Friday, December 10, 2010

Jam Label Design

Jam Labels
Client: Inn at Cedar Crossing, Sturgeon Bay, WI

Reordering labels meant it was time to update the look to that of their website and other marketing efforts. The Inn at Cedar Crossing's Cherry Preserves jam labels needed to showcase their homemade from scratch cooking, the local color of Door County's abundant and tasty cherry crop, and also give the charm of their spectacular B&B.

Retail Business Cards

Retail Business Cards
Client: blue ivy contemporary, Sturgeon Bay & Fish Creek, WI

Looking to get their new logo into their marketing efforts blue ivy wanted their business cards redesigned; the front being vertical and the back horizontal — very contemporary.

Website Updates

Fleetwood Custom Homes Website
Client: Fleetwood Custom Homes, Door County, WI

http://fleetwoodcustomhomes.com/

Websites don't always need designing. Some just need some reworking to make them rise in the search engine rankings and to update a look. Fleetwood Custom Homes' website needed just that. A few pages had never been built out, and Search Engine optimization had never been tested or implemented. We helped them update their site and continue to monitor their rise in the Search Engines.

Business Christmas Holiday Postcard

2010 Holiday Card
Client: Dovetail Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI

Wanting to send something out to their beloved clients that thanked them for their loyalty and give them a piece of Egg Harbor. Owner, Kathy Beck took a photograph of a sunset from the deck of the gallery which became the front of the postcard, while mention of gift ideas and a special offer were mentioned on the back. And the typography gave the thank you message an elegant feel.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Classic & Dynamic Design Solution

Mayline Casegoods Sell Sheets
Client: Mayline Group, Appleton, WI

Working with printing representatives for the Mayline Group, we created the layout for a multiple sell sheets that the client and their dealers will be able to update dynamically through a website content management system and then print on demand.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Logo :: Jack Island Charters LLC

Jack Island Charters LLC Logo
Client: Paul Woerfel, Fish Creek, WI

Jack Island Charters offers both charter fishing and duck hunts in the northern Door County, Wisconsin. They came to us needing a logo, business card, rack card, and website.

We created a logo that has a contemporary feel while capturing the action of fishing and a duck hunt and works well in both color and black-and-white. It is to be used on identity packages, truck and boat decals, rack cards, website, clothing, and more.

Business Card :: Jack Island Charters LLC

Jack Island Charters LLC Business Card
Client: Paul Woerfel, Fish Creek, WI

After the logo was complete, we worked on creating a brand system that would be used across the board in marketing materials and created this unique business card that not only showcases the contact details of the captain, but also tells the story of the business visually.

Brochure :: Jack Island Charters LLC

Jack Island Charters LLC Brochure
Client: Paul Woerfel, Fish Creek, WI

Working within the brand created earlier, we created a rack card showcasing the two main services of Jack Island Charters LLC, Charter Fishing and Duck Hunts on a private island. These will be distributed at area hotels, restaurants, and visitor's bureaus.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Website :: Jack Island Charters

Jack Island Charters LLC Website
Client: Paul Woerfel, Fish Creek, WI

http://www.jackislandcharters.com

A simple website design was what was required for Jack Island Charters LLC. They were looking to showcase a few images, have a gallery, put up pricing, and get some new business with their website.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Website :: Lakeview Suites

Lakeview Suites Website
Client: Ridges Resort, Baileys Harbor, WI

http://www.doorcountylakeviewsuites.com

One of the guest houses available at The Ridges Resort is truly spectacular and deserved it's own website promoting it's relaxing and comfortable atmosphere.

We designed a simple but powerful site, sourced stunning photography, and wrote and edited existing copy. And we also designed the logo.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Inspiration: Marian Bantjes



TED.com Talk
Marian Bantjes: Intricate beauty by design
Filmed Feb. 2010

I'm going to begin by reciting a poem. "Oh beloved dentist: Your rubber fingers in my mouth ... your voice so soft and muffled ... Lower the mask dear dentist, lower the mask."

