BWCreative

AlphaMed is a medical supply company located in Jackson, TN. They needed to redesign a brochure, which would be placed in medical clinics to educate patients on the products they sell. Most medical marketing material I have seen has been less-than-interesting so, although I knew it would be a challenge, I couldn’t wait to get started. I also had to opportunity to utilize my copywriting skills on this one. Download the PDF

AlphaMed’s tagline is “Begin Here.” As I thought about how the tagline might inform the brochure concept, I related my own need for medical supplies to beginning a journey. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. My prescription was to sleep with a bi-pap machine, which is an item featured in this brochure. I remember how it affected my life. I could have looked at it as a hinderance to my freedom. This is a temptation anyone requiring medical supplies must face. However, I also knew that I had to look at the benefits. I slept better and felt better, as did my wife. I thought about my grandparents’ needs, the needs of my wife’s special needs students, the needs of my sister, father, and mother. I soon realized that this brochure could be more than a product promotion: it could be an encouragement.

The image of a peaceful path through a green forest came to mind. I found this photograph, featuring a nice violet blue to break up the green. The path leading off to the lower right was the perfect place to park the AlphaMed logo and tagline. The idea was that the right quarter would be the front and the brochure would be folded in half twice, creating 4 panels. I used the photo as a backdrop on which to place the message, “Every traveler needs a journey and every journey must begin…Begin your journey.”

Although the inside was down-to-business, I was able to set the tone with some compelling copy on the left, inside panel. This helps to connect the front concept with the products highlighted. I organized all of the products under appropriate headings and assigned certain colors to each category. These colors have been repeated throughout many of the promotional materials we’ve created since. Each category features a brief paragraph linking the concept of the journey to the tools that make it possible.

This was a great project! I had a lot of freedom to determine format and concept. It continues to be one of those pieces I like to pull out every once in a while and flip through. AlphaMed continues to grow and I’m proud help that process along.

Right Choices of West Tennessee is an non-profit organization which educates high school students on the virtues of  abstinence. To support fundraising efforts, I was asked to develop a series of promotional material informing prospective donors of the organization’s mission. I took the opportunity to think a bit outside of my normal approach to projects.

First, I jotted down some startling statements that might communicate the seriousness of the pressures teens face everyday. Next, I went across the street to Dollar General and purchased a 5-pack of spiral notebooks. I began thinking of things I would write on my notebooks in high school and started to draw.

After scanning the notebook covers, I started playing with color. There are times when a solid, flat color is just fun to start with. I found this dirty blue and decided on the bright orange color for the type.

The brochure was the jumping off point. Various forms of the post card followed over the next month or so.

This was a really fun project. I hope to continue this campaign in the future.

Although I love designing logos for friends, they always take 10x longer to complete. A third of the reason for this is that logos take a long time to design for anyone. Logos are deceptively simple. Another third of the reason is that I tend to be a perfectionist on logos because this is what a business builds its identity on. The last third of the reason for taking so long on friends’ logo projects is the worst reason of all: they’re my friends. Poor Aaron had to wait a long time for me to finish a logo for his photography business.

After exploring several approaches in a sketchbook, I found that it was a lot of fun to sign Aaron’s initials in a single stroke. I filled a couple of pages with attempts at this until I saw a very natural pattern developing. As I showed Aaron the possibilities, he instantly responded to those monogram-filled pages. I then began laying out a 6×6 grid and started placing as few points as possible to compose the simple stroke. Originally we had rounded the corners and experimented with various stroke weights. In the end, Aaron’s hard-edged, purist personality decided on a strict grayscale composition with hard corners and a san-sarif font for quick, easy legibility and simplicity.

Aaron Hardin is one of the most talented photographers I know. His work is astounding whether he’s shooting for the newspaper or your best friend’s wedding. Check out his work at aaronhardinphoto.com. Bes sure to comment on his awesome logo.

The Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network needed an updated logo for their web site, letterhead, and other official materials. The purpose of the organization is to encourage dual-vocational pastors in the difficult challenges their callings present. They needed a logo that represented the tensions unique to their calling.

The dual-vocational pastor has two workplaces: the church and the “other office.” I envisioned the steeple of a church as the central graphic element of the logo but that didn’t represent the other side of the coin. As I contemplated a solution I imagined an office building. Putting these two objects came together nicely as I explored a three-quarter view of the steeple and revealed an office building on the other side. The steeple and cross at the top imply the overarching purpose of both vocations. To finish the concept out, I illuminated the church side to suggest the beacon-like aspect of ministry: no matter which side on which one stands, the ministry of the pastor shines bright.

