We’re back from the holiday weekend just in time to celebrate. Two of our design pieces – a major giving brochure for The Foundations of Bon Secours Virginia Health System and the 2009-2010 Annual Report for The Winston-Salem Foundation – have won First Place in their respective categories for the The Printing Industry of the Carolinas’ (PICA) 44th annual awards! Congratulations to Hutchison Allgood, our printing partner and recipient of the awards. It’s always a pleasure to work with you.

The 88.5 WFDD 2009 Annual Report. This PDF/printed piece (available on www.wfdd.org) details key members of the WFDD team, their mission, vision and financial details.

Poster Series in Downtown Thai & Sushi. This set of 4 posters was designed specifically to highlight not only some of our favorite work, but also the values shared between M, our clients, and great Thai food.

The StoryLine 1 year – 100 Stories Anniversary Party. This poster was designed alongside a set of postcards and CD jackets to help commemorate StoryLine’s first birthday. They were built off of the designs we had created for the StoryLine website (www.storylineproject.org) and StoryLine bus.

Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community. Featured in the July issue of “Our State: Down Home in North Carolina”, this advertisement celebrates resident Robert Merritt and the lifestyle offered by Arbor Acres.

I’m guilty of the Pavlovian response to the Hot Doughnuts Now sign at Krispy Kreme.

But when Krispy Kreme announced they’d be offering Cheerwine Kreme Filled Doughnuts, well my response even surprised me. In the last 24 hours, I have visited six locations (Krispy Kreme stores, grocery stores and convenience stores) trying to locate what the doughnut maker refers to as “A Match Made in the Carolinas.”

Cheerwine Krispy Kremes

I like Cheerwine. Especially when you can reach down into a tub full of ice water at many rural c-stores and grab an ice-cold glass bottle (not can, not plastic) of the red soda. So maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the ice cold Cheerwine and the hot melty Krispy Kreme doughnut that intrigued me. Or maybe it’s nostalgia for a brand I used to work on (we painted a zebra once with red stripes) and a brand that for so long was so successful as the anti-advertising brand.

I sampled the doughnut this morning with my M colleagues after finally finding them at the Thruway Harris Teeter. I got the last box of six. A “delivered fresh” sticker was conveniently placed in the upper right hand corner of the box (no match to the Hot Doughnuts Now claim, but nevertheless reassuring). Through the cellophane window I could see the glazed rounds with chocolate icing and red and white sprinkles. Hints of pink “kreme” oozing from the donut belly button on some. Festive. Sweet. Ok, sickeningly sweet.

As a fan of both Cheerwine and Krispy Kreme, I give the Cheerwine Kreme Filled Doughnut a 3.5 out of five stars. The doughnut actually tastes better than it looks. The pink “kreme” true to the flavor of Cheerwine and surprisingly light and fluffy. Demerits for cluttered and tacky packaging and nutrition facts that are downright scary.

Cheerwine Kreme

In the end, I think it was the “match made in the Carolinas” that rang most true for me. These two brands did seem to go together. And while I doubt I would have had the same reaction to a Texas Pete kreme filled doughnut (gross), to me this is another good lesson in the power of brands to generate excitement and buzz, the value of a good collaboration, and the eternal quest by consumers for small indulgences.

And so as I debate the financial implications of the 4G iPhone, I can drop $4.07 for now on a six-pack of Cheerwine Kreme Filled Doughnuts and delight in a momentary early adopter experience that is inexpensive, fun, and oh so sweet.

Mary Jamis is the director of business development for M Creative.

The webinar specifically addressed engaging millenials (age 28 and under) as active donors to support causes and initiatives.  Among the factoids presented were:

• 94% of people under 45 have cell phones (not surprising)

• Internet use on mobile phones will be more prevalent than on desktops by 2012* (not surprising)

• 44% of people don’t want to have a conversation with your organization – they only want the facts about they can help, and then wish to be left along (surprising, considering the industry-wide focus on creating meaningful conversations online)

And (our favorite), success comes from story-telling, whether you’re the one telling the stories (good) or your constituents are (better), and if you want to reach both the fact-focused people and the story-telling people, combine the stories with the facts.

