Anabliss Creative Sketchbook

It’s July!

If you have one of our sweet letterpress calendars, you’ll notice that July features a rooster. Why you might ask. Well Scott, our creative director, may not have always been a morning person…but in the last few years the rooster has crowed early in his household. A little over two years ago, a new addition, Claire, was added to their family shifting Scott into the farmer schedule. He is always just minutes behind Brie getting to the office every morning (and Brie jumps out of bed at 5 a.m. with a giant smile with birds singing around her every morning. I envision every morning at Brie’s house like a pep rally).

I think Scott’s mornings tend to be a little bit more hectic with Claire occasionally bumping her head or forgetting one of her babies in the car when she gets dropped off at daycare. Scott’s sleeping schedule has finally gotten back to “normal” now that Claire is two just in time for them to add another bundle of joy to the family. Claire has lovingly come up with a few quality name options for “new baby” including “Poop” and “Charlie”. She is obviously very excited to have a sister.

So here’s to wishing Scott luck in a few months when the rooster will be crowing very early and most likely…very often.

The month of March features one of Australia’s favorite animals, the kangaroo. Jami, our very talented art director, was lucky enough to study abroad for a semester in Melbourne. We’re not sure how much studying she actually did, but we really just say that because we’re envious (at least I know I am).

Jami refers to this time as the best six months of her life. She says that it changed the course of her life. Of course, everyone at Anabliss is glad she went to Australia, because it brought her to Colorado and eventually a part of our team!

Not only did Jami study there, but she took six weeks after her studies to travel up and down the coast jumping on and off busses to sightsee. Jami is our world traveler, so if every once in awhile she slips up and answers the phone with a “g’day mate” or says “cheers” in a funny accent when she hangs up…now you know why.

It’s a fact that ever since I (Andrea) started here at Anabliss I have been on a mission to convince the rest of the Anabliss team that they need to participate in one of Denver’s greatest weekly happenings…the Denver Cruiser Ride. I have yet to have success in my sales pitch, but the month of May is just a little tribute to all the cruising that happens during the summer (and that I’ll be eventually convincing the team to participate in).

For those of you that are curious, here are some details about my sweet ride. Last year I attended the Boulder Bike Swap and found the Vista Duchess. She’s a rootbeer colored beauty with chrome fenders and 5 speeds of awesomeness. She has been taken around the Circle of Death a time or two and come out with great success.

If you’re familiar with  Anabliss at all, you have probably talked to Brie once or twice. She is our Client Communications Director. And even if you DO know Brie…you might not know about her two “kids”, Winston and Kiwi. They are silver dapple dachshunds who have won over Brie’s snake wrangling heart (yes…she has been known to wrangle a snake or two in her day).

The month of November proudly showcases these little rascals. The original design had barking versions of her pups because they are known to be pretty loquacious characters. We toned it down for the final design and gave them more of a regal look. They are treated like royalty at Brie’s house, so it was only fitting.

Anabliss is charged up and ready for the new year, and we are excited to announce that we teamed up with Foils & Dies to create a 2010 calendar. Each year we come up with a custom calendar design that we send out to say thanks to the people who play a role in Anabliss’ continued “pattern” of success. It’s always the hardest to design for yourself, but this year we think we topped the past.

Each designer at Anabliss had a hand in creating this calendar, and every member of the Anabliss family is represented in one of the patterns. Here is a peak at the designs. Each page has been letterpress printed, and every calendar has a hand-tied hanger.

Check out our facebook page to learn how you could have a chance to win one of these calendars.

Also, stay tuned for insight into which month’s designs represent which Anabliss team members. You might learn a thing or two about us that you never knew!

We’ve just completed some stellar concepts for an awesome new organization and we want to share. The client is Team Sweat Equity, a nonprofit team of athletes who support select Colorado children’s charities through athletic fundraising. We took on the challenge of branding them from the ground up: logo, look and feel, and collateral to include an overview piece, website, jersey and a car wrap.

The audience is primarily male, ages 25 to 40. They are professionals who work hard and play harder. We used the overview piece to start with and came up with 5 different concepts, including logos. The client was thrilled. See our designs (front and back) below.

