The company’s WordPress website hadn’t been updated in a number of years and some modules had become  unusable, providing the owners with motivation for an overhaul. Adding to the site’s senior age was an inflexible visual design and poor navigation, as well as a lack of analytics for tracking site success. Goals for improvement included:

• Providing visuals that would draw visitors to wine country
• Improving contact information accessibility
• Adding a reservations system
• Adding in numerous photo galleries
• Providing back-end [popover title=”Analytics” title_bg_color=”” content=”Analytics software provides feedback data on site performance. This can be anything from visitor count to traffic flow, e-commerce conversion, demographics and the source from which a visitor came to the site.” content_bg_color=”” bordercolor=”” textcolor=”” trigger=”click” placement=”” class=”” id=””]analytics[/popover]

Solutions

• Crafted a compelling visual story using the client’s images of wine country
• Created WordPress site with [popover title=”Responsive Design” title_bg_color=”” content=”Site design that responds to the size of the viewer’s window screen: Site features rearrange and resize on screen to fit the desktop, tablet or phone size being used. Older websites did not offer this feature and required manual zooming in and out to read the text or navigate pages.” content_bg_color=”” bordercolor=”” textcolor=”” trigger=”click” placement=”” class=”” id=””]responsive design[/popover] theme
• Improved accessibility to contact information and service reservations
• Created several photo galleries of the client’s touring service locations
• Installed Google Analytics to track all site traffic

Results

This up-to-date site has garnered many ways to view content from desktop to mobile platforms. With the added flexibility it is much easier to make a reservation or contact the owners, regardless of viewing platform. Finally, site analytics show site traffic steadily climbing in search results.

COMPETITIVE ADVERTISING How do you compete against larger-sized ads on the same printed page? Bigger isn’t always better! While ad size may give you a competitive edge for more eyeballs on your ad, it can be meaningless if the message doesn’t match your brand’s image. This auto shop grabbed viewers’ attention not only through a generous dose of bright colors that matched the existing logo, but also through highly visual seasonal offers and graphic styling we provided to match the brand.

Seasonal advertising brings fresh customers as well as long-timers to your door. Use the current holiday to reach out to clients and fans. Each Cornucopia Creations’ ad is custom designed to meet the client’s specific needs. For this local auto repair shop, we crafted season-specific ads to remind existing customers of ongoing maintenance needs as well as draw new clients to his business.

eNewsletters remain one of the most successful communication tools with fans and customers. For those with products to sell, e-newsletters continue to garner the highest open rates and click through rates to generate engagement and sales. Shown above are but a few of the e-newsletters I manage for clients.

Of greatest advantage, e-newsletters provide immediate feedback regarding success. Analytics provide valuable data on which items were of greatest interest to recipients. And the ability to A/B split test allows business owners to truly fine tune what keywords, subject lines and products resonate most strongly with recipients.

Last, but not least, depending upon the size of your emailing list, e-newsletters can produce dramatic results on a shoe-string budget. No printing costs, no envelopes, no postage and no 2+ week wait time for results. If you’ve ever wondered if and when to jump into contacting your customer base via e-newsletter, wait no longer! Your customers are waiting to hear from you!

One of the trickiest brochures to design is the one that represents everything for the company.  It represents the brand and all product lines. Chief among the challenges is choosing which products to showcase in the artwork. Print brochures represent a mere snapshot in time these days. It’s tempting to treat it like a catalog. But in doing so, the essence of the company would be lost. This effort represented a marriage of branding while highlighting only a few of the company’s core product lines.

BROCHURE DESIGN Sometimes making a client’s products look extra special takes extra special work in Photoshop. While the foodstuffs were photographed in the basket, it wasn’t on the table. And the tablecloth color didn’t match, nor was the table even in the room shown here. The flooring and rug were added as was all the special lighting to tie it together. …But it did sell a lot of bronze-colored baskets!

Metal baskets rarely ellicit the same emotional reaction as photos of cute kitties and adorable puppies. But a client needs as strong an emotional reaction to their products that images of baby animals generate. We provided the client with a complete backstory and set styling instructions for this closet before their photoshoot so that the finished ad and brochure would turn heads. …And they did!

