Brian Gage Design

Chinook Hosting Launches New Marketing Effort

2008-07-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Brian Gage Design and M+BG recently helped Chinook Hosting with their new print collateral as they prepared for a this year's Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Brian Gage Design/M+BG along with The SAGE Group developed the print marketing materials, as well as the trade show booth graphics to better position Chinook Hosting within the web hosting reseller market. 4 marketing cut sheets and a 4 page brochure were designed for this new push. Chinook also partnered with Zenwerks to redesign their website, to complete this launch. The show helped to give Chinook Hosting added presence within the hosting community, and was a great success!

True Success Coaching is all that!

2008-04-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

We recently had a chance to catch up with one of our clients, True Success Coaching (www.true-success.com) to find out what they have been up to. Coach Keith Ferrin has been working with one of Microsoft's teams to help prepare for a key speech to be given at one of their yearly meetings. They say that the top fear in the United States is public speaking, #1 in front of death! Death... ? I think we need to get our priorities straight. Keith's proven experience in public speaking and coaching will definitely come as an asset to the team with their upcoming event. I'm sure with a little help, they will be able to survive public speaking... whether they are able to overcome death is another story.

The New Creekside website is Live!

2008-04-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

This week, the new website for Creekside Covenant Church (www.eCreekside.com) in Redmond, Washington went live. This completes the branding overhaul for all of their church related materials: program, newsletters, banners/signs, invite cards, brochures, and the website. It was a fun process that really allowed us to dig into what makes their church who they are, and work towards expressing that in all of the visuals that we created. The Pacific Northwest is well known for it's coffee (Starbucks, Stumptown and Tullys) as well as Microsoft roots, but living in the Puget Sound region means so much more. Whether you love the mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, fresh produce, or just a more relaxed pace of life that the Northwest has to offer, Creekside adds to this by bringing a unique vision to it's members encapsulated in their message: 'Authentic Life. Abundant Love. Generous Faith.' If you live in the Redmond, WA area, you should really check them out!

Play Ball!

2008-04-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Play Ball! That phrase that's been heard for well over a hundred years now every spring, signals that the new Major League Baseball season is here. Yes, we know that this has absolutely nothing to do with design, but it has everything to do with better spring/summer weather and good times at the park or relaxing in front of the TV with the crack of the bat and the cheers of the crowds. Here in the Northwest, most of us are Mariners fans, and the team is off to a good start already. A win on Monday, and a close loss last night, we're ready to final see the Mariners in the playoffs for the first time in many years. Go Mariners!!! www.seattlemariners.com

UPDATE (April 7): ok... the Mariners are looking rather POOR this year. After spending a fortune on pitching and trading away our future... we still can't pitch apparently. Nor can we consistently offer run support. 2008 is beginning to look a lot like 2007.

Drive Thru History XL

2008-03-11T10:01:00.001-07:00

We have recently completed the packaging for the Drive Thru History XL DVDs. These are the extended length versions of the Ancient History Series shown on the History Channel International. Dave Stotts takes you on a joy ride through Europe on a fun and fast-paced view of early history, with a crazy style that only Dave Stotts can deliver. If you're interested in checking these videos out, you can purchase them at ColdWater Media's website store. Dave Stotts is just as much fun to work with as he seems on screen. If you'd like to drop Dave a note, you can contact him through the Drive Thru History MySpace page.
We've been working with ColdWater Media on several new projects, check their website to find out what new projects are on the horizon. (www.coldwatermedia.com)

Everyone says "Yes".com

2008-02-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed lately that everyone is saying "Yes" these days? Maybe it's only a local/regional thing, but the "Yes" marketing slogan seems to be the soupe du jour as of late. Car dealers say "Yes," car loan shops say "Yes" (you know... why wait and save for that car you've always wanted when you can go into unrealistic debt TODAY and have it NOW). Even home builders now say "Yes." How imaginative. It's like a 'renaissance' in overly positive thinking.

Have we just raised an entire generation that can no longer handle the word 'no'? Perhaps... perhaps... perhaps... While the latest local marketing geniuses may believe they can continue to sell us on this overly positive thinking, the latest financial and mortgage headlines speak otherwise. Obviously, someone should have been saying 'no.'

Next time a copywriter, ad exec, or marketing expert tries to sell you on their brilliant new 'yes' campaign slogan... you'll know what to say.

C&C Brokers Quality Foods

2008-02-20T13:02:00.001-08:00

C&C Brokers is a Seattle based food broker which provides food service distribution to schools, hotels, restaurants, healthcare institutions, and other general food service needs in the Pacific Northwest. C&C Brokers has a wide variety of quality food products available, from fruit snacks to local fresh fish. Therefore, the new identity and website we crafted for C&C needed to embody elements of simplicity, flexibility, and sophistication.

The website was designed to function in a very simple manner, in order for visitors to access the necessary information fast and easily, because a website should never hinder the connection between a business and their customers.

