Great photography is such an important part of any finished piece, printed or online.  And usually, we focus on the finished product of our work, the brochures, magazines, and advertisements that we complete for our clients.  However, in recent weeks we’ve been given the opportunity to capture the right photo to speak for our clients. Here are a few photos from behind the view finder of our latest photo shoots  at Randolph Macon College and Carpenter Co.  Finished products coming soon!

Our clients at RMCVB recently approached us with a new demographic to target – the GLBT community.  We immediately got to work on the new ad concept, “History. Open for all.”  We used Richmond residents as our models and had the photo shoots in Carytown and at Stronghill Dining Company (which is delicious too!).

J H I is featured in the January issue of Grid Magazine.  Grid is a new publication serving the Greater Richmond Region, and J H I is honored to be featured in the “Innovators” section of the publication – believe us when we tell you that we’re among excellent company.  Check out the article here. And remember, its always a good idea to share good news with a friend!

You’ve met our intern Stephanie here on our blog (if you haven’t met her in the office or spoken to her on the phone), and I’d like to take a moment to toot her horn just a bit.   Although we already know she is absolutely fabulous and a wonderful addition to JHI, Print Magazine has recognized her design star potential and selected her cover design as one of three finalists for the student cover competition. This year’s theme asked design students to address a global problem and show how good design could solve it.  Stephanie’s cover design oh so cleverly addressed the issue of public transportation.

We’re so proud of her, and to show it, we’ve all voted a million times in support (because clearly it is the best and we are showing no bias what-so-ever). We’d love it if you did the same!  Click to vote for Stephanie now!

We’ve recently teamed up with Carpenter Co. to provide the branding and signage for Carpenter’s latest PR campaign, “Sleep Better. Dream Bigger.”  Over the past 4 weeks, the folks of Stephenville, TX (singer Jewel’s hometown, population 15,000) have had the ability to visit the Sleep Better showroom and learn how to get a better night’s sleep.  Leading up to the showroom opening and last night’s live performance by Jewel, we helped the Carpenter folks create a mobile billboard on the trailer of one of their fleet vehicles!  Visit www.sleepbetter.org for more info on the campaign and to read the Stephenville Dreams blog!

I recently came across a tweet the other day in which the person said “This link has brought out the inner 8-year-old in me and I can’t stop laughing.”  The link on his post was www.whopooped.org. Not sure what possessed me to click it, as I was sure it was going to be something seriously inappropriate (for those who know me, you know that I blush talking about this stuff!). Lucky for me, I was pleasantly surprised at the online genius I found – no need to blush!

Whopooped.org is a microsite for the Minnesota Zoo to promote visits for their Africa! exhibit.  The site features an interactive quiz that shows insight into the lives of animals based on scientists studying – yup, you guessed it, their poop! The site does a great job of appealing to their target audience – kids, both young and old!   Here in the office, we had to test our knowlege (and the site, for research, of course).  I scored 2/3 correct, but everyone else in the office scored a 100%!

All microsites should aim to combine entertainment and information in such a compelling and appropriate way, even if it is without potty humor!

Here at JHI, we are big fans of billboards: they are quick to the point and they reach your customers where they are – being in their car and seeing billboards about cars is not lost on me in this instance!  We’ve done quite a few in our time for clients, and although we’d like to take the credit for this one by a BMW dealer – this stroke of genius is entirely theirs.  Not only does it directly respond to a competitor in a tongue-in-cheek way, it has also caught the attention of the blogosphere and the twitterverse – thanks to a blog post on the BMWBlog.  Interestingly enough, BMWBlog isn’t owned by BMW AG, and I would bet their marketing and PR people are having a good day given all of the positive goodwill spreading around the net since the post on Monday.  Well played indeed.

On my way to work this morning, with all of the sleet bouncing off my windshield and the chill in my bones from just looking at people getting into their cars, I couldn’t help but think that a nice cup of hot chocolate, a book and a warm blanket on the couch would be a perfect way to spend the day.  Well eMarketing is really insightful (reading minds in fact), as my daily email from AdAge was waiting in my inbox with the headline “Marketing’s New Red Hot Seller: The Humble Snuggie.”  When I first saw the ad on TV, I had a similar response to Ellen’s.  But, apparently, 4 million people and counting (as there is currently a waiting list to get your hands on one) felt compelled to act to the company’s quirky ad – which according to execs behind the project, made all the difference.