What an amazing message and a big, bold statement. We often push our clients to make the big, bold statements. It takes guts though and not all clients are willing to put it all on the line. I’m proud of Coleman and their marketing guts. Errr… I was proud until I did some research.

Strike #1 –Web Site. This morning, after I had decided to write a blog on Coleman and the awesomeness of  “The Original Social Networking Site” campaign, I was super excited to go to coleman.com and see how their web site integrated the messaging of the campaign. You should have seen my sad face when the site loaded and… nope. Nothing. After some digging around I finally found mention of the social networking press release and a page titled “Social Networking” which shows the advertisements.

Strike #2 – Print Ads. According to a Coleman press release, the T.V. spots began running in May 2009. They are/were also running print ads, but until I did a little bit of research on Coleman, I wasn’t aware of them. We subscribe to Outside magazine and are exposed to several other “outdoorsy” publications – seems like I would have seen one in there (Chris says he *thinks* he may have seen one in Outside, maybe I missed that page… in that one issue?). My family is their market. They have definitely not reached us.

Strike #3 – Consistency. As designers, one of our favorite things is consistency. In our dream world, the ads, the web site, and the marketing materials all have a similar look-and-feel, similar messaging. Coleman could have really taken this campaign and ran with it. Instead, they are just left with a disappointed consumer.

What we can learn from Coleman’s mistakes. Don’t disappoint your market with an inconsistent message. As much as you may think your customers won’t notice that your web site uses a different logo than your business cards, you are using several different color palettes, inconsistent fonts, etc – they will. You want current and potential customers to see your company’s marketing materials and recognize them as yours – every time, everywhere. This is especially important now that there are so many ways for consumers to find you out in the world ie: Facebook, Twitter, Google search.

Final thoughts. Be bold, be brave, be consistent!

Such was the case when USA Cycling asked us to create a new look for their National Championships race series. These premier events cover 18 cities and 5 cycling disciplines – road, mountain, track, cyclo-cross and BMX. The races and locations are diverse and full of personality, and the graphics that defined each race had become so too. USAC was worried that their image had become too segmented and that people often didn’t know that the events were part of the series, or held by USA Cycling at all!

To date, the marketing team had been using a combination of different logos, text and images at each race year-to-year. To make things more complicated, each venue had been developing their own signage and materials to promote their events. In addition to creating an identity crisis, the growing number of graphic files and signage made it nearly impossible to manage the entire National Championships campaign.

After brainstorming with the USA Cycling team, we proposed building a “graphic toolkit” that would help them to get things under control and create a solid foundation for the National Championships brand. The toolkit would include a new brandmark for the series along with a set of guidelines and graphic files that could be used internally or by race coordinators. The goal was to create a design that captured the spirit and professionalism of the USAC while allowing room for expansion and the addition of venue specific information.

After sketching out many potential designs, we narrowed down the field to 4 distinct concepts. The final ideas were presented as mock-ups with modular elements that could be re-configured to allow for integration of event names and sponsor logos. Designs were presented in color and black-and-white to ensure that the look could be reproduced effectively in a variety of formats.

Concept #1:

Concept #2:

Concept #3:

Concept #4:

The four designs were narrowed-down to two finalists, both of which were integrated into a variety of situations to show how they would work vertically, horizontally and with additional typography and graphics. The final design uses the USA Cycling logo, letting the flag flow into a strong typographic treatment and 5 stars, representing each of the cycling disciplines. The open design allows similar elements to flow around the text while keeping the main focus on the National Championships at all times.

Final Design:

Now that the foundation for the look had been established, the rest of the “toolkit” was constructed. Key elements included:

• Color palette with breakdown of colors for web and print uses
• Logo files – color, black and white, single-color and reversed
• Signage templates
• Logo files with event names and venues integrated
• Online advertising templates
• Merchandising templates
• Style guide outlining guidelines and best practices for using the graphics

All files were provided in an online download area and on CD-ROM for easy access.

