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 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 Design Collaterals for 2014 Library Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

To strengthen recognition of any single event, its marketing collaterals
should be created to maintain a cohesive look from one piece to another.

Top row: starting images.
Bottom: modified images.

For the 2014 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, the library chose John Cech, who—among a variety of notable accolades—was Director of the University of Florida’s Center for Children’s Literature and Culture. He planned to speak about local Florida “treasures” that literary work had written about.

In conversations with my internal client, we agreed on exploring a visual solution that imparted the idea of a long-held keepsake from childhood that over the course of time might have become a little worn but nevertheless remained a personal treasure for the memories it evoked. 

Since the event was for a library, it was only natural to settle on a book concept—if for no other reason than to help present the essential invitation and program information. A book or personal journal could be the quintessential keepsake. 

Two sides of printed
program cover.

Next was to create something that looked like an “old book.” I already had a selection of domain free images of textures I could tap into from previous projects, and easily selected a brown leather grained material to be the cover of the book. A second book cover image had a wonderfully aged texture and decorative flower motif that would serve well as an accent to the primary cover material image. As it turns out, I also use the same image used in black/white as a pattern inside large “brackets” in the quarterly library newsletter, THINK...., so there is already a subliminal connection to the library for those who really look hard. 

Both original images needed to be modified for use in the luncheon event, however. I brightened both up and also changed the dark brown leather to be purple. The purple/gold combination looked more festive—perhaps a little more regal or “award ceremony-ish”—it was certainly a more youthful than the darker and duller original images. My client remarked that the purple/gold comination reminded her of the book The Little Prince; I was leaning toward Harold and the Purple Crayon myself. Neither was spot on, but hey, if the colour choices emparted any specific childhood book then I was already on target.

250 single-sided printed invitations on
 110lb stock before folding into card.

I planned to use the purple leather as the exterior cover of the book, then use the gold patterned image as an interior cover end paper surface. Once I placed text on the cover, however, I decided I wanted the cover to be more immediately recognizable as a book, so I included the gold accent image along the spine. I also used the accent pattern inside of a gold star that rested atop the display text, providing readers with an eye-catching place to start reading from.

I also wanted a playful, hand-generated looking display font with a thick line weight so it could still look bold even if used at a small point size. For this, I chose a font named “One Starry Night.” For the bulk of remaining text, I kept with the library’s corporate standards of Arial and Adobe Garamond.

The completed print invitation.

The first item of business was to create a print invitation in order to get it mailed out to recipients with enough advance notice. The library had typically used front/back printed quarter page card stock inserted into invitation envelopes for mailing. But because this theme involved a book design, I wanted this year’s invitation to be a “mini book” of sorts, with a cover and at least one internal page spread to open to. Having that would mean there would be four individual pages to provide information on in addition to the external and internal cover surfaces (not that I would advocate filling every open surface with text). It worked out well to have the event name on the cover; an invitation message on the first inside page; speaker credentials information on the left interior spread; event theme and essential date/time/location information on the right inside spread; and RSVP information requirements on the back inside page. The back cover and inside cover end pages could remain decorative and uncluttered. 

The e-vite version of the event invitation.

A separate RSVP card was created to be tucked into the invitation, but was later cancelled in favour of having attending guests either phone or email in their RSVPs. I was hopeful that the interior 24lb text pages could be bound to the exterior 110lb card stock cover by using a thin gold stretchy band, but due to a limited budget we used a thin, tan rubber band which--although cheap--didn't look terribly bad.

Checking program trim and alignment.

With the invitation setting the tone for the visuals, an e-invitation image was created to mimic the print invitation. This image would accompany electronically delivered invitations to invited guests. It would be followed up a few weeks later with a save-the-date email that included an instantly recognizable theme design image as an reminder.

Taking its cue from the invitation design, the event program would follow suit. It would utilize the same invitation book style and be more substancial in content with 12 interior pages: an opening dedication page; speaker bio; event schedule; six pages of branch volunteer highlights; a spread highlighting the speaker’s key points with a map to refer to their location; and a list of contributors to thank. Two slits into the back cover would hold in place a discount entrance ticket to one of the locations from the speaker’s list.

