The Communication Arts Design Annual 51 (September/October issue) will feature two of our favorite Loyola University Maryland pieces, the Sophomore/Junior Search Piece, which is printed on newsprint and the School of Education Viewbook. There’s been a lot of interest in the newsprint piece so we’ve posted more images after the jump for your viewing pleasure…

Newsprint is an immersive, temporary material. It is disposable. It crumples easily and yellows quickly.  It has a short lifetime. It is intentionally imperfect. This is what we love about it, and why, when we were asked to create a search piece for Loyola University Maryland back in January, we chose newsprint. We wanted to use a material that was as immediate, honest, and unvarnished as the messaging contained in its pages.

The task was to create a mailer for Loyola that was aimed at high school Sophomores and Juniors—a time when many prospective students are feeling overwhelming emotions (both good and bad) about college. So instead of going down a tried and trite path full of generic campus photography and preemptive university information, we decided to instead tackle the immediate emotions that students feel at that particular moment in their lives: excitement, uncertainty, nervousness, and above all, possibility. We wanted to create something that was welcoming, immersive, and relatable—a bit of relevant life advice, rather than marketing jargon.

We explained the idea to Loyola as a piece that’s about the now—one that doesn’t immediately refer to Loyola, but instead reflects the school’s ideals and the type of attention and life skills that students can garner from their time on the Evergreen campus. Loyola was so excited by the idea that they encouraged us to make a double-edition piece that would be mailed out in two waves over a month-long period.

Looking back, it was really exciting to have the opportunity to work on a piece that pushed the boundaries of what a piece of university branding can be—going so far as to have the first volume appear without any logo or mention of Loyola whatsoever, besides a discrete seal on the back cover. The first volume focuses on the types of questions and uncertainties that high school students might be dealing with, and encourages them to embrace their facets, take advantage of their ability to try many things, and to focus on what makes them happy.

The type- and photo-driven first volume was followed by a graphic-heavy second volume that goes into specific detail about the tenets of Loyola University Maryland, and the University’s devotion to care of the whole person. Volume 2 asks students to examine their own personalities and interests as a means of uncovering what university is best for them—whether or not that school ends up being Loyola.

In its playful nature, curiosity-inspiring approach, and intellectual roots, the piece reflects Loyola University Maryland on a fundamental level. And like Loyola’s tenets, it provides advice that remains relevant throughout different periods in your life.

One of the assignments I look forward to every year is creating the concept and materials for De’Longhi’s IHA trade show presence. It is one of the major opportunities for the brand to engage with the trade audience. It is also one of those projects where you get to translate an idea across a ton of mediums ranging from a physical space to video to print to you get the idea.

This year was particularly fun because we were given the opportunity to completely redesign the booth. We partnered with Star Inc. in Chicago and developed a space that took advantage of the giant footprint that De’Longhi has on the showroom floor.

The concept for the booth was to celebrate De’Longhi’s design principals and demonstrate via their new and evolving products how these principals are brought to life. De’Longhi is the only housewares brand that has a team of Italian designers and engineers expertly crafting their products. This is a distinct and relevant attribute to the trade.

With that, we took their beliefs and translated them into typographic landscapes that spanned the giant walls of the booth structure. We elevated their brand photography with more dramatic lighting, product pairings and added depth. We took this new photography and showcased it on 20ft towers that served as the backdrop for actual product. On a micro scale we brought the concept to everything from product id tags to press kits assuring that every touch point reinforced the overarching vision.

Our efforts resulted in De’Longhi having one of its most successful shows.

Think of it this way…if Medalist was a band, I’d like to think they’d be Cheap Trick. Direct and intense with just enough humor and art to make you realize how well made and smart it really is….

Medalist is a small, smart outfit out in Reading, PA. They have a technology that does this thing, and does it really well…it’s a fabric, SilverMax, that eliminates/controls scent and body temperature. And weighs next to nothing. And is comfortable. The apparel is used by hunters, cops, firemen, and performance athletes. Oh, and astronauts! And anyone else who puts it on- regular folk, expecting moms, construction workers, etc…It works exactly as described, and it’s the best.  And they need a brand.

So the brand we built is as direct and unfussy as the product. What do hunters, cops, firemen, and performance athletes have in common?  They are demanding, passionate experts. And when they do what they do, they are defined by moments. The score, the count, the save, the rescue. Straight as pie. Just make it count. Same thing with the work. Great headlines, powerful type, epic photography, bold intense color palette – same thing.  Just simple, classic advertising done with passion and chops. Check out the work here.

Loyola University Maryland is quickly becoming my favorite client to work for. They are always open to trying something new and different. We recently completed a double-edition Sophomore/Junior Search Piece, and if all goes according to plan, it’s going to totally blow some high schoolers’ minds. Or at the very least, get them thinking about THE FUTURE. The pieces are finally printed, and within the next couple of weeks, high school students throughout the east coast will be receiving not one, but TWO oversize newsprint editions in their mailboxes. I know! Rad— right???

Mad props to Alcom and Evergreen for helping make our newsprint dreams come true. It was my first time on press for a web job, so I took a ton of photos. I’ve included some here to give you a sneak peek. Photos of the finished pieces will be up soon. Enjoy!