(Laughter)

Okay, in this presentation, I'm going to be putting the right side of your brains through a fairly serious workout. You're going to see a lot of imagery, and it's not always connected to what I'm talking about. So I need you to kind of split your brains in half, let the images flow over one side and listen to me on the other. So I am one of those people with a transformative personal story. Six years ago, after 20 years in graphic design and typography, I changed the way I was working and the way most graphic designers work to pursue a more personal approach to my work, with only the humble attempt to simply make a living doing something that I loved. But something weird happened. I became bizarrely popular. My current work seems to resonate with people in a way that has so taken me by surprise that I still frequently wonder what in the hell is going on. And slowly coming to understand that the appeal of what I do may be connected to why I do it.

These days, I call myself a graphic artist. So where my work as a graphic designer was to follow strategy, my work now follows my heart and my interests with the guidance of my ego to create work that is mutually beneficial to myself and a client. Now, this is heresy in the design world. The ego is not supposed to be involved in graphic design. But I find that for myself, without exception, the more I deal with the work as something of my own, as something that is personal, the more successful it is as something that's compelling, interesting and sustaining. So I exist somewhat outside of the mainstream of design thinking. Where others might look at measurable results, I tend to be interested in more ethereal qualities like does it bring joy? is there a sense of wonder? and does it invoke curiosity?

This is a scientific diagram, by the way. I don't have time to explain it, but it has to do with DNA and RNA. So I have a particular imaginative approach to visual work. The things that interest me when I'm working are visual structure, surprise and anything that requires figuring things out. So for this reason, I'm particularly drawn to systems and patterns. I'm going to give you a couple of examples of how my brain works.

This is a piece that I did for The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. They have a magazine that they call G2. And this is for their puzzle special in 2007. And puzzling it is. I started by creating a series of tiling units. And these tiling units, I designed specifically so that they would contain parts of letter forms within their shapes so that I could then join those pieces together to create letters and then words within the abstract patterning. But then as well, I was able to just flip them, rotate them and combine them in different ways to create either regular patterns or abstract patterns. So here's the word puzzle again. And here it is with the abstract surrounding. And as you can see, it's extremely difficult to read. But all I have to do is fill certain areas of those letter forms and I can bring those words out of the background pattern. But maybe that's a little too obvious. So then I can add some color in with the background and add a bit more color in with the words themselves. And this way, working with the art director, I'm able to bring it to just the right point that it's puzzling for the audience -- they can figure out that there's something they have to read -- but it's not impossible for them to read.

I'm also interested in working with unusual materials and common materials in unusual ways. So this requires figuring out how to get the most out of something's innate properties and also how to bend it to my will. So ultimately, my goal is to create something unexpected. To this end, I have worked in sugar for Stefan Sagmeister, three-time TED speaker. And this project began essentially on my kitchen table. I've been eating cereal for breakfast all of my life. And for that same amount of time, I've been spilling sugar on the table and just kind of playing with it with my fingers. And eventually I used this technique to create a piece of artwork. And then I used it again to create six pieces for Stefan's book, "Things in My Life I've Learned So Far." And these were created without sketches, just freehand, by putting the sugar down on a white surface and then manipulating it to get the words and designs out of it. Recently, I've also made some rather highbrow baroque borders out of lowbrow pasta. And this is for a chapter that I'm doing in a book. And the chapter is on honor. So it's a little bit unexpected, but, in a way, it refers to the macaroni art that children make for their parents, or they make in school and give to their parents, which is in itself a form of honor. This what you can do with some household tinfoil. Okay, well, it's what I can do with some household tinfoil.

