I Don’t Love Hearts and Flowers!
About two weeks ago I was looking for a ” heart” image for a Valentines Day promotion I was designing for a client. I went to Google as I often do, and searched for “heart” images. Finding one I liked, I clicked on the link to take a closer look.
Unfortuantely, the link took me to a porn site, which launched a virus on my computer. We spent several hours trying to delete the virus, and finally gave up. We called Hans Soine, who came by and picked up our computer. Several days later ( It was after all New Years Eve) he returned, with a clean, virus free computer in hand.
Fortunately, we back up our entire system, so nothing was lost, except some time as we were battling the virus, but it could have been much worse.
Tough Lesson Learned: No more “free images” from Google, we are going to stick to downloads from sites we trust!
And from a design standpoint, the flyers turned out really cool. I couldn’t find a heart I liked, so I ended up creating one of my own!
This event is for people of all ages. If you have any questions or want more information on the event talk to Sunny Moon!
Roundpeg – Employee of the Year!
It was a hard decision this year, but after long discussions and long lost nights of sleep we decided the employee of the year for 2009 at Roundpeg was the one and only…wait for it…Clyde the cat.
Yes, Clyde is our office cat and an integral part of the team here at Roundpeg. She works long hours and does tasks which could not be completed by Lorraine, Taylor, Michelle or even Rebecca. We don’t want to share her whole list because it could be embarrassing, but here are just a few of her many contributions:
1) Greets each employee, client, cleaning company, and even her rival Bonnie the dog.
2) An extraordinary sales professional, she knows exactly when to jump into the lap of a prospect who is undecided about whether or not to hire the Roundpeg team.
3) She is well qualified to supervise printing projects, from her perch atop the printer or help with the filing by climbing into the drawers where the files should go.
4) Her most valuable role is to entertains the team with climbing and acrobatic feats on our “off” days
Even though there is so much more to say about our favorite employee, I felt these pictures and video will give you a closer look into her first full year at roundpeg.
Have you met her yet? If you haven’t, stop by, she’d love it.
Congratulations Clyde!
Happy Holidays from The Roundpeg Elf Crew to You…
At Roundpeg we have worked hard to develop a unique brand, which extends well beyond our logo. Our brand is about positive energy, creativity and collaboration. These three elements are conveyed in the words and images we choose, as well as the way we present ourselves in social media and face to face networking events.
It is important to create credibility with our brand, so clients trust us. At the same time, we know that while we are serious about what we do, we do not take ourselves seriously so our brand incorporates this lighthearted part of our personality, too. As we were designing this year’s holiday card, Lorraine challenged me to create something which would reinforce the brand, with standard colors and fonts, but would also let people see the fun part of our personality.
This is often a challenge for small business who work hard all year long to build their brand image, then compromise on their holiday card. They buy “stock” business cards, which do not convey any sense of who they are to distribute to all their clients and strategic partners; missing an important marketing opportunity.
I enjoyed creating our holiday card this year, because after we redesigned our website, the door was open for creativity and a bit of fun. For the front of the card, I created a hand drawn snow flake , colored in our standard blue and teal so it resembles wrapping paper. Combined with a red ribbon on our hand wrting style font ( Complete in Him) the card has a “hand drawn feel” . The text, “If BIG business ran the holidays”, speaks to our bias for working with small businesses.
The back side of the card was inspired by a JibJab Elf Dance of the Roundpeg Crew. It gave me the brilliant idea dress all of the team in elf costumes, including Clyde the Cat and Bonnie the dog. Playing off this idea brought humor to the card in a style consistent with our brand.
Happy Holidays to everyone! I look forward to working with you in 2010!
No Experience? No Problem!
I am putting the finishing touches on a brochure design project for a ballroom dance company.With several locations around Indianapolis. Five Star Dance Studios is a part of a ballroom dance industry that has more than 35 years of experience.
This brochure design was interesting because we decided to do something a little different then a traditional tri-fold. Using a 8.5×14 double gate fold brochure, I had a larger canvas on which to design.
We had room to spread out the copy and use a dramatic image for the center of the brochure with only the company’s tag line: No Experience, No Problem in the center.
Finding the right pictures for the brochure was tricky, because their clients range from young children to seniors.
After hours of looking through stock photography libraries, including istockphoto.com, and using Photoshop to crop the angles just right, we found a series which worked well together.
We were also able to use a few images, including the one on the cover, of real students at Five Star Dance. The result?
The pictures are what make the brochure, because you see the movement and excitement of the people.
I can’t wait to see see the final version printed!
Taking a Different Approach
Creating a flyer for long term care and disablity insurance is challenging because there are only so many images of sad or injured people. And, let’s face it, those images don’t make you want to look at the information. So, when we were asked to develop a promotional flyer for Innovative Individual Insurance , we took a different approach…
Our client sells supplemental products to compliment the primary insurance offered by employers. With the holiday season right around the corner, we thought it would be fun to draw a parallel between the side dishes served at Thanksgiving and their Insurance products. Our headline: ”Turkey without the sides…isn’t so appealing” was paired with eye catching photos of of turkey and the trimmings.
“What Ala Carte options do you need?” Health, Life, Disability, Dental and/or Long Term? Innovative Individual Insurance offers a menu of items where you can pick and choose the types of insurance you need.
At first, grasping the different approach of this flyer was challenging, but now as I look at the appetizing food pictures and the “Ala Carte” menu, I think this ad could also be used in Bon Appetit magazine!
Triple I
We recently created a new identity for an insurance company, Innovative Individual Insurance, which offers an “Ala Carte” menu of services.