A few months ago I was approached by the Starnes Group to design a campaign identity for the SpeakUp College Tour presented by Kyros Entertainment. The tour is designed to present brands such as Tyndale, Nav Press, LifeWay, Intervarsity, CCM, One campaign, The House Studio, Kerusso, Provident, EMI, Light Gives Heat, and more to students at Christian colleges. Although a logo design wasn’t part of the original proposal I felt that we needed an identifiable mark for recognition. Prior tour graphics, while very cool and progressive, felt a bit dated. I began researching display typefaces that were distinct with a hand-drawn feel. I discovered Sketchetica which is just a fun, drawn version of Helvetica. As I played with the words “Speak,” “Up,” Tour,” and “.com,” I found a tight arrangement that I thought would serve to be eye-catching and memorable. I proceeded to add a little sketch-y vector brush stroke to the type and ended up with a very fun graphic that would serve as a quick logo. I must admit I love bright orange which explains the fire-y flare. This served as a 2 toned color scheme for the campaign.

Next, I needed to set a mood. For some reason, this didn’t take long to decide. I grabbed the nearest Moleskine-like journal and scanned a blank page to get that subtle texture for the background. By incorporating Sketchetica for headlines and a cut-out style banner here and there, I just began placing information in a hierarchy. This became my approach to all pieces. I began with designing the postcard which was to be handed out to students on college campuses. This same mood and feel translated over nicely to the landing and download pages for the web site.

Designing the look of the web site was a lot of fun. Because I’m not a code guy, I usually get overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to put great ideas into HTML, CSS, PHP, and the like. Not so on this project. The Great Steven Peercy was commissioned to program the back end of this simple site which gave me free reign to exercise my creativity. O the delight to see my designs come alive with rollovers, working forms, and smooth functionality!

Although this was a small and quick project, I was given a lot of room for creativity which makes my job a lot of fun. Special thanks to Brock Starnes for excellent management and business acumen. Visit www.speakuptour.com to see the real thing up and running.

Landing Page for the Speak Up Tour

Downloads Page of Speak Up Tour's Web Site

Overhauling an entire publication has been a long-time desire of mine. Although I have worked for nearly all of the VIP magazines over the last several years, I’ve not had the chance to reconsider each nook-and-cranny of the design. This November, I had that opportunity with VIP Memphis Magazine. Here are some of the changes and creative decisions that were made.

Logo Redesign

Before

After

The original VIP Memphis Magazine logo consisted of “VIP” in Algerian and “Memphis” in Shelley Allegro. Shelley’s capital “M” didn’t suffice for the original logo so I remember using an “M” from another typeface and altering it quite a bit. This arrangement presented a number of problems. First, the script typeface would often be obscured due to the background of a given month’s cover image. Trees and foliage are common on the VIP covers as most of the covers were snapshots of couples attending local events. Secondly, there was quite a bit of height difference between the “VIP” and “Memphis.” This might not be such an issue in other logo designs but I always felt like it left a magazine cover feeling unbalanced. Finally, the “magazine” part of the logo was typed in Copperplate. That means there were three different fonts in such a simple logo. That’s too much.

These problems alone had not warranted a total logo redesign. However, over the last year, the magazine’s content had developed dramatically. The focus had shifted from an event-oriented publication to a culture and lifestyle format. The old logo needed a facelift that communicated that shift. This also gave us the chance to address the problems listed above.

The new solution eliminates the troublesome script type, evens the x-height, and by eliminating the superfluous “magazine,” simplifies the typeface choices. Although the “VIP” and “Memphis” come from two different font families, they are both sans serifs which keeps everything feeling consistent. Now the logo is a better match for our cover images.

Covers

VIP Memphis Magazine December 2009 Cover

One of the key ingredients of a publication’s design is its cover. The logo design is essential to a magazine cover. However, the content of a cover is arguably the more important factor in whether it moves a magazine off the stands. VIP Memphis had improved its photography dramatically as it shifted focus from couples attending events to more conceptual content. Over the past year, that new focus has been refined. As fashion, culinary, and entertainment have become the new focus, the photographers have more direction and creative input than ever before. I can take little credit for the magazine’s cover redesign. That credit goes to Kat Semrau, publisher, and our photographers Jay Adkins, Regis Lawson, and Andrea Zucker.

Table of Contents

VIP Memphis Magazine Table of Contents December 2009

The table of contents is always the last element of a production (at least for me) but because it is the first designed page of a magazine, it sets the tone for what follows. This single page should exhibit a “design thesis” that informs (or reflects) the overall design. This means that it is clean and simple. Let the photography shine, keep information to a minimum, and leave the negative space alone. This sums up the design approach for the rest of the magazine.