(Laughter)

I'm very interested in wonder, in design as an impetus to inquiring. To say I wonder is to say I question, I ask. And to experience wonder is to experience awe. So I'm currently working on a book which plays with both senses of the word, as I explore some of my own ideas and inquiries in a visual display of rather peacock-like grandeur. The world is full of wonder. But the world of graphic design, for the most part, is not. So I'm using my own writings as a kind of testing ground for a book that has an interdependency between word and image as a kind of seductive force. I think that one of the things that religions got right was the use of visual wonder to deliver a message. I think this true marriage of art and information is woefully underused in adult literature. And I'm mystified as to why visual wealth is not more commonly used to enhance intellectual wealth. When we look at works like this, we tend to associate them with children's literature. There's an implication that ornamental graphics detract from the seriousness of the content. But I really hope to have the opportunity to change that perception. This book is taking rather a long time. But I'm nearly done.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to put an intermission in my talk. And this is it -- just to give you and me a moment to catch up.

(Laughter)

So I do these valentines. I've been sending out valentines on a fairly large scale since 2005. These are my valentines from 2005 and 2006. And I started by doing just a single image like this and sending them out to each person. But in 2007, I got the cockamamie idea to hand-draw each valentine for everyone on my mailing list. I reduced my mailing list to 150 people. And I drew each person their own unique valentine and put their name on it and numbered it and signed it and sent it out. Believe it or not, I devised this as a time-saving method. I was very busy in the beginning of that year, and I didn't know when I was going to find time to design and print a single valentine. And I thought I could kind of do this piecemeal as I was traveling. It didn't exactly work out that way. There's a longer story to this, but I did get them all done in time, and they were extremely well received. I got an almost 100 percent response rate. (Laughter) And those who didn't respond will never receive anything from me ever again.

(Laughter)

Last year, I took a more conceptual approach to the valentine. I had this idea that I wanted people to receive a kind of mysterious love letter, like a found fragment in their mailbox. I wanted it to be something that was not addressed to them or signed by me, something that caused them to wonder what on earth this thing was. And I specifically wrote four pages that don't connect. There were four different versions of this. And I wrote them so that they begin in the middle of a sentence, end in the middle of a sentence. And they're on the one hand, universal, so I avoid specific names or places, but on the other hand, they're personal. So I wanted people to really get the sense that they had received something that could have been a love letter to them. And I'm just going to read one of them to you.

"You've never really been sure of this, but I can assure you that this quirk you're so self-conscious of is intensely endearing. Just please accept that this piece of you escapes with your smile, and those of us who notice, are happy to catch it in passing. Time spent with you is like chasing and catching small birds, but without the scratches and bird shit." (Laughter) "That is to say, your thoughts and words flit and dart, disconcertedly elusive at times, but when caught and examined -- ahh, such a wonder. Such a delightful reward. There's no passing time with you, only collecting -- the collecting of moments with the hope for preservation and at the same time release. Impossible? I don't think so. I know this makes you embarrassed. I'm certain I can see you blushing. But I just have to tell you because sometimes I hear your self-doubt, and it's so crushing to think that you may not know how truly wonderful you are, how inspiring and delightful and really, truly the most completely ..."

(Laughter)

(Applause)

So Valentine's Day is coming up in a couple of days. And these are currently arriving in mailboxes all around the world. This year, I got, what I really have to say, is a rather brilliant idea, to laser cut, to laser cut my valentines out of used Christmas cards. So I solicited friends to send me their used Christmas cards. And I made 500 of these. Each one of them is completely different. I'm just really, really thrilled with them. I don't have that much else to say. But they turned out really well.

I do spend a lot of time on my work. And one of the things that I've been thinking about recently is what is worth while. What is it that's worth spending my time on and my life on in this way? Working in the commercial world, this is something that I do have to struggle with at times. And yes, sometimes I'm swayed by money. But ultimately, I don't consider that a worthy goal. What makes something worthwhile for me is the people I work for or with, the conditions I work under and the audience that I'm able to reach. So I might ask: Who is it for? What does it say? And what does it do?

You know, I have to tell you, it's really difficult for someone like me to come up on stage at this conference with these unbelievably brilliant minds, who are thinking these really big picture, world changing, life changing ideas and technologies. And it's very, very common for designers and people in the visual arts to feel that we're not contributing enough. Or worse, that all we're doing is contributing to landfill. Here I am, I'm showing you some pretty visuals and talking about aesthetics. But I've come to believe that truly imaginative visual work is extremely important in society.

