Design for Print

YMCA: Implementing the New Brand

Inside spread, front and back of the five panel brochure developed for the YMCA of WNC. Part of the implementation of the new Y brand.

The YMCA is in process of rebranding across the nation. They have updated their “Y” logo and created a new colorful look.

Rebranding is a great time to remind your audience of who you are and what you stand for, and the Y is maximizing this truism. They are using this time to draw attention to their three areas of focus: Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility, reminding us of the depth of the Ys commitment to community.

Starting with the 2010 Annual Report, I have worked with our Y of Western North Carolina in implementing their new brand. I worked closely with their Financial Development Director to ensure that the materials for this year’s fundraising campaign brought the new brand to life.

Along with the updated graphics, we moved to a five panel brochure and included a pledge card for ease of response. Brochures sent to past donors included variable data on the pledge card, additionally adding to the ease of responding.

We also revamped the newsletter, implementing brand while creating a new oversized piece to allow for more stories and larger photos. I’m proud to say that our newsletter design was presented as an example to other Ys across the country of good implementation of brand! Click here to view a pdf of the Winter/Spring 2011 issue.

Other support materials included t-shirts, banners, ads and posters (shown below).

For information on the Y of WNC visit www.ymcawnc.org

Breakfast and Beyond – Sunny Point Café Cookbook

Mmmmm, Sunny Point Café. Imagine if you could cook like that…. Well you can (or try anyhow if you are my caliber of cook). At least you have a good shot at it using Breakfast and Beyond: Comfort Food From Dawn to Dark by April Moon.

Our goal was to make a cookbook that was usable and didn’t break the bank, either to produce or to buy. We opted for a 2-color cover and 1-color interior, designing for no bleed on the inside pages to save on printing costs. It was important that the book be truly usable in a friendly kitchen way. What were the important elements to accomplish this? A) Readability – both in font selection and text layout; B) Accessibility – a book that would lay open without propping and not requiring page turns to complete a recipe; C) Personality – copy written to reflect April’s style, fun food related quotes throughout, and space for the cookbook user to write notes.

I believe we accomplished all that, and it was a team effort. Besides April, her family was fully part of this book’s creation. Her daughter, Hana, interned with me for the summer specifically to work on this project. She did a terrific job! For anyone that has put together a 160 page cookbook you know that the devil is in the details and Hana was right on those.

With Hana checking all the layout details and making copy edits, I got the fun job of designing the cover. (Hey, experience has some clout.) Sunny Point’s logo is a cheery orange sun, which was perfect for the “Dawn” part of the title. I went with hand drawn stars for the “Dark” and used a strong diagonal division of the two colors to make a bold cover.

And, I have made a good half dozen of the recipes out of the book since it was released – all with excellent results. Perhaps there is cooking hope for me yet.

Copies of the cookbook can be purchased via the Sunny Point Café blog store, or at the restaurant.