The Grid

In recent years, I’ve discovered Josef Muller-Brockmann’s The Grid System. This ultimate design nerd book has convinced me of the advantages of using a grid system for publication design. First, a grid-design makes visual consistency easy. Secondly, it is a better alternative to straight template designs as more variation is possible. Finally, it saves a lot of time since you aren’t having to reinvent the wheel for every page. I don’t know what I did without it.

Features

What I said about the cover is also true about the feature articles: the photography makes all the difference. One of the most difficult things for a designer to do is let someone else’s work receive the glory. It is a great temptation for a designer to put his/her creativity into a piece so as to take front and center stage. It is often thought that what a designer comes up with is what proves him as a designer. This isn’t always the case. I’m finding out that more often than not, it is more difficult to leave things alone rather than keep tweaking them. At any rate, the new features of VIP Memphis Magazines will feature great photography and minimal design. This means more time will be spent on size and composition than bells and whistles (like drop shadows and busy backgrounds). The type will also be simplistic and sparse.

Events

Event Spread

At one time, events were the heart and soul of any VIP magazine. Although they still hold an important role for the Memphis VIP, they are no longer a primary focus. Previously, events took a significant amount of time to design. You had to utilize all available space, squeeze as many photos in as possible, compose each photo to fit, and add a little spice to “dress it up.” The redesign took into consideration all of these things. First, there wasn’t as much pressure to jazz each event up because that would take focus away from the features. Secondly, because of the grid system, a lot of decision time has been eliminated. Thirdly, we no longer have to utilize every square inch of negative space as we are letting the page “breathe” a bit. Finally, also due to the grid system, each event is flexible; I can change it from a half-page, horizontal to a half-page, vertical in no time.

Articles & Regulars

The more busy a page is, the less interesting it becomes. As readers flip through the pages of a magazine, they stop on pages with big, beautiful photos. As they continue through pages of ads, a sparse page with limited text will catch their eye. The articles in VIP Memphis (real estate, business, film, beauty, etc.) are uniform and occupy nice, big white pages. A bold and clear headline communicates the content. The paragraphs are spaced out rather than indented. Each line is spaced a little further than usual so as not to appear so dense. To top it off, the body text is pulled in further from the edge of the page than the headlines. This opens a lot of space and doesn’t daunt the reader. A reader is more apt to read an article if he knows it won’t take him too long. Generally, great efforts were taken to clean up the articles by simplifying the design rather than overwhelm the reader with more graphics.

That’s a lot, I know, but as I said, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time and had a lot of fun working through it all. There is still much work to be done. Because publication design and production is constantly evolving, I’m excited to keep refining this product. As problems arise, so do solutions. I’m sure I’ll be posting more on it in the future.

I’ve been designing a lot of invitations lately. The nice thing about designing invitations for events such as wedding showers is that there is no pressure to sell a product or service. Basically, you can pretty much design the first thing that pops in your head. Chances are, it’s going to work. Because you’re not targeting a demographic, there are less politics involved. This opens a lot of creative possibilities and I can explore new genres.

My friends Matt and Casey got married earlier this year. My wife hosted Casey’s wedding shower and asked me to “design something real quick.” She had planned a shower where all guests would bring a recipe to help the bride jump start her domestic arsenal. Of course, this brought to mind the idealistic housewife from the 1950′s. Also appropriate to that genre was the orange and aqua color combination employed in the design. To top it all off, I tried “baking-in” the imperfections of screen printing into the design. If you look closely, you can see how some of the lettering is a little offset from the background. The final printed product was a 3×5 card to mimic an index card (ya know, for recipes). You may even be able to see the light blue and red rules in the background.

Casey Brewer Wedding Shower Invitation

Casey Brewer Invitation Detail

Taking on the task of developing an entire identity system for a company can be a daunting and difficult task. Nonetheless, it can be one of the most rewarding exercises in blending creativity with discipline. Most clients can’t afford to drag that process out over long periods of time. However, with a little patience, a strong identity can be built over a series of projects without bottlenecking the process in a design studio.

I’ve already posted about the evolution of the bug-a-roo logo project. Over the last week, that identity grew a little stronger. With a sales event pending, we needed some fresh marketing materials. We’ve always been on a tight budget so instead of spending a lot of money on die-cutting business cards, we’ve just cut a couple of corners off and punched some holes to give the impression of a sales tag. Well, that gets old fast so this was my opportunity to simplify. The solution ended up being implying that tag with shape. However, instead of the drawing the shape of a tag, I just drew the impression of a background. Using a darker shade of the main green pantone color, I added a sliver beneath to imply a shadow. I liked this so much that I carried it over to the brochure.

The brochure was a redesign of something I threw together in about an hour for the last event. Since that was done around midnight, it looked uninteresting. I carried the green color and tag impression over to the brochure to see if I could still use it. It was starting to take shape so I stuck with it.

