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.

Integrated Marketing Design Collaterals for Library Literacy Learning Conference

PowerPoint welcome image.

Event promotional 8.5x11 sign

The Alachua County Library District Literacy Office will host a conference event in Gainesville, Florida. It will be preceded by a breakfast for tutors and students, then open to the public for the rest of the conference.

To help promote the conference to both invited guests as well as the public, a set of promotional collaterals was needed to be designed and printed. A few months earlier, I redesigned an new integrated identity and set of marketing collaterals for the office

( http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/08/integrated-library-literacy-collateral.html ), so I used these as the basis for designing the conference event collaterals too. Maintaining a consistent use of the design sensibilities created earlier during the redesign helped to further reinforce brand recognition of the ACLD Literacy Office.

 

Design collaterals (and quantities delivered) for this conference event included:

Breakfast Invitation to learners & tutors in English language (42)
Breakfast Invitation to learners & tutors in Spanish language (10)
Conference Invitation to general public (20+)
E-mail announcement invitation image (1)
4.5x3.5 inch folding invitation schedule insert (62)
4.25x8.5 inch two-sided event program (100)
8.5x11 inch PowerPoint Welcome image (1)
8.5x11 inch PowerPoint Thank You image (1)
8.5x11 inch award certificate (1)
8.5x11 inch promotional sign (520)
22x28 inch promotional poster (10)
Library website banner advertisement (1)

Folding invitation exteriors (printed two-up on 8.5x11 inch card stock then folded and trimmed to size).

Folding invitation interiors (two versions: one for learning teams and one for public.

Invitation insert page.

Program front / back.

Certificate award concept (to be used later in conjunction at year-end event).

PowerPoint thank you image for closing the event.

Integrated POP Marketing Signage Designed to Raise Literacy Office Awareness, Donations, and to Thank Community

The desire to generate a little fundraising turned into an opportunity to thank the commuity for their support. This design for a 7x5 inch laminated coutertop jug label paved the way.

Vertical banner.

The Alachua County Library District Literacy Office approached me to develop marketing materials that could bring attention to their literacy efforts and to assist in fundraising. The items would be used during book sale events at the local Friends of the Library book house. The initial brief asked me to explore solutions for a free-standing dimensional floor display to promote the Literacy Office, and to design adhesive labels for donation jugs that would be placed on point-of-purchase counter tops to ask for spare change. 

A few months earlier, I had provided design services to rebrand the ACLD Literacy Office, ( http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/08/integrated-library-literacy-collateral.html ) so I was fortunate to already have established design standards I could use to extend to this project. I also had photos taken from previous book sale events to refer to and used these to assess the book house retail environment space while I generated ideas about presentation opportunities. 

I knew from past experience that the book sale environment was a pretty chaotic place; crowded wall-to-wall with people and book shelving. At the check-out area, a long, stagnate line of customers would often form which would provide a perfect location to get and hold their attention, but sight lines would be blocked from around shoulder height down to the floor. I knew that the best bet for catching people's eyes would have to have visuals be at least waist-height and higher, so I developed and presented an eight foot free-standing floor display concept in the shape of an open book that would require construction with wooden building materials, PVC piping and fabric, or other solutions. I also presented a series of mid- and large-format vinyl wall-mounted and beam-suspended banners that were sure to not be overlooked. To help demonstrate how effective the banners would appear, I photoshoppped the concept banners into the existing event photos for a before-and-after comparison.

Proposed, canceled floor display.

During my on-site visit to the Friends of the Library book house, my floor display concept was presented and well-received, but a second concept was put forth by the Friends that they were willing to explore and construct themselves: a stack of books piled up neatly, high enough to become a waist-high cube of books. The top surface could be then used to set up additional books and marketing materials. We all thought it a plausible idea and encouraged Friends of the Library volunteers to develop that. A large, two-sided sandwich board was also  offered at that time to use for additional marketing, so I added that to my list of banners to design for and during subsequent meetings presented concepts that utilized the banner design styling.

Before-and-after proposed banner solutions.

After all the initial concept and design production was completed, a vendor quote for producing the vinyl banners was acquired then presented for client approval. Unfortunately, financing for vendor-provided materials became an issue for the library, so I was asked to print and laminate as many of the smaller items in-house as I could for use at the event. Despite not using the largest, most prominent banners, the remaining smaller scale banners and donation jug labels were still beneficial for raising Literacy Office awareness and advocating for additional funding.