True to their original vision, USA Cycling now has a flexible graphic toolkit that they can use to help define the National Championships brand. The files and guidelines can be provided to partners and race coordinators to help them create their own materials while the internal marketing team can focus on promoting awareness and membership.

Want to see the new look first-hand? Check out the 2010 National Championships schedule.

Have you had a situation where a set of graphics elements or tools helped you? Maybe you have something that could use one now? Let us know in the comments.

Those of you that read our blog with any frequency or are fans of Design Rangers on Facebook know that I frequently post links from Design*Sponge. I pretty much love every thing they post, but here are a few favorites that have popped up this week.

1. These twig push pins are super cute and it’s a great way to re-use twigs and branches that have fallen off of your neighborhood trees. Seems like a must have in the new Design Ranger office!
2. I’m pretty much convinced that everything cool in this world comes from Brooklyn. My dad was from Brooklyn – which I believe makes me 1/2 cool. Our completely awesome friends Tammy and Ehren are from Brooklyn – when ever they come to visit they always bring us awesome gifts from some fantastic little shop in Brooklyn. Okay – they main point is… I love this letterpress bear card, it has die-cut arms so the bear can hold a little something, too! And yes, you guessed it. Brooklyn made.

On a much more serious note – did you know there are 884 million without access to safe drinking water? A very sad WOW came out of my mouth when I came across that fact on www.waterforpeople.org’s home page. Water For People is a “Denver-based international development organization supports sustainable safe drinking water and sanitation projects in developing countries”. The organization worked with Duffy & Partners to launch their new re-branding campaign, Joe Duffy is an amazing designer that I have always admired and he has done it again with the Water For People brand. A happy WOW this time.

And its true, but it’s not just the physical act of pedaling and balancing that that stick in your mind. Most of us recall the freedom of cruising around the neighborhood with friends, the gleam off of a brightly colored frame, or the smile when our own kids wobble down the sidewalk without training wheels.

Local bike shops are an extension of those memories and feelings. Walk into one and you’ll find not only two-wheeled wonders, but an inviting atmosphere full of knowledgable staff who eat, sleep and breathe cycling.

So how do you take all the wonderment of cycling combined with the heart of of a bike shop and translate it into a website?

That’s exactly the challenge that we faced with ProCycling, a Colorado Springs bike shop that needed to translate it’s brand to the web. Walk into ProCycling’s store and once you’re able to shake off the kid-in-a-candy-store gaze, you’ll be welcomed to a world that will leave you itching to get on a bike and outside.

Located in the aptly named Roundhouse (which at one time housed gold-bearing trains from Cripple Creek), ProCycling wanted to showcase its new location and its products online. In addition, they wanted to be able to keep the site fresh by having the ability to add new products and events on-the-fly. Reaching beyond the outline of the project, we felt it was important to not only create a site that was functionally sound, but one that captured the spirit of the store and it’s staff. The result is procyclingwarehouse.com. A custom site that strives to become a virtual extension of the brick-and-mortar shop.

The design
We created a clean, streamlined look for ProCycling that allows the images to take center stage. The simplified layout and limited color palette gives the site a high-end, professional feel while conversational text, vivid photography and clear navigation make the site approachable. Little details like the chain-link separators in the footer and the tire track through the mud on the homepage keep things interesting and add a sense of personality. The entire website is built in a modular fashion so that updates and additions to the site can be easily integrated.

Photography
Since extending the spirit of the new shop was so important, professionally photographed images were used throughout the site. The photographer was able to capture the beauty, detail and scale of the building, bikes and accessories in unique ways. It is crucial to highlight the importance of these images – the feel of the site would have been completely different without the photographer’s artistic vision. Check out the tops of each page or the gallery to see some of the breathtaking shots.

Content management
As stated before, ProCycling wanted the ability to make updates and additions to the site in-house, saving both time and money in the long-run. However, the ability to make changes is nothing without a system that’s easy to use and understand. For a site this size, Wordpress, a free open-source blogging and content management system was the perfect fit. Not only does the platform allow for easy updates (check out the Bike Fitting section that was added by the client), it also takes advantage of web technologies that make the site more functional.