TRADITIONAL PRINT ADVERTISING Despite the success of various onlne marketing tools, traditional print venues, such as newspaper, magazine and postcard ads remain strong producers of new business. Ad design services include sourcing appropriate photography or illustrations, copywriting and overall creative direction to differentiate you from the competition. This client was specifically targeting restaurants for their payroll service.

Challenges in marketing and design include creating eye-catching artwork for businesses that don’t have inherently visual products or services. This client supplemented a traditional print ad campaign with a postcard mailing, reinforcing the message.

As a gift to wine club members, Trinitas Cellars (left) planned to give custom-made wine charms (using the visual elements in their logo). The trick was creating packaging that reinforced the brand’s message and attractively displayed the charms. But wait! There’s more… In addition, to test the effectiveness of the gift, the client wanted to extend a 10% off discount on the back of the wine charm packaging card. The design challenge: Ensuring no key information was blocked by the actual wine charms attached to the card.

Tuscan Cowgirl Dezerts (right) brought lots of specific visuals ideas to the table that they wanted combined: The cowgirl was a metal figurine they wanted on the label. The landscape background evolved from elements of several pictures, paintings and tapestries. To top it all off, the client requested the cowgirl be lassoing a rope (originally around the company name). All requested components were seamlessly integrated into the design for a cohesive and unique look for this high-end baked goods company.

The parent organization’s website was considerably out-of-date, with an inflexible visual design and poor navigation, as well as lacking analytics for tracking site success. The chapter chose to craft their own site. Goals included:

• Employ [popover title=”Responsive Design” title_bg_color=”” content=”Site design that responds to the size of the viewer’s window screen: Site features rearrange and resize on screen to fit the desktop, tablet or phone size being used. Older websites did not offer this feature and required manual zooming in and out to read the text or navigate pages.” content_bg_color=”” bordercolor=”” textcolor=”” trigger=”click” placement=”” class=”” id=””]Responsive Design[/popover] for ease of use on all platforms
• Provide back-end [popover title=”Analytics” title_bg_color=”” content=”Analytics software provides feedback data on site performance. This can be anything from visitor count to traffic flow, e-commerce conversion, demographics and the source from which a visitor came to the site.” content_bg_color=”” bordercolor=”” textcolor=”” trigger=”click” placement=”” class=”” id=””]analytics[/popover]
• Improve the user experience with an up-to-date event calendar
• Merge the existing blog and add multiple content pages

Solutions

• Created WordPress site with [popover title=”Responsive Design” title_bg_color=”” content=”Site design that responds to the size of the viewer’s window screen: Site features rearrange and resize on screen to fit the desktop, tablet or phone size being used. Older websites did not offer this feature and required manual zooming in and out to read the text or navigate pages.” content_bg_color=”” bordercolor=”” textcolor=”” trigger=”click” placement=”” class=”” id=””]responsive design[/popover] theme
• Transferred their blog to new site and added many content pages
• Installed Google Analytics to track all site traffic
• Improved the user navigation along with installing a new event calender module

Results

One of the best features of this new site is that it is constantly evolving today due to ease-of-use. New pages and posts are regularly added; existing content pages are adjusted as needed. And site analytics have proven invaluable in showing how site visitors use navigation and content, directing how improvements are made.

While the existing website was functioning okay, it could not be updated. And the company’s owner wished to update her site with new information, staff enhancements and give it a more modern appearance. Goals included:

• Ability to easily update now and in the future
• Incorporate artwork and copy from the current traditional ad campaigns
• Add client testimonials
• Maintain a high-level of site security

Solutions

• Created WordPress site with [popover title=”Responsive Design” title_bg_color=”” content=”Site design that responds to the size of the viewer’s window screen: Site features rearrange and resize on screen to fit the desktop, tablet or phone size being used. Older websites did not offer this feature and required manual zooming in and out to read the text or navigate pages.” content_bg_color=”” bordercolor=”” textcolor=”” trigger=”click” placement=”” class=”” id=””]responsive design[/popover] theme
• Updated site with new artwork, content and can be updated by anyone in the future
• Assessed site security requirements thoroughly prior to implementation ensuring site will remain protected.

Results

An interesting challenge in developing this site was crafting a story from the new photos used on the home page slider. Each image captured the potential pitfalls of accounting. And the trick was to convey The Payroll Factory could resolve any problems — not be stuck in them. It all worked out. The client said,  “I love my website so much. Thanks so much!!”