Recently, our client Little Dixie Construction converted an empty factory into a state-of-the-art green building for IBM’s Delivery Center in Columbia, Mo. VANGEL was proud to create educational signage throughout the building to highlight its green design, construction and silver LEED certification.

Here’s what the site looked like before.

And here is the building after Little Dixie worked their magic.

Little Dixie and IBM tapped VANGEL to develop informational graphics to educate employees and visitors about the building’s green features.

Our first step? Dumpster diving.

In the spirit of reduce/reuse/recycle, we visited the IBM job site to scout for construction debris.

Lucky for us, our Italian intern Carlo had come along. He volunteered to scale a construction dumpster and haul out a primer-gray, 8-foot electrical door panel. His fine Italian sweater may not have survived, but he can proudly say he got his hands dirty on the job in America. (Ti ricordi, Carlo?)

Here is the metal panel.

With the basis of a cool sign in hand, we enlisted the crew at SignsNow, for a plexiglass panel we would use to tell the building’s green story. The two pieces were then joined and mounted on the wall at IBM.

Next, we needed a way to maintain awareness throughout the massive building. The solution was a series of 12” x 12” plexiglass pieces that feature 3-dimensional items illustrating the building’s green features.

Simple and intriguing, the pieces also serve as “objets d’art” at IBM. There’s nothing like a chunk of concrete, an elephant, or a beer bottle sliced in half (thank you Village Glassworks) to get people talking.

VANGEL is proud to have been a part of this innovative LEED project. Ever wondered what creative, compelling ideas could do for your office space? Try dumpster diving.

Or give VANGEL a call.

VANGEL is proud to announce that our work has again been honored in this year’s 32nd Annual Telly Awards competition! (Our TV campaign for First Chance for Children also won a Telly this year.)

This time the Telly goes to two 30-second television ads we created for GetAbout Columbia, the Federal Highway Administration’s Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program in Columbia, Missouri.

The TV ads were part of a comprehensive public education campaign promoting walking and biking. As with all of the marketing materials we developed for the campaign, the TV commercials embodied the the GetAbout Columbia brand—upbeat, inclusive, and fun.

In the first spot, we touted the benefits of walking and biking by creating an original GetAbout Columbia song. We then enlisted the help of The Vision Factory to bring the brand to life through animation.

The second TV ad was part of a multi-media “Roll Together” campaign. By combining animation with video footage of Columbia streets, (shot by Boxcar Films), this spot reminds everyone—both car drivers and bicyclists alike—that following the rules of the road and simple courtesy are key to sharing the streets safely.

We’re extremely proud of the work we did for the GetAbout Columbia project. (See more here.) That’s because we know that a walkable, bikeable community is good for us all.

Do you have a product, service or initiative that you’re looking to brand in a memorable way? Give VANGEL a call.

Did you make it to the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Chamberopoly event at the Whiskey Wild Saloon?
We did. What fun!

Despite the challenges of a different location and an entirely new theme for their annual fundraiser (it was previously known as the Twilight Cruise), the folks at the Chamber made sure Chamberopoly was a rockin’ good time and saw a great turnout.

VANGEL was proud to be the Chamber’s marketing partner.
We created a multi-media campaign to introduce the Chamberopoly theme and generate excitement for the event. The components were designed to create a sense of fun, conjure up memories of playing games as kids, and establish an identity for the event.

Here are a few examples.

Save the Date Email

Print Ad

As with everything we do at VANGEL, the materials are creative, consistent and compelling. It’s just how we roll. Give us a call today and let us make sure your company’s marketing efforts can say the same.

If you’re plugged into the world of social media, no doubt you’ve heard grumblings the last few days about the redesign of the Gap logo.

Designers all over the world are in a tizzy over the new look—just take a look at the comments on this post for a taste of the uproar.

The webosphere has erupted literally overnight with parodies and mockery, including a fake Twitter account (@GapLogo) and a Make-your-own-Gap-logo generator, among others.

In a response (of sorts) to the outcry, Gap posted a response on its Facebook Wall yesterday, asking for the community to design alternative logos. Way to fuel the fire, guys.

Perhaps this is all a well-planned out strategy of getting us all to talk about the GAP amidst declining sales. The old “any publicity is good publicity?”

Whatever the case, we’re having a good time watching this whole drama unfold. But we want to know what you think of the redesigned logo. Brilliant strategic move? Epic failure? Share your opinion by leaving us a comment below!

The second part of our frumpy-to-fabulous tale is where we get into the heavy lifting. (catch up on Part 1 here, if you missed it.)

To go along with the new name and positioning statement, we needed to freshen up the old Food Bank logo, which looked like this:

Notice I said “freshen.” As tempting as it can sometimes be to start from scratch, in this case, that wasn’t the best idea. Just like a celebrity with worldwide recognition, we didn’t want to do so much “work” that she wouldn’t even look like herself anymore. So instead of pulling out a blank piece of paper, we started tweaking the existing logo, a little at a time, until the overall look was a cleaner, more sophisticated version of itself.

The first issue at hand was the type. In the old logo, the Food Bank name was set in Helvetica. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with good ol’ Helvetica. It’s kind of like a little black dress—it looks good on everyone. But since the Food Bank is such a unique place, we wanted to inject a little more personality into the brand.

We ended up choosing a typeface called Hermes. A bit more distinctive, yet still a strong foundation for the rest of the logo.

While Hermes is a great font to use for the wordmark, it doesn’t work very well for chunks of body copy. Our solution was to choose a complementary typeface that would fill in where Hermes didn’t do the best job, and help keep all of the Food Bank’s brand materials consistent.

Enter Caecilia:

Caecilia’s a flexible girl, and comes in many different styles and weights, making her a great fit for not only the positioning statement, but use in brand collateral as well.

Next up, color. After lots of research, we came to the (very scientific) conclusion that everyone and their mama’s food bank logos feature shades of green. Yes, green makes sense, but its well, predictable. Purple? Not so predictable. And again, we didn’t want to abandon the feel of the old logo, so the purple stayed.

The question was, which purple? The old logo was lacking a consistent color across all applications. Now, if you’ve been faithful blog readers, you should know where this is headed. Yes, a PMS color! Since we were freshening up anyway, we chose a more subdued shade of purple that added some richness and sophistication to the logo.

For multiple reasons (versatility being key), the logo was kept to one color. But we did establish a complementary palette to be used throughout Food Bank brand materials. You know, it’s that whole consistency thing…

Our final order of business was polishing the logo symbol itself. Over the years, the Food Bank had realized that the detail in the basket of food wasn’t reproducing well, so simplifying and streamlining were at the top of the list.

We took as much detail out of the food as we could, while keeping it recognizable. We also took the crosshatch detail out of the basket and “rotated” the basket in order to achieve a side view of the handle.

Well, now, loyal readers, you’ve finally made it to the big reveal! Drumroll, please…

Tada! And with the positioning line…

We are thrilled with how our brand makeover project turned out, but more importantly, so is our client. Since the transformation, we’ve helped the Food Bank revamp their website, freshen up brand materials like business cards and brochures, and add the new logo to the building signage and Food Bank vehicles.

Man, someone should totally give us our own makeover show…