The Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg website

The Feldman Chamber Music Society, a wonderful non-profit that brings world-class chamber music to Williamsburg, VA, asked for our help in redesigning their website. Their previous site was dated and very hard to make edits. Since they work closely with the Feldman Chamber Music Society, they agreed that it made sense to utilize the custom slider we created for them for their site. The new site is fully-responsive for mobile and tablets. We also helped them update their logo to go with the new site design. The site and logo have a historic influence that ties in nicely with the … Continued

ARDX Foundation website

ARDX Foundation, a non-profit that shines a light on the importance of mental and behavioral wellness and to serve as advocates, partners, educators, mentors, and change agents. The goal for the design was to have the site seem unique to the company's regular website (ardx.net) but still have a cohesive feel to it. The client supplied the logo for the foundation so our goal was to also have it work well with the site's overall design. Included in the design is the ability to take donations online as well as by mail. To make the site accessible to mobile and … Continued

AUCD Conference 2012

AUCD (Association of University Centers on Disabilities), an association based in D.C. asked us in 2012 to develop their conference materials for their annual event. The theme for 2012 was Innovating Today. Shaping Tomorrow. The goal of the design was to highlight all the individual network members and how the collective group formed an intelligent network for influencing policy for individuals with disabilities. We developed the conference logo, the website imagery and the programs and awards booklets.

Eight design principles for nonprofits

I was reading a post on mashable.com this morning and saw a list of design rules for nonprofits that I thought would be appropriate to share in this post. These tips were gathered from designers and creatives who work with nonprofits. The original post included 10 rules, but I think these eight are the most important: 1. Highlight the organization’s positive impact. This is kind of a no brainer so you can see why it’s the first rule. Telling your story by sharing the impact your organization makes is critical to getting donors to engage and want to help. 2. Let the design tell … Continued

Digital marketing trends for 2015

Last year, digital marketing accounted for 25% of all marketing dollars spent. And according to a Gartner survey, that will rise to 33% this year. As a nonprofit, it’s essential to plan and implement your digital marketing strategies in areas considered most important in 2015. Based on an article in the Huffington Post, here are some predicted areas for concentration: 1. Email marketing Create smarter, more targeted content that speaks to your audience. 2. Building connections by building relationships Your audience will give to organizations that they know, like and trust. Social media helps establish personal relationships quickly and for very little cost. Nonprofits that connect by being more … Continued

Research-based design = insightful design solutions

Third in a series of posts highlighting the importance of strategic design in today’s economy. It is inspired by the book “the Strategic Designer” by David Holston. Charles Eames, one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, stated that effective design cannot depend solely on a designer’s preferences. Instead, it should be strongly influenced by business goals and customer needs. This of course seems obvious. However, it takes research to determine what those goals and needs are. Design research can take many forms. There are companies who focus strictly on market research and can do in-depth analysis of … Continued