Obviously mobile is important, and maybe it’s a relief that not everyone wants a full-on relationship, but why “combine the stories with the facts”?  Because it addresses the primary concerns of the 20-something donor.  They aren’t interested in a narrative about the amount of money your organization has raised.  They’re not even interested in the number of members in your organization.  All they want to know is where their money is going and who it is going to help.  You can illustrate this by getting specific about what donations to your organization actually achieve, and encouraging the individuals your organization supports to share their experiences on your website and through your social channels.

Easy, right?  Ok, maybe it isn’t easy, but it’s an excellent place to start. People are looking for authenticity in this increasingly marketing-centric world, and the best way to gain the attention (and intention) of your audience is to cut through the clutter and buzz words and get right to the heart of what can be done to help.  Social channels, especially, should be used to connect people – whether it’s supporters to friends and family, supporters to other supporters, or supporters to beneficiaries.

Best of all, Kyle and Derrick provided real-life examples (my favorite!) of organizations that use their web presences in brilliant ways.  Here are a couple of them, for your reference:

Charity: Water

The American Red Cross

The Mayo Clinic

If you have any experiences with engaging millenials, story-telling, fact-finding or connecting your audience, we’d love to hear about it.

This week The Winston-Salem Foundation released its 2010 Report to the Community/2009 Annual Report. The annual report is a significant communications piece for the Foundation—a tool used to tell the stories of generous donors and the grantees and students who have been touched by the community’s goodwill.

Early on we recommended to the Foundation that they use their annual report not only to tell the stories of the community, but also to tell their story. We observed that many nonprofits spend considerable dollars on their annual report yet messaging often changes from year to year or fails to build on core themes of previous years. For The Winston-Salem Foundation, the core values of generosity, integrity, excellence and inclusion drive the work they do. And so, for the last six years, we have been very intentional about leveraging those values in the annual report.

In recent years, the Foundation has uploaded their annual report to a service calledissuu. In a gesture of fiscal and environmental responsibility, the Foundation reduced the number of printed copies of the report with little or no consequence (they continue to mail the report to some audiences and to individuals who request a hard copy).

This year marked the Foundation’s 90th anniversary. Their annual Community Meeting was an opportunity for the Foundation to share eight video stories of donors, grantees and Foundation initiatives in celebration of this community milestone. We worked with the Foundation and Swiftwater Media to interview and edit the short videos.

As we planned this year’s annual report, we decided to integrate the video stories shared at the Community Meeting with the written stories in the report. We partnered with the Boston-based company Zmags and the result is here.

It’s easy to get lost in the quagmire of the newest and shiniest digital advances. And while embedding video in online publications is not new or rocket science, it seemed like the right move for the Foundation for so many reasons.

In this case technology intervened to tell the story of our community and the Foundation in a fresh, new way. The added benefit of a service like Zmags is it provides metrics on readership and page involvement/interaction—telling us which pages, sections and links receive the most activity.

If you’ve used these services before, we’re curious about your experiences with them. And if you’re interested in adding this feature to your own communications efforts, we’d love to hear from you.

Mary Jamis is the director of business development for M Creative.

And if you believe all that, well, bless you.  But if you’re ready to call our collective bluff—or better yet, if the uppity conceit in the above paragraph makes you a bit queasy—join us for drinks and laughs sometime at our favorite local pub.  You’re probably our kind of gal or guy.