Just in the way that I'm inspired by books and magazines of all kinds, conversations I have, movies, so I also think, when I put visual work out there into he mass media, work that is interesting, unusual, intriguing, work that maybe opens up that sense of inquiry in the mind, that I'm seeding the imagination of the populace. And you just never know who is going to take something from that and turn it into something else. Because inspiration is cross-pollinating. So a piece of mine may inspire a playwright or a novelist or a scientist, and that in turn may be the seed that inspires a doctor or a philanthropist or a babysitter. And this isn't something that you can quantify or track or measure. And we tend to undervalue things in society that we can't measure.

But I really believe that a fully operating, rich society needs these seeds coming from all directions and all disciplines in order to keep the gears of inspiration and imagination flowing and cycling and growing. So that's why I do what I do, and why I spend so much time and effort on it, and why I work in the commercial, public sphere, as opposed to the isolated, private sphere of fine art. Because I want as many people as possible to see my work, notice it, be drawn into it, and be able to take something from it. And I actually really feel that it's worthwhile to spend my valuable and limited time on this earth in this way. And I thank you for allowing me to show it to you.

(Applause)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Website Launch :: Dave's Tree Service

Dave's Tree Service Website
Client: Dave's Tree Service, Jacksonport, WI

http://www.davestreeserviceinc.com

Dave's Tree Service was looking to move their existing site from a free hosting situation and upgrade their look-and-feel as well as set up professional email addresses. Working with them, 1 Design Source created a website that showcases the history of their business, touts their products and services, and allows them to update their photo gallery, text, and animated quote feed.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Restaurant Advertising

What's Your Food Mood Ad

Client: Liberty Square, Egg Harbor
Photography: 1 Design Source
Design: 1 Design Source

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Christmas Catalog

Christmas Product Catalog / Brochure
Client: Hansen Fundraising, Green Bay, WI

Working with printing representatives for Hansen Fundraising, we created the layout for a brochure that the client will be able to update dynamically through a website content management system and then print on demand.

Door County Photographer Business Cards and Wedding Book

Photographer Wedding Book & Business Cards
Client: Jason Mann Photography, Sturgeon Bay, WI

Door County photographer Jason Mann needed a book that showcased a few of the beautiful weddings he shot during the 2009 season. We worked with him in selecting a few photos from each wedding and completed the design, layout, and handled the print sourcing for his 8x8 books.

We also took 50+ of his best shots from the past year across the spectrum of his work to create mini cards. Collect them all.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Software Deployment Solution Web Banner Ads


Web Banner Advertising

Client: Inedo LLC Company, Berea, OH

Software Developers, Inedo came back for a second project targeting developers with software deployment problems, giving them a solution that would allow them to "kill the dragon" of long-winded or botched deployments. Two campaigns were created in three sizes that will appear on blogs, forums, and industry news sites.

Both concepts employ the medieval time period of heroes conquering dragons. The first a shadow of a successful knight subduing a dragon. The second, an illustration of a night intercepting a dragon within a sunset.



Monday, April 26, 2010

Wedding Logo and Invites Featured on Real Colorado Wedding Blog

As featured on: CoutureColorado.com

Photography: Cheryl Ungar
Flowers: Fleur Decor
Bridal Gown Deigner : Legends by Romona Keveza
Bridal Gown and Fur Wrap: Felice Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: Each bridesmaid picked out their own dress.
DJ: Elite DJ
Wooden Bench and Table Numbers: Medicine Wolf Company
Rings: Movado
Wedding Logo and Programs: Morgan Mann of 1 Design Source
Rehearsal Dinner: Tabernash Tavern
Favors: Jam jars from Sharkey’s in Fraser, CO
Cake: Tea Cup
Ceremony and Reception Venue: Devil’s Thumb Ranch, Colorado
Bride’s Hoodie: Girl Extraordinaire

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Ridges Resort Logo & Website