Left: available sandwich board. Middle two: concept sign designs for sandwich board use. Right: diagram indicating areas needed to cut out so that existing hooks on sandwich board could slide through. 

Projects designed (and delivered or canceled):

138x36 inch Banner / Literacy Office (canceled after development)
138x36 inch Banner / FOL (canceled after development)
138x36 inch Banner / ACLD (canceled after development)
20x40 Literacy Office Banner, Laminated and Mounted on Foam Core Board (2)
29x40 inch Sandwich Board Literacy Office Sign (1)
29x40 inch Sandwich Board Friends of the Library Sign (1)
7x5 inch Laminated Literacy Office Donation Jug Labels (14)

Three 138x36 inch vinyl banners not fabricated for use after design development.

Integrated Library Literacy Collateral Re-Design

A variety of new and redesigned integrated marketing collateral materials for the Literacy
 office include 8.5x11 signs, quarter page handbills, recruitment cards and utility bill insert,
 a tri-fold brochure, a six-page tutor handbook, and a 24-page PowerPoint presentation.

In 2013 the Alachua County Library District hired a new literacy coordinator. I felt this was an opportune time to tackle the job of updating the literacy office's array of materials with a redesign so all collaterals were better integrated with one another. 

Previously designed items borrowed from each other but lost a sense of continuity when seen as a whole. This redesign would take the opportunity to maximize use of its primary visual image of a globe, simplify the colour palette from red, white and blue to shades of green with white, refine the typographical fonts and treatments, and to broaden the use of a simplified corporate brandmark.

I started with the most pressing of items needed, quarter page handbills that advertised the service to patrons in need, then additional ones used to recruit potential tutors. While the both the fronts and backs of these two-sided card stock items would look very similar, both would utilize different headlines geared toward their appropriate audience. Similarly, contact information on the backs of each would be adjusted to suit the appropriate reader. The response was so tremendous that I had to order second and third printings of the cards to keep up with demand as they disappeared from where they were distributed in libraries and around the county.

Next up was a redesign of the existing Literacy Office brochure. Both updated and new information were provided, so a new layout was created to arrange and display sections of text into shorter blocks for easy reading. About the same time that the brochure was being developed, a website blog icon was created based on the cover of the brochure which used a green band of colour with white text reversing out of it overlaid the green globe.

The same design solution for the Literacy Office brochure and blog icon was then employed in development of aTutor Handbook design. A fresh re-write of the six-page document text was matched with an equally refreshed new look and that would maintain the same typographical treatment from the brochure for strengthening brand continuity.

For tutor training, a 24-page PowerPoint presentation was created utilizing the same design elements and sensibilities. 

While tutor training was underway, agreements with existing and new tutoring sites required advertising of their locations and dates. One quarter-page handbill design was used both as a handbill as well as a utility bill insert. Other single and two-sided handbills and associated 8.5x11 inch signs for posting were produced in both English and Spanish language to better serve both speaking populations. 

Lastly (for the time-being), a point of purchase sign was created for fundraising during one of the local Friends of the Library book sales. Placement of the sign at a location outside of the library where book lovers and supporters of the library mission congregated was a great idea and hopefully produced measurable results for the library's literacy program.

Projects included:

200 internally printed tutor recruitment cards 

+ a revised printing of 200

400 internally printed reading help cards 

+ additional reprints of 400, 600, & 5000

55 internally printed literacy office brochures 

2500 vendor printed literacy office brochures

150 internally printed six-page tutor handbooks

One local utility bill insert advert .pdf

One library Website Blog Icon .jpg

24-page tutor training PowerPoint presentation

40 Two-sided English / Spanish quarter-page handbills

11 New classes 8.5x11 inch Spanish version sign

11 New classes 8.5x11 inch English version sign

One "Help Promote Literacy" 8.5x11 inch sign .pdf

Stay tuned, because more marketing opportunities are continually being explored, and along with them, additional design projects.

Marketing Designs for a New Library Grand Opening Event

Roadside sign announces opening of new library after opening day.

