I’m basically a print designer, and even though I have done web design I worried that they would be “talking in code” and I’d be lost. I was pleasantly surprised—the presenters who showed some code did it in a way that I could understand. Even Eric Meyer’s chat on “CSS for evil” was presented in a way that made sense to the print designers like me!

Monday morning started with AEA founder Jeffrey Zeldman giving a history of Emoticons. From the simple smiley face to winking emoticons with hats and mustaches to the difference between eastern and western styles, we were impressed with Zelman’s vast knowledge.

Just joking :)

Seriously, you know that the next two days are going to be great when you hear things like “Beautiful no longer means flash-based.” Zeldman’s passionate opening on the history of the web—Web 2.0—set the tone of the conference. He kicked off AEA by showing inventions from history that led to the web, and showing why we stand at the dawn of a newer and more mature web powered by standards.

Following Zeldman, we heard from Sarah Parmenter on Crafting the User Experience. She discussed principles from human psychology, such as speed, simplicity, surprise, social behavior and stirring emotions, and she gave practical advice for using psychology when thinking about web design and user experience.

Rounding out the morning was Jason Santa Maria’s session On Web Typography. He began by talking about what makes a good web typeface and major typography considerations, such as dimensions, special features, prolonged reading and internationalization. “Good typography is invisible. Don’t make me think about reading, just let me read!” Then he talked about the advances and choices we now have with web fonts. Even though those advances are exciting, he cautioned, we still have to use good design and web standards.

The afternoon started with Scott Berkun talking about Why Designers Fail and What to Do About It. He gave us his thoughts on how we’d never learn and move forward without failure. He said all designers fail 95% of the time, but design suffers from a lack of failure analysis—how to look at the reasons we fail and what to do about it.

One of my favourite sessions was A Content Strategy Roadmap with Kristina Halvorson. She provided valuable insights into how we spend a lot of time on strategy, wireframes and design before obtaining content for our websites. Content often comes last, when it should come first. The bottomline: “Start designing from the content out, rather that the canvas in,” she said.

Finishing off the day was Luke Wroblewski, whose presentation Mobile Web Design Moves left me eager for his full-day mobile web design course. It was exciting to hear about the huge growth in mobile usage, the immense possibilities of mobile web design and how we need to think differently when designing for mobile devices.

Day two started off with Eric Meyer and his talk The CSS3 Anarchists’ Cookbook. Basically, he gave us tips and tricks on how to use CSS for “evil”—how to mess with your co-workers by changing up code in their browser’s user stylesheets. I was a little scared of this talk, but whenever Eric showed the code he showed examples of what it did so it made sense. It was a cheeky way to show the new tools in HTML5 and CSS3.

Jeremy Keith followed with a discussion of Design Principles. He talked about how your principles and design should match, and how this will help you reach your goals—“The more you can boil down your design principles, the better.” Aarron Walter then did a presentation titled Idea to Interface. It was great to learn how those iPhone apps you have in your mind would translate from just an idea into actuality. He said you need to give yourself permission to be the person with the idea, and he outlined how you would carry it through.

The afternoon continued with Andy Clarke and his presentation Smoke Gets in Your Eyes about CSS3 web animation. We learned about the latest CSS animation techniques, and he showed some entertaining videos, such as the Flash vs. Web rap battle.

Alexa Andrzejewski, the founder of Foodspotting, followed with an intriguing presention The Dimensions of a Good Experience. She talked about evaluating experiences using 10 principles from urban planning, and how these same qualities could be applied to digital experiences—“Design influences our experience of the world.” It was the process that led her to create the Foodspotting app.

Finishing off day two was the humourous and incredibly passionate Tom Coates talking about Everything the Network Touches. He reminded us all about how exciting and powerful the web is and how the network is not only extending to people but to objects and places. His final thought: “I am going to say something controversial: I don’t think we should have web standards. It’s only with the ability to explore and not be bound by rules and regulations that we going to create and discover new realms.”