Watch ya self.

Our fearless print reps

Our man JT, Snappy Dresser and Production Manager Bad-Ass

Loyola University Maryland hired us to do a whole magilla, top to bottom, rebranding of the entire institution. Early on in our discovery process, we came across a phrase – “Strong truths well lived” – Loyola’s motto. Stirring and profound, and if you’ll excuse the “advertising,” a righteously killer line. It also happened to hold the key to what distinguished Loyola.

It describes a very particular culture: morally engaged, smart, rigorous,  passionate, and with a real zest for life. That culture and environment produces a very specific graduate… intellectually supple, sophisticated, ethical, worldly – along w/ something less tangible – this ability to “see the matrix.”  That is, to discern the essence of a situation and act on it… that character of the graduate became the essence of the brand.  Translating that for each division of the school was a blast. For the undergraduate brand, we drew inspiration from some left of the dial fashion and snowboard catalogs with a healthy dollop of indie magazines thrown in… for the new School of Education, we created bold pop, inspirational manifestos… for the College of Arts and Sciences, a clean, elegant, modular brand…. and for the Sellinger School of Business, an elevated editorial tone inspired by outfits like the Economist and Monocle.

We just finished laying the foundation of the brand and built its major pieces. Check out the case study here…

How? We first established a larger presence at retail with De’Longhi ambassadors who give private demonstrations of automatic espresso machines. We promote the product at the retail location in kiosks and with banners. Around retail locations where people aren’t in the direct periphery of a De’Longhi ambassador we cast a wider net with the products we promote and the mediums we use.

Online we use rich media to communicate the automatic espresso experience. People can literally test the product inside of a banner. (Here is an example of how it works – sans the banner). Once they have made themselves a virtual latte, cappuccino, macchiato or espresso they can share their beverage through Facebook using De’Longhi Sip Sender or find out where to get a private demonstration.

The early results of the campaign are positive with a huge increase in web traffic and web banner interaction out performing relevant category interaction. Data on the success of the retail demos to come. Stay tuned.

With the buzz of the campaign waning and shifting marketing objectives, it was time to re-concept a whole new ad campaign that could be used this fall and beyond. With the message of personal attention still at its core, the new campaign uses real stories of mentorship and hands-on learning to educate audiences on what it’s like to “Be Colonel” – a phrase that embodies the spirit of the university.

In lieu of bowling alleys, pizza boxes, fortune cookies, and other niche mediums used in the past, the new media strategy relied heavily on a combination of broad-based tactics like TV and targeted ones such as Facebook. All pushing people to a new micro site developed for the campaign, which houses the TV commercial and several longer videos detailing stories of personal attention, including a surprise stunt conducted by Wilkes’ mascot the Colonel.

TV Spot

To see all the videos, visit BeColonel.com or check them out on our YouTube channel.

Credits:
Executive Creative Director: Jim Walls
Creative Director: Tammo Walter
Designer: Adam Flanagan
Copywriter: Cory McCall
Interactive: Brian Tennyson, Mike McAllister, Mike Medoro
Account Management: Dan Giroux, Jon Fruman
Photographer: Tom Ammon
Production Manager: Rosemary Fahmie
Motion Graphics & Illustration: Volume One

On Tuesday October 13th, we are opening our doors to the public for Counter. Culture., a DesignPhiladelphia event promoting the De’Longhi Artista Series, a limited-edition line of laser-etched espresso machines featuring the designs of ten internationally recognized artists including fashion designer Nicole Miller, jewelry designer John Hardy, and interior designer Kelly Hoppen. Come enjoy refreshments and hors’doeuvres at 160over90, and meet with featured artists Mike Perry, Damien Correll, and Mario Hugo.

The De’Longhi Artista Series demonstrates De’Longhi’s century-old devotion to functional, beautiful objects. The collection of limited-edition espresso machines will be on display for the final time before being auctioned to the public through eBay Giving Works. (The auction runs  from October 4-18, 2009. Interested? Place your bid here.) Proceeds will benefit Oxfam America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the fight against poverty and social injustice.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by Monday October 12th, to rsvp@160over90.com. We look forward to seeing you there!

Throughout its 107-year history De’Longhi has brought great design to the masses. Long before there was Target, there was Treviso, the city in northern Italy where both Benetton and De’Longhi originated. It is here that a team of designers create products that express De’Longhi’s dedication to function, style and innovation.

Over the course of the last year we’ve been working in partnership with De’Longhi to reintroduce their brand to the U.S. market. High points have included the creation of a new Web site, a fourth quarter campaign in 08 targeting major metro areas and the creation of their first U.S. TV spot in nearly a decade.

Now, for the first time in the company’s history, we’ve invited designers from varying disciplines from around the globe to partner with De’Longhi. Their art has been laser-etched onto an extremely limited run of Perfecta espresso machines to create the first edition De’Longhi Artista Series.

Participating designers include: Nicole Miller, Mike Perry, Michele Toffalori, Maria Vittoria Benatti, Jonathan Calugi, Mario Hugo, Damien Correll and Kristina Collantes.

The rare machines will be auctioned to the public online, with proceeds benefiting Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization dedicated to the fight against poverty and social injustice.

More information on the De’Longhi Artista Series can be found here.