For more info about C&C Brokers, visit: www.c-cbrokers.com

The War is Over (of Formats, Men and Tech)

2008-02-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Toshiba pulled the plug on their HD format: HD-DVD. (official press release) Thus ending a 2 year bitter format war that the consumer and industry never wanted. Did they forget the last one? (SACD vs DVD-Audio) You've probably never heard of them.... there's a reason for that. No one won... and the consumer lost. Now were stuck with low quality MP3/AAC files and overly compressed CDs.

Thankfully, the industry can now focus on BluRay disc, hopefully creating the same success as the DVD. Many pundants are still hoping that BluRay will fail, and we will go straight to downloads. Call me old fashioned, but I still like to have a tangible product that I can hold in my hand, and not have to fear what service may go down in flames next (think Wal-Mart, Yahoo, etc.) leaving everyone stuck with DRM encoded files that you can't transfer, backup or recover if something happens to your CPU.

What does this all have to do with Design? As a creative and creative content provider, we have been watching this closely. If you have had the opportunity to see one of the 2 Pixar films out on BluRay right now, you'll know why we are such huge BluRay fans. (I have now had the opportunity to see CARS over 30 times... thanks to my 2 year old... and thankfully, it still hasn't gotten old). BluRay gives you the opportunity to see movies as the original content creators are seeing and hearing them. This provides a rare opportunity for the end user and content creator to be much on the same plane of viewing experience. As designers, we are always dealing with limitations... good and bad. Printing is not an exact science, and quite often doesn't measure up to what the designer has envisioned. Web certainly has it's limits, whether resolution, bandwidth, etc.

All of that said, we hope that now with the format war over, those of you interested in HD and all that it has to offer, will go out and set yourself up with a BluRay player and HDTV. See for yourself what the content creators have been able to see and hear all of these years. Player prices are coming down all of the time, but your best option may be a PS3. While I'm not much of a gamer, I enjoy an old game of Pacman or Joust every so often. And with the PS3, it's such an open platform, it can be upgraded for many years to come through firmware updates. No more long faces, go out and be Blu.

You can follow more recent news at the video enthusiast website: www.thedigitalbits.com

Costellini's Premium Coffee Products

2008-02-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

We recently finished a rebranding of Costellini's, a Pacific Northwest wholesale coffee products supplier. This involved the updating of their brand identity (logo and overall "look and feel"), along with the updating of the Costellini's product line to better represent their premium quality coffee flavorings.

Everyone at BGD became quite enthralled with this project, and it truly became a labor of love. It is an exciting journey to create an identity that cuts through the clutter of store shelves, and really grabs the attention of new and potential customers.

For more info on Costellini's, visit: www.costellinis.com*

*The Costellini's website has yet to be redesigned by BGD.

Helvetica: The Movie

2008-01-31T17:22:00.000-08:00

Designers everywhere rejoice! If you haven't heard, there is a film out (now available on DVD) called Helvetica: A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit. If you can't figure out by the aptly named title, it is a documentary about, you guessed it, the typeface Helvetica. The movie was released in 2007, celebrating Helvetica's 50th birthday, and no other typeface is more deserving of such a film than good ol' big H. (Bonus points for counting how many times I can use the word "typeface" in a movie review.)

As the fallback typeface for every modern designer it gets a lot of flack from some as being a bit of a copout, but others insist that there is no need for any other typeface because Helvetica is, well, perfect. I, being a fan of the latter viewpoint, have to say that I loved this movie (especially since Helvetica Neue UltraLight is the best font ever). It gives a great background to the history of the typeface and has interviews with many world renowned graphic designers about their thoughts on its use. A lot of big name designer-rockstars are in it such as: Massimo Vignelli, David Carson, Michael Bierut, Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, Eric Spiekerman, Neville Brody, and many more. The views expressed range from Helvetica being the embodiment of the modern corporation, to it being a simple and elegant solution for any design communication problem.

The film has a great soundtrack and very nice cinematography that incorporates an example of the typeface in nearly every shot.

Type nerds will salivate over this film although I doubt it's one to have your non-artsy friends come over and watch. But it is a nice, palatable introduction into what us crazy designers think about for the better part of our day, while watching movie credits, looking at food labels, reading magazines, browsing book titles or anything else with legible type printed on it. A good designer can never shut off that part of their brain so try to get your non-designer friends to start noticing things like where Helvetica is used and WHY its important and you will no longer be the annoying friend who is talking about critiquing the motion type during cheesy TV commercials. Helvetica is really THE typeface of the modern era; it's everywhere you look and I challenge you to walk down a city street without seeing it used somewhere.

If you want to check it out for yourself search for it on Amazon.com or pop over to the film's main site at www.helveticafilm.com

Update: A new BluRay version is being worked on and should be out this year.

New Blog!

2008-01-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new home of creativity at Brian Gage Design!
This is a space to update and inform the masses about creative endeavors, personally and professionally here at BGD.

Thanks for stopping by!