Children's Library Theater Event Marketing Designs

Top to bottom: 8.5x11 inch sign, website
banner ad, quarter page handbills.

Our headquarters library youth department has a really great staff of individuals who constantly strive to deliver interesting events to the younger generation. One of the many things they are finding enthusiastic notoriety from is their formation of The Headquarters Puppeteers, a small troupe of staff and sometimes college interns who put on short theatrical plays inspired by popular children's literature. 

The Puppeteers plays are aimed at the preschool and kindergarten age audience, but with just enough sprinkling of adult references to keep the older audience entertained as well. I've attended a couple of their plays as well and can attest to the joy I experience myself from watching my colleagues entertain the entire audience.

To publicize Puppeteer events, only a small amount of publicity is required; they already have a following of fans who pack the room whenever there is a play. The typical publicity used to promote their events include being listed on the library print and website calendars of events, eight 8.5x11 signs, 240 quarter page handbills, and a website home page web banner.

Creation of the collaterals generally involves sourcing for domain free images which are then combined together to create a scene that can be consistently used from one collateral to another. The challenge was finding available images that all complimented the style of all the others. 

After finding suitable images, each image was imported into different Photoshop layers for easy positioning and manipulation without affecting neighboring visuals. The sign uses six layers to complete the scene (1: background, 2: scroll, 3: wolf, and fairy godmother, 4: red riding hood, 5: three pigs, 6: pig shadows. Text and the library logo were added later in InDesign, which is a production method I prefer for handling typography.

At right, you'll see three promotional collaterals, but notice that the web banner has been modified by rescaling, repositioning, and removing some images to account for the change in format. The handbill is simply a scaled down version of the larger 8.5x11 inch sign. 

And for the curious who might be wondering what Fractured Fairy Tales is, it is an intermixing of different fairy tale characters into one play. I believe this one is (obviously) Little Red Riding Hood and associated characters, plus the fairy godmother from Cinderella, aided by an unseen original character who will act as the narrator of the play.

Library Newsletter Design: The Library Is Closer Than You Think

Cover of the summer issue of THINK....

The summer issue of the Alachua County Library District's newsletter and program guide,THINK... is due to arrive 1 July at each of its 12 branch locations as well as select non-library locations throughout Gainesville, Florida. 

With the district's 12 branches, online and handheld mobile device access, and the 24/7 Ask A Library service, the library has never been closer than ever before. The newsletter design reminds readers of this truly remarkable convenience by making use of a bulls eye target image, overlaid by a subtle compass directional pattern. This imparts the idea that "you know the library is there (physically), but it is also closer than that. It is, in fact, much closer than you think if you have a phone, a computer, and/or a mobile device in your purse or pocket. The library is there too."

The concept of library proximity, ease of access, or even one's association to it, is a loose extension of the recently launched employee advertising campaign "I AM The Library." http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2012/05/library-recruitment-campaign.html#links . It drives home the idea that you can't get any closer to the library if you are the library. And even if you aren't an employee, as long as the library is in the fore of the your thoughts, then the library is right on target for where it wants to be: a visible and relevant part of the community experience.

A work in progress: overwritten stories result in
a gray page with no visuals or breathing room.
I send writers a visual proof so they can admire
their work and see how "attractive" the page will
be if they don't want to cut their stories down.
They get the point, and we work together to find
solutions for a better balance.

For delivery to of copies to branch counter tops for patron reading by 1 July, planning and production of the newsletter takes over seven weeks. The earliest stages of planning requires librarians and event coordinators to enter all their calendar events for July, August, and September into our online calendar by the middle of May. This means that they've most likely been planning about six months in advance for their events! Naturally, some things get canceled or are added to the schedule more spontaneously, but those should be the exception to the general planning effort.


Article content and theme ideation takes place the second week of May, and assignments for articles occur then too. By the middle of the second week, I'm developing the "bones" of the layouts...updating layout master pages that contain standard information such as nameplate and masthead, page footer changes of seasonal dates, and volume issue numbers. I also begin to map out content locations to assess for article length and art requirements, then begin a search for potential images to define and support the visual theme. I'll also import raw text of calendar events, collate events that have multiple dated entries into single ones, begin styling text and importing filler art in as needed. 

The page after drastic cuts and a miniscule amount of
art inserted so that as much content as possible
could be retained to provide essential information.
See blog comments section for how we got there!

