BellaChes est Magnifique!

 

 

A clean, sophisticated, and chic vibe was what we were going for when we helped create the branding, collateral, packaging, and advertising for BellaChes. Located in the heart of The Renaissance in Ridgeland, Mississippi, BellaChes is bringing unique gifts and treasures to the beautiful boutique. Their store will feature gifts for men, women, babies, and even four-legged friends. The owners have traveled far and wide to bring the BEST to Jackson, Mississippi. Each piece of packaging and collateral has been thoughtfully designed with the best quality in mind. Some of the materials include metallic business cards and Euro-shopping totes with canvas handles. You are guaranteed a fantastic shopping experience here! (Once the final packaging gets printed we’ll post it to show you!)

 

 

 

Lowcountry Local First ::: BUY LOCAL WEEK

This past month we have had the pleasure of helping out Jamee Haley and her crew at Lowcountry Local First develop an identity and look for Buy Local Week 2009. This year, Buy Local Week will be from November 30 to December 6, with a ton of fun events to get your ‘local’ on! Check out lowcountrylocalfirst.org for more information and details on the events! Also, many sponsorship opportunities are available that range from $250 – $3000. Download the brochure we designed for them here!

Independent Movie and After Party  - December 1, 2009

Eat Local Night - December 2, 2009

Holiday Stroll - December 5, 2009

Alternative Giving Fair - December 5, 2009

The Buy Local, Be Local Bash - December 6, 2009

A Freakishly Frightening Invitation

Here at Cultigraphic®, we are certainly in the Halloween spirit! Check out our frighteningly awesome Ouija Board Invitation for a Monster Mash in West Ashley.

While we are not ones to commune with the Spirit World, the idea of the Ouija board was a fitting way to explore type and texture. To make the invitations, we trick or treated at Home Depot and came away with 4 x 6 planks of birch about 1/3 of an inch thick. After hand-sanding each board,  we stamped each board with black and brown ink using a Gocco screen printer. After these were dry, we banded them with vellum and a silver seal. The boards were accompanied with a map printed with black ink on silver Curious paper. Completing the look, we mailed the invites in hauntingly black envelopes with liners, and sent them on their ghoulish way!

Happy Halloween to all! (Addresses have been blurred to protect the parties involved)

Susan G. Komen Lowcountry® Keeps it Local

Over the past two years we have had the privilege of helping market Susan G. Komen Lowcountry® as well as the Susan G. Komen Lowcountry Race for the Cure®. To help market the 2009 Race, we decided to really focus on the locals of the Lowcountry. Teaming up with Amelia Phillips at Dreamland Images, who is now the Susan G. Komen Lowcountry® photographer, we were able to create some ads with powerful statements from people who live in and around the Lowcountry. We wanted this material to really hit home, and to show that the money raised at the Race benefits our community directly. Below are a few of the marketing materials we have done for Susan G. Komen Lowcountry® in 2009.

Shotgun Doodle of the Day!

A shotgun doodle is a doodle drawing that starts at office opening and ends at 5:00 p.m. The doodle is passed back and forth all day, with additions to the doodle at each pass. At 5:00 PM we post what we have. This is a fun way to collaborate and get the creative juices flowing. Enjoy.

LOGO LOVE! {a glance at some of our past logo work}

We just celebrated our second year of business on June 1, 2009, so we have decided to show some of our favorite logos not featured on our website. Enjoy looking at them, because we sure had fun designing them!

Recent Client: Nine Island Propereties

Over the past few months we have branded Nine Island Properties. We wanted to make the overall brand traditional, but with a little flair. We incorporated vintage inspired imagery and eclectic patterns into the collateral to help give it an older and seasoned look. Here are a few examples of the logo design and collateral material for our client.

Illustration Station

Cultigraphic has a great fondness for illustration. Here are a few examples of illustrating I did for a fun, non-work project about two years ago. These images were created with original sketches, copyright free imagery and compiled in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. More to come!

Educate Yourself: Books to Read and Buy!

Over the past couple of years, we have developed an extensive library of design, art, and business books. Books are definitely a great resource for inspiration, information, and resources. Many design books look great on the outside, but the content is not always the best. Having a design library has been a huge asset for our business. We are able to reference different ideas, concepts, and imagery that may not always be available on-line. Having access to these books has helped us expand on what we know, and stay up-to-date on current design trends, topics, and applications.

Some of our favorite books:

1. Guerrilla Advertising: Unconventional Brand Communication

2. How to Fold

3. 1,000 Type Treatments: From Script to Serif, Letterforms Used to Perfection

4. New Master’s of Poster Design: Poster Design for the Next Century

5. Illusive: Contemporary Illustration And Its Context

6. Logology

7. Milton Glaser: Graphic Design

8. Decoding Design: Understanding and Using Symbols in Visual Communication

9. Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

10. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design

11. LogoLounge 4: 2000 International Identities by Leading Designers

12. Forms, Folds and Sizes, Second Edition: All the Details Graphic Designers Need to Know but Can Never Find

13. How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

14. The Packaging Designer’s Book of Patterns

15. Marks of Excellence

16. Chip Kidd: Book One: Work: 1986-2006

17. Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop

18. Materials, Process, Print: Creative Ideas for Graphic Design

19. Dos Logos

20. Nice to Meet You: Visual Greeting from Business Cards

Summer 2009 Newsletter