With our minds on overload from these two days we headed into day three, Mobile Web Design with Luke Wroblewski. Again, I had no reason to worry that we’d be doing something super techincal. It was all digestible information. Talking to a crowd of 300, Luke did a great job of getting us to interact with him and each other. He started by asking the audience what we’d like to learn. We also did a few interactive projects by sharing in small groups. Throughout the day, Luke took us through the major considerations when designing for mobile: what the constraints are, stats on usage, what behaviours drive the use of mobile devices and how they are used.

AEA, you know how to throw a conference: 12 exceptionally fantastic speakers, a live Twitter feed, three parties and a soundtrack! If you’re looking to attend a fun web design conference that runs seamlessly with loads of exciting and passionate people, check out An Event Apart. Having attended many design conferences I found AEA to be among one of the best experiences I’ve had. I went from not knowing anything about this conference to coming back with practical experience and tools ready to be put to use in our office.

Further reading:
A List Apart
World Wide Web Consortium
Luke Wroblewski’s Notes on AEA Presentations

WHERE

Heavy Petal is a blog written and curated by Andrea Bellamy which focuses on gardening from a west coast urban organic perspective. Established in 2005, the blog has a large and growing following and has been featured by Apartment Therapy, Design* Sponge, and Decor8. Andrea is also the author of a newly released book, “Sugar Snaps and Strawberries”, which offers guidance on growing gorgeous organic food in an urban, small space setting. Her successes have positioned her as a thought leader in the urban gardening community, and as such, her site needed a refresh to keep up with the quickly evolving tastes of this new generation of gardeners.

IDEAS

The new site needed to mature yet reflect the visually stunning and mouth watering content that it features. Using an organic, hand-designed approach to communicate the delicate yet quirky and inspiring personality of the site and its author, the design combines a modern and clean layout with classic elements. The aesthetic was influenced by vintage seed packaging and was designed to be equally appealing to both young and older gardeners.

To add the bit of whimsy that the site required, and impressed and enchanted by the work of Renee B. Gardener, we approached this illustrator about some ideas for the design. Her fresh, delicate style was aligned with our vision for Heavy Petal and she delivered an updated and embellished version of the wordmark and the nasturtium floral detailing—chosen for its femininity and edible nature.

The new elements were applied to the website, business cards, and the free downloadable material available on the site.

WORK

Just in time for the spring 2011 growing season, the new and improved Heavy Petal blog launched with the latest tips for urban gardeners. The feedback from her followers has been overwhelmingly positive, and with Andrea out on book tour, the updated site is proving to be an integral communication and publicity tool.

WHERE

Between 1996 and 2006 Burnaby’s immigrant and refugee population increased by nearly 40%. The Burnaby Intercultural Planning Table (BIPT) is directed by initiatives that utilize communication campaigns, multimedia projects, community forums and surveys to build intercultural understanding. BIPT needed a website to act as an informative, easy to use communication tool, connecting immigrants new to Burnaby with the resources and services available to them.

IDEAS

Immigrant communities are growing rapidly in Burnaby, but to enjoy the many benefits, several cultural barriers must be overcome. The new homepage features the BIPT initiatives in a dynamic scrolling carousel—driving the user to drill down and learn more. Because the site is not heavily image driven, Typekit was employed allowing the typography to act as a design element. The user experience is designed to be friendly yet intuitive as a result of clear hierarchy and simplified architecture.

WORK

Since launching the site, BIPT has received many accolades, especially for the creation of the SWIS Community Resource, a compilation of the services available in Burnaby and an integrated component of the new BIPT website. Not only a vital tool for front-line workers aiding immigrants new to Burnaby, access is open, which empowering anyone to take their future into their own hands. This new website allows Burnaby to benefit from new perspectives, and diverse cultural, educational and professional opportunities in a way that has never before been available online.

