Mind Your Plays & Q

The Adirondack Theatre Festival comes on like a freight train each year in true summer stock style. It kicks off with the gala in January and from there it's a blur of reading plays, waiting on pins and needles for casting announcements, and mapping out the design aesthetic for the season materials. This year the season mixes Broadway appeal, a dash of bawdy puppetry, a silver screen legend, and Lake George connections. 

The design emerged as a stripped down, bold approach with wide swaths of white broken by rough, black strokes, pops of color and then offset by playful icons. 

The curtain first goes up for Heartbreaker, which packs 8-weeks of life with Judy Garland into a play that will make you fall in love and ache for the tortured-later-in-life songstress. The poster design involved ingenuity as it was nearly impossible to use that face that we all know. The striking red and caramel colors of the suitcases and the unexpected type choice are intended to draw the eye in, just like this amazing play does.

The next show, Filming O'Keeffe, brings the return of ATF Founder Martha Banta as director. The play, written by Eric Lane, is inspired by events surrounding the time that Georgia O'Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz spent together on Lake George. The story is guided through the narrative of a young man named Max, creating a film about the two artists. A reckoning of sorts is  sparked as his research reveals some of his own family's secrets. The design of the poster aimed for a dreamy quality wrapped up in the colors of Lake George and the mystique of yesteryear.

Last Season's Hootenanny was such, well, a hoot, the idea of bringing back one of the stars of Woody Sez was too good to pass up, enter: David Finch. David will be adding his nearly impossible-to-believe musical talent and versatility to the 2nd Act Cabaret, with an acoustic cabaret act including some of his own songs. The 2nd Act Cabaret allows audiences to get to know the season's artists in a new light.

Then comes Avenue Q and, what can one really say about Avenue Q but, "Damn that is some funny sh*t." ATF made the decision to spring for the puppets from the Broadway production and they are well worth it. We let the puppet do the heaviest lifting (and breathing.)

The season ends with Faraway Nearest One, a reading of the letters from Stieglitz to O'Keeffe, directed by ATF"s own Mark Fleischer. The production is done in collaboration with The Hyde Collection. It is sure to be a deeply moving produciton as it brings an incredible love story to life.


 

Hot Labels

Here at Trampoline, there are varying opinions on almost everything—from music to design approaches to beloved baseball teams (Go Sox!). One thing we can all agree on is our love of Raul's Mexican Grill. Located on the roundabout in Dowtown Glens Falls, Raul's is just two doors down from the office, making it a favorite spot for lunch, dinner, and the occasional hand-crafted margarita. So when the owner/head chef, Russell Porreca approached us with the opportunity to design a suite of food packaging, we jumped at the chance. He signed on to have us design labels for the Raul's Habanero Sauce, Jerk Sauce, and Lemon & Mango Vinaigrettes.

We were inspired by our Downtown cityscape (as we are so often) and the oh-so-fresh ingredients used by Russell (he doesn't even own a freezer.) The result was a collection of packaging emblazoned with Downtown vistas and colors as bold as the hot sauce. When we started this process, we told Russell his products deserve a design that do justice to his craft. We hope our shared love of Glens Falls and great food shines through in our work.

¡Olé!

You can get your own set of Raul's dressings and sauces at the restaurant or at North Country Coffee Café, in the Empire Theatre Building.

A Moving Message:

Late last year we received a call about a 2013 marketing initiative to Create Healthy Places to live, work and play through a grant awarded to Glens Falls Hospital. The goal was simple: encourage healthier eating choices, increased activity and preventative health. We identified an objective to communicate the message to the general public, the workforce, and to schools. We began by developing a mark and tagline for the campaign that could bridge the various audiences and work across multiple platforms.

Next we wanted to continue the playful vibe set by the bright colors and jaunty font, which we did by creating custom illustrations. Identifying yourself in a message, particularly when the theme is to improve your health, can be intimidating, even discouraging. The collateral for the Good Move campaign needed to be lighthearted.