The previous design had a photograph of my wife holding our son in a baby sling. We didn’t have any more photos on hand so I decided to illustrate the old photo. If you are familiar with Adobe Illustrator, you know that you can click a button and, presto! you have an illustrated image of your photograph. That’s no fun, though. Besides, you get some funky-ness that doesn’t look quite right. If you do it by hand, not only do you get to brag about it, but any funky-ness is your own fault! This took HOURS. I had a blast, though. I worked with a skintone color palette, and created dimensional shapes and patterns to imply depth. It felt like the good ole days of paper and pencil. 

This illustration technique had been on my mind quite a bit. I had wanted to do something similar for bug-a-roo for a long time but didn’t have the opportunity until now. We’ll see if it shows up again. Again, that is the beauty of taking your time to develop a visual identity.

Illustration example

Well, I have to sign off because I have to be Mr. Mom so my wife can go sell these products. We’ll see how it goes. Check her blog out and order stuff from her: slings-and-things.blogspot.com.

One of the first projects I did for Casey Jones Village was a promotional campaign for the grand opening of their train museum. I have seen my fair share of grand openings and they are generally not very impressive. At best, they tend to be an admirable effort. That is, until this museum opened. I was overwhelmed by the energy and excitement of everyone present. That is the kind of energy and excitement that inspires me to rush into the studio and get back to work.The campaign was a simple project: invitations, ceremony program, information form, and a logo. Since I’ve already blogged about the logo, I’ll just summarize the other components:

Invitation for the Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum

The invitations were fun because it forced me to research some of the design practices of the late 1800s and early 1900s. There is a lot of floral scroll work and whimsical ornamentation. It is rare to find display type that hasn’t been warped or shaped in some exotic way. Next was the informational type. Modern design frowns on the use of many typefaces in a single design. Turn-of-the-century design is just the opposite. It was hard to let myself do it but the result was a nice nostalgic effect. This was a single color design, 5.5×8.8 (about), on a cream color card stock.

Program for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum

For the program, it was decided to print in black and white, in-house. Referencing an old mortgage bond for the Greenville & Columbia Railroad Company, I fashioned the little lines surrounding the “Ribbon Cutting” banner. The rest of the typesetting has a more formal feel due to the formal nature of the ceremony. 

Casey Jones Historical Fund Form

Finally, the Casey Jones Historical Fund form was created to distribute to folks interested in contributing a donation. Although forms aren’t too exciting, it was another opportunity to play with the ornamentation around the logo. 

I’d like to thank the folks at Casey Jones Village and encourage you to visit them if you are ever coming through Jackson, Tennessee on I-40. It’s right off of the highway and it’s a lot of family fun. Thanks, also, to Heather Hornbeak at Cedarway photography for the photo of someone (probably her) holding the program. Check Cedarway’s stuff out as well.

The role of a designer is distinct from any other artist. Designers take elements from other disciplines (photos, type, drawings, illustrations, etc.) and present them in a clear, logical fashion with the result of a strong message. So it makes sense that the better quality of materials provided to a designer, the more inspiring he or she is to create great work.Each month, VIP Memphis Magazine publishes an architectural feature showcasing a new structure alongside an older structure. Sometimes the juxtaposition is stark, sometimes is is subtle. Now, I’ve worked with magazines for several years and have learned that a good idea isn’t enough. I’ve designed home features, human interest stories, interviews, etc. with awful imagery. Those projects are difficult to get through because no matter how clever you are and no matter how far down you reach into your creative bag-o-tricks, at the end of the day, those low resolution, poorly lit, unimaginatively composed images stick out like the ole proverbial sore thumb. 

Not the case with VIP Memphis’ Old+New feature. Two of my favorite photographers to work with have been shooting the featured homes for nearly a year. Each month, as I wait for those big-ole jpgs to download from my FTP server,  I can’t wait to see the angular compositions, the sharpness, the contrast, the depth-of-field, the emotions, and clarity these artists produce regularly. Andrea Zucker and Jay Adkins have both been shooting in the Memphis area for years. I must admit, I’ve been spoiled. It is difficult to go back to point-and-shoot snapshots that have been compressed a thousand times and expected to print/display at twice the original resolution. These photographers have been honing their craft for many years. I cannot recommend them enough.

What this means to me as a designer, at least for this particular feature, is to humbly take a step back and layout their work in a way that doesn’t compete for attention. With poorly shot photographs, it is the designer’s responsibility to distract the viewer with an interesting design. With photos like these, it is exactly the opposite. 

I downloaded the images for next month this morning. If you live in the Memphis area, be sure to pick up a copy of the magazine to see the work these folks are churning out.