WHERE

Start over. That’s the mantra of this fitness and nutrition company, and what we did for KINETIX Living (click here to view old website). Starting with their ubiquitous old brand based on “living”, something long ago usurped by the likes of Martha Stewart, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and others, we needed to create considerable distance from them.

The new brand needed to bury the old, soft, lighthearted and inauthentic and rise up with a bold, gritty and genuine voice that implies sports and athletics, and better represent the idea that this is a credible program for people who are serious about making real physical and life changes.

Speaking of people making real physical changes, for those of you who know us, you also know we are really into our food (foodists.ca). Over the years, our bodies haven’t exactly been exempt from the effects of our epicurean passions, so we found ourselves smack in the middle of the target audience and prime candidates for a complete immersion into the brand. Fortuitous really, since immersion into the brand is a key part of our process.

With a complete revamp of the business model coming in a short six months, the brand was just the beginning. We were also needed to translate the company’s new vision to an enterprise class web application and iPhone app.

IDEAS

Our goals were lofty, but not unobtainable:

1. Position KINETIX as the most cutting edge / current health & fitness company out there
2. Tighten the brand and related elements and create a great platform
3. Develop and convey our story in an emotionally connecting way, driving love and inspiration of the brand
4. Connect with our current and future community
5. Be ahead of the ‘wellness’ industry to enable us to grow into THE health & fitness brand

How’d we do it? Well, we started with research, then more research. In fact, the entire studio enrolled in the KINETIX program to get first hand insights into the company and the program. We literally lived, ate and breathed KINETIX. The other key was assembling a team for the software and mobile application development with Thirdi Software and Atimi Software. A finely developed process and tools for source control, issue tracking software, and project management were critical.

A new brand essence emerged from our Discovery process: Rebel. Ignite. Commit. The idea behind this was simply that this company was going to rise up from their status quo, burn down any paradigms in their way, and commit to a new way of doing things—this is exactly what they wanted of their clients. This gave way to the development of the new logo and brand filter, through which we would weigh all new work to ensure it was on brand. Additionally the Kx icon served as the inspiration for a new system of symbols used throughout the KINETIX program.

In tandem with the brand development, work was well underway on content and information strategy for the website and iPhone app. Working with this was no ordinary website either: Once a user was signed in, data was seamlessly synced to their iPhone or other device (and back), allowing them to track their fitness and nutrition, communicate with a coach and reference handy meal and restaurant information. The iPhone app is essentially a ‘coach in your pocket’, taking you through each day’s exercise routine step-by-step.

WORK

When the client applauded after we revealed the brand work, we knew we were on the right path. If success of the project was measured by Starbucks and YUM! Brands joining the program rollout, or when the iPhone app was approved and posted to Apple’s App Store in days instead of the weeks that is the norm, then we achieved our goals. However, nothing is quite as salient as when we hear things like:

“Industrial Brand and their partners are a tsunami of talent, passion and creativity. Beauty is skin deep however and IB goes beyond just the look of a brand to unearth the core values and key strategic positioning that will help a company differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace. IB is flexible and creative in their problem solving and didn’t flinch at helping us launch a new brand, new website and new digital app in a crushingly brief time line. Speaking from both the strategic goals and visual brand consistency that we required, IB delivered on all fronts.”—Lou Maxon, VP Brand Experience and Design, KINETIX

Launch website: kxme.com

WHERE

In 1999, the Chung family made an exceptional gift to the University of British Columbia Library, with their donation of The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, comprised of over 25,000 rare and unique items documenting Chinese immigration in Canada. Along with development partner Bayleaf Software, we were selected by UBC Library to redesign the website and collection interfaces.

IDEAS

The Chung Collection is housed in UBC’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, where selected pieces are on display in the Chung Room. Though the exhibit is open to the public, only a small fraction of the impressive collection is on display. The original website was created to support the physical exhibit, but did not intrigue users or adequately support online research, an important aspect of the collection.

