At Solstice, we love a good logo. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping a company design the face of their business. In a state where the major areas of business that dominate our economy – healthcare, government contracting, issues and advocacy and natural resources – are saturated, it can be difficult for even the best creative teams to brand a business in a unique way. So where do we find inspiration?

LogoLounge is a must-have resource for inspiration. The goal of LogoLounge is to create a more efficient way for designers to find reference materials for logos. The online database is searchable by keywords, client and industry – making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for to help jumpstart your creative project. And knowing what your client’s competitor’s logos look like sure is smart, too!

Logolounge.com

Solstice Advertising won some awards last night – quite a few awards, as a matter of fact – from the Public Relations Society of America, Alaska Chapter. And my name was attached to many of them, but as I stood to accept each, I had a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t my work that won, it was the team, and although everyone’s name was mentioned, I don’t think enough emphasis was put on how well teamwork works within our agency.

I’m sure you have all heard the buzzword ‘teamwork’ many times, and probably felt it to be overused. We all remember the college ‘team’ projects where one person wound up with the majority of the work-load, and the rest drank a few beers and played video games. It doesn’t work that way at Solstice – teamwork really does work.

It starts simply . . . with a client, and sometimes with a defined need. What we do is bring everything to the team and organize a kick-off meeting. Everyone comes to the table prepared, ready to throw out their best and worst ideas for the team to review. We laugh, we kick-back (sans the beers and video games) and analyze each idea. When we all walk out feeling like we have a winner, the work begins. The result is a concept that can be developed into a successful deliverable.

Literally working in the same room, side-by-side, the real work ensues. Copy begins the process, followed by art and it’s all mixed with account management.

It works, obviously.

Thank you PRSA – we like it when our work is acknowledged.

December is always a fun month as people seem more upbeat, joyful and giving (maybe the Thanksgiving turkey tryptophan lasts longer for those I’m around). But working at Solstice this time of year is especially exciting because many of our clients have us create their company holiday cards and gifts.

From a copy perspective, creating a holiday card can be fun but also challenging. As our world has become more diverse in ideas and beliefs, it’s important that you say something meaningful and warming without potentially offending the recipient.

Here are some tips for writing a business holiday card message for a mass audience:

• I like the word “holidays” because it’s generic enough to cover all celebrations. Words like “Christmas” and “blessings” may be too controversial.
• Try to connect your greeting with your visuals. For example, if you use a picture of a sunset or fireplace, write a greeting that incorporates those elements in it: “Wishing you a warm and bright new year!”
• Try to acknowledge the recipient in some way, whether it’s thanking them for their business, hard work or their existence.
• And of course always have someone look over your copy to check for spelling or grammar errors.

Be sure to check out some of the holiday cards Solstice designed for clients this year:

by Laura Tauke, Solstice Production Artist
November 9, 2011

I LOVE Anchorage! After four years of living here, I’m still in the honeymoon stage. That’s why when Solstice was asked to help the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) create a new brand for their Live. Work. Play. campaign, I was more than ecstatic to put my passion for this place into some promotional design. For those that are unfamiliar with the campaign, the goal of it is to have Anchorage recognized as the No. 1 U.S. city to live, work and play in by 2025.

After the Solstice team met with AEDC and did some secondary research, the client’s needs were identified and a game plan was devised. As a designer at Solstice, when we are given new projects, we are also granted the creative freedom to generate unique designs that meet the client’s goals. We generally try to present them with one design concept that’s comfortable, while also providing additional design options that position their brand in a new, refreshing and cutting-edge way.

After getting internal design feedback on our branding ideas, we were able to provide the AEDC with three impressive, on-target comps (mock-ups) for the client’s review.

The following are the three original concepts for the new Live. Work. Play. brand. You can click on each logo to view the associated mood board, which provides a peak into how each brand could have been fully developed.

It was a tough decision for the AEDC, but they were eventually won over by the simplicity of Option C. They were convinced that the carefully selected colors, fonts and graphic selection would really resonate with their target audience and represent Anchorage in a powerful way. The creative process for the campaign branding worked really well, with terrific client input and final delivery.

The chosen Live. Work. Play. brand was unveiled at the AEDC’s annual luncheon meeting on November 9, 2011.

While 2025 is a long way off, I will continue to love this city and do what I can to keep making it No. 1.

Hello,

It was nice chatting with folks at the Alaska Marketing Association today about Word of Mouth Marketing. If you missed it — here is the powerpoint.

Word of Mouth: Talkable and Spreadable Brands

Thank you,

Lincoln Garrick