Hopefully, feature articles will trickle in during the second week as well. If so, I can import that text into place on page to see how things will fit together and what changes will be required. Often, the changes involve too much text for the allotted space. When this occurs, I send a visual proof to the editor to show how stories are affecting each other on page and where stories might need to be cut at. It may take a few rounds of back and forth in order to get everything to finally fit together.


During the third week, I send a proof of the calendar listing out to branches for review, make updates to it as feedback comes in, and after a deadline passes for that in the fourth week, I begin to place small spot art in to help text fill out each column neatly. I'll also continue to squeeze and massage feature articles into place with their respective art, if any. Once everything is in place on every page, an all-page proof is sent in the fifth week to all content editors involved for a final review prior to sending to the printer. Minor tweaks and corrections are usually made and confirmed at this point. All pages are sent to the printer early on the sixth week. I expect a two-day turn-around for a printer proof to be issued to me for approval. After they receive my thumbs-up, I can then expect printing to occur and delivery within five days of my approval. This places the process into the seventh week. After the printer shipment arrives, I then count out copies to distribute to each branch by the eighth week--usually only a day or two before the first of the month the issue covers. 

TV channel public service announcement ad (PSA).

Having printed issues out on the counter earlier than only one day before the first of the month is important. If an event is happening on 1 July and you don't place the newsletter out until the day before, then you won't be getting much of a benefit from having the even listed in the newsletter. This is why I push to get things into production early and stay on schedule throughout the process so that delivery can be made in a timely manner for the people who want to know what's going on at their library.

If you are not able to get a printed copy, .pdf versions of the summer newsletter THINK... are conveniently available online here:
www.aclib.us/files/2012_docs/THINKSummer2012.pdf

Library Summer Reading 2012 Marketing Designs

Upper left: 8.5x11 inch web ad + two similar smaller web ad and
web banner. Far right: two print ads.
Center and lower and left: one PSA, two print ads, and one web ad.
.

The Summer Reading Program is the Collaborative Summer Library Program's (www.cslpreads.org) annual effort to encourage people of all ages. They break the effort down into three age groups that have their own themed application. For example, this year's Summer Reading for kids was: Dream Big. For teens, it was Own the Night. And for adults, it was Between the Covers. 


To help publicize this, the organization provides art and a couple of pre-formatted marketing items for each age group, such as a bookmark and an 8.5x11 inch sign. Space is left on each item for local libraries to add their own language. Unfortunately it might not be adequate space for each library's needs. 


Our library happens to be one of those libraries that applies a design across multiple channels of publicity, such as print, online, and television. Each of these applications has its own dimensional requirements that do not perfectly match what the providing organization offers, so I have to create everything we need from scratch, and incorporate some of the art provided to maintain a consistent style to each age set. 


Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors, consistency doesn't always happen in every case. Here is how we approached it, however, using a few different styles for Kids, and a more unified style for Teens and Adults.

Punch card front/back, bookmark front/back, two web banner ads, and one PSA.

Summer Reading for Kids
Utilized the background of the Adult program enlarged to crop out the images of Frankenstein and Scarlet O'Hara from Gone With The Wind so that there would be enough open room to place a calendar listing of all the summer events. The listing included additional art of the event performers. Another set of ads used the black and white clip art, extending the black sky portion to create room for additional language. Used full colour clip art gator and flying space bat along with a in-house supplied night sky for background. 

Top two panels: the Concept.
Bottom two panels: the Completion.

Summer Reading for Teens
Utilized supplied clip art of silhouetted crowd shot and theme logo "Own The Night." Text utilized colours from the crowd. An additional in-house supplied art element--the colourful circle background--was used to extend the style to areas that needed a background and/or complementary accents.

Summer Events for Teens

One branch wanted to promote two kinds of summer events: some that were and some that were not directly related to the summer reading program. The thinking was that teens sometimes shied away from "being directed" to attend organized reading program events and might be more inclined to attend them if they didn't appear to be part of results oriented mandate. The librarian requested the events all be packaged together in brochure form and even went as far as to lay it out how she wanted it to look. She incorporated a couple of the art images provided by the organization and was very particular about what she wanted it to say and where it should be located on the page--to the degree that I wasn't sure if she simply wanted me to print it as is, or to redesign it. I checked to clarify, and she was open to me redeveloping it for her, so I went to work interpreting her event placement and organization, then finding ways that new visuals could enhance the document and still utilize artwork that was consistent with other Teen Summer Reading collaterals. Wary that she might think I toyed with her design too much and prefer her own, I sent a four page proof to her that first showed her design, then my own, for immediate comparative visual impact. She emailed back to approve my design and added a nice note:

"Thank you so much for saving me from myself by re-designing this brochure. The brochure reflects the effort we put into programming here and the respect we have for our teens.  Thanks to you...for your patience and for sticking to your professional standards."