The new site was rebuilt with a Drupal content management system. The design is based on the collection content and aesthetics, presenting multiple areas of interest, quick search functionality and thematic exploration on the homepage, bringing items that would otherwise remain unseen to the fore. We dramatically reconfigured searching and the presentation of results, both for a better user experience and to lead users deeper into related and popular content.

WORK

A particular challenge of the new site design was integrating it into the framework of the then new UBC “Common Look and Feel” design template while retaining Chung’s unique identity. The site was successfully launched in March 2010.

Launch website: chung.library.ubc.ca

Drupal and database development by Bayleaf Software

WHERE

BC’s Education Quality Assurance (BCEQA) Designation is Canada’s first and only provincial brand of quality for post-secondary education, and the British Columbia Council for International Education (BCCIE) is the nationally and globally recognized professional organization that promotes and supports all aspects of international education within BC and abroad. Together these two sites are meant to position BC as a world leader in education.

IDEAS

International education is a vital component of the BC fabric, both culturally and economically. BCCIE is the champion and ‘home base’ for international educators and practitioners. The goal was to capture the energy, creative talent, diversity and forward-thinking qualities of the professionals and industry in BC, and create a cohesive and better organized, designed and equipped online presence. This drove a complete, ground-up re-conception and rebuilding of the existing BCCIE website, and a site for BCEQA which had never been represented online.

Meant to work in tandem, these Drupal-based CMS sites needed to present information to a diverse group of constituents from post-secondary administrators and government through to potential foreign students and their parents.

WORK

Using vibrant colours and presenting content on the homepages in a simple and graphic context has made these content-deep sites more accessible to all. The added functionality and ease of administration and content management by the client has breathed new life into the sites, of critical importance since this is the first and main touchpoint for most targets, especially international ones considering BC for their own or children’s education.

Launch websites: www.bceqa.ca or www.bccie.bc.ca

Drupal development by Bayleaf Software

WHERE

With a coveted location atop Burnaby Mountain in the heart of UniverCity, a progressive community modelled on sustainability, Porte Development had a unique story to tell prospective buyers.

IDEAS

We were part of an integrated team comprised of the developer, the architects, interior designers and the sales/marketing team. Following envisioning sessions and a research and discovery phase to compile information and insights about Burnaby Mountain and the project, our first task was naming. “Origin” speaks to the natural setting as much as it does the genesis of new approach to living that is embedded in the planning of this sustainable community.

Original photography was given a collage-like effect to evoke the idea of unique and varied perspectives. This was brought to life using the tagline “View Different”, as much about taking a second and third look at where you want to live as to how. The spectacular view from atop the mountain, fresh air, forested trails and proximity to town are just a few of the reasons to believe!

The new identity was applied to the interior and exterior of the sales presentation centre, signage, website, brochures, advertising and other collateral to create a consistent and seamless brand experience.

WORK

With a look that retains eye-catching prominence, yet respects the natural setting, by all accounts feedback has been extremely positive. Considering the project has sold 40 percent of available units within three weeks of the sales centre opening, it’s evident of a successful marketing launch.

Launch website: liveorigin.com

WHERE

It’s a fact that there are not enough young workers to replace retiring baby boomers. As a result a labour shortage in Canada is looming. Without skilled immigrant labour, our economy can’t grow. So, how do businesses find, hire and train immigrant staff? This is where the new IEC-BC website 
comes in.

IDEAS

Aimed primarily at British Columbia companies and the people responsible for hiring, as well as employment service providers, IEC-BC wanted to address the question, “Where am I going to find my next employee?”. The website presents the answers to this question by way of the reasons for, and benefits of, hiring immigrant labour talent. It’s as much a single-stop, high quality resource for businesses as it is an online tool to help find and qualify potential hires.

To distinguish themselves from other offerings, content is created and curated into a comprehensive and simple to access site organized by the key things users want to know and do, and features case studies and current news. Unlike other dry, complex and dense sites that appear, to put it diplomatically, bureaucratic, the IEC-BC user experience is about complete, credible and extremely high quality content.

