For the Love of Letterpress

Perhaps we should thank Martha Stewart for the renewed interest in letterpress printing, since she's been advocating use of this beautiful reproduction technique for wedding invitations for some time. 

It's easy to see why people are attracted to this style of printing: the tactile experience exudes quality.

However, before deciding to use letterpress for your next project, spend a few minutes to consider if it's right for you. Because colors are applied one at time, letterpress printing is best for one- or two-color designs. Using three or more colors significantly increases the cost. Remember too that photographs are impossible to reproduce with this style of printing.

We couldn't resist using this technique for our new business cards—and love the results!

How Entertaining Can Increase Readership

One of the biggest challenges of any communicator is getting the attention of their target audience.
 
As businesses, our messages arrive at the consumer’s eyes and ears but are allowed in only with their permission. Very often, they’re not seeking what we have to say.
 
The entertain-engage method of communication is one way to break through the sea of communications. Give your target audience something they’re hungry for—whether it’s entertainment, inspiration or a mental break—before you give them the message you want them to absorb.
 
We recommended this method for a university’s recruiting piece we helped develop targeting high school sophomores. We know that messages that carry entertainment value are more likely to be allowed in, and chose to pay an irreverent visit to age-old clichés that parents use to get the readers’ attention and build a platform for a deeper message.
 
Besides increasing the chance for engagement with this audience, its unexpected approach provides a fresh take on college recruiting material—much of which looks very similar.
 
Are there opportunities for you to tell your brand’s story using this method?

Client Showcase: Award-winning Annual Report Features Fresh Imagery

For more than a decade we’ve partnered with Key Technology to produce their annual report. And for the second year in a row, their annual report has been listed in the Top 100 winners gallery in the 2010-2011 international LACP Visions Awards Annual Report Competition. Number 29 on the list, it was selected from more than 5,000 entries across all categories—and from 24 countries.
 
The Top 100 list included companies like Korean Air, Hyundai, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Walmart (Mexico/Central America), Qualcomm, Charles Schwab and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
 
The report also garnered the Platinum Award, the highest of four awards offered, for annual reports in its industry category. A panel of professional judges scored the project on eight aspects ranging from first impressions to message clarity.
 
This year’s report cover image suggests both the international nature of their company and how their technologies benefit the consumer by bringing us fresher, purer products. We love the power of the image and its utter simplicity—made more notable by generous use of white space and use of vibrant colors inside.
 
LACP is the League of American Communications Professionals that helps promote best-in-class practices in communications.

Motion Graphics Helps Raise Funds for Women’s Shelter

Every night 25 women in our community will be homeless—for all kinds of reasons ranging from domestic abuse to addictions. STEP, a local shelter for homeless women,  provides temporary shelter, food and resources to help these women create a plan for independence.
 
When their funds were dramatically cut this month, we created this motion graphic video to help them raise money to preserve this important community service. You can donate one night’s shelter for $15—more if you wish.
 
Giving another person the chance at a better life seems like a great way to start the New Year, doesn’t it?

Client Showcase: Calendar to Promote Early Literacy

We were delighted to partner with Umatilla County Special Library District to develop a calendar to help promote literacy in young children, since this is a cause we care about.

We identified a local artist who agreed to develop custom illustrations that brought to life the client's desired monthly themes. Every spread features not only this colorful and playful artwork and calendar, but recommended authors and activities to promote literacy among children. The calendar will be used for parents, teachers and caregivers as they help children develop language skills.

One can still make the case for the practicality of a calendar—even in an age of technology—because of its ability to be present in a home or office over an entire year. What other printed piece has this longevity?

Not only does a calendar have duration and presence, it can offer the chance to inspire and teach while still fulfilling that work-horse role as a calendar.

Showcase: Scholarship Worksheet Keeps it Simple

Walla Walla University’s new scholarship program gives students instant feedback on what they’re eligible for—and has proven to be an important part of their marketing successes.