Top: a long online banner ad. Left: an 8.5x11 inch wall sign.
Middle right: a television PSA. Bottom right: an online banner.

Summer Reading for Adults 
Everyone at our library agreed: the artwork provided for adults was horrid. It was cartoon clip art of a bed being shared by Frankenstein and Scarlet O'Hara from Gone With The Wind.--both reading a book of each other's story. I sourced for a more sophisticated image and settled on an opened book shown from the side closest to a reader when laying on its opened cover. The program title "Between The Covers" was provocative, so I wanted the image to have a hint of it as well. Fortunately, I have Freud to thank for absolving me of any illicit wrong-doing, because after all, no matter how it is displayed, sometimes "a book is just a book."

Library Marketing Designs for The Big Read 2012

The Big Read came and went through our library in April. It's almost surprising, because it almost didn't come at all...at least from a marketing standpoint. 

Despite the fact that it takes about a year's worth of advance planning and organizing, the person in charge of coordinating this series of events for our library still hadn't approached the marketing department for any publicity as late as two weeks and a couple days before April 1st. You could almost hear the chirping of crickets as we waited and waited, knowing it would eventually come...but when?

I wasn't surprised by this oversight, and knew that if I didn't sound the precursory alarm, we would probably still not have heard anything until about two days before the first event. And of course, that would mean I would have to inherit that person's emergency due to lack of proper planning. As a general rule of thumb, our library likes to try to send printed publicity out at least two weeks in advance to the public so they have time to set it on their calendar and make arrangements if needed. 

This advance planning and effort by the marketing department is chronically lost on some people who get so wrapped up in the details of getting events organized that they practically forget to tell the public that it is actually going to happen. It only makes common sense to me that if you're going to spend the time and effort to have a public event that you might, you know, want to tell people before, say, a day before the event takes place. 

Once the alert was sounded to wake up sleepy minds, the marketing requests came pouring in like the pulling of teeth. Of course, with these newly identified rush items mixed in with all the already well organized other projects on the production schedule, time was tight and everyone had to scramble to make up for lost preparation time. Thankfully, not everything had to arrive before the first of the month; some events and their respective collaterals could be staggered in the production schedule. 

To complicate matters, however, I planned to be away from the office during the first week of April. So whatever time could have been spent during the first week of the month to finalize any remaining projects, had to be spent either before my departure or after my return on the second week of the month--or background images made for people to add their own text over top of while I was away. This was easily accomplished once the need was determined.

To the national organizer's credit, pre-designed "templates" were provided for a few marketing items. Unfortunately, however, these documents weren't modifiable in a way that they could be taken and made into other documents. So, for example, if you wanted to send out an 8.5x11 inch flyer, as well as an 8.5x11 inch sign--each requiring different amounts of text and space--you were stuck with the same 8.5x11 inch template they provided that had a big illustration on it of the featured author. Or if you needed another common size of something like a quarter page invitation, it wouldn't be there and another design would need to be canibalized to make it. But then, the logos and attribution text--which had to be maintained at a required size--would be scaled down along with the design to render the text an unreadable, or unapproved point size. Not helpful! To remedy the muck, I took what I could that was offered from the media kit and developed my own set of templates that maintained the design sensibility initiated by the national organizer and met all the mandatory associated grant requirements for publicity use.

In the end, over 16 different marketing items were created by our marketing department to support a variety of different events that took place over the course of the month. Above, I show a numbered key to indicate the different collaterals used. I may be missing a couple, but these are the ones I recall most.

So here's a round-up of our library's The Big Read event publicity:

1)   Thank you poster 16x20 inch
2)   Event listing flyer 11x17 inch
3)   Background template for 8.5x11 inch for print ad

4)   Half page 5.5x8.5 inch event program front 

5)   Half page 5.5x8.5 inch event program back
6)   Background template for 5.5x8.5 inch communications
7)   Art contest 8.5x11 inch sign
8)   TV station public service announcement ad (PSA). 

       Same item used for quarter page handbills.

9)   Print magazine ad NFSD

10) Website invitation notice

11) Quarter page event invitation front

12) Website banner ad for art contest

13) Quarter page event invitation back

14) Website banner ad for general event announcement

15) Website ad 4x4 inch

16) Art contest artwork labels

Library Book Talk: Book Discussion Series: Steampunk Marketing Designs

The event poster.

