For over 20 years, Better Housing Coalition has been changing lives and transforming communities through high quality affordable housing. BHC is nationally recognized for its innovative approach, from building green to providing support services that help each neighborhood flourish. In 2009, BHC launched its annual leadership awards, to honor those whose leadership inspires positive change in the greater Richmond community (and to raise money, in case you’re looking for a worthy cause to support). In 2010, BHC decided to name the event/awards Groundbreakers, and asked JHI to develop a logo that would be an extension of the BHC brand (which JHI also developed). The final choice was a colorful constellation of shovels, illustrating the endless and wonderful possibilities that can happen when we all dig in and help.

]]> http://jhigoodidea.com/theblog/good-ideas-good-thinking/feed 0 http://jhigoodidea.com/theblog/history-open-for-all http://jhigoodidea.com/theblog/history-open-for-all#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:18:37 +0000 Christen http://jhigoodidea.com/theblog/?p=846 At J H I, we have the pleasure of working with many clients across various industries.  You can imagine why we love our jobs – it never gets stale!  We have a long standing relationship with the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (RMCVB) and developed their current “History” advertising campaign.

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!).

A central location to share and obtain information; it makes so much sense until you realize that the “marketing volume” is at a confusing,  brain-melting level. A classic and definable example of how way too much information shuts down the viewer. There is often so much to see that we can see nothing at all! We switch into self-protection mode and use our internal volume knob to turn down the experience to a more manageable level…but what is lost in the act of doing this may be the most valuable information of all.

We think that the correct strategy (in support of our “keep it focused and simple” philosophy) is to create an island of calm in the chaos. Control the experience. Offer a logical visual and auditory conversation so that the prospect gets just the message you want them to get. Don’t ask them figure it out…their brain was exhausted soon after they entered the show!

The trade show can be an extremely effective marketing investment if well conceived and executed. Let’s discuss your next event…

Photo by Ishtar (http://www.igougo.com/journal-j6573-Istanbul-The_Wait_for_Turkey_-_Finally.html) Thank you!

As never before in history, we are being literally attacked by a tsunami of incoming data, messages, tweets, and all manner of advertising and social connections. Readers/viewers bristle at the thought of wading through paragraphs of copy when they are already thinking about what they will need to move onto as soon as they are done here. So, as a designer, has dealing with pervasive societal Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) become the playing field where successful communications are crafted?

Instead of organizing a lot information into a predetermined box, if we can define the idea and create a concept to express that idea, do we really need a lot of words? The words will be necessary, but later on in the progression of the conversation, but not in the beginning, where it’s critical to get attention in today’s loud media whirlwind.

By example, several years ago, while traveling in Sicily on a quest to visit the famous pastry shops of the island, we stopped at Maricante’s Pastry Shop in the ancient port of Siracusa. (They now have a web site:  http://www.barmarciante.it/HOME.HTM). Ask for a business card and you get this simple idea:

Depending on how you hold the card you either see a smiling face with the inscription: “I ate a pastry from Maricante”, or, I’m obviously having a bad day frowning face with the inscription: “I didn’t eat a pastry from Maricante”. Bypassing the layers of details that may explain why, they get right to the point: happy or sad, the choice is yours. You know all you need to know right now. The product is made with love and is intended to make you feel good…don’t you want that? The mental synapses fire faster than any computer processor and the reader instantaneously attaches a lifetime of experience unclouded by extraneous and complicated layers of information.

Fast-forward to an earlier Apple Computer campaign and poster for the brightly colored bubble Macs from a few year ago. Again, a strong strategic vision and simple and powerful expression create a conversation that defies words! Yum.

Yum says it all, doesn’t it? Not delicious, or any other word, but the quick non-labored immediate response we reserve for when we are surprised by how good something is and don’t feel the need to investigate why. We see it and we know it’s good. But, what is it that’s good: the arrangement of the products in a circle in all their attractive colors; the unique forward thinking demonstrated by a company that would even consider producing such a modern and compelling product? Or, is it expressive of the affirmation of the already common knowledge that to buy and use an Apple computer is an uncomplicated and delicious experience? It’s all of the above.

How does this thinking get applied to the many different forms of communication that we need to produce like web sites and brochures, where a few more words are critical because we are operating in a different venue? The answer lies in strong strategic thinking and a commitment by all parties involved to respect the position of our audience and engage them without unnecessarily burdening them. A marketing communications conversation has a beginning, middle and end. Are we being conscious of the first impression we are making? As our audiences get to know us, are we giving them just what they need at that particular point so that they will actually want to move forward with us? Do we really stop and anticipate their needs or are we just doing data dumps and hoping for the best?

At J H I, we take this seriously; strategy in the development of concept, copy, design and a clear understanding of the proposed conversation form the structure of the process we pursue for our clients.

CenterStage asked us to create the identity for their Youth Open House, “Lights Up.” This was a great opportunity to create a youthful, fun identity for a new event in Richmond. In addition to that logo, I designed a few billboards for Center Stage youth programs and it’s been really exciting to see them when I am driving around town!

I also designed an identity for Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator here in Richmond. It was recently started to assist businesses focused on energy efficiency and green technologies.

And, rounding out my experience with working across all mediums, I recently completed the Twitter background for First Market Bank to help them campaign for the Shorty Awards , the event that honors top tweeters in various categories. I mean, who doesn’t love #Bacon?!

As a final note, J H I is happy to be joining the ranks of facebook. Click to become a fan of J H I!

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!

Volkswagen and ad agency DDB Stockholm are launching a behavior-change campaign linking positive behaviors with fun. The “Fun Theory Campaign” is an initiative to promote environmentally friendly behaviors and is ultimately about driving environmentally friendly cars. The idea behind the campaign is to demonstrate that acting responsibly can be fun. Several experiments are under way. One converted a staircase in a Stockholm subway station into working piano keys. The result: 66% more people chose the stairs over the escalator. Another uses cartoonlike sound effects to make throwing rubbish into the trash can fun. That bin collected 41 kilograms more trash in one day than did a standard bin nearby. This campaign is a stellar example of advertising at its best: a big idea that can work across all media, including social and viral.