WORK

The site recently launched in November 2010 with over 60 employers signed up pre-launch. Initial comments confirm this is the best and easiest site of this type ever produced, a good indication that once critical mass of employers and employees is achieved, tapintotalent.ca will become the defacto resource it is intended to be. The site was also recently featured as a case study in Surrey Board of Trade and cited as an example of Best Practice by the World Economic Forum.

Launch website: tapintotalent.ca

In November 2009 I wrote an article featured in Blitz Magazine about the award-winning brand identity and web project we created for Yaaway.com:

Separating Church and State (of Mind)
At some point in our lives, each of us learns the lesson that discussing religion or politics in mixed company can backfire. You can really set some people off and ruin a nice dinner party by sharing some personal convictions. This issue was a concern when we were first approached by the semi-religious organization, Yaaway Media, to design a brand identity for a community media website aimed at inspiring a more caring and wise world by sharing the messages and lessons of the man called Jesus—not so much the central figure in the Christian religion, but the historical figure whose sage wisdom is as relevant today as it has been for centuries. ‘Sound like an interesting challenge? We thought so too.

Keenly aware that our company is largely defined by its clients and projects, we always evaluate opportunities against a set of criteria that include profit, portfolio, ethics, and fit—but what about optics? At first, this situation felt a little like that which arose when gambling or pornography companies had approached us in the past, leading us to politely decline the work. No matter how you slice it, religion is a touchy topic. Our association with the project could have an impact our own brand, so we had to tread carefully.

Once the project was finished, and though proud of the results, members of the Industrial Brand team would hesitate before discussing the Yaaway project, making sure to explain the situation clearly to avoid it being summarily categorized as bible-thumper fodder. Our team members’ histories run the gamut of those raised in religious homes of various faiths, to those who are completely secular. We didn’t all share our client’s beliefs, but didn’t oppose them either, and following the completion of our initial assessment process, we were surprised at how quickly we became comfortable with the subject matter. The message was positive, and nobody was being duped.

Starting Out: Sunday School
To set the stage, the Yaaway team—a group of experienced media professionals—had already spent over a year (and considerable funds) building the framework and technology platform for a large online community, based on media sharing and social networking. The site was much like a mash-up between Facebook and YouTube, but with a difference: each video and post would ideally be centred on personal stories about Jesus. Not necessarily about Christianity, but Jesus himself. The site would be free to join and use, there were no plans for any advertising or revenue streams, and any user would be welcome to participate, regardless of perspective or religious affiliation.

You’re thinking: “So what’s the catch?” Well, we wondered the same thing, and were suspicious about a business model that didn’t include any plans for revenue. We did our homework and discovered that there really wasn’t a catch. Yaaway was a group that had the foresight to say, “Okay, there are a lot of issues and stereotypes surrounding religion these days. So how do we still get out the message of ‘doing good for your fellow man’, while side-stepping the existing public perception of Christianity?” The answer they came up with was to distill the core messages from the historical teachings of Jesus and avoid getting bogged down by the dogma of organized Christianity.

As the project got under way, we realized how unique the creative brief really was. How would we be able to create an identity suitable for a web-savvy community centreed on Jesus’ story and wisdom, while avoiding traditional religious icons? As a group of brand designers with varying perspectives on faith and religion, we were rather intimidated by this unusual situation. At the same time, we were excited by the design challenge to create an identity that expressed Jesus-centric sharing without looking ‘churchy’. Like many previous challenging projects, sticking to our proven design methodology lit the way.

Meet Jesus: Just a Guy With a Beard
As we began digging into the project, we learned that the core of this online community was a unique world view. They called it a ‘Spiritual Point of View’, focused on the “non-religious life of Jesus, the humble person who transforms people of every social class and culture with a spirit of truth and love.” We weren’t convinced that you could really separate Jesus from religion.