For instance, we were able to use the blogging functions in Wordpress as a fast way for staff to use for the What’s New section. When someone adds a product, Wordpress places the newest items first with the current date. Product categories and tags can be added for sorting and the three newest products automatically show up on the homepage.

The future
ProCycling is a dynamic shop that has a lot of plans for the future. The web is by it’s very nature dynamic, allowing the site to grow and transform along with the company. Planned updates to the site include video testimonials, an e-newsletter and a live-inventory listing. With a solid foundation in place, these things can be added as needed with minimal investment.

We enjoyed working with ProCycling and helping them tread a new path, making their online experience as enjoyable as the one you get walking through their doors.

Are you working to make your site an extension of your brand? Tell us how you’re doing it in the comments.

5o9 is a Boulder, Colorado company that develops software enabling the web to be personal, local and mobile. This unique approach allows companies to send and receive personalized content through the web instead of building complex apps for each mobile device.

5o9 tasked us with creating a website that could communicate the complex technology behind their products and turn it into something that everyone could quickly and easily understand.
Taking the challenge head-on, we developed a site that is clean and easy to navigate while using strong graphics and everyday concepts to create an approachable look. 5o9 felt that the animation on the homepage hit the nail on the head, showing “who”, “what” and “where” scenarios for a diverse group of mobile users.

Upon completion of the web concepts, 5o9 LOVED the new look, but suddenly realized they didn’t love their current logo design. Just like that, a new project was born – create something abstract, friendly, and icon-based. A mark that didn’t need to have the word “5o9″ in it to be recognizable. Needless to say, not an easy task, but one that we felt confident we could tackle. The new logo illustrates the who, what and where data and shows how they intersect to create magic. Some also see a zen-like mark while others see a person. What do you see?

By the way – 5o9 is crazy in love with the new logo. Here’s to another satisfied client!

Bearski’s skin-loving products are high-quality, handmade, yet affordable.  Jessica and Christian were looking to give Bearski a hip, cool, and fun personality.  They gave us a lot of great input and ideas – bubbles and lower-case text were kicked around – then… they let us have at it!

Ultimately, a logo should reflect the persona of the company while being engaging and memorable. Sometimes, the design process meanders on it’s way to the ultimate design, and other times, you just get a “Yes, THIS is IT!” moment. After completing one logo concept in particular – we knew we had done it. We felt the logo really had it all – contrast, personality, sweetness, not to mention bubbles AND lower case type. We were thrilled when Jessica and Christian loved it just as much as we did.

SIDE NOTE: We were also thrilled to find out just a few days ago that the Bearski logo has won an ADDY award

After many rounds of high-fives about the logo, we let the logo begin its new life in Bearski’s business cards, product label template and a custom e-commerce web site:

Not only were we passionate about this project, we’re passionate about what Jessica and Christian are doing with Bearski Bath & Body. We are crazy about their products – here are links to our favorites, the coffee soap and Goat Milk TLC. Feel free to list your favorites in the comments or visit Bearski and pick up a future favorite.

Thanks Bearski for trusting us with your image – creating it was truly good, clean fun!

Tammy asked us to design a Wordpress site that would showcase her wordslinging and marketing talents as well as incorporate her blog & post her twitter updates. We really wanted the new site to reflect TAMMY and her hip, funky, professional awesomeness!

Chris started with the Cushy WooThemes template…

used his design magic, customizing the template it into this….

Tammy was thrilled with the look of her new site, and quickly realized she needed business cards that reflected the new tammyoler.com feel. We designed this card for her…

The cards are printed on 16pt paper, and we decided on the rounded corner option, as it played off of the background pattern nicely.

I really enjoy writing the blog and doing the link round-up. Does it put food on the table? In most cases, no. So of course I do the work that pays first. My favorite quote, that I believe I made up, is “Life gets in the way of my life.”

