Creating mental imagery is important to the success of any brand. Mental imagery is a result of subconscious memories from our past and also from our current perceptions.

We took a similar approach in the projects below :

R.E.D.

red bulb - brand identity

red bulb - store signage

Red Bulb Espresso Bar – is branded in the colour of passion. That was what the business is about and they needed a colour to portray that both in the identity as well as in the name in this case. Out there in the market place for Good Coffee … is where they want to be. The Bulb signifies a bright spark, and always on the edge of innovation and creation of new ideas. This idea was pushed and carried throughout the brand, from logo identity, print material, web presence, signage and store layout. Will be updating our Retail Design for Red Bulb once that is completed. See www.redbulb.ca

M.U.S.T.A.R.D.

Sheila Cameron- CST - brand identity

What do you think of when you picture a large room with a Black Chalk board and a teacher dressed in Mustard yellow bell-bottoms ? We think OLD SCHOOL … and that was the feeling that we wanted to evoke with Sheila C’s new Print material and business cards. She is a Complementary Medicine Professional, who works with her hands using therapies that are based on some very old principles. Her work brings about a much needed balance to our bodies which are constantly being subjected to the harsh physical and mental realities we live in today. A close-cropped, reversed image of the human spinal cord from an old medical journal gave an abstract feel to the piece.

Just wanted to share some good news on our end.

Firstly, we got nominated as one of the Finalist in the Regional Design Awards organized by Design Edge Canada. Wasn’t really expecting it, so it was a really nice surprise.The project selected was the Identity Application for Bona Fide Bean Coffee Co. .  The owner, Anna P., will be happy roasting her coffee beans knowing that her company’s image is being recognized. Since the submission of this project, we have also extended her brand identity onto the web. See www.bonafidebeancoffee.com

Secondly, we got a phone call tonight from Yvonne, the owner Pistil Flowers, saying that our blog editorial for their mother’s day promo was a big hit. Google analytics reported more than 700 views. We would love to brag about how eloquent our content was, but the truth is probably really far from that. We believe that it is something that evolved from an “organic marketing” approach that brought together a print campaign (posters in this case), web-extension (the blog & homepage updates) & social media efforts. It shows that everything has to work together to gain a tangible result … in this case, numbers recorded by Google’s Robots.  Anyway, stay tuned for more of our blog editorials at www.PistilFlowers.com

Marks the turn of the 21st Century into the tenths. It is a time for us to look in retrospect at the year that’s past.
Here are Ten snap shots of what we have been up to in 2009 and some insights into achieving a Perfect 10 in the new year.

“Red Bulb” signifies a passion. It is an internal fire that spurs us to do what we love doing; a silent alert that shows us the way to live better and make healthier choices; a reflection on the journey we have taken and the experiences we have encountered; and a warm torch guiding us into a future, vast and unknown.

Creating a new brand name is by no means a small feat, just as it is trying to set up a new cafe in small town Stouffville. From understanding the vision to the target audience to local competition and every other detail thereafter. We have given an initial drive to their blog so that the Red Bulb Movement can start rolling. The Red Bulb Cafe will soon come to fruition, but will always remain a journey of passion.

Channel Letters at the fabrication shop … look how dark the colour looks unlit.

…and lit.


Tree Lattice finally up …

It’s been more than a month of working on the sushi restaurants….wish there were more sushi-sampling though. The 3-dimensional Tree Lattice, Sushi Bar poster, banners, exterior signage, menu boards, menus, take-out menus and business cards are all done. Seems like a lot of work and sleepless nights have gone into it, but i think the great team effort paid off. Ginza sushi finally opened their doors at Yorkville’s trendy downtown location last weekend. I heard they were giving out roses to passer-bys on mother’s day, May 10th. We still have the actual Main Menus waiting to be completed. Our translucent PP covers still need to be UV printed, die-cut and shipped. So it won’t be another week or two before we see them.

Anyway, here is a preview of all that was completed…including some behind the scene construction photos. Oh, did we also mention the pains we went through trying to achieve the right tone of purple for the exterior channel letters? We experimented and finally used 4 layers of vinyl in digital print colour to get the right colour when lit. Never have we gone to such lengths to do colour matching. Remind me never to do digital printing for outdoor signs. Let’s just stick with the Avery colours.