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).

Black History Month 2015 Library Marketing Designs

Library website banner ads for general theme events (top) and "Outside the Book" event series (bottom).

Each year the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) selects a theme for celebrating Black History. Based in Washington, DC, the organization has a website that displays its complete list of annual themes and provides information relating to its organization (see www.asalh.org). When I begin my annual Black History Month project for my library client, the ASALH is my go-to place for determining what the national theme is so I can develop imagery compatible to it. 

For 2015, the national theme was "A Century of Black Life, History, and Culture." The organization provided a single text page to speak on the theme, with the only visual offered being a black/white image of ASALH founder, Carter G. Woodson superimposed onto a parchment background. With this single image serving as a launching pad for my own creative project direction, I set out to develop marketing visuals for my library client to compliment the national theme set by the ASALH. 

Project: Alachua County Library District Black History Month Identity and Promotional Materials.

Brief: Establish a visual identity mark and develop integrated print and digital media marketing collaterals to promote the library's Black History Month events.

Required collaterals (and printed quantities):
General collaterals:
Theme logo, with element variations and in both colour and black/white formats (4)
8.5x11 inch event flyer front/back (400)
Library website banner ad (1)
Library website blog icon (1)
TV broadcast public service announcement (1)
Magazine print ad (1)
Newspaper print ad (1)

Resulting theme identity design.

Small publication print ad (1)
21x28 inch display poster (6)
116x68 inch large format display poster (1)
LIbrary newsletter 8x11 inch page (1)

Black History Month Thinking Out of the Book series events collaterals:
11x8.5 inch sign (10)
17x1 inch sign (10)
Half page handbill (75)
Library website banner ad (1)

Production notes: I already had an image of a parchment background that I could use. What I needed was something to give a little reference to the human component of the identity. I first explored illustration and photographic detail images of skin, however I still felt like I wanted something more recognizable, so I sourced for a face that I could use and finally settled on a purchased stock image I could crop tightly in on. I didn't want viewers to concentrate on a specific person, so I cropped in tightly on the face and reduced the area it took up so that the theme name would be the dominate visual element. 

Although the number "100" was not part of the official title, I added it to the theme identity for more visual impact, as well as to communicate faster and reinforce the words "a century." Typeface used on the identity was Headliner No.45 for a bold and slightly distressed appearance. URWEgyptienneTMed used for the ampersand because one was not included in the Headliner No.45 font family. Headliner No.45 was also used throughout the design collaterals as the display font. Body text used on collaterals was either from the Adobe Arial or Adobe Garamond Pro family set, both standard typefaces that are part of the ACLD corporate identity standards. 

Theme identity development began in October and was presented for review in November. What resulted was a four-item set of theme identity marks that could be used in a variety of ways. Specific collaterals were developed as content was delivered by project stakeholders. 

 Four colour and black/white variations of the identity with and without the background image.

Website blog icon

Left and center: 8.5x11 inch flyer front and back. Right: newsletter page.

TV broadcast public service announcement (PSA).

Half page handbills, and both 11x8.5 and 17x11 inch sign formats all used the same design.

Marketing Design for Black History Month 2014 Library Events

Base theme design that would be applied whole or in part to other corresponding event collaterals.

Web page blog icon.

Every year, the Alachua County Library District puts on an array of programs and events to celebrate Black History Month. Marketing and design helps to support that effort through the creation of a variety of publicity materials. My first order of business in developing a visual theme for the celebration is to refer to The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), headquartered in Washington, D.C. which sets the annual national theme for Black History Month. The association's mission is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community. You can read more about the ASALH here: www.asalh.net, and for an annual listing themes, here: http://asalh.org/blackhistorythemes.html.

Website home page banner ad would be 
used to promote all associated events.

The 2014 theme was "Civil Rights in America" so I focused on collecting images of three symbolic things relating to two key moments in a 100-year span of history related to the government's recognition of these rights: the Supreme Court building, Abraham Lincoln (in reference to the Emancipation Proclaimation of 1863), and finally Martin Luther King, Jr. shaking hands with then-president Lyndon Baines Johnson at the 1964 signing of the Civil Rights Act bill.

