For the past few years, we have had the privilege to work for Hope Force International out of Nashville, TN. Hope Force is a non-profit organization that trains, equips, and mobilizes “reservists”, or volunteers, in the case of natural or man-made disasters.
When a series of devastating earthquakes hit the island nation of Haiti in January, Hope Force was among the first to respond on the ground in Haiti.
As the organization’s response to the Haiti disaster took shape, Hope Force asked us to create a series of materials to bring a unified identity to their work in Haiti. Among these items were a logo, website graphics, e-blasts, support letters, a brochure, wristbands, and display materials.
To learn more about Hope Force and their ongoing work in Haiti, visit their website www.hopeforce.org.
We are proud that Downtown Bentonville is the home to our studio. It is rich in history, has a rich business culture, and it is rich in the arts. Downtown Bentonville Inc is a non-profit organization that supports the businesses and culture of Downtown Bentonville.
We recently launched a new website for DBI. The site is built on a content management system, allowing their staff to actively maintain the content. The website is a source of information on the events occurring in Downtown Bentonville, including the popular Farmers Market and First Fridays.
We designed the following series of billboards for NWA Healthy Marriages. We swapped out the fortunes every few weeks so that drivers by would see each message over the course of a few months. Some of the messages corresponded with holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.
For over 15 years, John Brown University has provided a way for working adults to finish their degree. The Advance Program has been highly successful during this time, and it has played a large role in the overall growth of the university.
We began working with the Advance Program in early 2008, and they are a great example of the type of client we love. We’ve worked with the Advance Program from the ground up to establish their organizational identity and communicate their brand through multiple mediums and materials.
Brand Architecture
We started by working on the foundation – their brand. Although the program had experienced success, it lacked a cohesive identity when it came to marketing, advertising, and materials. Additionally, the program was referred to by multiple names, and this led to both internal and external confusion.
We conducted extensive research including online questionnaires, individual interviews, and focus groups of faculty, staff, students, and potential students. Armed with data, we established each key attribute of the brand, including the name, a tagline, key brand messages, brand personality and language, creative themes, and visual standards.
Out of this we settled on going forward with the name “The Advance Program” and the tagline “Finish your degree. Advance your career.” Concurrently we also designed the new JBU logo, so we established the official sub-branded logo for the Advance Program.
Collateral Materials
One of the initial challenges to overcome was the inconsistency and overall lack of quality in the Advance Program materials. We developed a series of brochures to serve as the primary print items to provide to prospective students. The brochures were designed to work in tandem and fit in a 6×9 envelope for economical postage and production.
Online
The number one point of contact with potential students is the Advance Program website. We redesigned the site to build on the new identity, while scaling back the content to make it more direct, helpful, and personal. The website also features a blog for keeping fresh content on the homepage. We designed the program’s twitter page, as twitter has quickly become a key communication tool.
Advertising
The brand architecture we established also set the direction for the program’s advertising. Among advertising items we created was the following 30-second tv spot.
It had been a while since we last updated the Our Work section of our website. We’ve added some of our newer work to each of the three sections — Web, Identity, and Print.
Preparing these portfolio items was a good reminder of how busy we’ve been, and how many fun and challenging projects we’ve been able to work on over the past few months.
We have plenty of other cool projects in the works that we’re eager to show off.
We have been working over the past few months on designing a new logo for John Brown University, and we were excited to be on hand today when JBU President Dr. Pollard introduced the new logo to faculty and staff.
Our goal was to create a simple and contemporary mark that symbolically represents the core values of the university. The three-pointed shield and three dark quadrants represent JBU’s threefold mission of educating the Head, Heart, and Hand. The cross in the center represents the university’s motto since 1919 of Christ Over All. The lighter blue quadrant depicts the top of the Cathedral — the most iconic building on campus. Finally, the circle in the center of the cross depicts the new Cathedral group plaza in the center of campus.
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