easily understood by the client. Skillful and clever use of such a package can strengthen a firm's brand and image by demonstrating its technological sophistication and quality.

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Harold Linton chairs the Department of Art and Visual Technology in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Laura Clary and Steven Rost are on the faculty at Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan.

This article is excerpted from Marketing for Architects and Designers, copyright © 2005, available from W. W. Norton & Company and at Amazon.com.

SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Ellerbe Becket's CD is one component of their office identity program, which includes brochures, postcards, flyers, and a Web site. Photo: Ellerbe Becket/ Padilla Speer Beardsley The Eames Office Web site has global reach. Image: The Eames Office Sheppard Robson produced a multifaceted bifold office brochure, with CD, office tear sheets, flyers, and special project brochures. Photo: S.R./Attik Marketing postcards created from images on the Web site of the Gund Partnership. Image: Carlos Ridruejo Evata includes a minidisk with office flyers offering an overview of the firm's activities. Photo: Josee Courtemanche The HarleyEllis Web site includes links to partner companies and information on careers and the industry. Image: HarleyEllis Marketing for Architects and Designers. Image: W.W. Norton & Company   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.