Thanks for following!

Devin Ford sure makes me look like I  know what I'm doing!

This will be one of my last posts on this blog. It's sad and bittersweet for sure, but GREATER things are ahead. New blog address and web design coming soon..

In the meantime, I MUST figure out how to transfer blogger posts to Wordpress. Does anyone know how to do this? I've been researching it and talking with my programmers, but haven't gotten very far...Help please!

Company Brochures & Tutus!

Whew. I've been quite the worker-bee lately. I'm so excited to share this recent design project with you. Countless (and I mean COUNTLESS) hours went into this project, and I can't tell you how proud I am of the final result. We've been working on this since February and we just presented everything to the agents last week.

A little background here...the client is Roberts Brothers, which is the largest Real Estate company in South Alabama. When I first started doing work for them, we sat down and went over all of their needs. They needed everything: a company brochure, a listing presentation, a buyer presentation, a recruiting piece, agent's personalized presentations, and the list goes on. So instead of creating tons of random pieces that basically said the same thing, we decided to do ONE piece, and to do it WELL.

We spent months coming up with the content and thought long and hard about WHAT we wanted to say and HOW we wanted to say it. The piece has 5 layered inserts on the left: The Company, The Realtors, The Marketing, The Website, The Results. We felt like those 5 inserts represented everything from the history of Roberts Brothers to the recent, impressive web stats. Gwins Printing did an amazing job and they were such a joy to work with.

The two inserts on the right include a sheet for buyers and sellers.


We made sure to leave space for the agents—it was important that they could personalize it and make it their own. See Katie Crane's bio below that will fit perfectly as the top insert on the right side.

This hand-painted watercolor (by the very talented Artist/Realtor Lynne Weeks) was printed on the folder's inside flap and illustrates Roberts Brothers five locations beautifully...

We wanted to show and not just tell so we used many graphics and visuals throughout the inserts. Here's a quick glimpse of several of the inserts (to see all inserts, view the digital FlipBook)

This group photo was taken specifically for this marketing piece—and Thigpen photography did a wonderful job making our conceptual idea come to life.

And my favorite part of the brochure is this digital, interactive FlipBook. It's great for presentations or emails and all things web-related. It'll be featured on the RBI website soon, but for now, you can view it here.

And in case that wasn't enough...we designed a PowerPoint version of the brochure so that the agents can customize it themselves and use it during presentations. So watch out, the RBI Realtors are gettin pretty techy these days!

Sorry for such a long post, but this project deserved it's own posting. It's been my baby for the past few months, but NOTHING compares to my favorite baby. We played dress-up the other day and I couldn't stop laughing when we tried on her pink tutu (given to Calder by close family friend Patsi Walker)! She didn't know what to think about it.

Priss-pot or tomboy, who knows?

Happy 4th everyone!

East Bay Clothiers Website Launch!

We just launched the new East Bay Clothiers site! We've been working on this site for what seems like forever, so I keep pinching myself when I realize it's actually L.I.V.E. {See in progress "Sneak Peek" post here.}

And here's a big smile to brighten your day. Calder keeps getting sweeter and sweeter, and bigger and bigger. Happy Thursday everyone. Hope you do something extra fun this weekend! We're headed to New Orleans on Saturday morning and coming back Sunday. It'll be our first trip just the two of us and Calder will be with the juju and mack-daddy! I'm sure I'll take lots of pics and have some fun things to share next week...

Recent Design Work...

I recently finished a logo and tri-fold brochure design for AccuReg Software. We completely rebranded their company, and I loved meeting with their team and coming up with an entire new look that suited them perfectly.

Their website has not been updated yet to compliment their new branding, but for now you can compare the new with the old. Please click here to see the entire brochure. What a fun and challenging project, and I was honored to be a part of it!

a decorating kick

I've been on a major home decorating kick lately. I think after 9 months of being too tired to think about redecorating anything (except the nursery of course), and then 4 months of taking care of a newborn, I am ready for change. Especially since I work from home, I need some new surroundings!

So, over the past month I've been painting. I was so tired of the dark wood and wanted something fresh and bright, so I painted our dining room table, dining room chairs and our armoire. I'll post details soon showing the before and after pics. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is awesome BTW...

But today, I got woven wood shades installed in our living room, so needless to say, they are on my mind. I've been thinking (and talking) about doing this ever since we moved into this house (3+ years), but I have never pulled the trigger. So, I was in Lowes this morning (with Calder riding in the buggy), and and of course I knew I had limited time until she was hungry and/or tired...

I had my window measurements and the Levolor samples I ordered online forever ago in hand. I rummaged through the different shades for about 15 minutes, then Calder started crying, and I looked down at the sample date order and read it 2010 and thought to myself. Screw Forget it. It is time to DO this! So, I grabbed the blinds and hurried to the checkout line. 

I normally don't make such an impulsive purchase, but with a 4 month old, you don't get out much, so when you do, you need to make decisions.

And here are some rooms I've been drooling over for years. Don't the wooden shades add so much to these spaces? Of course, I love the idea of no shades at all, but if you're like me and need the option of privacy (AKA: don't have the luxury of being on top of some hill with no homes in site), this is such a good-looking, affordable option.

images via House Beautiful, Coastal Living, Phoebe Howard, Jim Howard

I feel re-energized in our new space. More to come soon...

Roberts Brothers

Here's a sneak peek of what I've been working on lately...

My biggest marketing client is Roberts Brothers, Inc, which is the largest Real Estate company in South Alabama. With 250 agents, they keep me very busy to say the least! I've been working on a new marketing piece for the company, and we're in the process of finishing up the last few details. I can't wait to show you the finished product — we're going to have a print and digital version so stay tuned.

Here's a picture from our photo shoot last week. Didn't it turn out great? Love the Mobile city skyline in the background — and you can't find a better group of agents!

And I'll end with this video Google produced for us last year to advertise our Mobile site. Google chose Roberts Brothers as one of the three examples for their "Go Mo - Mobilizing Mobile" Campaign. It was a huge campaign and although Mobile was chosen because of the play on words (Mobilizing Mobile, get it?), they came down from Boston to shoot this and I think they really fell in love with our town. Check out the fabulous video they shot...

 

We were honored to be a part of this! More to come soon...

East Bay Clothiers: Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek of the new East Bay Clothiers site I'm working on. More to come soon, but we're so excited about this new, fresh design. Here's a glimpse of the slideshow images that will play on the new homepage.

And yes, that is my close friend and fashionista Louise McCown below to the left. Lookin' good Lou!

Here's some new copy for the "Beginnings" page. This is so Genie...
Remember 1994? Yes!  EastBay Clothiers remembers too! That was our birth year. Genie McCown , fresh from London via New York, via Mobile (think Azalea bush) opened the doors where everybody knows your name....(think Cheers). Whatever your whim, be it in the boardroom or boardwalk. Rest assured, there will always be a happy individual to make you look and feel your best (think "Man of Distinction..." or "I am Women Hear Me Roar...." )  Located in beautiful downtown Fairhope, come as you are. Have a cookie. (more like a beer!) Hug the dogs.....and leave feeling like a million bucks!

All photos were taken by Donald Holyfield. He's SO talented and has given me a ridiculous amount of amazing photos to choose from. More to come soon...