Bookcard front and back.

As part of the library Book Talk: Book Discussion series, July will feature books from the Steampunk genre. For it, I created a single design for posters sized 11x17 and 20x30 inches, as well as an 3.5x8.5 inch bookcard. The posters are simply an enlargement/reduction of the same design. 

The bookcard uses the same elements, only scaled down and arranged differently. As you'll note on the back of the book card, related books include descriptive text to name the author, reference call information, and a single sentence teaser to describe each book's main theme.

How To Make Comics Library Workshop Marketing Designs

Website ad banner posts for a week prior to the event.

The youth services department requested publicity materials for a comics workshop coming June 27. Titled How To Make Comics, the event presents author and artist Andre Frattino for the Alachua County Library District. Frattino offered samples of his work for creating publicity, and I used small vignettes from a few of them to create an 8.5x11 inch sign, quarter page handbills, a web ad banner, and a blog icon.

Left: 8.5x11 inch sign. Right: 8.5x11 inch page prior to trimming into quarter page handbills.

Designer’s Delight

When in a pinch: chopstick plastic knives.

This is what happens when you're in a rush to get to work on all those exciting projects...you forget to pack your utensils for lunch and have to fall back on the large bag of unused plastic forks stowed away at your office. It is a good thing I know how to use chopsticks!

2012 Gale Library Journal Library of the Year Winner

Congratulations to the San Diego Public Library for receiving the 2012 Gale/Library Journal Library of the Year Award. This announcement recognized the many outstanding applications from libraries across the United States and Canada that presented an impressive array of creativity and innovation. I'm sure we can all take a page from their book to learn from. You can read more about their winning efforts here.

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/06/library-services/2012-galelj-library-of-the-year-san-diego-county-library-empowering-the-public/

On the link you can even see a slide show of images from their library system. I especially enjoyed seeing the Fallbrook branch's award-winning architecture design.

Additionally, three other libraries had notable mentions, including the Alachua County Library District. You can see the ACLD's mention of that here:
http://www.aclib.us/your-library/blog/library-journal-recognizes-acld-library-year-2012-special-mention

What Is Your Creative Style? Veer Knows.

A fun game offered by Veer will interpret your creative style.

A decade or so ago, Veer began selling digital typography to designers online. It has grown to include sales of other creative assets such as photography and illustration.

Aside from their great selection of typography, one of Veer's value-added features I sometimes enjoy seeing are a variety of smartly designed and illustrated games cleverly produced to provide a learning experience about typography or one of their other products. Naturally, it segues into trying to make a sale, but hey, that's marketing! Nevertheless, the games are actually fun to play.

One game they offered recently along with their promotional email was a game called "The Creative Mystic." By playing it, you would learn what kind of designer you were, based on the categories they had identified. Curious, I decided to give it a try. You can find it here:
http://www.veer.com/ideas/creative-mystic/?cid=em_512_amr_1_Crea_all

The game presents two images for you to choose from. You select one of the two, then it presents another pair. You continue to make your selections until the game concludes by tallying up your responses and reveals your design style. The entire process probably takes all of three minutes.

As you can see from the screenshot below, Veer's "mystic" determined I am an Idealist. Then, as is required, the marketing association kicked in to push sales of their "Cultura Photography" Line. They also gave the opportunity to win a MacBook Air by sharing the results through Facebook and/or Twitter. It was fun to see the result and nice try!...but that was as far as I needed to go. I have been interpreted.

My result.

African American Christian Authors Library Bookmark Design

Front side of 8.5x11 page fits three 3.5x8.5 inch bookmarks or "bookcards."

One of our librarians requested a large, 3.5x8.5 inch bookmark printed on 110lb or similar card stock (which we sometimes refer to as a "bookcard)." On it, she wanted to list names of a few prominent authors of that genre. It would be for patrons to then use those names to look up further information about the authors, such as what books they wrote, etc. If specific books written by these authors were to be included as part of this project, we would have to either identify many fewer authors on the card, or change formats and use a brochure instead of a bookcard, in which case it would be referred to as a book list. For this initial request, the librarian only asked for 50 bookmarks, but we both knew she'd be back for more later.