I was able to assemble these photographic images overlaying each other, then add a background of radiating light rays, stars and stripes and typography to create a few different arrangements for the various collaterals needed.

Television Public Television Announcement.

Projects included:

General quarter page handbills

350 General 8.5x11 inch event list flyer

1 General television PSA

1 General celebration webslide

1 General celebration blog icon

1 General newspaper print ad

250 Dance event quarter page handbills

1 Dance event 11x17 inch poster

45x45 inch large format display poster.

Final 45x45 inch display poster installed on site.

Marketing Designs for Black History Month 2013 Library Events

The final design concept blended a variety of visual images together
and gave greater prominence to the title size.

I began developing visual concepts for our library district's Black History Month event publicity in early November. Many of our library branches hold a variety of different Black History Month related events throughout the month of February, so instead of creating a completely unique design concept for some of those events, I prefer instead to create and establish a central design theme that different event programs can utilize elements from, either entirely or in part. This helps to reduce my work load while at the same time providing recognizable uniformity from one event to the next for the district's celebration as a whole.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), headquartered in Washington, D.C., sets the annual national theme for Black History Month. The association's mission is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community. You can read more about the 2013 theme from the following links: 
http://www.asalh.net/docs/2013ExecutiveSummary.pdf 
http://www.asalh.org/blackhistorythemes.html 
http://www.asalh.org/docs/2013%20Theme%20At%20the%20Crossroads%20of%20Freedom%20and%20Equality.pdf

Initial design concept emphasized the flag's 50 stars
marching to Washington D.C.

The ASALH set the 2013 theme title as: "At the Crossroads of Freedom & Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation & The March on Washington." While the historical aspects are greatly interesting and important, the title itself was quite a mouthful both verbally and visually. Nevertheless, that was the basis for my design concept, and I moved forward with seeing how I could find visuals that encapsulated that message.

I first sourced for images that would support the theme, primarily looking for images of the Emancipation Proclamation, photos of people marching on Washington, D.C., maps, flags, and chains. I also knew that I would have to apply whatever my design theme would become to one specific library event that would highlight dancing, so I also sourced for vector clip art of dancers.

The broadcast PSA variation.

My first concept direction was to remake an American flag image by inserting an American map where the white stripes would normally be and a blue-toned detail of an Emancipation Proclamation illustration where the stars would normally be. I wanted the 50 stars to be in the process of relocating from their usual position to flow along two of the red stripes--as if marching--toward a portion of the exposed map that showed Washington, D.C. I then reversed out the theme title in a few of the remaining red stripes, but after seeing how small the wording was to the overall design, I decided I needed to move in a different direction that would give more prominence to the title.

This sign for a related dance event shows
how the general design visuals were
applied to create a new image but still relate
to the established general design theme.

On my second design concept, I used an image of the Emancipation Proclamation illustration in the background and wanted to create a road image with striped, dashed highway lines that ended as arrows pointing to a detail portion of a map showing Washington, D.C. Clever alert: once I had the white dashed lines placed over top of the black roads, the remaining visual space on the road surrounding the white dashed lines reminded me of a chain shape, so I modified the elements to include the gray "links" of a chain around the white dash marks to give an even more symbolic meaning to the road to Washington, D.C. 

At this point I still had my roads orientated in the shape of a "+" and needed to find a place for the title. I first tried to split portions of the title above and below the illustration, but when I did the text seemed too far removed from each other, so I decided to change the orientation of my "+" road intersection to become an "x" orientation instead, and lay an additional horizontal black band across the middle of the intersection to insert the title into. Having the title more centered within the illustration worked much better for me and, in an ironic twist, also provided an additional subtle similarity to the design of a Confederate flag.

Web page banner.

Projects included:

General quarter page handbills

350 General 8.5x11 inch flyer

1 General television PSA

1 General celebration webslide

1 General celebration blog icon

1 General newspaper print ad

Blog icon.

250 Dance event quarter page handbills

1 Dance event 11x17 inch poster

1 Dance event television PSA

1 Dance event newspaper print ad