One of our recent design challenges was creating collateral for the 2010 NCSL Legislative Summit, which will take place in Louisville, Kentucky.

Each year, the Legislative Summit takes place in a different location across the country. Over 6,000 legislators and staff attend the three day conference. Each day the conference features new material, new subjects and information from the nation’s best public policy experts.

Our challenge was to entice attendees and exhibitors to participate in the event. The client wanted a look that drew on Kentucky’s rich heritage, but also one that felt fresh, modern, and inviting. Using the theme “A True Original,” we developed a variety of visual styles for the overall look and feel of the event.

After some group collaboration, here is a look at a few of our best solutions for the exhibitor brochure cover.

Since Louisville is mainly known for the Kentucky Derby, a good portion of our ideas were centered around that theme. This first option really tied in the “A True Original” theme by giving the horse a painted look like an original piece of art.

We also wanted to give them the option of highlighting some other attractions in Louisville; the Louisville Slugger, the home of bourbon and home to Muhammad Ali. This option was a clean and simple way of achieving that goal.

Here, we decided to portray the Southern history with a look inspired by old Bourbon labels and old time boxing posters which worked really well in highlighting a number of Louisville attractions.

Our final option captures the look of the Kentucky Derby in an illustrative way. The client had mentioned wanting to create an “out in front” theme which was very successful in this option. It was a version of this option that NCSL ended up going with. It’s bright and bold and really captures the energy of the city as well as the event itself.

In order to generate excitement for the Xpedx Open House this June, we developed a memorable campaign based around vintage travel. At the event, 60 mills will come together to give demonstrations and show innovative new products. This “world tour” of vendors sparked the idea of creating a unique travel experience for attendees that we dubbed the “Expedition.”

Using retro travel posters and illustrations as inspiration, we began to develop the look and feel for the event. Above is the Expedition logo, and below are a few travel stickers that we created which inspired later designs.To peak people’s curiosity, Anabliss designed a travel journal that was delivered to potential attendees as a teaser for the event. The journal is something people will most likely use and not throw away, keeping the event top-of-mind. Below are the two concepts that were developed for the journal.A few days after getting the journal, people will receive a passport, which is the invitation to the event. People are encouraged to bring the passport to the open house, where it will be stamped at each major vendor booth. At the end of this “world tour” of vendors, attendees can turn in their fully-stamped passports to win fun prizes.

One of the main reasons why I, Jami, was drawn to work for Anabliss was the amount of work that the company does for non-profits. I was impressed that the company found giving back to the community so important and valuable. And now, I am glad to be a part of it.

Girls Incorporated of Metro Denver is a nonprofit program providing educational opportunities to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold. Each year they put on a fundraiser in the form of a comedy event called Girls Night Out. This is the 6th year we have donated our design services to help promote the event which is taking place on October 16, 2008.

The comedy headliner this year is Rita Rudner. Known for her witty humor and funny personality, we wanted the materials to carry this through. The client chose our retro direction that featured a halftone treatment of Rita with bright pink and green pops of color. We feel that this fun and colorful direction will grab the viewers attention and make the event a success. Here you see the Save the Date Postcard above and the Web Header below.

To get more information about Girls Night Out, check out the website: www.girlsincdenver.org/ggnotix.

Anabliss was contracted to design a series of ads for the work and rescue division of PMI rope. This includes rope used for water, fire and high-angle rescue operations.

Working with a copywriter, we developed a bold, gritty aesthetic that appeals to the hero mentality of the rope’s users—namely firefighters, police and military personnel. Rough textures, witty copy, and real images of rescue operations using PMI rope were used. The resulting ads are a window into the world of adventure and extreme conditions that PMI customers experience.

The work and rescue ads were so well received that Anabliss was awarded the job of creating a separate, unique ad series for PMI’s dynamic rope division. This includes ropes used for recreational climbing and mountaineering.

“The line between tragedy and triumph” was the inspiration for this series, and the ropes themselves play a leading role visually. Full of color, these ropes are set against a backdrop of bleak, extreme conditions that climbers often find themselves in. This reinforces the idea that the type of rope you choose can be a life and death decision, and PMI has always been recognized for its dependability.

Different headlines and ropes were used for the other two ads in the series.