My first challenge for creation of the bookcard was find a way to present the list of names on one side of the card only, leaving the back for branch contact information. I found that listing them all in one single column used up the entire height of the card and left no room for any visual element, so I opted for a two column approach that left a little more vertical room to utilize for art. For type styling, I wanted to display the names in a manner that was respectful and elegant, and possibly in some way that also elicited a certain reverence toward the subject matter, if possible.

So after styling my text, I went looking for domain free background images of stained glass windows, stone building walls, pillars, and archways. I found a few that looked workable, but one looked particularly like a clear winner: a nice stone wall framed by a stone arch. I placed the image into my working space and enlarged it enough so that the arch perfectly framed the two column list of authors. I used the same image on the back side as well, but enlarged it even more to remove the archway from view so that only the background tile showed under the library contact listing.

The archway image colours were soft and muted in such a way that the details within the image wouldn't create too much background distraction, and I further enhanced readability by lightening the image so there would be even more contrast between it and the words. Because there was a dark shadow created in the archway, I made the headline white and added a slight shadow behind it to help set it off from the lighter areas of the background image. This also helped the headline to stand apart more prominently from the author list text.

With only a background image and type, I felt like it needed a little something to dress it up and to help direct the eye to the top of the reading list, so I went on the hunt for a printer's dingbat or flourish. Nothing I saw struck me as being reasonably in accord with the style or subject matter, so I looked further, this time extending my search to include crosses, tombstones, and window shapes.

Eventually, I came across an old, traditional cross. It had short arrowhead-like arms on the top and sides that protruded from a central circle. A bottom arm extended down much further to form a bona fide cross. This was more of a literal symbol than an accent mark, so I shortened the long, descending arm upward to make all the arms the same length. This gave it a uniform dimension that I liked it much better as an accent mark, and in a way, I found a certain joy in knowing that the origin of my accent mark came from an actual cross. I centered it between the headline and the top of the author list, and then again, but smaller to both sides of the secondary category of "YOUNG ADULT AUTHORS" lower on the bookcard.

I set each accent mark to be semi-translucent so that the stone texture behind it would show through to give the impression that the mark was part of the stonework as well. I even liked the fortuitous placement of the word "YOUNG" on the wall, where lighter tiles perfectly framed and brought attention it.

The coincidence that these few lighter tiles might have been destined to highlight that single word could cause the faithful among us to say "it was written."

For me, however, the combination of an arch that perfectly framed the text and fit the bookcard shape too, plus was a richly detailed but also a noncompetitive background for reading text on really made my day.

Back side of 8.5x11 page fits three 3.5x8.5 inch bookmarks or "bookcards."

Marketing Design for Library Juneteenth Event 2012

Evolution of an event poster: from napkin concept, through steps of revisions.

In mid-March, I was asked to develop a new design for the Library's 2012 Juneteenth event. The librarian in charge wanted to have a concept in hand for a planning meeting she would be attending in mid-April, so I got to work.

I first looked over my last year's design to see what, if any design elements I might want to keep or avoid, then took a quick look around online for inspiration and to make sure I wouldn't come up with the exact same solution another person had used. My previous year's poster design incorporated a lot of text on it and I was willing to bet this year's would follow suit, so I kept in mind chances were good that whatever art I used would most likely have little room to compete with all the required language.

I decided that I wanted to keep the Juneteenth symbol, star, and its colours, of red, white, and blue. I also decided that since I used a historical image for last year's event, I should consider doing something more modern this time around. This led me to lean toward using bold, graphic elements and flat colour treatments.

I also wanted the imagery to connect on a more immediate, personal level than last year's did, so I considered using the human head as a backdrop. Due to its more round shape, I reconsidered that, and opted instead to use an outstretched arm, free of any chains, as if rising up toward the sun (or star in this case). Then I thought maybe the star could be IN the palm of the hand, as if it had finally caught the star (the promise). I liked that connotation and thought it would make for a strong visual, so I worked in that direction.

Also, if I worked out the proportions well enough, the arm could contain all of the text. Or, the text could even BE the arm. Looking at last year's poster as a guide to what text would be required, I sketched out a potential way I could make text as an arm happen. The resulting image is my "napkin art" concept.

I liked what I saw, so I thought I'd explore the possibility of the solution. I sourced for arms and hands both online and in my archive of images. After a little hunting, I found a few I thought I could use as a pattern to draw a new arm/hand from.

Working on the layout, I placed the main visuals in place and continued to modify them as I added text, squeezing and massaging everything into place. The result was the following image which I submitted to the librarian for consideration.