As designers in the branding business, we often toot our horns about building on the existing equity of a brand. This client had the exact opposite problem. It needed to distance itself from the existing brand perception of the Jesus camp—often viewed as right-wing fundamentalists. Beyond the unique portfolio addition this project represented, it was a rare opportunity and challenge.

What the Heck is a Yaaway?
The name Yaaway is a playful re-interpretation of Yahweh, originally an ancient Hebrew word for God, or “the one”. By misspelling the word, our client sought to not only distance itself from a traditional religious word, but create a fun, youthful-sounding, nonsense word like Google or Yahoo. The word also wouldn’t have obvious religious connotations. Another benefit was that the word Yaaway could be purchased as a domain name, which was critical.

Early on we uncovered the fact that our client had already invested significantly in the development of the technology behind the online platform, which was being beta-tested online. Yet after more than a year of work on the project, the company had not engaged in any brand strategy or identity design, and had been using a placeholder logomark which was essentially a knock-off of the YouTube logo—a thoughtless contribution by one of its technology developers. This approach was clearly unsuitable as its identity needed to stand apart not only from other religious-based sites, but from the social media/video sharing world. Said the company’s owner, “I feel like we’ve built a world-class race car without considering the body style or paint job.”

The original Yaaway logo.

Seek and Ye Shall Find
The goal for the Yaaway website was to create a safe, friendly and welcoming experience about the real Jesus, and not about Christianity. The brand and user experience would have to appeal to a global community of spiritually-motivated and non-denominational visitors pursuing truth and knowledge, and all faiths would be welcome. The core of the site content would be stories and video and, although debate would be encouraged, any antagonistic, irrelevant or inappropriate content—such as the promotion of exclusive religious doctrine—would not be welcome.

That said, unlike so many religious websites (and there are many), this site would have virtually no editorial control. The content would be self-organized by the community itself in the spirit of a Wiki, with the founders ‘letting it go’, for the most part. Content that members enjoyed and valued would be promoted by users through a voting system, while content not viewed as harmonious with the spirit of the site would settle to the bottom, down-voted and nixed by the user community.

What Would Jesus Design?
An early research step in our process was what we refer to as a Brand Discovery session, essentially a workshop including a series of exercises and games designed to challenge key stakeholders’ preconceived notions and assumptions. As with many clients over the years, our Yaaway clients arrived in our studio with ideas of what they wanted to accomplish, who their audience was, and what was needed to achieve their goals. Our first job was to challenge that paradigm, and dig deeper into the situation to reveal more than could be expressed in an initial creative briefing. The workshop culminated in identifying Yaaway’s brand essence and aspirations, and the creation of a visioning statement to provide the core direction for the brand design project.

Due to our client’s own moderate views on Jesus, we explored the extreme right-wing, church-driven fundamentalist websites, and determined how Yaaway was not that. In fact, one of the more interesting things that emerged during this research phase was that it was far easier to determine what Yaaway was not, which was one of the best ways of determining what it was. This was especially relevant to the project as the identity of the Yaaway community would be largely determined by the users themselves. Plus, this process of discovery made a huge difference to our own acceptance of the client and the project.

Personal biases began creeping into our team’s psyche, and as communication designers, it’s critical that we’re able to set aside our own preconceived notions and focus on the goals, needs and audience at the core of the problem before us. However, the topic of Jesus Christ was a difficult one to remain unbiased about, regardless of faith or perspective. The tactic we settled upon was relative to a round-table discussion; one where any issue or query could be aired without judgment, and then settled before approaching the next. After confronting and discussing our biases, we let our process reveal what our assumptions clouded and the identity began to take shape.

What Does Your Soul Look Like?
As far as branding and identity challenges go, this project had many. In creating the identity, we had to dive deep down into what the site could become well into the future. This invariably led to some interesting and important developments when designing the website itself.

