Snow in July
Every now and then we have are lucky enough to bring on a new client who has a good idea of what they want, challenges us with interesting assignments, and is fun to work with. Hittle Snow is exatly that type of client. Erik, the Director of Operations came to us, hoping to refresh the look for their snow removal company. A division of a more well established, and well know company (Hittle Landscape) they were hoping to carve out a distinctive identity. Erik was open to new ideas, gave us timely and useful feedback, and pushed us gently through several rounds of revisions, till both he and we were satisfied.
The logo was only the first step in a comprehensive project which will include a redesign of their website and multiple directmail peices. The easy communication between Roundpeg and Hittle helped the design project flow smoothy, allowing us to begin working on the other elements of the project.
About the Design
Hittle Snow’s old logo had some interesting stylistic qualities, bu was a bit dated. Selecting the font was a challenge. Hittle Snow didn’t want to be too edgy, but at the same time, they also didn’t want a boring, typical serif/sans serif font. The font that we ended up using is a serif, but it’s very distinctive, sharp edges and subtle curves. We liked the H so much, we carried it into the logo.
We wanted to clearly communicate this was a snow removal company, and decided to add a snowflake symbol easily encapsulate who Hittle Snow was. Picking a snowflake was also a bit difficult. We all know that no two snowflakes are the same, and we sure learned that! By nature, snowflakes are complex shapes, but we still needed a design that could be printed on trucks, embroidered on shirts, and used in lots of different collateral. After consultations with printers and embroiderers, we wound up with a great snowflake that strikes a balance between complexity and simplicity.
The customer is so pleased with the design, we have also created several variations for their landscape division. Working on this project was a lot of fun. Hittle Snow is a wonderful client, and I think that in the end, we gave them a unique but classic brand.
A Tale of Two Websites
We recently had an interesting challenge: to design “sister sites” for two related but separate companies: Polaris Property Management and a blog for Polaris Real Estate. For Polaris Property Management, it was a redesign of their existing site, but the blog is meant to compliment danbaldini.com, the existing site for Polaris Real Estate.
At first glance, the pages don’t look so different. They share a similar simple style, and clean style, along with Taylor’s great banner artwork. However, the content and function of the sites are very different.
The Polaris Manage site is a more traditional site: its intent is to bring in customers. It’s also a way for potential customers to inquire about properties, or for tenants to file maintenance requests.
The blog, however, is a great way to establish credibility in all areas on the Polaris family of companies. By giving value to the web community, the Polaris team is establishing themselves as trustworthy experts when you’re selling your home and business.
This dual-site design was a challenge, sometimes confusing, but in the end, rewarding. We’re pleased with how it turned out, and hope that it brings the Polaris team much success.
Who Will Win the May Business Card Makeover?
In the course of our Business Card Makeover contest, we’ve found some business cards which were in serious need of a makeover. Most of the business cards we received were not hideous, but simply not functional.
Take a look at your business card. Can you read everything easily, or do you have to squint past ornate fonts and tiny sizes, or sort through cluttered lines of text ? Remember: the primary purpose of a business card is give your contact information. If your card makes it difficult to find that, you’re in trouble. Think of your business card like a tiny billboard. Can you read the informatoin zooming by at 60 miles an hour.
Help Us Select This Month’s Winner
Check out these examples of business cards in we have selected as finalists, by clicking the link to the right. Select the card you believe should receive a FREE makeover. Be sure to remember the number, return to this screen and enter the number in the form below.
Only votes submitted with a valid email will be counted. And if your card is one of the finalists, be sure to encourage your friends to come and vote!!
We will be accepting votes until Midnight on Sunday May, 23.
Camping Season Kicking into High Gear with New Websites
Spring is in the air, and with it, everyone’s thoughts turn to enjoying the warm weather months outdoors. So it’s really no surprise that we’ve been helping several campgrounds around the country get their sites in shape for the summer season.
We redesigned the sites for Beaver Hollow Campground in New Hampshire, and Whispering Pines Campground in Rhode Island. For both of campsites, we focused on streamlining the design so information was easy for prospective campers to find. We created a wider format, which moved more of the content above the fold, with links to the Twitter, Facebook, and contact forms right on the top of the page.
