Young at Art

The Chester County Art Association is currently holding it’s 39th Annual Student Art exhibit. The gallery features nearly 500 hundred works of art, created by 12 area High Schools across Chester County. The various works include illustrations, paintings, watercolor, photography, ceramics, graphic design and jewelry.

A reception and awards ceremony was held Monday, April 29th during which the following awards were presented: Chester County Art Association Excellence Awards and Honorable Mentions, William Hirsch Award for Excellence in Sculpture, William Hirsch Award for Excellence in Black and White Drawing, Will Newcomb Memorial Award, and the Congressional Art Show Awards.

It was an amazing show of talent and proud moment for “bragging rights,” as my son Spencer, a 9th grade student at Henderson High School, accepted an award.

CCAA - Spencer Parke with his award winning digital Illustration entitled “Sigma.”

Spencer Parke with his award winning Digital Illustration entitled “Sigma.”

The show will run through Saturday, May 4, from 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Chester County Art Association, located at 100 North Bradford Avenue, in West Chester.

2017-05-22T13:17:03+00:00 May 1st, 2013|Local, Shows|6 Comments

Making Strides

SPARC is a nonprofit clinic that serves individuals with autism as well as children with a variety of behavioral concerns. Back in January we received a letter from Dena, their Marketing Director asking for donations to support “Strides for SPARC” 4th Annual 5K Run/Walk here in West Chester.

We were happy to give our support by donating our services to create promotional materials, such as posters, flyers and t-shirt designs for upcoming event. In addition we recreated the SPARC logo, since their only copy was a low resolution jpg version, providing them a full set of clean logos for printing and the web.

SPARC Poster & T-Shirt

Look for the posters around town and hopefully we’ll see you at the event, which is scheduled for 9:00 am next Saturday, April 27th at West Chester University.

2017-05-22T13:17:03+00:00 April 23rd, 2013|Design, Local|Comments Off on Making Strides

Some people have real problems

We all get annoyed with mundane things on a daily basis, forgetting that there are people dealing with real problems. Take Byron Galán’s mom, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 Uterine Cancer.

Her son created a simple yet compelling visual campaign, trying to bring awareness to younger audiences. He then took to the web, Indigogo specifically, asking for donations to help pay for medical expenses.

Check out the whole set at behance.net

What do you think? We believe he nailed it. Nice visuals. Great message. Excellent execution. Good luck to Mrs. G!

2017-05-22T13:17:04+00:00 April 18th, 2013|Design|1 Comment

Backstage at the Armory

The heart of downtown West Chester was beating this weekend with the sound of the many performances to come at Uptown! Entertainment Alliance Red Carpet Gala event, to give the performing arts a new home.

The Armory West Chester - Uptown Red Carpet Gala

Uptown! Gala funds will help finance the transformation of the historical 1916 National Guard Armory on High Street into an entertainment venue. The Armory was alive with history and music as the First Ladies of Rock & Soul and their 14-piece band and singer/songwriter Joel Roberts entertained a sold out crowd.

The evening was a class act and we can’t wait to visit the Armory again in all its full glory as a permanent theatre for film and live performances.

The power of the performing arts can be seen in Uptown’s video “Entertainment Needs a Home.”

We were truly inspired by this video and cast of local performers on roof tops, alleyways and store fronts of West Chester. Bravo!

2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 April 15th, 2013|Local|1 Comment

Shaken, not stirred

Bond’s infamous catchphrase played perfectly into a recent web design we did for the RAZRBAR in Collegeville – a salon where men can feel like real men again.

James Bond’s character reflects many of the same philosophies as RAZRBAR’s. A man wants to look his best, feel confident, sophisticated, with a sense of refinement, and most of all be cool!

RAZRBAR

RAZRBAR’s clean cut web design is characterized by being aesthetically simple yet dramatic. The homepage, cycling through 5 large images, highlights the RAZRBAR’s main services – Master Barber, Promotions, Grooming Tips and so on.

We applied a photoshop technique to each of the images, dialing back full color, making them richer and more dramatic. We continued with bartender’s terminology as a play on words throughout the site with our copy, to be lighthearted, but engaging at the same time.

See for yourself. Visit RAZRBAR | Fine Grooming for Men. Let us know what you think. And if you decide to go for a trim, tell them we sent you!

2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 April 8th, 2013|Design|Comments Off on Shaken, not stirred

Make your first impression count

Headlines do more than get attention. When a consumer reads your headline you have spent 80 percent of your advertising dollar. On average, five times as many people read the headline as compared to the body copy.

