Love it or hate it, the environment has been an increasing point of conversation. Personally as well as with Wold Creative Group, i believe that it is important to be as conscious as possible about the use of resources. This is both because i think the environment is our responsibility to treat with respect but also because i think that such a philosophy actually helps the bottom line.

A good example of this within Salt Lake City is the e2 Business Program that the city itself has put together. I have recently become a member and to do so requires an extensive look at everything from a company’s waste, utilities to setting goals for the following year to work towards a more environmentally-friendly company. This program allows for like-minded businesses to connect (goodwill) as well as causes us to refocus on efficiency…both help the bottom line. Here is a link to the program.

Say what you will about the economy being in the tank but i say that design will flourish during 2009. There are a few things that lead me to this conclusion.

First of all, color has come back in style. With the 80’s back in style for a little while now, we will now see a muted 80’s style that steps away from the florescence colors but leaves us with a heavy use of color. Use of a broader color palette will also happen due to the fact that more marketers will try even harder to get the ever-needed attention of a audience that may be less apt to spend any money. 

Secondly, since the economy is the way that it is, designers and marketers must be more creative in how how they develop marketing initiatives. I personally think that this is a very good litmus test for designers. If they can still create effective design within a market that is generally apprehensive, then they are thinking outside of the box of normalcy and are moving our industry in the right direction.

Lastly, with a bad economy, some design will inevitably get worse due to organizations’ budgets tightening or disappearing altogether. While some organizations choose that direction, others will realize that potential that this means within their market. If your competition is not presenting themselves well via ads, web or design, then it goes to follow that you will stand out if you do make that effort. A good example of how this works is currently within the fast food industry. Arby’s has recently gone cheap on some really poor-quality commercials without much direction while Wendy’s has stepped it up considerably with commercials and, more importantly, creative direction. There is no doubt that Wendy’s has taken some market share from Arby’s.

So, in 2009, i think that we will see design flourish with broad use of color and with creative ideas that will propel some companies to the forefront while their competition is caught sleeping. 

-jeremy

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Sage Environmental. Sage is a Salt Lake City based firm that provides environmental consulting services to commercial, industrial, and governmental clients. Wold Creative Group has been brought in to help revamp their logo (identity/branding) for various applications as well as a complete overhaul to their website. We are excited to be working with Sage and are looking forward to assisting them to reach a broader audience with their marketing.

We have recently finished a complete site re-design for Powder Mountain. With dynamic, yet searchable, content throughout the site, we have created a website where data is automatically fed through databases  and can be changed very easily everywhere else throughout the site. In other words, instead of having a very static 100+ page website, we have created the site to be agile in order to adapt to the changing seasons.

In order to have this fit within the marketing strategies we have going for Powder Mountain, we have provided copyrighting, photography, graphic design, development and strategic direction for the new website.

We also think that it looks cool too.

Click here to check it out.

If i had to breakdown good design in a short phrase, i would say that it is the creative manipulation of the elements of art (line, balance, color, texture, shape). This is art. This is fine art, but it is not design for a business. Like fine art, the elements of art need to be used creatively in a good design for a client but the difference is the purpose of the design.

If a design is good but not useful to meet the client’s goals, then it is not a good design within the business world. This seems like a straightforward concept but it is certainly something that greatly effects how we approach all projects for our 30 or so clients.

Given the purpose and medium of a design, there is a structure in which design must fit in order to be good. This structure is both the marketing end of the piece but also the space in which the design is done. As a “creative”, as people in the industry say, i would admit that this structure is often a challenge.

I love a good challenge.
jeremy

With extensive courtroom and litigation experience both defending and prosecuting, Ben W. Lieberman has recently started the Law Office of Ben W. Lieberman. Being a smaller law firm, they have the experience to handle large cases but have the unique position of accessibility with all clients.

Wold Creative Group will be providing branding and website strategies and implementation for the Law Office of Ben W. Lieberman. Starting with branding, we will help guide them through the competitive market of marketing law firms. We are looking forward to it.

Welcome.

Working with Powder Mountain, Wolf Creek Utah, Ogden Convention and Visitor Bureau and Utah Tourism, we have come up with a full-page ad that will be running within Backcountry Magazine. This is a comprehensive campaign that will include a few runs of this full-page print ad, online banner ads, partner ads that will run in Telemark Magazine and a landing webpage to capture contact info.  

There is much speculation out there about how our economy is actually doing and where it will be in the coming months and years to come. As a small business owner, i myself have kept a close eye on this to ensure that Wold Creative Group will not only survive but thrive within these financially tenuous times. 

As with all economic shifts, there are two sides to the coin. When some companies are struggling, others are booming. Is this just industry specific? I think that has something to do with it but the companies that are booming right now also know that this is a time of opportunity. 

With some organizations cutting back their spending on advertising or marketing strategies because they think that will save their company some money, other organizations are able to create waves within their industry through advertising and marketing strategies. Cutting back on marketing to save money is often a fallacy due to the fact that it only saves money at present but certainly hurts the potential future revenue stream. As some say, “stepping over dollars to pick up pennies”. 

I am not advocating spending a bunch of money on advertising or marketing, rather, keep on spending something, anything, on advertising and marketing. In addition, i am also advocating to spend your money wisely and not put your advertising dollars in one area (publication, medium, campaign). Keeping up or starting to have a presence within your industry during the time where other organizations may be cutting back is a win-win situation and should allow you to get a leg-up on the competition. In other words, your dollars spent on advertising or marketing will go farther and do more within our economic climate. 

The current state of the economy can be an opportunity for your organization to stand out and get noticed. All you have to do is to make sure that your brand is still out there and wisely placed.

-jeremy

This summer, Powder Mountain is offering off-road tours of the mountain with its Summer Safari. After riding on this beast myself, it is easy to see why the 4×4 open-air off-road vehicle is affectionately called the “powzilla”. It is a chance to do some real off-roading while touring one of the best ski areas.

To help drive traffic to this new summer attraction, we were called in to develop environmental prints as well as online campaign. After creating the photography, attached posters, online Flash banners as well as its own page on their website, they immediately started getting reservations. What do you know…i guess strategic implementation of a cross-media marketing campaign really works!

Enjoy.

We have another new website up and running. This is an educational video company that we created an e-commerce website for. In fact, the only way to purchase their videos is through the website where you are able to immediately download the videos after purchasing. We were able to compress and format the videos where they are still high-quality and yet are able to download within a minute. 

We developed their branding (logo), their website and messaging and now have also done some advertising and marketing consulting for RJ Connections.

Check their website out here at www.rj-connections.com