The billboards needed to strike a balance between informative, "retaily," and conversational. The targeted billboard buy was done to strengthen messaging, with the farm stand board playing against a nearby fastfood billboard.

Posters in the workplace at area organizations, as well as in schools and parks needed to resonate with their intended audiences. One business had stairs, which for the entrepreneurial Good Mover, can be a make-shift gym. We used the idea as a starting point for a poster. 

One size does not fit all, particularly when it comes to improving your health. The idea of commuting by bike and tying in the promise of decreased fuel costs, if only to make the switch one day a week, seemed worthwhile.

Posters and billboards are incredible tools for a campaign, but for a push like this, we wanted to get closer to the people who we needed to hear us. We needed our message to stay with them: enter the branded napkin. Certainly not revolutionary, but neither are most of the tips we all need to follow to feel better. Sometimes the best way to drive home a message is by demonstrating a willingness to be uncomplicated. Incorprating different illustrations created for the campaign, we put together a napkin designed to help gently clean up a person's food choices.

As the campaign roll out began in earnest, the opening day of farmer's market across the counties we were targeting drew closer. We all hoped that at some point the consumers of the Good Move campaign would eventually find themselves walking to the market, either from their house or from the car they parked several blocks away, and filling their tote bag with local bounty that is a Good Move no matter how you slice it.

Geared For Impact

We are self-avowed pop-culture geeks. We love getting into the office each morning and gathering around one person's office door and rehashing the did-you-see-that? of the moment. Some days it's an episode of Homeland, other times it something like the K-Mart campaign or the Dove Sketch video. We don't always agree, which is actually when we have the most fun, hurling old Napoleon Dynamite and Family Guy quotes as insults. What these conversations do is unleash the parts of us that inform opinion and creative. They spark ideas and push us to try harder to move campaigns from ok to did-you-see-that?

When we started talking with Matt and Nancy Fuller about creative for their shop, Fountain Square Outfitters in downtown Glens Falls, none of us were sure what we would do. We just knew that everything that FSO stands for is pretty cool, whether it's the right gear for tearing into the Adirondacks or the inspired principles of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. One thing that emerged from our conversations was a desire to create a female representation of the logo created, when the store opened, by Gray Digital Marketing. As we designed the second mark, we also created an identity for The Cave, which is the space in FSO's basements with stone walls, that they use for a lecture series and discounted items.

The next step (hiking humor) was to develop a series of ads, which is where we really started to have some fun. How do we capture the spirit of an outdoor enthusiast and add a dash of attitude representative of the ruggedness of the gear? Using photography from Evan Williams of Pure ADK, brand logos, and playful messaging we built ads that looked like a day on the trail. 

Makes us want to get up to the summit in our Patagonia gear, tromp through the spring melt, and duck as a gaggle of Canada Geese fly overhead:

 "Did you see that?"

Collaborative Win

There are jobs and then there are stories. You know what we mean, the jobs are great; you have samples of the work, quick write-ups on the concept to strategy and execution to measurement process. You use these jobs on your proposals and on your website. They are safe, universal, and a vital part of business. But the stories? The stories are the projects that come from your marrow, they keep you up at night and they make you spring from your bed in the morning. Stories are what allow you to suspened your disbelief and and sustain the intensity needed.

We value these stories at Trampoline because for every snake oil salesman, for each ad that pigeonholes every dad as an idiot, and for the idea that cleavage is the best way to sell everything, there is a campaign that is mounted by people willing to work to find a compelling hook that makes everyone feel good without relying on cheap tricks.

The story we want to share started with a conversation that went a little like this:

"What if we got a small group of us together and we went in on some ads for downtown?"

It took a lot of knocking on doors. There were sheepish, "Oh, hey, it's just me again. Just hoping to go over that group marketing idea."