Being values-driven is something we take seriously, but we’re not a deadly serious group around here, and to be honest, the strength of our creativity is born from balance.  No matter the project, our inclination is to examine and learn from every angle, valuing light and shadow, movement and stillness, Jacob and Edward.  In lyrical poetry or salacious song lyrics, industrial skylines or pastoral countryside, we see values worth exploring.  It is this perspective—listening to the heart, mind, soul, and gut—that steers our imaginative and strategic abilities and keeps our approach to every client’s project honest, candid, and thorough. We’re always reaching for design and language that is beyond merely clever, or eye-catching, or aimed at award panels. Because frankly, our clients are engaged in serious agendas. They have critical work to do. They depend on us not only to capture the attention of their constituents, but also to communicate with them meaningfully, straightforwardly, emotionally, and in a way that illuminates the fullness of their mission. So we can’t ever afford to be one-dimensional in our strategy, even if it’s one-dimensionally appealing. The specialty of M Creative is thinking broadly and deeply and with a confident equilibrium.

If this sounds a little too uncomplicated and grand, let me be the first to admit the process of our work is sometimes awkward and even argumentative.  We don’t pretend any secret access to truth or easy attainment of perfect balance.  It’s simply a goal we work toward—with passion and humility—and when we’re veering the wrong way, we almost always learn something from the detour that benefits our next phase of thinking.

M Creative is “values-driven” because the people who work here are. It’s not a moral stance but rather a philosophical aspiration. We have come together to form a business committed to themes that reflect how we want to live our lives—in good health and humor, among good friends, for good cause, and with as much focus as possible on the good work of others.

Over time, and through our relationships with visionary clients who are improving the world in countless and varied ways, we’ve learned a lot about our community and ourselves.  Grappling with values-driven projects has influenced how we think about the impact of public policy, the needs of our personal health, trends in education, and the challenges facing the environment. We’ve learned more about mountains and rivers than we ever thought we would; we understand the complex and ever-changing role of technology in healthcare; we know how imperative responsible and effective fundraising is to the success of organizations committed to serving children, the poor, the dying, and other vulnerable populations.

Is this better than becoming intimately familiar with the ingredients and selling strategies of soda pop or blue jeans or SUVs?  Well, no.  Values-driven shouldn’t mean judgmental, and I can assure you that at M Creative it doesn’t mean ascetic. We happen to like soda pop on occasion, we love our favorite blue jeans, and at least one of us drives an SUV—albeit a small one.  (One of us also drives a tractor, a couple of us tear up the miles on bicycles, another zips around town in one of the cutest, most fuel-efficient cars on the road, and yours truly once traveled far and wide in a beat-up Subaru wagon with over 300,000 miles on it.  So we categorically reject any attempt to pigeonhole us by our automotive alliances.)

We love good design and smart communication, and we respect it wherever we see it.  We enjoy and applaud the fine work of our competitors, always trying to learn from their most powerful messaging campaigns, regardless of the subject. We certainly don’t feel superior or more righteous because of the sort of projects that keep us busy.  But we do feel rather lucky.  There’s no denying that we recognize the privilege of our niche.  It is undeniably a satisfying way to make a living—helping others make a positive difference in the world.  We trust you’ll forgive us if we’re chewing gum in our blue jeans while we do it.

Have you ever had a donor report print so dark that the photos were muddled and void of detail? Did the people in the photos of your annual report somehow turn green? Or yellow? Or pink? Can you no longer read the type that was so carefully placed on a screened-back photo or solid background? What happened? Everything looked fine on the laser proofs.

Occasionally things go awry during the print process because of bad design decisions, but more often than not, it’s attributable to poor printing or, more accurately, poor print quality management. Handing over files to the printer is not the end of the job; important steps need to be taken at this point to ensure that the quality of the printing measures up to the quality of the design.

Prepress color corrections, for example, are one of the most important things we do. Depending on the quality of the photos, we will almost always make some adjustments to the color. If you happen to see a color proof after we’ve reviewed it, you’ll probably see one or more of the terms below written in bright red Sharpie.

OPEN UP: the photo is too dark and needs to be lightened. We will often ask the printer to open up a specific range, eg. half-tones, 3/4 tones, shadows, etc., or just make an overall shift.