Door County Resort Logo & Website
Client: Ridges Resort in Baileys Harbor, WI

http://www.ridges.com

The Ridges Resort was looking for a simple upgrade to their website, a fresh color scheme and a new logo. Photos are displayed large whenever possible, a new Upcoming Events listing and Featured Room sections on the homepage are inviting, and with personalized training, they are able to make updates to their site themselves.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Resort Email Campaign

Resort Email Campaign Success Story
Client: Door County Cottages, Egg Harbor, WI

How do you utilize your email list? Dale Laviolette of Door County Cottages in Egg Harbor had a list of email addresses that he had been collecting for the past few years, but hadn't utilized them. With the start of Spring and to celebrate the 2nd birthday of the resort's mascots, Dale's dogs Norma and Garrett, we helped Dale start a Constant Contact account and created a custom email template inviting people to a discounted stay.

Constant Contact reports that the average open rate of a Hotel, B&B, or Inn is only 19.8%.* Through the use of a good list, simple messaging, and providing a value added incentive, our open rate of 52.6% was phenomenal. With this great success, Dale is going to be adding more features to his websites to acquire additional email addresses and will continue doing simple offers to thank his customers and generate more business. A great success story!

*
Average open, click-through, and bounce rates of Constant Contact customers.

Facebook Business Page for a Stylist

Facebook Business Page
Client: Hair & Makeup Stylist, Denver, CO

Facebook: Leslies Arts

Leslie Snyder is a multi-talented stylist who creates beautiful, intricate hairstyles for brides
as well as providing makeup styling, skincare and spa services. On top of that, Leslie designs and creates jewelry.

We helped start the flow of conversation adding photos of recent work, posting recent published testimonials and articles about Leslie and her work, and we utilized an application that allows you to make custom HTML tab pages to recreate her promotional cards for each of her services, and help direct people to more images on her site.

Bridal Hair and Makeup tab.

Custom Jewelry tab.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Door County Resort Website


Condo Resort Website
Client: The Landing Resort in Egg Harbor, WI

http://thelandingresort.com

To keep in line with branding and brochure completed earlier this year,
we have created a complete web site redesign that shows off the great condo suites available for vacationers in Door County.

The site includes:
  • Easy reservation booking
  • A custom look to their reservation system
  • A custom Blogger template that acts as their "news" page
  • New photos of all suites and the building amenities and exterior
  • Floorplans for each suite, made for the first time in the history of the resort
  • Specials that the client can update themselves
  • Contact form + more
We also set up a Facebook presence for the resort and incorporated a application that allows their blog posts to feed their Facebook page. And 360's of all the suites are still to come.

It was a very full and well-rounded project that shows the power of branding and what a fresh look to your marketing can achieve.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Dog Jewelry Donation Postcard

242 Donation Postcard
Client: No 242 Collection

Rooted in the notion that dogs and their adoring owners share an unbreakable bond, No. 242 Collection jewelry collection was created for the pet that has everything. The jewelry is made in pairs which fashionably coordinate the "au courant" canine and their owners who spoil them silly, and through the end of June they're donating 5% of their sales to Project Ruffway which supports the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation. This postcard created by 1 Design Source will be handed out at their store and sent out to past and present clients.

Wedding Invitation


Wedding Invitation
Client: Chris & Jess

Custom made wedding invitation. (Certain info is blurred for privacy reasons.)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Wedding Monogram at Work

Marti and Kevin's wedding was this past Saturday, and here is the monogram design at work. Congrats you two!!

Monogram was branded into columns
of wood used as table markers.

The monogram at the top of the dining menu.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Theatre 20th Anniversary Logo

American Folklore Theatre 20th Anniversary Logo
Ephraim, Wisconsin, Door County

Playing on an outdoor stage at Peninsula State Park and on indoor stages across the state, American Folklore Theatre actors are equipped with guitars and voices that tell stories of legend and lore. Since 1990, this troupe has been providing original musical tales about some of America’s most intriguing people including John Muir and Mark Twain.

AFT was looking to have a logo that showcased their outdoor venue including twilight and stars. We worked from a photograph to make the logo vector based so it could be flexible in its usage. It has been screen printed on t-shirts and mugs, as well as various other applications like their Facebook profile picture.

