I’ve been following the Spaces for Ideas project for a while. It’s a brilliant project from D.T. over at Design Sojourn.

If you want to get caught up on the project, the 4 stages so far are below:

1) Spaces for Ideas: The Beginning

2) Spaces for Ideas: The First Prototype

3) Spaces for Ideas: The Brand

4) Spaces for Ideas: The Final Prototype

The critique below is concerned with the 3rd stage: The Brand.

Head on over to DT’s post to see how he arrived at the solution. It’s brilliant, and the process mirrors very closely what many Graphic Designers go through to establish a successful brand identity. It is a great distillation by someone familiar with design thinking, and the mix of intellectual and artistic talent required to bring an idea together and make it work visually.

I really feel the overall design is well executed, and the spacing, balance and weight of the type, kerning and overall balance is right on target.

As I looked at the finished version, however, something kept bothering me. The visual weight of “for ideas” kept trying to compete for attention with “spaces”, and it felt like they were at odds with each other.

As I was looking at the stack above on my screen at work, a curious thing happened. A feature of the particular screen I work with, is that the bottom 1/6th or so of the screen looses a bit of crispness/contrast when I look at images. Combined with the small “for ideas” type in the smallest prototype made those two words look significantly lighter.

That’s when the whole image snapped for me visually. The word “S P A C E S” clicked into place, and “for ideas” resolved itself visually.

I think taking it that one step further over all strengthens the piece.

Once the visual balance is worked out, then it’s time to take a second look at “SPACES” and make sure the kerning feels right. I think the two “S” characters at either end could use a bit more space, as they are they feel a little tight, but that one is subjective. Unfortunately, I don’t have the original vector file, so all I can do is throw together a quick screen mockup:

Before:

After:

Production notes:

Ideally, this can be accomodated as a 2-color project, with a pantone cool grey 2-4, or better yet, pantone 877 (metalic silver) as the accent color for “for ideas”, and a nice rich black, ideally UV coated for “spaces”- the realities of production, however, sometimes forces one into a compromise. Depending on the silk screen, a decent simulation of grey could be made using halftones, but I would highly recommend testing on a prototype before going ahead with production. The last compromise is keeping the colors as-they are, and that may end up being the final option available.

-KG

The Development Office approached us with the task of creating a new development brochure the development officers could take and leave behind when speaking with potential donors. Our Senior Editor performed interviews with several students, faculty and donors, and we commissioned a photographer to come on-location and take environmental portraits of the above.

Project Director, Executive Editor: Liz MacDonald
Art Direction, Graphic Design: Kevin Garcia
Photography: Randy Tunnel, David Niblack

CSU Monterey Bay Course Catalog.

Project Director, Executive Editor: Liz MacDonald
Print Design & Layout: Kevin Garcia; Joan Iguban
Web production: Joan Iguban
Content Authoring: CSUMB Divisions, Colleges, Schools, Departments and Programs
Photography: Steve Zmak; Sean Madden; Andrew Porter; Don Porter; Randy Tunnel
Total Number of Pages: 288

This was a huge project for our department. My role was to do the actual production & layout in this piece, as well as re-creating most of the text styles from the previous year to account for legibility, better organization, an updated format, spacing issues, as well as bringing the cover in-line with our existing admissions materials. Because of cost concerns, we chose to go for 1-color printing on the inside, and due to the thickness of the paper, I made the choice to use 90% black as our darkest fill in order to not overwhelm the stock.

These were incredibly fun to put together. Sourcing from iStock as well as Creative Commons commercial use with derivative licensed images on Flickr, combined with moo.com for the ability to print multiple images, we put together a few packages to leave with executive team members at one of Dr. Ada’s seminars, as well as stand-alone mini-cards to leave behind. I worked with Dr. Ada to create imagery and copy that reinforced the main concepts from her communication seminar.

G8ZMFPEEABEZ

Earlier this year, Damien Basile wrote a post titled “Is your Hustle Enough“, in which he detailed a great experience he had with Janie of @HouseOfJerky on twitter. I’ve been following Janie’s stream since then, and I’ve been meaning to order a sampler pack, to decide if I wanted to order more, but I never actually got around to it.

A few days ago, after seeing one of Janie’s posts hit my stream, I replied to her with a simple question:

To my surprise, Janie replied almost instantly, and we had a nice exchange, where she took the time to actually customize a package to my taste, and mail it to me.

A few days later, Janie followed up:

I thanked Janie for the samples she sent me, and after trying the different flavors, ordered two of my favorites. I can’t wait to get them in the mail in a few days, and It’s extremely likely that i’ll continue to order from House of Jerky in the future. In addition, i’ve told several of my family members and close friends about the positive experience, and have spread the great experience I had through my social networks. This is something I rarely do. I’m much more likely to share a negative experience than I am a regular interaction. After all, nobody really gets excited about an average experience.

What can we learn from this?

1. Listen: In the new world of social media, being a broadcaster is no longer enough. Having a profile on twitter, a facebook page and profiles on other networks is great, but if all you do is broadcast your message, you will miss key opportunities to engage with your customers and create memorable experiences.
2. Engage: As an engaged listener, Janie interacts with customers on a regular basis. All you have to do is look at her twitter stream to see she is an active participant. Janie’s response time was measured in minutes, not hours or days. Having someone at the keyboard that actively responded to my inquiry elevated my opinion of the brand instantly.
3. Be Relevant: By finding out my personal tastes, Janie was able to put together a custom sample package that was unique to my preference. It spoke to my tastes, and further reinforced the message that House of Jerky cares about it’s costumers.
4. Follow up: A few days after sending the package, Janie followed up. Her message was simple, but it indicated that she cared about my opinion of the product, and it reinforced my personal connection with the brand. After opening the samplers, I went back to the website and ordered two 8oz packages with my favorite flavors out of the lot. Something I had been considering for months before Janie facilitated an outstanding experience.

My interaction with Janie was a memorable experience. At no point in the process, did she say “Buy our All-Natural Beef Jerky, made with no Preservatives!” (That’s a sales pitch, and their website already serves that function. Similar pitches are as welcome as a brick through a window in social media, and yet, i’ve seen plenty of small and medium business make that mistake). What she did do, is allow me to experience the product for myself, and position the brand in a relevant place in my mind. The sale took care of itself.

How have meaningful experiences changed your interactions with brands?

Logo, Business Cards, Note Cards, Letterhead, Envelopes, Website.

Notepads: Neenah Paper 24# Classic Crest Writing Natural White
Business Cards: Neenah Paper 130# Double Thick Classic Linen Natural White Cover
Letterheads: Neenah Paper 80# Classic Linen Natural White Text
#10 Envelopes: Neenah Paper 24# Classic Linen Natural White Text

All pieces are printed with soy-based inks through an FSC-Mixed-sources certified process.

In what appears to be a stroke of Genius, the University of Florida E-Learning System Support Team released their ZOMBIE ATTACK: Disaster Preparedness Simulation Exercise #5 (DR5) plan to the world. Unfortunately, according to Central Florida News 13, it was taken down by the administration because the joke “didn’t belong” on the university site.

In order to spare the world should a catastrophe of this magnitude come to pass, I managed to snag a copy before the offending file was removed, and am hosting it for public consumption as a public service…

Enjoy!

Sometimes, a story is so ridiculous that it begs to be illustrated.

I’m still putting the finishing touches, but at this point, i would say the new and improved KG Creative is live! Stay tuned for updates, design resources and more!