Integrated Promotional Advertising Campaign for Freegal Online Music Service

13x2 foot banners.

Project: Freegal Music Service

Creative brief: Create an integrated advertising campaign comprised of print and digital materials to promote Freegal online music service which provides five free music song downloads per week to subscribers. The campaign seeks to increase public awareness and generate greater subscriber traffic results by being visible in more locations and with greater frequency and duration. The design should provide a new look that captures people's attention and communicates the key points of the service.

Content messaging: Multiple language options were provided, each lacking engaging or inspiring direction. Additional content marketing that advertising was to support was not yet in process, created nor in place, and/or had details still in flux with no reliable completion date in sight.

Number of integrated items requested at outset: Between 16 and 38 unique items.

Number of integrated items requested as opportunities were reassessed and re-imagined: 29 unique items.

Requested turn around time: 15 days. (+ additional deadlines created as adjustments to initial and additional project opportunities were realized and requested). Good luck!

Production challenge note: 27 other unrelated projects with a varying range of their own completion deadlines were also being worked on simultaneously during this same initial time frame. 27 + 16/38 projects = 43/65 projects in 88 hours. No problem!

Sets of PSAs 34x22 inch posters and 11x8.5 inch signs

Website banner advertisement which links to blog.

Website banner advertisement which links to blog.

Children's publication print advertisement.

Projects produced  (+quantities delivered)
Marketing Campaign Concepts 
(33 Integrated Page Designs)
Web blog icon #1 Cool (1)
Web blog icon #2 Soul (1)
Web blog icon #3 Workout (1)
Web banner #1 Cool (1)
Web banner #2 Soul (1)
Web banner #3 Workout (1)
Broadcast TV PSA #1 Cool (1)
Broadcast TV PSA #2 Soul (1)
Broadcast TV PSA #3 Workout (1)
Quarter page Handbill of album covers (400)

Quarter page handbill front (top) and back (bottom).

5.5x3.5 inch Shelf Promo Sign Template (1)
5.5x3.5 inch Shelf Promo Sign #1 Cool (1)
5.5x3.5 inch Shelf Promo Sign #2 Soul (1)
5.5x3.5 inch Shelf Promo Sign #3 Workout (1)
5.75x4.5 inch Print Publication Ad (1)
8.5x11 inch Sign for Airport Users (4)
11x8 inch Sign #1 Cool (45)
11x8 inch Sign #2 Soul (45)
11x8 inch Sign #3 Workout (45)
21x28 inch Poster #1 Cool (6)
21x28 inch Poster #2 Soul (6)
21x28 inch Poster #3 Workout (1) 
34.75x22.125 inch Banner #1 Cool (3) 
34.75x22.125 inch Banner #2 Soul (2) 
34.75x22.125 inch Banner #3 Workout (1)
45x45 inch Poster (1)
13ftx2ft Banner #1 Cool (2)
13ftx2ft Banner #2 Soul (2)
13ftx2ft Banner Workout (1)
1.5 inch Circular Ear Bud Case Adhesive Labels (100)

8.5x11 inch airport user sign

5.5x3.25 inch "shelf talker" cards mount to front of book shelves.

Compare to 2015 collaterals: poster & flyer (left), PSA (center), web ads (top, middle right) and wallet card (bottom right).

Compare to 2013 collaterals: poster & flyer (left), wallet card (center top), print ad (top right) and PSA (bottom right).

Autumn issue cover.

The library's free, 12-page autumn edition of THINK... newsletter arrived in September. This issue cover featured "Peacock," a vibrant painting by Miranda Walters, one of the library's 2015 Fall Teen Art Show winners. The quarterly newsletter covers over 800 scheduled events from September through November. A printed edition of 2,750 copies is delivered not only to all twelve library branch locations but also to select non-library businesses to extend its reach further into the community. Online copies are also available on the library's website at, http://aclib.us/news.  

Development of the newsletter begins with library staff entering their planned quarterly events into the library's electronic calendar system during a 30-day period prior to beginning the editorial production process, which in turn takes an additional 30 days of feature writing, design, and printing production prior to delivery of the publication to the public. Printing services are outsourced to a local printer, taking five to seven days before receipt of the printed product back to the design department for separating and shipping different quantities to the 12 district libraries and local businesses.