Above, below:
program interior pages.

The interior pages looked too stark and cheap against the detailed texture of the inside cover end pages, so I wanted to find something that had a little texture to it but not so much that it competed with the inside cover textures. I used an image of a handmade paper that had thin fibers and some golden accent leaves in it. After toning the original image back to 30% brightness, it provided a nice compliment to the cover textures. For continuity from page-to-page, I also made use of the gold patterned star as an accent above disaply text ascenders, as text bullets, and site locations on the map. Like my hope for the invitation, I hoped the program would make use of a nice, decorative gold stretch band. But finding materials within budget was a challenge. In the end, although a single staple held interior pages to each exterior cover, a length of gold yarn was used to hide the staple. It wasn't anyone's first choice, but it worked for those concerned with budget issues and the appearance of appearing too extravagant with public funding; a reasonable concern, of course.

While program language was being developed by others, I worked on designs for a raffle winner star and a discount ticket to one of the speaker’s destinations of choice. The raffle winner star was quick and easy: I picked up the accent star icon from the invitation and program, added a border around it using the purple cover texture, added the words “You Win!” inside the star, then duplicated the design multiple times on a single 8.5x11 inch page and them out for cutting out with an X-acto blade.



The discount ticket would require a little more work. I wanted it to have a carnival or movie ticket shape and use the same purple/gold textures. I created an outline of the ticket shape in Adobe Illustrator, then did the same with the border design. I turned the border into an outline stroke that I could import the gold texture into, then saved it as an image to place on page over top of the purple background texture. The ticket required text on both the front and back, so I placed that language into the center of the ticket. 

Program coupon front / back.

Originally, I wanted to have the border treatment on both sides of the ticket, but the paper pick-up on the office copier I used varied too much from page-to-page for me to count on a reliable alignment of front-to-back images. To address this, I opted against using a border treatment on the back of the ticket and centered text in a box ghosting out of the gold accent paper image instead.

Twentyfour table assignment markers were next to complete. I used 8.5x11 inch 110lb card stock pages to duplicate a design three times per page so that I could fold the page into a vertical pylon. Enough unprinted excess left on one side of the page provided me with enough room to act as a tab I could double stick tape to the leading end on the opposite side. To coordinate it with the other designs, I used the program page image of the handmade paper for the primary background of the table marker, used the purple and gold book image patterns for accent, along with the gold star.

Three-sided table markers.

Collateral designs produced for this event included:

Print Invitation (250)

Print Invitation Interior Pages (250)

E-Invitation Image (1)

RSVP Invitation Insert Card (Created but cancelled)

E-Save The Date Image (1)

Raffle Winner Stars (23)

Event Program Gift Coupon (250)

Event Program Exterior Cover (250)

Event Program Interior Pages (6 pages x 250)

Event Table Reservation Markers (24)

Event Table Veggie Plate Markers (12)

Some production shots. Upper left: trimming invitations; Upper right: trimming
invitation interior page; Middle left: notes on printed coupon pages during
effort to align printed fronts and backs; Middle right: cutting out scallop portion
of coupons after printing both sides; Lower left: cutting and folding programs;
Lower right: trimming collated interior pages of program before stapling together.

Library Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon Invitation & Program Designs...Serving Up a Second Helping

Guitar invitation front and back.

Our library really appreciates its library volunteers. Every year, somewhere between 300 and 2500 individuals (depending on how you calculate it) selflessly provide an incredible amount of assistance in hours and effort to extend the library's operational service. Because of this, the library likes to invite volunteers to enjoy an annual luncheon together.

This year, the event planning committee selected a Brazilian guitarist to be featured at the event. From the design side, invitation concepts were designed, approved, printed, and in hand to mail out; program designs were also well into development and on schedule for completion. 

Guitar program / CD insert cover exterior (folds).

Then plans changed. The guitarist was out, and a new, more generic theme based on "the gift of time" was mandated. A scramble ensued to get a replacement speaker, develop a new invitation design concept, then print and deliver to the invitees in as little-past-deadline as possible. There's nothing quite like a change of plans after a significant amount of work has already been done to make things exciting, is there? Well, these things happen on occasion, so you just have to roll with it and hope things will work out better next time around.