DARKEN/INCREASE SATURATION: the image is a little light and needs more weight in all four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black).

SHARPEN: the edges and lines in the photo are a little soft and need to be more defined. This enhances the detail of the photo.

INCREASE CONTRAST/TOO FLAT: there’s little difference between the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows of the photo, making it look ‘flat.’ Increasing the contrast makes the shadows deeper and the highlights lighter.

TOO MUCH CONTRAST: there’s too much difference in the highlights, mid-tones and shadows, making the photo look harsh. Our printers soften the contrast by bringing the level of the tones a little closer together.

WARM UP/COOL DOWN/EVEN OUT SKINTONES: the majority of the work we do features photos of people, and we take great care to make sure skintones are pleasing and look natural. Our photos also often include people of color, and care is needed to make sure skintones are accurately represented.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
We will often note on the proof for the printer to remove blemishes in skintones, reflections in eyeglasses, and any harsh or strange shadows that draw your attention away from the central focus of the photo. In outdoor shots, the grass might need to be a little greener and the sky a little bluer. Distracting stray hairs or circles under the eyes? Gone.

When we put a job out for bid, we ask our printers to include time for prepress color corrections. The amount of time allotted depends on the complexity of the project and the number (and quality) of photos, but it can range anywhere from 1 hour to 10 hours. Sure, you can make some color adjustments while on press, but you’re really limited as to what you can do at that point.

Below are some examples of before and after photos, as well as the color corrections we requested:

Less red in skintones; open up slightly overall; warm up overall (photo too cool/bluish)
Notice how the skintones on the woman in the background are less purple. Photo is warmer overall.

Less red in skintones – especially woman #2 and #4 from left

Open up in shadows overall; remove distracting signs from background; green up the grass
Notice how much more detail you can see on the statue. Image overall looks brighter and more pleasant.

Skintones too green; warm up with magenta/yellow; open up slightly overall; brighten

Remove glare from eyeglasses; less red/pink in skintones; lessen shine on faces; sharpen overall

When the color’s right, your communication not only represents the successful culmination of a lot of hard work, but it also distinguishes your organization from the also-rans. Don’t you think that’s worth just a little more time and effort?

Lisa Kirkman is M Creative’s production manager and an expert in all things paper. Special thanks to Terry Preston at Hutchison Allgood Printing for providing the before and after photos and collaborating on this post.

It’s always funny to me when clients react strongly to a particular color. I really think people have color prejudices! I’m a color lover—don’t be hating on them people! I had a client tell me once that the gold I used for a concept reminded her of the wallpaper that she hated from her childhood bedroom. (Remember the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” and how it came to life for the mentally disturbed girl?  )

I had another client tell me that the lovely olive green shade I had so carefully chosen reminded her of her baby’s poop and was making her sick. And yet another client, who after questioning my shade of purple for her logo was actually purple, literally mailed me a purple party plate with a sticky note on it that said, “I consider this purple.” What’s this? How dare she question my favorite color in the world! (My dining room, bedroom and bathroom are purple, as are the sweater, scarf, and ring I’m wearing as I write this).

Each year, color gurus release what’s going to be hottest shades for each season, which are actually predicted two years in advance. Their inspiration comes from what is going on in the world, both globally, culturally, and technologically (think iPod colors). Fashion is what sets the stage for the objects we later buy for our home, or the colors that translate to our website. We can easily look back a few years and associate colors with specific time periods. Remember the gold, green, and orange from the 70s? Or the (horrid) teal of the early 90s? Talk about good color gone bad! (I’m ashamed to admit it, but teal was one of the colors of my bridesmaid dresses in my fuchsia, purple, teal, and blue color scheme wedding. I am way more sophisticated in my color choices now).

Thankfully, we have the color experts deciding for us what’s cool to buy, and of course we latch right on. “What do you mean rust is out? Now I’ve got to replace my living room pillows (with chocolate brown and smoky blue, course)!”