Beside the fact that the intended audience was a vast multicultural group made up of various ages, educations and faiths, the client insisted that we avoid direct references to the image of Christ, as well as classic icons of Christianity such as a crucifix, lamb, fish, crown of thorns, etc. The logo and website interface had to look ‘Web 2.0′ while standing out against sites like YouTube, Facebook, DailyMotion, etc., and it most certainly had to up-stage related competitors such as GodTube, JesusClips, and GospelTube. Further, the site had already gone live as a beta with placeholder graphics and an interface that hadn’t fully considered the user experience. We had our work cut out for us.

We began by highlighting key words, targeting various graphic elements and iconography, in order to grasp particular themes and ideas. We then cross-referenced the visual language of spirituality (both subtle and blatant), with the vast online social networking meme, seeking inspiration for ways to communicate the concept of non-denominational spiritual dialogue, while avoiding cliché graphics.

A sample of some of our concept sketches during the design process.

As community, sharing, connections, and exchange of ideas became central themes, we sketched and explored visual language that included speech balloons and quotation marks as connectors, links, overlapping elements, clusters and video screens. An epiphany came when the speech balloons were arranged to reveal a cross in the negative space—a fortunate point of view as the client didn’t want Yaaway to have any obvious religious or denominational overtones.

Another moment of insight came upon reviewing many different styles of quote marks. Arranged in an organic cluster at varied sizes, they suggest abstracted talking heads coming together in their shared dialogue. With some adjustments, that central point of focus became the ‘invisible’ cross discovered earlier.

Custom typography to complement the rounded forms of icon was developed along with a colour system flexible for both print and web environments. This vibrant palette suggests a journey from cold to hot, as from discovery to acceptance, as the ascending quotes reach upwards to a more spiritual focus. Four graphic elements not only provided the minimum for a sense of community, but four elements also serve to represent the four books of the New Testament and the four disciples who wrote their chronicles of Jesus’ life.

The final logomark, fully realized and addressing the brief, client requirements and target audience.

As wtih all identity design projects, we ran the final top three logos through a theoretical strainer. Is it readable? Is it relevant? Does the typography resonate with the brand? Elements right down to subtle moods changes affected by colour were scrutinized. The editing process is always one of love and hate; but it’s what takes a logo from good to outstanding.

Of couse, final delivery of the brand design included many elements beyond the logo. These included a comprehensive online brand usage guide, complete stationery package, collateral and promotional materials, signage, and the critical interface design for the website.

Some of the applications of the new Yaaway identity and web interface:

On the 70th day, We Rested
Yaaway was a challenging project; one that our team will not soon forget. We are proud that our belief in creative strategy helped us overcome what at first seemed a worrisome project with a challenging brief. This case study will serve as a litmus test and benchmark for future brand identity projects, proving that even when faced with extreme difficulty, our individual talents, combined with our collective faith in the design process, will guide us to effective solutions. We no longer pause before showing off the project, often catching new clients off guard by saying “Can we tell you about Jesus?”

But Was the Project a Success?
The client was ecstatic with the brand platform and, after several months, re-launched its website, promoting it publicly. The site began to expand daily, with a growing collective of spiritually curious users signing up, engaging in dialogue and up-loading videos. The identity even won industry recognition such as a prestigious Communication Arts Award in the 2009 Design Annual.

Then, trouble. It was found that the primary users on the site were Christian—no surprise for us, but a disappointment for the client. Although we were told the site was making good progress, the client suddenly announced that further development of the project was being halted and the core team disbanded. The owner felt compelled to change direction and discontinued his funding. With his original unusual business model lacking a revenue stream, it was no surprise that he ultimately decided to commercially market the technology platform to groups and associations looking to build their own media-based online social networks.

Recently the Yaaway.com website itself went offline, surely a disappointment for those who worked so hard on it for two years. But, maybe one day, it will rise from the dead.

Click here to view a brief case study in our portfolio or click here to download the longer case study overview as a PDF.