Last night, S Design was honored with two Awards of Excellence at the 2013 Bronze Quill Awards, presented by the Central Oklahoma chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
Our winning pieces were a brand / mission poster for the American Choral Directors Association and an image brochure for UE Manufacturing. Congrats, team!
Verbode is an Oklahoma City-based real estate brokerage that specializes in energy efficient and green housing options. They also have deep understanding and passion for our local Oklahoma City metro neighborhoods. As the only downtown real estate firm, Verbode’s realtors have a tuned-in perspective of the changing market. Their commitment to our community and a better environment is even found in their unconventional office space and virtual transactions. They have a completely digital and paperless office! (Except for these business cards, of course.)
Verbode owner Sarah Bytyqi originally approached us with her company, Green Wise Realty, for a logo design. We suggested she think about her name considering the descriptive and common verbiage as well as the over saturated green movement in the marketplace. After giving it some thought she decided to move forward by engaging us for the name and visual identity. The name needed to convey that they are a real estate company specializing in “green” homes without resorting to the clichéd usage of the word “green.” The name “Verbobe” is a combination of the word “verdant” and “adobe,” creating a new word that connects being green with the idea of a home.
The logo needed to primarily attract a younger audience while still appealing to everyone, and it needed to speak to eco-friendliness. The mark for Verbode utilizes two arching trees, and by adding a door the mark becomes a home.
After nurturing her new business for two years in the UCO business development center incubator, Sarah secured a stunning space in the TAP Architecture building on Broadway in downtown Oklahoma City. We worked with Sarah to complete the signage as well as the Grand Opening event materials and promotion.
It’s been such a wonderful experience to see one of our clients blossom into a vibrant business!
“Working with S Design has been a key factor in building my business foundation. As a start up, the decision to partner with S Design to build my brand was critical to my early success. I was able to launch Verbode as a professional company and compete with seasoned brands. I think having S Design on my team was one of the best decisions. They have strategically directed my branding decisions and kept me from making major marketing mistakes. I honestly believe the brand is where we are today as a direct result of their expertise in brand positioning. I couldn’t be happier.” - Sarah Bytyqi, owner, Verbode
People give and give big to organizations and causes they feel passionate about. Telling your organization’s story in a way that compels people to connect with your mission is the key to sustainable engagement. Building a relationship with these champions promotes longterm giving through volunteerism, donations and other resources.
Sarah Sears, principal of S Design, and Evan Walter, non-profit development consultant, will speak about the importance of weaving brand and development strategies together to strengthen and maximize the organization’s potential in the community. With this combined effort, organizations can achieve their dreams by fulfilling their mission to the fullest extent possible.
Wednesday, May 15
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
The event is $20. Lunch will be served.
Space is limited and by reservation only.
Please reply by Monday, May 13
RSVP here.
3120 West Britton Road, Suite S
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
We’re so excited to announce that S Design has been named the Best Graphic Design Firm in the 2013 okcBIZ Best of Business awards. Go team, go!
This project was dear to our hearts. We got to work with our old friend Jack McMahan and his leadership team to develop a brand for an entirely new type of organization.
Wilderness Matters is a non-profit organization that aims to partner with municipal and state agencies to help all people — able-bodied and disabled — access and enjoy universally designed nature experiences. Founded in 2012, Wilderness Matters was conceived with the conviction that the outdoors are an essential part of a meaningful life; and thus, they’ve set out on a mission to make outdoor experiences more accessible to everyone.
As consultants and project developers, Wilderness Matters’ goal is to help all citizens enjoy nature by improving program accessibility. Program access considers how the end-user experiences an activity, from hiking trails to adaptive rowing and everything in between, and provides an equal opportunity for participation for individuals with disabilities.
We have never worked with an organization quite like this one before. The leadership team is so passionate about an individual’s connection to nature. Whether it be an avid hiker, a mom with a toddler in a stroller or a person who uses a walker, Wilderness Matters aims to help everyone enjoy nature experiences. And it’s true, the more we talked about the mission of Wilderness Matters and the effect its projects would have on our community — on us — the more inspired we became.
Creating this brand was not an easy task. We quickly realized that as much as we knew we had to focus in on a target audience, the connection we wanted to make was universal. Connecting with nature is such a part of each one of us that we wanted the design to be unassuming, approachable and simple. The design had to contain imagery that would remind us what it feels like to experience the beauty of standing in a forest watching the redbuds bloom or sitting at the side of a stream lost in the soothing sound of the water running over the rocks.
We started with some internal research to determine the brand positioning, and then we began a strategic marketing plan for the organization. We determined that the number one goal of the organization was to raise awareness about the transformative effect nature has on people and the obstacles that a significant segment of our population currently faces in seeking these nature experiences. From there, WM could educate and inspire its target audience and could provide consulting and project development resources to federal, state and municipal leaders seeking to improve program accessibility to natural areas.
After we completed the internal research and finished the strategic marketing plan with established goals and tactics, we implemented a brand for Wilderness Matters. The new brand is simple, free-spirited and holistic, and conveys a true connection to nature in an uncontrived, authentic way.
We knew the WM mark should be timeless. The mark evolved from the concept of a compass to the idea of nature and internal reflection. The compass symbolizes direction and leading the way – as Wilderness Matters does with all of its projects. In addition, nature can also be the guide to unlocking the human spirit. All shapes are pointing inward or outward showing movement from nature to spirit and vice versa. The shape also symbolizes a burst, which represents that “ah-ha” moment people have with nature causing spiritual growth and healing regeneration.
The primary color palette includes brown and green, which represents the earth and the colors you’d see if you were in a forest or on a nature hike. The secondary palette consists of silver, blue, yellow and purple, which are inspired from the sky and clouds and their reflection in water.
Just as experiences in nature inspire and create lasting impressions on the individual, we wanted the brand and supporting materials to leave the audience longing for its own lasting connection with the outdoors. To accomplish this, S Design relied heavily on the messaging and visuals to inspire and connect the audience with nature. The photography needed to be authentic, not overproduced, and was selected to make the viewer feel as though he were standing in the middle of the photograph ready to begin a hike or enjoying the view from the top of the mountain.
Engaging the senses and respecting nature were crucial to Wilderness Matters when selecting the paper for its printed materials. The materials needed to be tactile to create the experience we wanted. The roughness in the paper would help communicate the feeling of nature and the environment. It was also important to our client and to our design team that the materials we used were consistent with the values of the organization. Neenah Environment was the perfect fit for this brand. It’s a recycled paper that is FSC certified, 100% Green-e certified, Green Seal certified and Carbon Neutral Plus. We chose birch, which has a toothy feel and is eggshell in color with a few natural specks. We also chose a brown, kraft-like paper for the folder that would hold customized presentations and other print collateral.
Creating this brand for such an inspiring organization was a great experience, and we can’t wait to see where the road takes them.
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“We selected S Design because they spend quality time listening to our story, our strategy and our market aims in order to help build what we really believe to be customer-centric solutions. Only after they really understood us did they start adding incredible value with rich creative and technical solutions.
They work hard to get it right, on time and within the budget we mutually established. For a non-profit, that is critical to our success. Besides all that, they’re really fun people to work with!”
- Jack McMahan, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Wilderness Matters