Without further a due, the Weekly Ranger Round-up…

1. From our wordslinging friend Tammy Oler a fun Photoshop project. Who doesn’t love Space Invaders?
2. In the “What’s your favorite color?” blog post I talked about Pantone and a cool Pantone inspired peppermill. Well, I also came across this little card holder. Santa, please take note. Thanks.
3. We follow @swissmiss on Twitter. She posted a tweet a few weeks ago that a friend of hers, Jessica Hische, was posting a Daily Drop Cap. This is the kind of stuff that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Even on a gray and cold Fall day. A free daily drop cap – what more could a designer ask for?
4. I read about these guys in GD USA. Two recent graduates of Texas A&M who are designing their way across the country. They are the Drifting Creatives. Ah, to be young and free…. and sleeping on futons and living off of ramen. Oh, that’s right. I remember now.
5. Six Revisions is one of Chris’ favorite go-to web/design sites. He came across this post in late September. Yes, we love the challenge of designing a great logo with a subtle symbol or message. And the viewer always remembers the day they saw it. If you have seen the arrow in the FedEx logo, you know what I’m talking about.
6. Lastly, another post from design*sponge and the We Can Do It! Biz Ladies. A great article on time & calendar management. Who couldn’t use a little help in that arena?
7. BONUS! And this truly valuable information just posted by the biz ladies today. The nuts and bolts of getting your biz online. You Can Do It!

Enjoy and Happy Trails! See you… sometime. Soon.

Here are a few things that caught our eye this week:

1. Yes, we are procrastinators… but at least we are self-aware. Check out The Now Habit, maybe we can overcome procrastination together. But, we’ll have to put it off until mid-October.
2. On the same note – we came across this site on a great blog we follow. Yes, life is busy and we are still learning to keep it under control. But it’s always nice to know you have lots of company.
3. Well, enough of that – let’s get to the fun stuff! We LOVE logos. We love to look at logos. We love to read about logos. We love to design logos. As designers we do lots of logo research, always wanting to be hip to the newest trends – good or bad. We learned a lot from logo trends of 2009. We are looking forward to 2010!
4. Design Rangers love boy scout merit badges. I wonder if you can just buy the entire set for like 50 bucks? They are all great, but I think this is my favorite!
5. You know that song you love – well, you know how you REALLY love minutes 1:38 – 1:52. These guys feel the same way! It’s about a 30 minute podcast – make sure you hear the first 6 1/2 minutes and the last 1 1/2 minutes (the remaining minutes in the middle are for more mature ears – parents out there with young ones, be warned). This is the spin off site from that podcast – songparts.biz where you can buy you favorite song parts – for cheap! Hear the song part before you buy it if you click on the gray “click to play” bar. Joni Mitchell spazzes out and fake laughs(?) at the end of “Big Yellow Taxi” $.04 - DEAL!
   
6. On a more serious note – our hearts go out to our friends in California. All the talk about the forest fires there reminds us of our good friend, Smokey Bear. What a great guy! (A blog devoted to Smoky and his 65 year campaign coming soon…) Remember, Only YOU can prevent forest fires.

Hope you have a great weekend and as always, Happy Trails!

Happy Friday Dearest Blog Readers,

We want to share with you some great sites/images/information/etc. that we came across this week…

1. Typedia (it’s like wikipedia for fonts) just launched their site. Here is a great blog post about the creation of their logo.
2. A few months ago we wrote a post about how/why to have fun with your brand. This week we found a great site that features some fun & creative business cards. If you ever need a crazy cool business card you know who to call… (shoot us an email if you don’t have a set of Design Ranger cards, we will send some your way!)
3. Our friend and copy writing partner, Tammy, came across this site and thought of us.  Yes, we love it! Also, on the same site a image for our coffee loving friends (you know who you are!).
4. Lastly, every now and then design*sponge will feature a post titled biz ladies. (The post may be called biz ladies but it is just as informative for biz men.) The article features an expert in the field that will offer advice on anything from writing a book to making a strategic business plan. One post we found very informative was advertising 101 for small business owners.
5. Bonus: once you view the biz ladies link you will know why we found this noteworthy.

Well, that wraps up the Ranger Round-up (say that 3 times fast!). Have a great weekend and of course, Happy Trails.