Quote from the happy client:
"Thanks for your great and efficient work on this project. We're hoping to make wide use of it this year and hopefully beyond. We'll definitely look to use your services again down the road."
Dave Maier, Managing Director
American Folklore Theatre

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

How to Create New Paying Customers for Your Resort & Restaurant

I read these articles today and thought they were worth sharing.

How the Resort Industry is
Using Social Media

http://mashable.com/2010/02/23/resort-industry-social-media/

A few ideas gleaned from this article to boost business:
  • Host a Blogger Retreat similar to the outreach some business organizations do for journalists.

  • Find prominent bloggers in your demographic (Moms, Bicyclists, Nature Enthusiasts, the Dating & Mating Life, etc.) and ask them to come to your hotel and stay for a time giving them breaks on price, free dining, or whatever is in your budget in return for a post on their blog.

    Article Excerpt:

    "In a similar fashion, Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort has broadened its reach by tapping into the mommy bloggersphere. The company’s Snow Mamas blog features five to six mommy bloggers who write about their ski trips. Each mama gives tips on dining, budget, lodging, and ski gear for the whole family."

Another article worth reading is:

Starbucks Gets Its Business
Brewing Again with Social Media

http://adage.com/digitalalist10/article?article_id=142202

Article Excerpt:
Let's get this straight right away: Return on investment in social media is not measured in how many friends you have on Facebook or how many followers you have on Twitter. It's not calculated in trending topics or YouTube comments. It should, in fact, be held to the same criteria other marketing channels are: Did it move your business? ...

Starbucks' advantage could easily have been squandered. "If we had approached it not from 'what you know and love about Starbucks' but as a marketing channel, we would have taken this down a path that would have been very different," he said. "This was not [built as a] marketing channel, but as a consumer relationship-building environment."

Tips gleaned from this article include:
  • Learn why customers like you and return to your business year-after-year. This will tell you what they want from you in Social Media. For example, do people always mention how helpful you are at mentioning what is going on in the area? Then have a Calendar of Events section and/or a Best Things To Do & See Area and fill it with what you would tell a customer, not what someone wants to pay you for. Tweet and post items of interest that fall in line with what you normally do for your every day patron. Be who you are in real life, not a marketing machine.

  • Tell everyone about something new in a fun, engaging way. Do you have a room that you've just redone or new menu item you're excited about? Have a reduced rate coupon available to those who download it off of your website or Facebook page.

    If giving away things doesn't work for you, change the premise of the coupon to be a sneak peak. For example, "Become a Fan & Be One of the First 100 People Invited to Our New Banquet Facility's Pre-Open House." This will bring new fans and excite your customer base.

  • Share your soul. Does your company really care about a particular group enough to donate time or money to? Involve your fans! Tell them about a benefit you're holding, post pictures of your volunteer work in the area, ask them to share pictures of how they spent their vacations with you. Again, engage your customer on a human level, not as an advertiser, and you will be rewarded.

    Article Excerpt:

    The secret to Starbucks' social-media success is, at least in part, the fact that it plays it cool. "It's not like we started our Facebook community, got to a million people and started pushing offers at them," he said. "We built up a community of people who enjoy engaging with our photo albums from our trip to Rwanda, who loved to have these shared moments around their favorite drinks." Then, fans started asking the company what was going on, and how they could be included.


  • Don't hire a marketer or PR person to do your posts for you. I know, this sounds counter-intuitive coming from a person who makes a living as a graphic designer, but it's important that YOU are the voice behind the scenes. It's great to use an informed source to help you set things up or lead you along the path of social media, but the core of your company was built on its own values and services. Let your company do the talking from the inside out, and you'll be seen as more trustworthy to your fans and customer base as well as be rewarded in your bottom line.

    Article Excerpt:

    Unlike many marketers, Starbucks doesn't run its Twitter feed out of its PR department. The chain's voice on Twitter is Brad Nelson, 28, a former barista who rose through its IT ranks.