I recently participated in a Color Trends Webinar for Spring/Summer 2011. The good news is, most colors are “in,” but you just have to find the right shade. Here are some color and design trends to look for in early 2011:

- Combining various shades of one color
- Texture play and combinations, as well as various textures in white
- Neutrals combined with bold colors (ie. pale gray with bright yellow)
- Inky blues, accented by brights
- Blacks with blue undertones
- Natural materials, organic shapes
- Pale nude colors paired with a hint of color, like light pink or light purple
- Bold contrasts
- Super bright reds with an orange and pink cast
- A range of pinks, from muted rose to hot pink
- Greens with yellow tones
- Tangerine orange paired with whites
- Purples, ranging from lavender to a blueish tint, to hot and passionate
- Complementary colors together (red and green, blue and orange)
- Colors with gray undertones

If these “trends” don’t make it into our design work, don’t feel like we are slighting you in any way. Part of being a designer is knowing when to follow the rules, and when to throw them out the window and chose what feels the best for our clients and their message. We’ve got a few years of intuition under our multi-colored belts!

What do your company colors say about your organization? Send them to us and we’ll send you our interpretation.

Amanda King is the Senior Graphic Designer at M Creative and loves to play with her Pantone® color chips.

Are you even reading this?

We don’t know, of course. We can learn a little from research and statistical analysis (studies suggest that a piece of unsolicited direct mail has about 5 seconds to capture someone’s attention, but that doesn’t tell us how much they read once they’re captured), and we can try to gauge our own tendencies and biases. But the fact remains that countless variables will always influence the commitment of a reader: how much he or she cares about the subject, the style and quality of the writing and presentation, how much time the reader has, what’s on TV, where the wild things are, how full is the moon. There’s no end to the distractions and competitive forces.

We understand that organizations have a lot to say, and we respect that most people have busy lives. Between these two realities exists a clear conflict where we make our living. We know what most people are thinking when they encounter a communications piece: You want my attention? Now? But I’m swamped!

Before your constituents hear even the first word of your message, they’re already hoping it won’t take too long. We like to find compelling ways to turn this tension into positive energy. Our goal is to deliver your message powerfully and succinctly, then unpack it carefully in a way that demonstrates how much you value the investment of time it requires of your audience.

How do we do it? Well, not surprisingly, it always comes down to finding the right words and then putting them in the best order. Again and again. And again. Lean the wrong way and messaging falls flat. Get it right and the reader can suddenly become emotionally engaged with your perspective—smiling, remembering, even crying—which is far more powerful than simply processing content. To the extent possible, we want readers to enjoy an experience, not endure an assignment. This is how you keep them reading. By encouraging people to identify personally with your story, they begin to feel connected to it, and this is the essential first step to winning their involvement with your cause—even when the moon is full, and no matter where the wild things are.

Stephen is M Creative creative writer extraordinaire.

So how do we develop and present more ideas (good for the client) in less time (good for the budget)? Our answer is a mood board—a collection of relatively unrefined concepts and ideas designed to facilitate a client’s response. Just as interior designers use mood boards to present fabric swatches, paint chips and furniture styles before actually working on a physical space, our mood boards help our clients visualize multiple ideas and color scenarios without getting bogged down by details, such as how big their logo is and why the dummy copy is in Latin.

We were recently asked by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) to develop communication materials inviting companies and wealthy advisors to join Africa’s leaders in their fight to eliminate malaria by 2015. Four concept areas were developed and presented on a single mood board. Because the concepts were rough and arranged in a group, the client was able to respond more broadly to the ideas and easily compare the themes and visuals.

With ALMA’s direction, we moved more confidently to cover refinements, happy that we hadn’t wasted hours refining a design concept that would not have been chosen anyway. Wasting time is not an option for our clients with limited budgets. Notice how the charts, colors, textures and graphics from the original mood board (above) made their way to the final piece (below).