When they asked us to develop a simple piece to communicate this complicated message—we recommended an interactive visual piece that is available in print and on-line (click here to view the online version).

Very often, a visual is the best way to convey complex information quickly.

Client Showcase: St. Anthony North 40-Year Collateral Piece

This is the final piece in a campaign to promote St. Anthony North Hospital's achievements via its 40-year anniversary. This printed piece serves as both a direct mail and a brochure that tells the hospital's story and casts a vision for its future. The campaign theme, "We," celebrates the team's efforts in reaching this milestone, while creating enthusiasm for the hospital's future. It pairs well with the employee video, where we build on a reality-style production to show what "we" means. 

 

The campaign included transit, outdoor boards, mall displays, building banners, kinetic typography, Web content, videos, and print ads. 

 

The focus of the messaging was not just about their accomplishments and plans for the future, but was a way to celebrate the achievements of the team, which always infuses energy into an organization.

We can't wait to see what they do together in the next 40 years.

 

How are you celebrating the achievements of the people who make your business successful? What company do you know that does this well?



Independent Colleges of Washington Uses Animation to Tell Their Story

Washington's private colleges are a cause we love to support because of the way they change lives and help our state's citizens.

 

About 40,000 students attend these ten schools—yet the schools receive less than 2% of the state higher education budget. This saves the state more than $330 million per year in operating subsidies—while increasing choice for those attending college. Contrary to what many think, these schools serve an economically diverse student body, providing quality education to students from all demographics and income backgrounds.

 

We developed this animation for them to help them bring their story to life—and reinforce their key brand messages using a medium that works well on the Web and with social media.

Communications Can Restore Sense of Purpose and Meaning to the Workforce

How can we recognize our volunteers? That was the question posed by St. Anthony North Hospital as they prepared to launch their 40-year anniversary campaign.

We assembled this simple animation pairing words and photos to respond to their request, and love the magical qualities represented by these compelling still images. Hiring one of our partner photographers in Colorado, we commissioned her to tell a visual story that captures the generous spirit of these volunteers. Within a week, we had pulled this together, designing it in a way that allows it to be used not only for the anniversary, but for recruiting and recognizing volunteers in the future.

Communicators build culture by the words and images they use—by the stories they tell. This is one of the areas I find most rewarding in our work. It's easy to focus on new products, services and programs, because of their news value. But we all need to remember how important it is to take time to reinforce behaviors that are essential to your corporate culture.

Here are ways to use an animation like this:

• Post it on your Web site
• Post it on your You Tube site
• Show it in orientation, or during the recruiting process
• Show it at events
• Post it on Facebook and other social media sites
• Show it on in-house monitors or TV channels
• Distribute links to it via email

We often find that reminding people of the deeper reasons they chose their profession pays off in significant ways for companies—restoring a bit of soul to the corporate world.

What kind of culture-building communications have you seen lately that worked?

Client Showcase: Tips on Conveying a High Tech Image

When Littleton Adventist Hospital installed one of the first 13-second Stat Scanners in the country, they asked us to incorporate this message into a series of ads that helped position their emergency center as high tech. By mixing a re-enactment with a brief description of how the equipment benefits their patients, the ad depicts how the hospital is leading the way in bringing innovative technologies to the community.

 

It's not always easy to convey a "high tech" message in health care. Here are some tips:

1. Don't include visuals that are unsettling for consumers. By and large, people don't want to see themselves in typical health care settings—having procedures done, blood drawn, surgery or tests.
2. If you are promoting technology, make sure to make the prevailing message one of how it benefits the consumers. Most people don't want to hear about the bells and whistles of a new piece of technology, but are interested in what it can do for their condition or disease.
3. Engage the power of story. Real stories or possible scenarios, told in language people can understand, are almost always effective.

Health care organizations sometimes err on the side of conveying too much technical information, or too much of the softer side. Either one has its risk. We recommend balancing these messages, and making sure that you look at them from an "outside" perspective.

Do you see examples of hospitals that are positioned as high or low tech? High or low "touch"?