Thursday, August 26, 2010

Ridin' Along in my Autobmobile...

This past weekend, I happened to be traveling along the roads of West Virginia on the way home from my husband's latest Motocross race. And what should appear before our very eyes...



That's right, it was a large billboard for the Martinsburg-Berkeley County CVB's annual "Pickin' in the Panhandle" BBQ & Bluegrass Festival! Why was this so significant you ask? Well, here's a hint—the CVB is one of my clients and...yep, you guessed it, that wondrous billboard was one of my designs! There's just something exciting about surprisingly seeing your work, larger than life, when your not even expecting it! (and, yes, I do still get excited about seeing my work in use!).

I started working on Pickin' in the Panhandle last year, starting with the recreation of their logo, then moving on to print ads, web banners, and eventually billboards (see some samples below)!


Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the Festival last year, but you can bet it's on the calendar for this September—just two weeks away!!

Don't miss it:

Pickin in the Panhandle
September 10-12, 2010
Lazy A Campground
Featuring: The WV State BBQ Championship
Plus Bluegrass Music including Ricky Scaggs, Joe Diffie, Shenandoah and more!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Graphic Design and Video, Oh Mai!

I am happy to have Whitney Hahn of Digital Bard Video.Web.Marketing doing a guest vlog this week! I had the pleasure of working with Digital Bard on several projects, and I have to say, as a primarily print designer, it is super cool to see your designs transformed into the animated world of video! See below for Whitney's explanation, then scroll down to see the original poster designs for both of the 24/7 Dance productions:


As mentioned in Whitney's video, Kalico Design supplies Digital Bard with the raw file formats, mostly photoshop or illustrator files, and then they work their video magic! Below are the original poster designs for each production:


See! Graphic Designers and Videographers CAN play nice together! If you're interested in video for your next project and or would like to add a video component to your website, please contact Whitney at Digital Bard Video.Web.Marketing!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: Damascus Dental Center

Over the past year and a half, I've had the pleasure of working with Damascus Dental, a cosmetic and laser dental center. With an established practice in Damascus, MD, and the opening of a second office in Mt. Airy, they were looking to rebrand themselves. After our initial client consultation, I got started on the project and have had a solid working relationship ever since!


It all starts with a logo...

The logo developed was a simple, yet still sophisticated, text treatment. Since their focus was on cosmetic and laser dentistry (i.e. no scary drills) I wanted to give the logo a soft, warm, inviting feel (because, really, who actually LIKES going to the dentist!). This ideal is carried out through the use of a scripted, handwritten-styled font, as well as subtle soft colors.




Power to the People...
One of the key words that kept coming up in our initial client consultation was the fact that Damascus Dental prides itself on customer service and happy returning clients. For their marketing materials, such as ads and brochures, I wanted to capture that human element. So, keeping in mind their budget restraints, we utilized a variety of stock photographs highlighting naturally smiling people. Keeping with the simple sophistication of the logo, we opted for clean, bold silhouetted imagery, which truly captures your attention.




Bringing it to the Real World...

Damascus Dental was so invested in and optimistic about their new identity that they used it as the inspiration for the decor and interior design of their brand new office space. A state-of-the art dental center, warm golds and greens pulled from their logo line the walls, and in the center of the waiting area is a custom-created die-cut sign of their new logo. Everywhere you turn, their identity and brand jump right out at you!




What's in Store...
With an established identity system, Damascus Dental continues to promote their new office location and unique laser and cosmetics abilities. We've applied their identity to stationery, signage, brochures, office forms, and are currently working on a new website!




Remember, as a small business, treat your visual brand and identity seriously. Think of it as an investment—something that will give you an instant visual consistency with your existing and potential customers, as well as make you strongly stand out among your competitors. Hire a professional at the start, and you'll have the basis to extend your unique "look" to anything and everything that will come in the future.