Guitar program / CD insert cover interior (when opened).

So, what started out as one design concept for a volunteer appreciation luncheon, turned into two. And why not? We can say that our library loves our volunteers twice as much. Well, almost. We'll give them face time but not Brazilian music.

Clock invitation front and back.

Both designs utilized domain free photography which I modified to suit the theme. The guitar image colour was intensified by saturating it in Photoshop; text, a library logo, music note clip art, and additional photo images of utensils were added to make the guitar opening look like a table place setting. For the blue clock, its hands were topped off with the very same fork and spoon images used from the guitar concept to equally give reference to the meal aspect of the event. The final blue clock image was selected from a total of 24 preliminary designs urgently created within a few hours after the announcement that plans had changed from one theme to another.

The initial guitar concept included quarter page invitations and a program that would double as an insert into a music CD case which would also include a music CD from the guitarist. Opening the case would display the program event schedule on the flip side of that outer-facing guitar image cover. Pulling the insert out and opening it would then reveal names of all the companies that donated gifts to be raffled away to lucky prize winners at the luncheon. The music CD was going to look pretty cool. But I regress on the magnificence of what could have been.

Clock program front and back.

By comparison, the clock concept version utilized a simple front and back quarter page design for invitations, half page design for the program. Table markers based on the design were also made, folding an 8-1/2 x 11 inch sheet into a tall, 11 inch triangle pylon and set upright on tables to indicate seating table seating assignments. It wasn't nearly as exciting as the guitar concept, but hey, by then it was all about getting things done in time which I'm sure everyone appreciated.

TOTAL ITEMS:
300 Guitar Invitations (unused)
300 Clock Invitations
200 Clock Programs
24 Table Markers

Library Garden Display Poster

Large format poster background etching, plus additional vegetable images for decoration.

Spring has sprung and if you're like my wife, you've already planted your home garden and are probably already eating from it too. At the library, we're promoting gardening awareness in May—whether it be for vegetables or flowers.

Background etching image prior to use.

I sourced for garden images—both photos and illustrations. Because of the display's enormous size, 116w x 83v inches, there are few very high quality photographic images that will scale up to that size. Instead, I sourced primarily for free public domain scalable vector illustrations. Once I had a few I thought had potential, I submitted them to the librarian requesting the display poster. Included in my submission were a variety of vegetables and a very nice, graphic line art etching style of leaves and flowers.

The librarian asked for a quote with a nice frame around it to be included on the poster. I set the quote in a nice, handwritten typeface (Jane Austen—freely available online) and made the box I placed it in semi transparent so the background etching image could be slightly visible through it. With the background etching image being so busy, I opted for a simple double ruled border around the quote. A design proof was created and emailed to the librarian for review, and upon reply approval I set up the file for printing.

Using our Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 800 large format printer, I printed background etching image in two long strips, then trimmed and spliced them together using double-sided tape. I printed the vegetables as large as I could on 11x17 inch paper and employed the help of a couple of volunteers to trim them out. My plan was to tape the vegetables up over top the etching background during installation.

Installation was easy; it took two people to place and pin to the bulletin board wall, and a third person to finish up with placement of the vegetables. I came back later to review it and was disappointed to find that all the vegetables had been placed in a very structured, angular fashion, rather than more organic, randomly placed one. But ok...what the heck; everyone's vision of a garden can be different!

All-in-all, the solution and execution was a simple and refined--and good timing too because two days after printing, the DesignJet printer broke and was out of commission for a week.

Background image printed in two strips, then taped together to create one large poster.

Library Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon Invitation & Program 2012 Marketing Designs

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon invitation front / back resembled a seed packet.

Event program front/ back continued the design theme.

The theme for the Alachua County Library District's 2012 volunteer appreciation luncheon centered on growing, and with an environmental horticulture agent as its featured guest speaker, I worked on the concept of promotional collaterals related to seed packet design. 


I submitted about 15 designs for consideration, and from that, developed a final design that would become the basis for applying to 300 invitations, 200 programs, 21 table marker signs, and 21 florist appreciation table tents. 