The logo was designed by playing with the letter “i”. The design uses all three i’s to create an interesting layout. The logo came together pretty quickly because our client gave us a good starting point with his vision of what the company was about.
The initial concept was designed first in black and white. We prefer to have a client select the design, and then look at colors. Once the design was finalized then the colors came into play.
The blue and green we selected give the logo a modern, bold, vibrant feeling. The blue is strong enough to use for text, and the yellow/green really makes the logo pop. The color is very vibrant on paper and on the screen.
What do you think?
Logo From Sketch Pad to 3 – D
I recently finished a logo design for a new restaurant called Chef JJ’s Back Yard. It was fun working on this logo because Chef JJ has been a long time client of Roundpeg’s. As their business has evolved, from personal chef to full-fledged restaurant, so have their logo designs, all of which were created by Roundpeg. The new logo includes s his some of the elements from earlier versions, but has a distinct, more modern feel and edgy font choice. This version was designed, knowing a 3 – D version would eventually be created for the building signage.
After the design was finalized, a local artist, who creates both decorative and functional pieces constructed from a range of materials including: steel, bronze, iron, wood, glass and tile created his interpretation of the logo in a 3D metal version sign of Chef JJ’s logo. The sign now hangs in the entrance of Chef JJ’s Back Yard. It’s really cool to see something transformed into a 3 dimensional piece after seeing it only on screen or on paper.
A bit about Chef JJ’s Backyard – Located in the heart of Broad Ripple, the indoor and outdoor retail living space creates an open feel that will allow clients to enjoy the grilling experience, nature and a view of the river. The Back Yard blends grilling and outdoor living with the farm to form concept using only fresh, local food sources to create a very unique dining experience. We are looking forward to a few company events at JJ’s.
And the artist, Andy Ball, ( Lorraine’s husband) will have his first local exhibit at the Indianapolis Art Center just a few blocks away from JJ’s. So stop in to see the sign, then head up the Monon, for his opening on September 11 and then wander down to see his other work at Chef JJ’s
Cross Promoting Works!
One of the most effective ways for small business owners to get your name out there is through cross promotions with related and sometimes unrelated businesses.
One of our clients, Dr. Jeremy Ciano of Revolution Eyes has been very effective using his relationships with other business owners to build buzz for his business. For example, he ran a joint open house with a local singles group, and Bar Louis ( his favorite lunch spot). The singles group promoted an open house event to their members ( affluent, professional singles) The event was hosted at Bar Louis, and sign in, was across the street at Revolution Eyes. As people checked in, they could browse the unusual collection of designer frames and eyeware available from RevolutionEyes.
It was a win-win-win event! The singles had fun, the bar had a huge turn out on a typically slow Thursday night, and several new patients discovered RevolutionEyes. The cost was relatively minimal, as they group relied on email and Facebook to promote the event.
Dr. Ciano works with his partners in other ways as well. For example, he has a number of realtors who specialize in working with consumers who are new to the community. These are ideal prospects for Dr. Ciano. So we have created a direct mail piece, the realtors can send to their clients, after they move in offering a discount on their eye exam. Dr. Ciano pays for the design and printing, and the realtor’s pay for the postage. And the consumer gets the beneift.
That is really the key to successful cross promotions. It needs to be a win, win, win with something in if for each company, and the client. When done right, it helps small business owners reach a significantly wider audience. Interested in learning more? We would like to help!
Cross Promotion in Action
One of the most effective ways for small business owners to get your name out there is through cross promotions with related and sometimes unrelated businesses.
One of our clients, Dr. Jeremy Ciano of Revolution Eyes has been very effective using his relationships with other business owners to build buzz for his business. For example, he ran a joint open house with a local singles group, and Bar Louis ( his favorite lunch spot). The singles group promoted an open house event to their members ( affluent, professional singles) The event was hosted at Bar Louis, and sign in, was across the street at Revolution Eyes. As people checked in, they could browse the unusual collection of designer frames and eyeware available from RevolutionEyes.
It was a win-win-win event! The singles had fun, the bar had a huge turn out on a typically slow Thursday night, and several new patients discovered RevolutionEyes. The cost was relatively minimal, as they group relied on email and Facebook to promote the event.
Dr. Ciano works with his partners in other ways as well. For example, he has a number of realtors who specialize in working with consumers who are new to the community. These are ideal prospects for Dr. Ciano. So we have created a direct mail piece, the realtors can send to their clients, after they move in offering a discount on their eye exam. Dr. Ciano pays for the design and printing, and the realtor’s pay for the postage. And the consumer gets the benefit.
That is really the key to successful cross promotions. It needs to be a win, win, win with something in if for each company, and the client. When done right, it helps small business owners reach a significantly wider audience. Interested in learning more? We would like to help!
Let’s Get The Word Out
As the economy slowed down last fall, we began routinely encouraging our small business clients to increase, not decrease their investment in marketing and advertising. And because we believe you need to practice what you preach, we did the same thing. Begining in November, we began using direct mall on a regular basis to reconnect with existing customers and reach new clients as well. 
We have created a different post card for each or our products, printed about 1,000 and mailed them at the rate of 100 a week. We have a list of about 1,000 small busienss owners on our “hit” list, and but sending the cards out in batches of 100, each company hears from us about every ten weeks.
As soon as a card arrives from the printer, it is time to start working on the next design. Designing the different mailers was fun because we used slightly different styles and images to portray each service we offer. It has been a great way to stay connected, get our name out in the community and keep everyone up to date on the services! we offer.
And the result – we have had a number of calls after the cards are mailed, and a business owner receives one of our postcards. Sometimes the calls even come a few months later. The investment has been relatively small, but we are convinced the cards have contributed to our ability to continue to grow our sales, even in a slower economy!