She liked it, but asked if I could modify it to include two arms. I thought it might get crowded and cause me to need to reduce the original arm, but once I got into the revision I realized both arms didn't have to be the same size, and that by reducing the size of the second arm/hand, it would provide for a sense of perspective. I thought the end result didn't diminish the power of the first arm and actually added more visual appeal it.

On the next edit pass, she asked for some text changes and to take away one of the two hands and make the remaining one holding a Juneteenth flag. "Well, here we are back to the literal" I thought, as I got to work. I didn't care to spend my time scouring the web for a hand holding a small flag exactly as I wanted it, so I simply took out my phone and snapped two shots of my own hand. It didn't matter what the actual photo looked like, only that the hand had the right shape. I would only be using the photo as a template to draw a silhouette of my hand. Once that was done, I replaced the existing arm/hand with the new arm/hand/flag. The new text was laid into place, but I didn't fuss with it too much because I knew it would change again. I sent it off and waited.

All of May passed until the 31st. I wondered where my edits were and sent off a message reminding the librarian that Juneteenth was only about two weeks away, and that if she was going to promote it in a timely fashion, she'd better wake up and send me any edits she had or approve what was already there. She sent in a revised list of entertainers. I reworked the arrangement of text so that it wouldn't be placed in a cascading fashion inside the arm because I didn't like the organization of text in that manner. Eventually, I was happiest to make a swap between location of the text and logos. With that finally in order, I sent the revision back to the librarian.

The final design applied to a variety of collaterals.

Next, she requested that I make sure a new supporter be added. I did, and sent the revision. Then she replied that there would be no raffle, that instead there would be door prizes. I made the change, and sent another revision. Eventually, after a painstaking and time consuming effort of attending to one...at...a...time....email revisions, and my request for her to finally give me the print quantity request, we were done with the flyer...50 printed and delivered.

In her print confirmation email, however, she also requested printing of handbills...an item she hadn't requested until now. I let her know only a flyer was designed and sent the prints off to her. She replied to ask for 125 handbills, and while she was at it, she requested an 11x17 inch poster too (basically, an enlargement of the flyer design). Despite the poor planning and request, each was easy to create, print, and ship within a short while.

A day or two later, another librarian related to the organizing of the Juneteenth event came by my office to laminate some staff ID badges he had made himself. He asked me about the collaterals that had been ordered to find out how many handbills and signs had been requested. He was surprised that only 125 handbills were ordered and that the single 11x17 inch sign should have been a about four 23x34 inch large format posters. He said he'd follow up with the first librarian to find out if additional items should be requested. I assured him that I'd be here, waiting...hopefully for more than one request at a time.

Additional 23x34 inch large format posters were created to display at the event.

Law in the Library Speaker Series 2012 Marketing Designs

The "before and after" design of 8.5x11 inch handouts.

The library has begun hosting a series of speaker events called Law in the Library. The series covers common legal issues. Speakers from the legal community talk about a single issue at each event, and events open to the community at large.


Representatives of the Eighth Judicial Circuit organized the series and presented the library with what they wanted: a plain black/white, text heavy presentation with a giant sized logo of their organization--flattened out so it could be squeezed into the remaining white space.* I winced when I saw it, then let out a long, drawn out groan of resigned disgust. My eyes then began to glaze over at the mere thought that I'd have to read all that Microsoft Word generated Times Roman typeface. 

Sample text arrangement of one series
event signs.

I suggested they let me explore another solution. For starters, I suggested those involved consider that what was originally offered as an unrelated collection of one-off event that happened every once in a while, instead be considered and billed as a series. Branding it as a series would give it greater prominence and recognition as an on-going library service.

My goal was to give greater visual prominence to the series name by treating it more as a logo that could be consistently used on all publicity from event to event. I would reinforce the legal theme by utilizing a recognizable legal visual element into the series logo for greater, more immediate recognition than text alone could provide. And finally, I would return the organizational logo back to its original integrity by displaying it in its original, unbastardized shape. After that, I would work to bring greater differentiation between the different hierarchical levels of text throughout. And finally, I thought it only fair and appropriate that the library's identity also be on display as an equal partner in the event.

Website banners for three different events.

The result is viewed above at the top of this post.

Each event would make use of a variety of print and online formats to promote the series. Included were:
10x 8.5x11 inch signs
2x 11x17 inch signs
4x 30x40 inch signs
1x tv public service announcement advertisment

1x website banner

1x library blog image

*The moral of the story: Never let a lawyer design your promotions any more than you would allow a designer to handle your legal case.