Posts Tagged: NC graphic designers
Fionix Consulting – Graphic Work for a Commercial Client
When a friend and former colleague of Ryan’s approached us about creating some branding and graphics for her new venture, of course we were in. People know Pixels primarily as photographers, but Ryan and I are trained graphic artists. Ryan’s been with Central Piedmont Community College’s marketing and media department for 14 years. He’s our creative lead when clients need graphic design.
Jessica Graham wanted to start a new consulting business and found the name Fionix (pronounced Phoenix) suited her perfectly. The word in one definition described “a girl who isn’t afraid to fight; some people even call her the alpha. She normally has blond hair and slightly different colored eyes and she is strong, fearless, and loyal. She’s a best friend who never lies to you.” Jessica read that definition and heard the audible click that said, “the search for my business name is over.” That’s when Pixels’ work began.
Working with Jessica was a lot of fun for Ryan, because she was once his boss at CPCC and they had a sort of short hand. He picked her brain, but she also came to the table with lots of thoughts and ideas that made the process more exciting than a simple font treatment. We love logo design and branding and Ryan’s career has been steeped in the principles of consistency and unifying creative. The direction initially was a play on our traditional view of phoenix (the bird rising from its ashes), so flames and regeneration were a start. What we ended up with is a mark that she absolutely loves and one that we are particularly proud show off.
Once her design was approved, we created business cards and the rest of the identity systems for Fionix. We’re excited for Jessica’s new consulting business. She saw a gap in the market and is filling it with her years of experience in communications and public relations and her endless curiosity for reaching out on behalf of communities.
We are always eager to help new entrepreneurs or existing businesses develop their branding through better, more targeted graphic design. If you know someone starting a business or looking to refresh their brand, I hope you’ll tell them that graphic design is part of what we do at Pixels.
pixels on paper graphic design showcases new appalachia foods for the western North Carolina locavore
New Appalachia is one of the those business ideas that people muse about but cannot always see through to success. It is an idea, however whose time has come and its Owner/CEO and visionary Caleb Crowell knew that implicitly. We’re in an American cultural chapter when people are giving more thought to what their families eat, where our food comes from, how to be healthier and save money, which produce is genetically modified and so on. We’re also nostalgic for those recipes that were shared by family or in church cookbooks, community circles and at neighborhood gatherings. Crowell understands this and built a business around it – focusing first of the farms and farmers themselves. Being a part of helping New Appalachia create a brand and the visuals, tone, typography and all the other graphic design elements that make a brand work was wonderful. We love the people, the cause, the strategy and what it represents as we are both lovers of farm food and the power of community in North Carolina and especially the Southern Appalachian region.
Creating a brand for this business was especially fun, because Caleb knew where his inspirations were born. He loved the old seed catalogs of the late 19th century and how they conveyed, in a few pictures and words, the care of the land and the artistry that went into being a grower. We spent time with these images, had many conversations about the vision for New Appalachia, shared our own memories and worked to personalize the business in such a way that everyone who came into contact with New Appalachia as a brand would feel that same sense of nostalgia and renewal.
We were also inspired by the recent trend found in boutique and micro breweries of presenting themselves in more retro iconography and when Caleb mentioned his love of the old Blue Ridge Parkway promotional posters (just above), the New Appalachia’s look was born.
New Appalachia’s website states simply:
“The food system we envision has a face and story and a connection to our region. It is fueled by the values for our land, our people and our economy. We are motivated by the economic opportunities created for the family-operated farms of Southern Appalachia that we get to work with, and by the stories we share along the way. We assist our farmers in crafting their harvest with our production planning phase over the winter. The diversity of our markets range from specialty niche greens for fine restaurants to volume potatoes for institutional buyers. We also love working with chefs to help them maximize their local food use or assist in their farm-to-table events.”
Chef creating dishes from farm fresh and local foods
The largest portion of the New Appalachia mission is based on creating a “region-wide food” network, so that farmers can maintain sustainable businesses by providing food that the market is craving. It’s symbiotic, because the process is a collaboration between New Appalachia and each farm using a planning process that promotes “crafting the harvest.” So whether it’s organic greens or rabbits or root veggies, each farm designs their planting for the community and region. While that is the more practical side, so much heart and listening and personal investment is involved. Speaking of heart, an important additional component is uncovering and sharing stories and truly reviving the community table. This is where the Sunday Supper Series comes in and where we were able to synthesize Caleb’s inspirations with our own.
This series is indeed a revival of community gatherings and is open to the public, family-friendly and includes dishes created by local chefs made from the farm fresh and seasonal ingredients from local growers and farms. The series kicks off July 12 with many to follow, so look for one in your area if you live in Western North Carolina or parts of the Southern Appalachia. As fans of this business, their style and idiom, we invite you to learn more about New Appalachia and come to a Sunday Supper. It is summer after all, the crops are coming in and the food and company is fine!
Pixels on Paper loves graphic design work, especially when it strikes a chord with us, but we end up loving every single client we’ve worked with. Learn more about our graphic design work and be in touch with if you have a specific project or want us to noodle with you.
pixels does portraits, outdoor shoots, weddings, newborns & (wait for it) LOGOS
We showcase our photography on this blog more than anything. It’s fun and we’re proud of our work and all of the relationships we get to document and those that we now have with so many of our clients. Photography gets primacy, because everyone enjoys creative pictures paired with stories that resonate. What we don’t often highlight is our flourishing graphic design business – which gets the same care and focus as our photography biz. So, we sorta buried the lead in this blog title. It’s not really just “logos” – it’s branding and it’s graphic (by definition) and it’s creative work.
BUT – the first thing most of us learn about and then remember about a brand is the logo.
As most of you know, a brand isn’t a just a logo or a tagline – it’s a business, a product, a person – so we spend quality time with each client learning about their business, their goals, their competition, their target audiences and then reviewing images that they think capture who they are and what they’re about. As with photography clients – collaboration is important, so there is back and forth, sharing, communication process where we home in on the best version. Getting close is a blast! Getting to “YES, that’s it!” from the client is even … “blast-ier.”
We love it when clients bring examples of fonts, colors and images we can use for inspiration and as jumping off points. Then the fun really begins! Sketching, playing with palettes and possibilities, even escaping to other media for a break. Ever been stuck working on something and gone to the movies? Could be a spreadsheet or a screenplay, but you need to get up and go watch something or be somewhere else. Clearing your mind with something or someone wholly unrelated to your work can suddenly make you think – “I’VE GOT IT!”? Inspiration can come from anywhere, so we also pay attention to that unexpected magic that happens.
Each client is different – and thank God for that. Otherwise, where’s the fun? And naturally each logo is different and needs a different voice, look and that little something extra. Picture the curling “come-here” pointer finger that says, “come have a look…!” That’s our goal: to execute a successful logo, but also to establish a brand and make our clients happy and ready to move forward on their dreams.
We develop the business cards, stationery and any other promotional items, make sure all designs are scalable so that they can be used across all media, and then we watch and hope and pray for the best outcomes for each business or project. Have we mentioned that we love our clients? Business development projects are some of our favorites and if you need us, we’d love to work with you! Check out Pixels for other examples of branding and commercial work.