The design incorporated use of a public domain flower photo, self generated and vector clip art banners and seal, and a detail portion of a commonly used watercolour image of the Headquarters Library. A brand logo finished off two of the design elements. And...Clever Alert! ...in an effort to further resemble a seed packet, I also included a little faux seed packet language of my own, such as my "Latin" version of "volunteerus appreciatus luncheonata" and a small descriptive paragraph on the back of the invitation about this particular "variety" of volunteer. 

Triangular vertical standing table markers
indicated seating arrangements.

I would have liked the invitation to be an actual seed packet, but unfortunately the costing was prohibitive. Instead, the quarter page invitation was placed into an envelope along with a small seed packet that contained a variety of seeds.


Each promotional item was printed on 8.5x11 inch 110lb white card stock, then hand trimmed to size. Table tents and markers were folded for display.


Since real estate on the dining tables is always a premium, I created table markers that folded to form vertical standing triangle columns. The markers indicated which branch or organizational members sat at the various tables, attended by over 160 people.

Table tent front / back acknowledged the florist arrangements.

Small table tents a little larger than business cards were used to acknowledge the florist that donated the table floral arrangements.

A Little About MY Library

The Alachua County Library District (ACLD) is the sole provider of public library services to approximately 250,000 citizens in Alachua County, an area of approximately 965 square miles in north central Florida.


ACLD has 11 branch locations throughout Alachua County, including: in Alachua, Archer, Hawthorne, High Springs, Micanopy, Newberry, Waldo, and four locations in Gainesville. The library also operates two bookmobiles, multiple deposit collections throughout the county, and provides library service to inmates of the Alachua County Jail through an interlocal agreement with the Alachua County Sheriff's department.


In 2007-08, 70% of the county population were registered borrowers of the library. In 2008-2009, visits by patrons district-wide totaled 1,404,869--accounting for a visit rate of 5.48 per capita, and borrowing rate of 11.34 items per capita.


The 2010 collection and materials account for a circulation figure of over 3 million items. At the headquarters branch alone, average monthly circulation is between 90,000 to 125,000, monthly reference questions are between 10,000 to 30,000, public programs or events range between 8-20 per week, and public computers range between 55 to 85.


The Library District offers borrowing privileges free of charge to any resident of the State of Florida. Through reciprocal borrowing agreements, Alachua County citizens may borrow from library systems in these surrounding counties: Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Putnam and Union. Additionally, Alachua County citizens may borrow materials from public libraries in Nassau, St. Johns, Flagler and Hendry counties, which also offer free borrowing privileges to Florida residents.


In addition to reciprocal borrowing agreements, the Library District has contracts with the Murphree Law Library, the Matheson Historical Center and the Civic Media Center which provide for the inclusion of the collections owned and maintained by these organizations to be listed in the District’s online catalog.


The ACLD is an independent special taxing district that derives nearly all its revenue for ongoing operations and capital development from one source…property taxes. In 2007-08, ACLD local funding support per capita was the highest of the top 10 Florida libraries, at $62.09. In 2009, the ACLD Technical Services department successfully administered a materials budget of slightly over 1.6 million dollars.


In 2010, the ACLD was named a Florida Library Association Florida Library of the Year. It also helped the city of Gainesville garner one of  America's Promise Alliance's “100 Best Communities in America for Young People” by being a key component of the award criteria.


In September 2010, ACLD's Library Partnership branch was recognized by Harvard’s Bright Ideas Program for providing services to the community through the coordination of multiple agencies at a one-stop center. Bright Ideas is an initiative of the Ash Center’s Innovations in Government Program, which spotlights exemplary models of government innovation based upon four criteria (Novelty, Effectiveness, Significance and Transferability) and advances efforts to address the nation’s most pressing public concerns. The Library Partnership was selected because of its innovative concept of offering centralized social services through a neighborhood resource center combined with a full-service public library branch. Agencies refer clients to library staff who assist with online applications for benefits and jobs, provide literacy and computer training and offer other ways to assist families in need.


In March 2011, it was reported to me that the ACLD benefited in 2010 from the service of 2,495 volunteers who provided over 22,314 hours of service to the library system, equal to that of 10.5 full-time staff positions.