Episode # 26 Meet Taylor Brough
This week I interviewed our graphic designer Taylor Brough. A graduate of The Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Art at Indiana University, Taylor brings a unique artistic style to our design projects.
In the last 18 months, he has truly masted the art of the WebBanner and the effective 6 x 9 postcard, but his favorite projects are definitely his logo designs:
Click here to listen to the interview
Breathing New Life Into the Lung Care Group
Over the past few weeks, the Roundpeg staff has been working on a redesign for the Lung Care Group, a team of pulmonologists in Carmel, Indiana. The Lung Care Group already had a website in place, but it was obvious that the site did not adequately capture how talented the team at LCG was.
We got to work on a fully interactive overhaul of the website. We created a new layout which included downloadable forms for patients who didn’t want the inconvenience of filling them out at the doctor’s office. We also generated an interactive map for those who need directions to the Lung Care Group’s office. Not only do we feel that the final product goes a long way in improving the Lung Care Group’s brand image, but the LCG team loves it as well.
We’ve had a blast creating a website that the Lung Care Group could be proud of. Below you’ll find before and after screen shots of the site. Make sure to visit the site and check out all the new features.
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!
Local HVAC Company Gets Web Face Lift
With a little help from Roundpeg, Make it Mowery has relaunched their website – www.makeitmowery.com.
The new website provides visitors with a more organized view of their wide product and service line. The addition of a blog offers visitors information on new trends as well as the ability to see what other consumers say about their experience with Mowery.
“Mowery is well known in the local community because we’ve been in business for 40 years,” says owner Chip Cochran. “While we wanted a fresher look, we did not want to reinvent ourselves so completely that our customers did not recognize us.”
An additional benefit of the redesign was the migration to a Wordpress Platform. With the installation of the “All in One” plugin, the site is performing well on search engines and the members of the Mowery staff can keep the content fresh with small, regular updates.
To learn more about Make it Mowery and to see the new website please visit: www.makeitmowery.com.
CoolIris in Progress
We showed off how we could use CoolIris to display videos. It works equally well for graphics. Here are just a few items from our design portfolio displayed with CoolIris.
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!
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?
Business Cards – The Face of Your Business
At Roundpeg we have been talking about business cards a lot lately. Obviously, we design cards for lots of our small business clients, but also we have been working on updating our cards as well. With the launch of the new website, we added a fresh handwritten font as an accent to the site, and wanted to bring that same font into our cards.
I love the 
new look Taylor came up with. While still true to our brand, the handwriting gives the cards a friendly, more personal feel. I also love the switch to the blue background, after 6 years of teal, it is a nice change, without changing to core look of our brand.
This is challenge for many small business, how do you keep your look fresh, without losing the equity you have built up over time.
And while we are on the subject of business cards, here is what Melinda, one of our interns had to say on the subject.
Tonight is my third networking event and I am still feeling nervous but excited. One thing I am amazed by is the creativity and design skills that go into these business cards I’m getting. I have never had a business card printed with my name on it BUT by the time I do… I hope I get something cool.
I am pretty sure Melinda has some cool cards in her future. And if you are looking for inspriation, here is a link to a blog featuring 50 Creative Business Cards of 50 Graphic Designers which Melinda found.
I Love Logos
One of the blogs I read every day is Logo Design Love. Created by David Airey, a graphic designer from Ireland, the site is a tribute to good logos around the world. Filled with tips and suggestions for designers, and end users, I particularly liked this column: Ten Logo Design Tips.
My favorites from the list include:
A logo doesn’t need to say what a company does.
Take a look at the Nike logo. It doesn’t say: athletic wear. The assoication has been built over time between a strong visual, with a sense of motion.
Not every logo needs a mark
In the early days of my design career, I tended to look for a graphic to go with every brand. Over time, however, I learned to appreciate the simplicity of great text. As you look at many of the logos we have developed at Roundpeg, you will see lots of unusual text treatments, with limited graphics.
Leave trends to the fashion industry
David said it best when he said: “Trends come and go, and when you’re talking about changing a pair of jeans, or buying a new dress, that’s fine, but where your brand identity is concerned, longevity is key.”
This is especially true of colors. What is cool and hip this year looks dated as fashions and styles change.
You are going to live with your logo for a long time, be sure you create something that will stay fresh for the long run.
What do you think makes a great logo?