Library website blog icon

Events published in the newsletter are the same as seen on the library's website calendar of events. Due to limited space in the newsletter, complete descriptive information about the events are not published, however. Those additional details remain available on the branch calendars online.

Project collaterals created in association with publication of THINK... include (+ quantities):

12-page print edition (2,750)
Library website digital edition (1)
Library website blog icon (1)
Television broadcast public service announcement advertisement (1) 

Broadcast television public service announcement (PSA)

Rebranding Design for Library Battle of the Books Program Series

Rebranded program event identity design.

In February of 2016, my library's youth services teen librarian let me know that they would be needing a new round of publicity materials for the teen Battle of the Books events. In March, promotional material would need to be in place to promote the events so that potential participants could cast votes for books they would like to read prior to the competition events held during the summer. 

Previous marketing material designs: identity, web banner, print ad,
 flyer and handbill (same design), and quarter page handbill sheet.

Even before February, I had already discussed with the librarian that if we had time enough, I would like to redevelop the visual identity and promotional materials for this event. The existing marketing materials, which had been used for at least four years, utilized a photograph of open book in between two opposing hands holding with what appeared to be something akin to game show joy sticks, as well as a typographical treatment for the event name that was legible but somewhat awkward. It was less of a logo and more of a photo with a typographical treatment over the image.

8.5x11 inch flyers/sign redesign concepts would also be 
scaled to size for handbill and poster collaterals.

I wanted to create a logotype that could remain legible at different scales—especially small if needed—along with silhouetted images of people in some kind of action or fighting stances. The two images I had in mind were either youths in front of a standing microphone such as you would see at a spelling bee contest, or—and this was what I most wanted to pursue—images and typography styles that evoked vintage boxing posters.

I first worked up about 50 logo designs and presented them to our teen librarian. We narrowed the selection down to two that I could refine further based on her feedback. I also showed design treatments and reference images that included boxing posters, spelling bee photographs, and silhouettes of youths jumping for joy. It was decided that the silhouettes would be the most flexible design elements to work with, so I took the design in that direction and presented a series of print ads featuring silhouetted youths leaping in exuberant celebration along with the refined logotype and type treatments for what the essential promotional text would include. 

Additional development included a decidedly more feminine looking 
participant, and a vote instruction display sign.

Box wrapping paper design for vote entries.

Once that was approved, I created one additional ad that depicted a more clearly defined silhouette as a girl, as well as a display sign that could be set alongside of a box that participants could submit their voting ballots indicating which books they preferred to read for the summer contest series. In order to have the vote ballot box be recognized as part of the campaign, I used the advertisement design treatment to create a wrapping paper that could be taped around the ballot boxes.

The final promotional pieces to be created were online banner ads that would appear on the library's web site. I provided two options to be used.

Two web site banner ad choices.

Projects and quantities delivered:


8x11 Flyer/sign (21)
Quarter page handbill (200)
36x36 inch Vote box wrapping paper (12)
Web banner option #1 (1)
Web banner option #2 (1)

Library web banner in use.

Refreshing an Old Library Bookmark with a New Make-Over

BEFORE: The existing bookmark (front/back sides shown above) provided information but lacked inspiration.

Project Brief: Update an existing branded library bookmark. The existing bookmark, which used a single colour and was then printed on flimsy paper stock for cost-savings purposes, was both lackluster in appearance and weak on promoting what the library should want to present to the public as a vibrant library experience.

Solution: If the library was willing to pay for only two more inks and use the same paper stock they printed other library event bookmarks on, this bookmark could embrace the library's visual identity standards more fully while simultaneously standing out more prominently among other counter materials. The biggest draw-back to the proposed design was that insufficient room was left to include the library logo, however, all the language included should sufficiently cover for that short-coming.

The redesigned bookmark would present well as a nice companion piece to the library's recently redesigned welcome brochure, its presentation pocket folder, recruitment display posters, and its branded event flyer and handbill templates shown in earlier posts on the Library Marketing Design blog.

AFTER: The eye-catching redesign integrated with the library's visual identity system more fully and vibrantly.