Latest Happenings

It has been nearly a month since we posted, but for good reason…

Summer 2008 has been very productive for D&A Design, as we are enjoying new collaborations, and helping create measurable ROI for existing relationships.

• We are working on a new website and sales collateral for Eastgate Graphics, a rigid packaging decorator, commercial ink supplier, and graphics/pre-press services supplier. Like so many businesses who are constantly growing and thriving, their website has not been a focus of attention for a while. D&A Design began working with Eastgate Graphics when Eastgate was tapped to be the supplier for a separate packaging project for a shared client. After working for a short period of time together, Eastgate Graphics asked us to redesign their website and a set of downloadable brochures that further explain their services. Launch is expected September 2008.

• D&A Design also began collaborating with TSG/Empire USA, a retail grocery food broker and strategic marketer of food purchasing data (among other things). We are redesigning their website, and doing so in tandem with their web development source (coding, etc.) to create a skin for the site that works with the content management system (CMS) they will implement to deploy and populate the site. We are collaborating with TSG/Empire for design direction and new branding, and then working with their development source to make sure the CMS skin we provide aligns seamlessly with their work-flow.

• A stone and masonry business we met at the Cincinnati Home & Garden Show, The Stone Source, has asked us to breathe life into a logo design they sketched out on a scrap of paper, which we are happy to do. We provided them with exactly what they asked us to do, and then also supplied one of our ideas at no additional charge – just to show another way of looking at their brand that they might not have thought of. When this is finished they will have seen their idea come to life, and we’ll supply them with all the various file formats and color configurations so that they can easily get their brand on every point of touch their customers experience.

• A new consumer packaging project with The Printing Plant has once again allowed us to tap one of our very talented illustrators and designers. We are working on both the consumer packaging and product development for this project, all while keeping an open dialogue with The Printing Plant’s production folks to make sure what we create goes into production with no snags. We can’t say too much about this project just yet, but when it is ready for consumers we know it will be a hit!
• Soon a new website will launch for Epcom International, a company working with law enforcement and security resources to help them get the equipment they need to do their jobs. Since Dan (D&A’s co-owner) has a brother in law enforcement – K9, specifically – this project is especially interesting, as he feels he can “talk shop” with his brother (though not really).

• The summer has seen the emergence of a very successful email marketing campaign for Dinovite, and the results continue to be measurably profitable! We work with Knowledge Marketing for the email blasting, and they are one of the most helpful suppliers we have ever worked with. As a result of the ease-of-use for the email design and development, coupled with the strategies developed by our client, and tasteful timing of emails, the bottom-line is that our work is (and continues to be) profitable for Dinovite.
• We helped develop a brochure and insert for Bear Creek Capital’s Kenwood Town Place development. D&A Design handled both design and production for this project, managing the design, production schedule, printing, quality assurance, and delivery of the brochure and insert.
• We are in the early stages of designing and developing the 2009 Ross County – Chillicothe, Ohio CVB Visitor’s Guide. This year we are opting to manage the entire project, rather than using a publisher. We decided on this direction due in part to the commoditization of commercial printing, and our years of experience working on these kinds of projects. So far we have worked with a paper source on the booklet size and page-count, paginated the 2009 guide, and met with the CVB Marketing Committee for approval of direction. We also determined the number of ads, sizes, and cost for each ad so that the guide can be self-funded. RFQs for printing go out next week, and then design begins – which will not be too complex since we have built this brand from the ground up. More info to come as it delvelops – we really are tackling a lot on this!
• Later this month we will launch an update to d-a-design.com, showcasing some of the work mentioned above, as well as new photos of new consumer packaging projects! Check in soon!

A few other projects are at hand that we will write about soon. Until then, please check back for a slew of new photos of more of our consumer packaging work that was made public last week! It will be a bit of show-and-tell.

Packaging Design Examples Begin!

As noted on our website we have started trickling in examples of our packaging design work this month!

Consumer packaging examples are a little tricky in terms of show-and-tell. We take extra steps to make sure we don’t show something that isn’t on-shelf in all of its markets. So that tends to delay when we feel like we can safely show some work.

But now that Father’s Day has come and gone, we are happy to show the first of many examples in packaging design to come. The first example was a Father’s Day promotion for a company that makes wipes, moisturizing creams, and other assorted products for men whom either by choice or genetics are bald.

For Father’s Day, a kit was sold containing many of the popular and useful products also sold separately.

The twist that D&A Design accomplished for this project was to begin aligning the online brand experience with the on-shelf brand experience. If you look at their existing packaging, and then view the website, there is a different experience between the two. We took this promo as an opportunity to begin aligning the two experiences for the overall betterment of the brand. The design shown above and on our website is one of four initial designs presented. The client opted to take the design in a much more streamlined design direction despite our suggestions and advice to stay the “evolving experience” course, but we believe this is a good example of how D&A Design will always yield to what our client ultimately want to do. We might not agree with the final decision every time, but we are humble enough to accept choices and move on to the next project with no hard feelings…at all.

I (Dan) have to note that I first noted this product line a few years ago when I grew tired of using my wife’s moisturizing creams. Surely, I thought, a man who shaves his head can find a product that doesn’t smell like a bouquet of flowers, or freshly-squeezed fruit! I found these products to be just what I was looking for: Products for the man who shaves his head. The products are great, which is why I pursued them to do some design work. I gladly offer this glowing review of the products – it’s good stuff!

- dan