Six weeks after that first knock, an ad ran in The Chronicle to promote fashion in Downtown Glens Falls. Three ads followed, each being paid for by participating merchants. Emboldened, we knocked on more doors. People began knocking on our door, before we knew it there was a room full of entrepreneurs. We braced for discord and instead found consensus. After one meeting, a person walked down the hallway of our studio and stopped at the front desk. 

"I came here thinking I'd listen to what you had to say. I had no intention of doing anything more than that." He paused, looking at us with a kind of friendly chagrin, and said, "I want to write you a check," which began the odyssey of the Glens Falls Collaborative. 

The Glens Falls Collaborative was formed to be a mechanism for businesses in the downtown neighborhood to pool their resources and talents to market the area. Instead of one client, this project/story had 6, then 8, and then 12. Eventually we were 20-strong sitting in a room strategizing. The contributions to fund the project came in increments of less than $50 to start. Later sponsors came on board, from Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union underwriting the production of a billboard to the Glens Falls IDA and Glens Falls LDC contributing funds to lengthen the duration of the billboard buy. It was an inspiring and daunting cloud of bootstrapped, grassroots efforts to launch a Hail Mary pass.

Since starting the campaign we have contracted two billboards:

Mounted a comprehensive print ad campaign:

Designed and printed a pedestrian brochure with a custom illustrated walking map:

Created a series of note cards featuring watercolor images of downtown landmarks:

We mounted a Facebook campaign of interviews with downtown business owners and branded events:

There were t-shirts and caps:

Just as we began the second year of the campaign, with new creative featuring downtown merchants photographed by a local photographer:

the campaign was awarded a Gold ADDY at the Albany Ad Club MADDYs event. Also receiving a Gold ADDY was the series of notecards created for the Collaborative. 

This recognition from a panel of judges hailing from outside the Glens Falls area, in a category that featured the work of amazing agencies for larger clients with vastly higher budgets was a huge surprise. We are undeniably delighted by the recognition, but the truth is that the most gratifying aspect of this campaign has been the genuine collaboration that grew from a dedicated group and the murmurs we've all heard, "Yes, I noticed those ads and wanted to come back downtown."

Healthy Progress

A couple of years ago a client and friend, Cindy Campopiano, connected us with Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union. The credit union was looking to update their brand and Cindy thought that we would be a good fit. Since launching a new brand we have worked with the team at Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union to speak directly to the health care providers that they are dedicated to serving. This year PHFCU decided to take their service to the next level by finding new ways to communicate with their members and the community outside of their physical branch location. 

The process began with launching a redesigned website.

Next came the launch of a custom-branded mobile banking app, Parks:STAT! which allows the 4,000+ members of Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union to access their accounts from anywhere, with features includine online bill pay, transfers, and remote deposits.

The launch of the app was followed by a print and online awareness campaign to promote the service. 

Shortly after the site and app launched, we received word that an awareness campaign that we designed for PHFCU was in the running for an ADDY award. The campaign for Movember was something that PHFCU undertook in collaboration with the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation, using Adirondack Phantoms games at the Glens Falls Civic Center as a venue to increase awareness of men's health, all the while raising money for the Foundation. Friday night we were in attendance at the MADDYs where, amid the 9 awards that our team at Trampoline won, the Movember campaign earned the nod for Public Service: Integrated Campaign.

There were two posters designed:

They were placed strategically throughout the arena.

Dax gave out tshirts.

Players wore co-branded jerseys:

The first 1000 people through the door at the November 24th Phantoms game receive special 'staches. 

We have to admit that making the day of an Etsy seller by rush ordering 1000 mustaches and hanging signs throughout the Civic Center while the team practced all in the name of men's health was incredibly fun. Clients like Parks Heritage, who genuinely want to make a difference, make our job of pursuing results incredibly gratitfying. 

Stay tuned, because in tomorrow's post we'll feature another MADDY award winning campaign. Eagle eyed readers will note that PHFCU does pop up as an underwriter of the billboard component of the campaign.