We used WP-Table Reloaded to create a searchable activity calendar, giving each campground an easy-to-update, easy-to-read, and easy-to-search database for the many events going on around camp. In the future, updating these schedules will be as easy as uploading an Excel spreadsheet. ( We have also used this same tool for doctor’s on call schedules, project lists, and member data bases)
It was a nice change of pace to work on these sites–emphasizing the great outdoors, looking at the photos of campers enjoying the facilities, and working with fun logos like Beaver Hollow’s friendly mascot. So if you’re ever in New England, make sure you stop off at one of these sites to get back to nature.
See the before and after images of Beaver Hollow Below:
Business Card Makeover Contest
I’ve been attending networking events on a regular basis since I started working at Roundpeg almost two years ago. At each event, I am surprised by how many people starting businesses are not using professional looking business cards.
We like to have fun here at Roundpeg especially as the days become brighter so after a conversation with Lorraine, we have decided to offer a creative solution for some of these Ugly Business Cards. This summer we will be running a Business Card Makeover Contest.
You might qualify for this contest if your business card
- is ugly
- was created using a Vistaprint – Extra points if it has the Vistaprint logo on the back
- was created using Word or Publisher
- uses clip art as pat of the design.
To enter our Makeover Contest you must complete the form below and do one of the following:
- mail us a copy of your card – Roundpeg 1003 East 106th, Indianapolis, IN 46280
- fax a copy of your card – 317-569-1389
- Send a copy of your card to me via email Taylor @roundpeg. biz
- drop off your business card at any Rainmaker event where you see the business card makeover bucket
Be aware that by submitting your business card, you agree to allow us to feature your card in Roundpeg’s marketing and promotions.
There will be three lucky winners ( one each month May, June and July) All cards will be evaluated by the team at Roundpeg, and then finalists will be evaluated by members of the community. The winner will be chosen by the 20th of each month, so we have time to redesign the cards before the Rainmaker Main Event each month.
OK, so now you want to know what the prize is? The winner of the “Ugliest Business Card” will win a Business Card Makeover. We will create 2 designs for you to choose from and we will then supply you with 500 “made-over” cards! – This is easily a $500/value.
Winners will be announced each month at the Rainmaker Main Event. They will also be listed here on roundpeg.biz and let’s make it rain
And for those of you who don’t win? We will be running a special promotion this summer, offering you a biz card makeover for $300 including the printing of 500 cards.
Building a Brand with Words and Pictures
About a week ago I asked for help. We were working on a name for a Carpenter, and I asked for input. We had some great suggestions ranging from TIMber Works and Miter Design, to Level Best and Homeworks. Each suggestion from a reader led to a stream of other ideas. I really believe using the collective intelligence of my internet community led to a great final solution!
The client Chose: THE CARPENTER’S RULE . It is descriptive, and distinctive and he is very excited. So now we are on to the second phase, creating a logo. We need a design which will look good on every thing from a business card and web site, to a truck and a t-shirt.
These are the designs Taylor has come up with. I love so many of them, I am having a hard time deciding, and so is the client. What do you think? Which do you like best, and why? 
Paul Poteet’s Gotta Eat Redesign
Over the past few weeks, the entire Roundpeg team has been working on a redesign of the website for “Paul Poteet’s Gotta Eat.” As most people know, Paul is a popular and well-known public figure here in Indiana, so much so that he’s known unofficially as “Indiana’s weatherman.”
The redesign was fun and challenging as we worked toward a finished project which would effectively display all of the content in a manner which did not overwhelm the visitor. Finding the right theme was the toughest part of the redesign. There were so many elements, and few themes are constructed to present that much content on the home page. We finally found the Araras theme which gave us everything we wanted.
The next challenge was to decide how to organize all the information. Part of Paul’s value package is the offer to each restaurant that their video will be hosted on the front page for a year. As he continues to expand this program, the site will need to accomodate a growing number of videos. In addition to the videos on the site, there are photo galleries, new event announcements, restaurant and sponsor logos, and a Twitter feed which each needed a unique place on the homepage. After some trial and error, we were able to effectively display the cornucopia of content the site has to offer.
With the organization of the information under control, we began to look at ways to customize the template. Matt Wallpe of Wallpe Design was already working with Paul to redo his logo and overall branding. We loved the color and style of the new logo and used that for a foundation to develop a color scheme for the site. It is always fun to incorporate the foundation of other talented local designers.
