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.

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.

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.

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.

Library Groundbreaking Ceremony & Corporate Identity Logo Oversight

Quarter page event invitation.

One of our newest library branches celebrated with a groundbreaking event in March. Cone Park Branch library is just over a year old and has been housed in a mobile home-like unit until its permanent building is constructed. The groundbreaking event marked the beginning of the next phase in its branch history. 

Event program front / back.

To help promote the event, I was asked to design an invitation, program, and web banner. When the branch library was first opened in 2011, I designed grand opening promotional materials that coupled the image of a rainbow with a architectural blueprint and drafting materials to support a theme of "Building the Dream" ( http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2011/12/cone-park-library-branch-grand-opening.html ). For this new groundbreaking ceremony, I extended that reference further by using the same rainbow integrated into the a shovel's handle. I also used a strong, cheerful orange background to relate to other recently developed marketing materials (welcome brochure http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-evolution-of-library-welcome.html , library employee recruitment posters http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2012/10/four-posters-derived-from-welcome.html , and presentation folder http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2013/03/library-presentation-pocket-folder.html ).

Event sign and detail view.

After the event, I received photos to post to the library Flickr account (www.flickr.com/acld). I was shocked and dismayed to see a large sign with a logo (aka "brandmark") on it that had been created for the event. The sign used the library's logo...or rather I should say part of the logo correctly and another part incorrectly. I wondered how this could be. Did someone send the sign fabricator the brandmark exactly as it appeared on the sign or perhaps only the book portion of the mark was sent, leaving the sign fabricator to recreate the typography? Either way, what resulted was simply wrong. Worse yet, how is it that nobody noticed except for me?

Our library has two main versions of its brandmark, a book that can be used alone or in combination with its library descriptor ("Alachua County Library District") centered underneath the book. An alternate brandmark displays the book to the left with the library name flush to the right in two lines with a tagline hanging to the right below the library name. Those are the two main "lock-ups" of how the text and book image are to appear. The only variations to those marks are to change the colours to full black, full white, or full blue. The mark on the event sign used incorrect fonts, font sizes and font colours. It also presented a bastardized arrangement of the two different mark lock-ups. I was none too happy about it. After all, how could the library not get its own logo correct?  

You would be surprised at how often this happens in the semi-corporate world where employees aren't adequately trained to embody, reinforce, or even advocate for "the brand" of their organization. Some organizations are good at it; most are not. As an extension to this kind of training, the same is true even for the use of the organization's visual identity. 

In Journalism 101 one of very the first "golden rules" students are taught is that the worst mistake you can ever make as a journalist is to incorrectly spell a person's name (plagiarism no doubt leads the list of worst offenses). There are similar "golden rules" to follow in other industries. In the design profession, an equivalent rule is to not bastardize a company's corporate visual identity brandmark unless doing so is considered allowable within the corporate identity standards policy.

A good thing (if one can presume to adequately leverage that sentiment in their favour) is that if the logo isn't bastardized too much it will most likely still be recognizable to a familiar, yet otherwise clueless public. The flip side of that oversight, however, is that if the company's own people can't recognize that mistake, then the situation should be incredibly disconcerting.

I share that sentiment because the people who work for a company and are most likely to see its brandmark every day and should be the ones who would most easily recognize whether or not it is correct or not. Not only that, but they should also be the very same people who should help by being brand advocates for its proper usage. As a maker of corporate identity standards and the guidelines that establish best practices for the usage of a brandmark, of course I understand that I'm in one of the best positions to realise the good and bad points of a visual mark, of its technical and aesthetic limitations, and of its misuse. I can also appreciate that others wouldn't be as knowledgeable or keen to observe these finer details. But there are certain changes to a brandmark that should be glaringly obvious.

So on occasion I find myself in the role of "brand identity advocate." Whenever I see the visual identity of my library has been used incorrectly, I search out the offending party to inform them that they have incorrectly used it. More often than not, the offending party had no idea the brandmark was used improperly. If they had, or if they had been more sensitive to its use, they most likely wouldn't have used it incorrectly. I inquire about how the improper use happened in order to understand how we can work toward averting the same scenario from happening in the future. 

Through what advocacy I can offer, I hope to educate staff on the proper manner of using our library's corporate identity system consistently so the integrity of the brandmark will remain uncompromised and better able to ensure public recognition. It may not mean much to others, but it means something to me. Proper brandmark usage; you might say that I'm building a dream of my own.