With a stated mission is to bring their reader’s “the home skills our grandparents had such as gardening, canning, do it yourself projects and cooking along with information, ideas and resources to get the most out of their home life“, the Home Field Guide will be a great addition to the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene community.

Michael Allen, publisher of Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Home Field Guide reached out to Coeur Creative Group and credit’s the agency with a portion of their success…

“The single best decision I’ve made on this project was hiring Coeur Creative as my design firm. Their style was a match for mine and they have been great to work with.” — Michael Allen

The first issue just went off to press today, look for it at newsstands in a couple of weeks, but if you want a sneak peek, take a look at the digital version below, or visit their web site, homefieldguide.com.

As a Kirkland, WA travel agency, Laurie knew the importance of her logo in helping to present an upscale image to the public. On a rather tight time-table, we were able to take her though the branding process and develop a unique logo that will position her company well in the market.

As the design agency for Kellstrom Publications’ bi-monthly publication, we are excited to be a part of this ongoing project and always look forward to reader’s feedback.

The May-June 2011 issue has some great feature articles including, Tastin’ N’ Racin’, Garrison Creek Cellars and a tour of Walla Walla.

Browse through a flip-book of the printed version below, or visit their web site, isandbeyond.com, for all the articles online.

According to WebProNews Google is looking at using page load time as a factor in their page ranking system.

What does this mean to the average site owner? Not too much today as they haven’t implemented this practice yet. But, it does mean site owners update their site, they should think about updating with an eye towards page load times. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Instead of multiple CSS files, condense them into one list reducing the number of files that need to load prior to page presentation.
2. Clean up your CSS files. Many times CSS files get added to over time. For new page elements, we add new CSS code, but then forget to remove unused code. Take a look at your CSS file and remove any unused code.
3. Keep Javascript to a minimum. Javascript is great, it allows us to do some great things. But, just like CSS, keeping file calls to a minimum is important to speeding up your page load time, so combining javascript files whenever possible.
4. Compression. If your sever is capable, the use of gzip file compression will shrink the actual file size, making it faster to transfer.
5. Optimize our images. Use a good image optimization tool like Fireworks or Photoshop and choose the best file type (GIF, JPEG, PNG, etc.) for your images.

These are just a few tips. Google has some great resources on things to consider or contact us, we would be happy to work with to speed up your site.

But, thank God there are people like Rani and Trong Hong and their foundation, The Tronie Foundation.

The Tronie Foundation exists to provide worldwide restoration of victims of human trafficking and those vulnerable to exploitation. Restoration will be accomplished through education, community mobilization, policy reform, shelter, and services.

The Tronie Foundation has established Homes of Freedom to provide the Northwest’s first recovery shelter for modern day slaves. Board members share the goal of rebuilding survivors’ lives by offering them services such as a safe, long-term home, counseling, and job training. The ultimate goal is to survivors achieve independence.

The Tronie Foundation turned to Coeur Creative to develop their brand standards guide (PDF 1.9MB) and provided high level marketing and brand guidance.

We are excited to be a part of this mission and hope you all will learn more about the Hong’s story and get involved with their worthy foundation.

Byword (bi’ wûrd) n. Something noteworthy or worth hearing. It is a title that band members Elliot Stone, Brent Ragan, Tim LoPresto, and Neil Young wish to mark a transparency in their music, glorifying the source of their inspiration and hope: Jesus Christ. Raw and energetic, filled with melodic guitar riffs, victorious baritone vocals, and a sincere message, Byword is a rock group of passionate young Idahoans, seeking to lead the people of this generation into a fresh encounter with the Savior.

To help kick off their 2008 tour season, Byword engaged Coeur Creative Group to re-design and re-develop their website, bywordonline.com.

Coeur Creative utilized WordPress as the basis for their new site and developed a custom template to help communicate the bands progressing style.

Neil let us listen to a couple of works in progress to derive a design style that would match the direction Byword’s music is headed. The key descriptors that seemed to shine through were energetic and organic. We tried to convey these qualities in our final design solution.

Byword is currently on the road touring. We here at Coeur Creative have got you in our prayers and we’re looking forward to those video blog updates!

Narrated by Joe Mantegna, Flunked isn’t another hit piece on the American education system, instead it is an eyes-wide-open look at what is working! The statistics are clear, our education system isn’t doing great but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bright spots. Flunked highlights those in the system that are getting it right and making a difference.

Flunked looks to provided answers instead of blame.

During the creative development of the marketing materials, Joel Sorrell turned to Coeur Creative to help provide some creative direction and marketing advice. Joel had a great start that made it easy for us to come in and add some punch to the design and develop the tag line, “A story of failure. A formula for hope.”

To learn more about this film visit their site, MySpace page, or view the trailer below.

Award winning filmmaker John Paget chose to partner with Coeur Creative Group to develop the title art and DVD packaging for his latest documentary, Alcatraz Reunion.

Alcatraz Reunion is a trip to Alcatraz like no other: Join the actual ex-cons and their former cellhouse guards as they return to the Rock for the annual Alcatraz Alumni Gathering.

Against the backdrop of this strange but true rendezvous of colorful characters and former enemies, Alcatraz Reunion traces the history of the legendary island, and its mysterious transformation from notorious prison to tourist mecca.

Make sure to check out the trailer or purchase your own copy of Alcatraz Reunion.

Working with Discover Books, Coeur Creative Group developed specialplaces.com to build a community of travelers and promote the online sale of their books Special Places of Washington for Romance, Adventure and Gourmet Cuisine and Great Wineries of Washington – Exclusive Vine to Wine Experiences.

Mandi and Fred Nystom hand select each of the independent properties listed in their travel guides and at specialplaces.com. Members to the site have access to thourough reviews of each of the exceptional properties along with discounts provided by those establishments. Members are also encouraged to post comments about their experiences.

The Special Places’ books make great gifts for those who love to travel. The $19.95 price along with the $20 of coupons included in each book means the book actually pays for itself!

MAP’s new look is in tune with recent changes in the credit union environment. Cyndie Martini, President and CEO of MAP, explains, “While MAP has always been on the leading edge of progressive technologies, our brand had more of an organic feel, in line with the overall image of most credit unions. Our new image reflects the advancements offered by Member Access Pacific in response to member demands for modern high-tech products and services.”

The MAP brand identity is all about greater access. Martini notes that, as the main providers of service to the financially underserved, credit unions will need to respond to the increasing demand for flexible, low-cost products such as Visa Prepaid cards. Reloadable Visa Prepaid cards offer a smart, secure alternative to carrying cash. This commitment to broader global access and increased flexibility is embodied in MAP’s new slogan, “Access the World.” As credit unions and their members embrace a new world of modern products and services, MAP is making it possible by providing the latest in affordable, progressive solutions.

Martini said that Coeur Creative was the first choice for the rebranding project because of their strong creative talents and their history of inspired work with the Washington Credit Union League, King County Chapter of Credit Unions and a number of Washington credit unions. She added, “I have collaborated with Shawn Kellner (Coeur principal) many times over the past seven years. Coeur produces strong, user-friendly marketing pieces and consistently provides great work and service.”