You have 05 seconds to wow me

The first thing the reader sees, reads or hears can make the difference between success and failure.

Your headline should offer news, helpful information or a promise of reward for reading. No matter how persuasive your body copy or how great your product, your ad cannot sell, if it does not attract immediate attention.

The primary purpose in any piece of writing – whether it be an advertisement, a blog post, or email – is to get your first sentence read. And the purpose of first sentence is get the second sentence read – until it leads to your call to action. This is why a strong compelling headline is so critical to get your customers’ attention.

For copy to convince the consumer to take the next step it must do 3 things – Get Attention, Communicate and Persuade by:

  • immediately focusing on the benefit to the reader
  • make a promise to the reader that you later fulfill
  • back up everything you’ve said with very specific proof

Copy that is written in clear, concise and simple words will get your point across. And no one will ever complain that your writing is too easy to understand.

2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 March 25th, 2013|Big Thinking|Comments Off on Make your first impression count

A contemporary move for a classic board game

The classic game that has entertained families of players for decades has a new Lady on board. The feline token will join the wheelbarrow, shoe, race car, top hat, thimble, Scottie dog and battleship in the Monopoly game.

Decades of history aside, let’s just say you’re a 9 year old girl. Are you going to pick an old shoe as your token? I think not, maybe if it were a high heel shoe. So what’s next, rock-paper-scissors with your brother for the Scottie dog? Dad takes the race car or the top hat, they’re both pretty cool. Mom likes gardening – she’ll take the wheelbarrow, and Grandma happily settles for the thimble. The cat is a triumph for little girls everywhere, as players are as passionate about their token, as they are for the game.

Monopoply Game Pieces - New Cat Token

Hasbro’s savy brand campaign successfully used social media in a fun and creative way, asking consumers to vote on retiring one Monopoly game piece (the iron) and replacing it with something new. The options for the new piece also included a robot, guitar, helicopter and diamond ring.

With fan participation from over 120 countries, the campaign proved to be a winner.

2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 February 18th, 2013|Design|Comments Off on A contemporary move for a classic board game

Has your marketing effort gone into hibernation?

Furry Groundhog 6If your company has been around for a while, maybe you’ve decided it’s time to revitalize a sleepy look. Or, perhaps you’re targeting a new audience and want a brand with a broader appeal.

Refreshing your brand strategy should be your first step, dig out a path for your brand update with the following questions: What has changed in your business? Do you have new people or new products? Are you serving new markets? Are customers asking for different things than they used to?

Does the outside world realize you’ve changed!?

Remember, it’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it. Your message should be clear, concise and emotionally compelling. Offers, coupons and links on a website should all be relevant and current. Think of your website as a storefront, a place where you can let people know who you are and why they can trust you – as an added bonus your storefront is open 24/7!

Don’t be afraid to try out new marketing styles for your company to spice things up.

2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 January 30th, 2013|Big Thinking|Comments Off on Has your marketing effort gone into hibernation?

You are here, here, here …

The internet has long been a way of finding local businesses online. But these days more and more people are using mobile devices to search, having the resources at their fingertips and relying on recommendations by fellow users in real time.

Since attracting new customers can be a major challenge for local businesses, taking advantage of some free business directories can be of great help, allowing the placement of coupons, specials, announcement, and photos directly into their listing.

You are Here Here & Here

Google Local, Bing, Yelp, Foursquare, and other social networks can be powerful marketing channels for small businesses. Take for instance the last time you were out in a new town looking for a place to eat. If you didn’t do your homework, and no restaurant caught your eye, chances are, your phone came to the rescue. Restaurant owners are very familiar with the value of increasing their star rating on places like Yelp. And it’s not just restaurants that profit, other kinds of businesses make up 75% of the listings, so everyone can take advantage of targeting online customers.

The top 15 listings according to HubSpot are listed below or click here for a complete list.

1. Google
2. Bing
3. Yahoo!
4. Yelp
5. Merchant Circle
6. LinkedIn
7. YellowPages.com
8. Whitepages
9. Supermedia
10. Yellowbook
11. CitySearch
12. Mapquest
13. Biznik
14. Local.com
15. Foursquare

 
Every directory that you submit to is another chance to attract customers, so it’s important to make sure you’re listed in as many of them as possible. The businesses with the most visibility will see a boost in website visitors and hopefully attract new business as well.

Is your business taking advantage of local directories? Which ones seem to attract the most loyal customer base? Let us know in the comments section.

2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 January 6th, 2013|Local|Comments Off on You are here, here, here …