A spring project for long-time client Marrano, JCharlier concepted and produced the :30 spot, bringing one of the region’s most sought-after director/filmmakers, John Paget, together with writer Pete Reiling, VO recording by Chameleon, edited by dPost.

Result? Updating design and production from one- and two-color collateral, reconsidering the mix of print advertising, increasing the use of web advertising and social media, redesigning membership materials, newsletters, and an annual fund has raised Graycliff’s profile.

The SUNY Buffalo School of Social Work’s program prided itself on having led the way in creative, attention-grabbing, admissions materials. That is, until other institutions throughout the field started using similar language and graphics. After years of leading the pack, it was time to separate themselves from the herd.

Marrano, the Western New York’s leading home builder, was doing much right in all its advertising—but its ads were looking a little too much like the competitors’ ads. Not a good thing when your product is markedly superior—but comparable in price.

Fisher-Price, a world leader in children’s toys, is also a sophisticated creator of brand story telling. When product lines were being updated or new markets opened up, new graphic standards manuals needed to be produced, in an effort to keep branding consistent throughout the world.

The Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University hosts a unique program of exhibitions of mostly young, local artists’ first-time showings, with support from Tops Markets. The aptly-named TopSpin exhibitions needed an inexpensive format for exhibition programs/catalogs.

When there’s no budget, in-house staff create communication pieces. When that staff is one person doing everything else—taking tour reservations, giving the tours, driving (and repairing) the bus—one soon recognizes one can’t do everything. This sums up the Open Air Autobus tours for the Campaign for Greater Buffalo.

If the weather’s good, the boats are full.

If it’s bad, they’re just less than full. The world’s busiest boat tour operation knows how to fill the boats. Awareness was not an issue, either. After more than 150 years of operation, who hasn’t heard of the Maid of the Mist? The challenge was to position the Maid of the Mist brand as a tourist destination among hundreds of entertainment options.

QR codes can direct prospects to more than your website—send them to surveys, donation forms, applications, blog posts, petitions, and more. Let the viewer know what they’re going to visit— “Scan for more information”, “Scan for a discount!”, “Scan for tickets!”, “Pay Online!”.

Some of my happiest hours are spent designing packaging in the beverage industry – wine, coffee, juice, and liquor packaging and promotion seem to take up a large part of my portfolio.

Here’s the process I go through with clients when that’s the project being attacked. For the samples provided, I’m showing the background work for a logo I designed for the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission

North Shore, being one of the leading summer camps in the Chicago region, had to start looking the part. Its existing marketing pieces were produced in-house—and reproduced every year. To take their program to the next level, they had to do something to give them a graphic boost.