    When the company was looking for ideas to re-engage with its core customer in 2008, Mr. Nelson suggested that he begin a Twitter handle for the brand, and it now has 775,000 followers. The brand relies on the 28-year old to translate the Starbucks experience for the online community, search out confused or disgruntled consumers, chat about store offerings and even crack jokes.


I hope these articles give you some great ideas to implement. Let me know what you come up with. It's always great to see companies succeed in giving their customers what they want.

If you liked this post, be sure to become a fan on Facebook so you don't miss any upcoming tips & tricks.

Have a great rest of the day!

Morgan Mann is a graphic designer with over a decade of experience working in the in-house ranks at Einstein Bros. Bagels and with small restaurants and resorts utilizing her creativity and strategic brainstorming to help them bring success to their business ventures. To see more of her work, visit her website at www.1designsource.com.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Door County Gallery Advertising Put to the Test

Project: Quarter Page color ad for Door County Living Magazine
Client: Dovetail Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI (Door County)

Wanting to test their old style of advertising (seen left to appear in the Door County Go Guide) and branching out with their new look, Dovetail Gallery asked for me to create an ad that had the look of their new website (recently released this winter).

In addition to the obvious layout differences, the two ads showcase different art pieces and the one above also mentions the Egg Museum which they've only minimally advertised previously. They'll be paying close attention to the people who come into their store to see which ad brings in more customers.

Which one do you prefer?

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Banner Ads


Web Banner Advertising
Client: The Alliance Code for Excellence,
an Inedo LLC Company, Berea, OH

Software Developers, The Alliance for Code Excellence, work to clean up the world of code through the sale of their Bad Code Offset product. Money raised through the purchase of Bad Code Offsets supports the various Open Source Initiatives that are performing vital work towards the salvation of our future code base.

The Alliance was needing a banner ad that engaged programmers to join the fight and purchase their product. It would be appearing on a software Q&A forum frequented by programmers, and the ad design had a variety of rules that needed to be applied including no animation.

I came up with a concept that went on the premise that a majority of programmers are also gamers and turned a one-ad contract into a campaign. These ads tap into their second love and engages them to join the battle, rescue of the bad coders, and make the world a better place.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Resort Tourism Ad


Hotel Resort Tourism Advertising
Client: The Landing Resort, Egg Harbor, WI

This ad will appear in the Door County Lighthouse Walk program for the 2010 season. The design is cohesive with their new look and feel which is being rolled out this year. See the brochure, rate sheet, and logo redesign.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Hotel Brochures

Hotel Logo Redesign, Sales Brochure & Rate Sheet
Client: The Landing Resort, Egg Harbor, WI

The Landing Resort in Egg Harbor was looking to update their look-and-feel across the board starting with a refreshing of their logo. Not wanting to take away from the branding and goodwill created with the previous design created some years ago and because the logo still represents the goals, service and standards of The Landing Resort, we opted to simplify the logo instead of doing a complete redesign.

The bird icon's linework and the circle encompassing it was simplified. The icon and the typography now work together by positioning the landing bird onto the ascendor of the "d" which makes a natural post within the logo. We also tweaked some of the lettering relationships and created a refreshed logo that feels bolder, more stable, and it continues the legacy of a great resort.

From there, we then moved on to the Brochure and Rate Sheet.

The Sales Brochure showcases a fresher look that comes from research and strategy towards attracting more families to their condominiums which are surrounded by nature and is close in proximity to both the local beach, park and marina as well as the local shops and eateries.

We hired a local photographer to take aerial shots, measured rooms and built floorplans for each of their suites, wrote the text, created a map, and sourced stock photography as well as took additional photos of the property to create a visually stunning 4-panel brochure.

The Rate Sheet combines the traditional rate sheet and the packages into one brochure. The combination of the two pieces and designing the sheet with two colors helps save on overall printing costs and creates less paperwork for staff.

The design works as a stand-alone piece, and it also fits within the Sales Brochure for easy distribution by mail as needed.

Next up is the website and identity package, coming soon.