To incorporate the color scheme, as well as establish a standard for all the video thumbnails I turned to the “big guns” at Roundpeg - our Vice President, Taylor Brough. His suggestion to add a subtle map of Indianapolis in the background to contrast the white forefront creates the ideal canvas on which to present all of the graphics for Paul.
The addition of text to the home page will improve the SEO functionality of the new site, improving the chances the content will be featured on a variety of search engines. This was an element, Lorraine Ball,was most focused on. Trusting Taylor and I to work on the design and function, she worked with Allison to add descriptive text to the videos and pictures. Using the All-in-One SEO plug in to organize the content for search engines, the new site is already scoring well in search, and scoring above 80% on Website Grader measures.
The PPGE site gave us an opportunity to work on a site chock-full of multimedia. More complex then most of the sites we build it allowed us to put many of the skills we have developed together into one project. We are were incredibly happy with the results. Check out the entire site when you get a chance!
Better yet, check out one of the events and truly experience Paul Poteet’s Gotta Eat
Weddings and the Color Purple
At Roundpeg, our clients come from a wide range of industries. On any given day, we may find ourselves working with a HVAC company, Eye Doctor or DJ. I enjoy the diversity and have become accustomed to switching gears as I move from project to project. So it was unusual when we had two wedding planners ask us to design their sites, one right after the other.
In the first quarter we designed a website for Kim King Smith Events, LLC and Simply Perfect Events. Both sites were had elements which made the projects, fairly simple, and complex at the same time. One thing we noticed was both planners shared a common love for the color purple!.
With Kim King Smith Events, LLC we were recreating an existing site on a WordPress platform. Kim (owner of Kim King Smith Events) has been in business for years and she wanted to keep her image. Our primary objective, was to give her a tool which would allow her to make simple updates on a regular basis. A secondary objective was to update the site slightly to give it a cleaner look and feel. With so much existing content, we had all the information we needed to complete the pages.
Kim has been blogging for quite awhile on Blogger, so we added a blog to the site, and transferred all the content to here site. Now the posts bring additional traffic to www.kimkingsmithevents.com instead of Blogger. Check out the site, and tell us what you think!
Simply Perfect Events was fun to work on because we were starting from scratch. Kelley (owner of Simply Perfect Events) is just starting her business, and had no exsisting website so we had more freedom to create her site. The greatest challenge was the fact that she did not have a clear idea of what she wanted her site to look like. We went through several very different versions, including one usual version which looked like a planner laying on a desktop. Ultimately she opted for a cleaner, more traditional layout, with a lot of purple. Her logo font was an elegant script, which we used for page titles, and other emphasis points on the site. Kelley all had a number of photos she wanted displayed on her site so we added the Next Gen Gallery plug in to create a photo gallery page which will grow as her business grows. To see Simply Perfect Events website please visit: www.simplyperfectindy.com.
Good Design Helps Customers See You Better
Revolution-Eyes – POP Program -
We have worked with RevolutionEYES since before they opened 2 1/2 years ago. Every month we get together and kick around new ideas. One of the projects we have discussed for monts is a POP (Preferred Optical Program) which would offer vision benefits to employees in companies without a vision insurance program.
I am excited we stopped talking about it, and started designing it! The program includes savings on :
- Eye Exams
- Frames
- Lenses
- Contacts
- Kids Package
From a marketing perspective there were three distinct tpieces which made the project come together. The first piece was the folder. I designed this pocketless folder with the RevolutionEYES brand and “style” and also inserted the important information about the program. The folder was designed so the “membership card” could be glued in place in each folder.
The second part of the process was designing the POP card. We wanted it to have an official “feel” so we had the artwork printed on a plastic card, about the size and weight of a typical credit card. In additoin to contact information, the card has a unique code for each patient which is used to access program informatio non the RevolutionEYES website.
The website was the third part of the process. We created a series of pages, incuding several which are password protected containing member informaton. The log in screen will give Dr. Ciano real time feedback on the effectiveness of the program, becuase he will be able to compare card distributoin to registations.
While we enjoy every project, larger or small, it is always fun to have something a little more complex to work on which really challenges our design skills a little. We just deliverd all the pieces last week, and we are looking forward to hearing about how it is working the next time we get together at Bar Louis to discuss his business.
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
