Playing with full-size cars

When I was just a boy, I loved to draw cars...and I got pretty good at it too. (And it's kind of funny, but so does my son, and he can draw cars much better than I did at his age.) It was fun to draw the custom cars like the Barris television show creations and coming up with my own funky designs.

So I guess it's not much of a stretch to go from those childhood sketches to vehicle graphics, is it?

Mountain America purchased a shiny new Ford Expedition to be used at events, so why not wrap it with a logo, art and marketing? I received diagrams for the body that I used as a template to create the designs, which I made in Illustrator. The vinyl wrap was produced and applied by FerrariColor in Salt Lake City. I was extremely pleased what a good job they did. Pictured above is actually my second version of the wrap--the first was removed after some body work had to be done.

There is one thing about a wrapped vehicle though; it's IMPOSSIBLE to be inconspicuous, so you have to be on your best behavior at all times while driving it!

Three pointer=Flashy LED ring!

Sponsoring Utah Jazz's Three-Pointer Instant Replay earned Mountain America ten seconds of flashy graphics in the Energy Solutions Arena--and that bright, colorful animation came from me! During some games, that exposure was multiplied even more with basket after basket!

We found out that the motion graphics needed to be created in Adobe After Effects, so I got the software and learned as I went. I created the artwork in Adobe Illustrator and imported it into the timeline, adding the animation and everyone was excited to see how it turned out.

It's really interesting working on graphics on a regular-sized computer monitor, knowing that the final presentation is going to be three feet tall and the circumference of the arena. But it's really awesome when you see it full size, flashing and rolling while the fans go crazy after the Jazz sink another three point shot.

In all, I created four different LED ring and Jumbotron graphics for the Jazz games, and two for the Salt Lake ReAL soccer stadium.

"Have a great summer. C-U next year!" (FREE!)

My kids started their elementary school years at Nibley Park Elementary in Salt Lake City. It's a good school that served the needs of all kinds of students from all walks of life and almost every economic level. Creating a free yearbook...for ALL the students...just seemed like the right thing to do. It was an honor (and fun!) to donate my time to it for four years.

Nibley Park's free yearbook started when the PTA saw that a generic book was being sold for ten bucks each...and not many of the students could really afford it. The solution? The PTA had earned enough from their activities and memberships to be able to produce a black and white yearbook, with a two-color cover, for everyone.

I had been taking pictures at school events and we were able to gather photos from the teachers, so in a mad crunch, I was able to put together the book and get it to the printers; which were able to deliver the books on the last day of school. Everyone was able to pass around their yearbooks for autographs... it was great fun.

In the three years that followed, the children loved to ham it up for the cameras and looked forward to the end of the year: Free Yearbook Day.

Can't Stop Yelling "Bingo!" at Yellow Cars...

"Hi, my name is Noel and I yell 'BINGO' when I see a yellow car..."
(Hi Noel, it's okay. We're all friends here. Go ahead...)

Okay, just a little diversion and a little confession... Even when my daughter isn't riding in the car with me, I'm still watching for those yellow cars or trucks.

It started just a few months ago. Whenever I had to take the girls somewhere, my youngest would call out "BINGO!" at the yellow vehicles. She said the neighbor girl had made up the game, so I started playing along. Simple enough rules, first one to spot the yellow car calls it out. My daughter likes to pick out EVERY vehicle, including the tractors on the side of the road, but that seems like cheating to me...

(We understand. Go on...)

Then it happened: we were at Lagoon, the local amusement park, stopped at the top of the Ferris Wheel and I heard another girl picking out BINGOs in the parking lot. This was bigger than the neighbor girl. Sure enough, you can find it on the Web and there's even a Facebook page for "Shouting BINGO when you see a yellow car!" Of course, I became a fan...because I can't stop...yelling at yellow cars!

(Well Noel, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Group hug!)

Live. Work. Play... A Year's Worth of Benefits!

Every year, the HR Department at the Credit Union has to renegotiate the terms of Health Insurance with the providers. After they've gotten the best deal they can get, they have to notify the employees of the changes to their coverage. When you're a small company, that's not such a problem; but when you have 1000 employees spread across four states, it can be a daunting task.

In order to generate some excitement about the "Open Enrollment" period, HR asked me to help them with a project that would involve employees and showcase the things that helped them to achieve a healthy Live-Work-Play balance. Stories and images were submitted of such activities as rock climbing, river rafting, marathon running, world traveling, gardening and more. These and other stock images were incorporated in the benefits booklet, 15-month mini-calendar, a tri-fold brochure, PowerPoint graphics and PDFs.

The colorful designs I created were well-received. Working within economical guidelines, we were able to stay within budget and deliver the goods on time. HR was able to reach their goals, and of course, the mini-calendars were a big hit and a reminder of the many ways a credit union employee could live a healthy lifestyle year-round.

Saving $20,000 for Charity

It just seemed like common sense; why wouldn't we take advantage of postal discounts? Especially when a simple change in the postcard would save $20,000 and allow a donation to go that much further?

When Mountain America Credit Union, Children's Miracle Network and CO-OP Network decided to send out a postcard and wrap ATMs with a bright graphic that promoted their combined donation efforts for sick children, I was able to help art-direct the project. Working with the marketing VPs of the three companies and an outside advertising agency, we chose the images and colors we thought would be the most appealing, heart-touching headlines and verbiage, and postcard formats.

But when it came down to the production and mailing of the pieces, I could see that the costs could be reduced. Having extensive experience in direct marketing and USPS regulations, I was able to point out ways to make the mailing less expensive and more effective.

In the end, the adjustments were made and the campaign was able to reach more people for less. Since the agency was merely passing on the postal costs, they didn't lose any money in the project. It was a win-win-win-win for all parties, and truly a "miracle!"

It's not so much "HOW" as "WHY"

Just a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the HOW Design Conference in Denver, CO (www.howconference.com). It was the 20th anniversary gathering and it was packed with amazing materials.

While I was there, I heard some excellent speakers, met some talented colleagues, gathered fun print samples, books and cool t-shirts, saw some interesting sights, ate some good food and was able to soak in great design inspiration. It was a very worthwhile trip and I'm glad I was able to go.

But it was all brought home when I got home... everything I learned and saw was insignificant when compared to what greeted me at the door:

My daughters had decorated the windows with homemade "Welcome Home" signs and decorations and the youngest had even artistically arranged her favorite foods for me...pickles, M&Ms, crackers, cheese and bubble gum with a sprig of flowers from the hawthorne tree in the yard.

I was really touched by the creative efforts of my girls who didn't need a getaway for inspiration--they just missed their goofy Dad and were glad to have him back home. While I love what I do, my family is the reason WHY for the HOW of design and advertising--and to borrow a line from a well known advertising campaign, it's PRICELESS.