Invitation (folded) was printed on card stock, two invites per 8.5x11 inch page.
Event program (lower right) was also printed in the same manner, but not folded.

Grand opening public service 
announcement ad.

In 2011 the Alachua County Library District received permission from the city of Gainesville, Florida to build a new branch library. After that agreement and until they could build a permanent building, a mobile trailer was used as a functioning library. Finally, in 2013, work on the permanent structure began and leading up to its opening, the library wanted to get word out that a grand opening celebration would take place.

I looked back at previously designed marketing collaterals for the mobile unit's grand opening as a basis for continuing the theme of "building the future." That series of collaterals made use of a blue print background, a rainbow, and a few architectural tools such as a t-square. An announcement for ground breaking on the new permanent location site used a shovel silhouette along with the rainbow as part of the handle. You can see samples of those materials in my earlier blog posts here http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2011/12/cone-park-library-branch-grand-opening.html and here http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2013/04/library-groundbreaking-ceremony.html .

Post grand opening public service
 announcement ad.

Now that the permanent building had architectural renderings, I decided to use the architect's elevation drawing as line art for the basis of the new permanent building's grand opening design collaterals. I combined the elevation drawing with a sepia-toned wood grain image to add colour to it and to become the central art element on all collaterals. For purposes of continuity from piece-to-piece of the new collaterals, I made use of the same wood grain texture as a border treatment and within outlined text of the words "Grand Opening."

Website home page banner ad.

The first marketing piece to be distributed was an invitation, printed two up on a full page, then trimmed and folded down to be a quarter-paged sized card that could be opened. The 300 physical copies would be conventionally mailed out to recipients. A second invitation version saved as a .jpg would be embedded as an image into emails invitations sent out to additional recipients.

8.5 x 11 inch sign to post
in existing branch before
transfer of materials into
 the new library branch.

Two television broadcast public service announcement ads were created. One for announcing the grand opening event, and a second one for long term use after the grand opening. A 23x34 inch poster was also created for use in a free-standing frame to be displayed in the Headquarters Library lobby.

Closer to the grand opening day, a website banner ad and a secondary blog icon image would also appear on the library website to announce the grand opening and link to a blog post for details.

Because the mobile library unit would still be in operation during construction of the new permanent building, a time would come when materials from the mobile unit would need to move to the permanent site. A sign was created to provide advance notice for that disruption of service on the days that transfer of materials would happen. 

Library lobby poster.

Roadside yard signs were also created to be used along the stretch of road that passed in front of the new library location. One designed set appeared to announce the grand opening event, a second designed set appeared the day of the grand opening, and a final set appeared after the grand opening day to announce that the permanent library building was now open for business. The 24x29 inch signs were printed on large format paper and laminated for protection from inclement weather.

For the day of the grand opening, an event program was created, printed front and back on card stock, two programs to an 8.5x11 inch page. A diagram of the building's floorplan was also created to help visitors navigate the new space. And lastly, a pair of certificates were designed to present to the Library Foundation and Friends of the Library organizations for their generous support in helping to make the new library possible look and function to the highest of expectations.

Email invitation image.

Photos of the grand opening event can be viewed here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/acld/sets/72157638731665456/

Event poster showed floorplan 
sections of new library.

Items created for publicizing the new library: 

300 copies: Grand Opening Event Invitation

1 copy: Grand Opening Event Email Invitation

1 copy: Grand Opening PSA #1

1 copy: New Library Open PSA #2

1 copy: Grand Opening Event Website Banner

Donor certificate.

1 copy: New Library Open Blog Icon

4 copies: Library Closed (during collection shift) 8x11 inch Signs

1 copy: 20x30 inch Grand Opening Announcement Lobby Poster

3 versions / 6 prints each: 24x19 inch Yard Signs for Pre-Grand Opening, Day-Of Grand Opening; and Now Open Post Grand Opening

Donor certificate.

100 copies: Grand Opening Event Program

Floorplan

1 copy: Grand Opening Event Colour Coded 

24x19 inch Poster

1 copy: Cake Decoration Image

1 copy: Grand Opening Event 11x8.5 inch Appreciation Certificate for Friends of the LIbrary donor

1 copy: Grand Opening Event 11x8.5 inch Appreciation Certificate for Foundation donor

Event program front and back.