This was a great opportunity to work with Scott Strickland of Abba Homes. Scott is an independent contractor in Saco, Maine who specializes in hardwood floor installations and restorations, and he needed a brochure to showcase his work. In this case, the job came pretty easily as his craftsmanship speaks for itself. We used a photo of a gorgeous hardwood inlay that he had done as the background for both the interior and exterior of the brochure – a great way to get a handcrafted feel to the project. The next step was coming up with the “Relationships, Not Just Renovations” slogan that’s used on the inside and outside – which conveys Scott’s attitude towards his clients and the quality work he does. Because of the many repeat customers that he has from his 10 years in business, testimonials are used throughout in order to enhance the photos of his work.

This is a concept for Scott’s new website, which will hopefully be debuting sometime soon. Rather than a multiple page “brochure” type site, I’ve opted to have everything displayed on a single page. Visitors can navigate by manually scrolling up and down, or use the menu options across the top of the page, which will be linked to anchors throughout the page.

I was privileged to work on Aquaboggan’s summer brochure for the second year in a row and decided to make some changes. Using the 2009 brochure as a reference, we began with adding some new photos and wanting to feature the spaciousness of the overall park. After a few test runs, this was best accomplished by using a wide shot of the park as the centerpiece of the interior design and moving all the important text to the bottom of the page. By doing this, it shows how much “green space” is available for visitors while still communicating information clearly. To segue between the main photo and the text, I used pictures of the different attractions – a good way to list out and also show what visitors can look forward to at the park. The exterior of the piece remained somewhat the same to keep some consistency, but we were able to add some new photos, brighten up the background a bit, and also bring in the park’s home on Facebook as well.

We began by focusing attention on some of Scott’s best work, his custom hardwood inlays, and used that as background images on both sides of the brochure. The next step was coming up with a way to get across Scott’s philosophy towards his work and clients – that it isn’t just about getting the job done and moving on, but forming a bond with his clients and meeting, then exceeding their needs. I came up with the “Relationships, Not Just Renovations” tagline and we were off and running. The focus of the piece then became testimonials from clients along with background on Scott and his business.

The result is a sharp brochure that stands out from the pack at meetings, something both Scott and I were very happy with. Next up, I’ll be working on Scott’s new website over at ABBAHomes.me in the next couple weeks.

National Automotive Support, Inc. is a family-owned company located in Old Orchard Beach, Maine that specializes in marketing and advertising for car dealerships. They design and plan campaigns using direct mail, catalogs, newspaper insertion, and email blasts to reach current and potential clients who fit the ideal customer for each dealer. They are also one of four exclusive companies to provide direct mail for all 62 Subaru dealerships throughout New England.

NAS wanted to upgrade their web presence to provide more information to clients, be able to update the pages themselves, and gain a wider reach in an already competitive market. Considering their requirements, I felt that using WordPress as a CMS (Content Management System) would provide them the flexibility that they wanted while also providing higher visibility. While it used to be true that adding a few keywords would mean Google gold, times have changed – content is king, which means constantly adding and updating. To that end, I designed their custom theme to be sleek and focus eyes on the content while accentuating their logo at the same time. They are now able to add and remove samples of their work as well as post news and links to keep their site fresh and new to visitors.

Visit: www.nationalautomotivesupport.com

The Midcoast School Of Music is a student-oriented institution with a mission to instill a love of learning as well as a love of music. They offer lessons in brass, woodwinds, percussion, guitar, bass, vocals, and even turntables. Founded in early 2009, the school has found a following very quickly and has expanded to encompass multiple campuses – one in Bath, ME and the other in Portland, ME.

I was introduced to this project by Matt Fogg, a longtime client of mine and one of the school’s founders. The idea was to not only provide an online billboard, but to get information out to their current and potential students as quickly and easily as possible. For this, I employed the open-source CMS WordPress, which allows Matt and his business partner Chris the freedom to post information and edit their website on the fly from anywhere they have internet access.

Visit: www.midcoastschoolofmusic.com

Bishop Properties, Inc. is a real estate sales and development company based in Gorham, ME that handles commercial, industrial, and residential properties throughout southern Maine. Peter Bishop, the company’s owner, has been involved in real estate development for over 20 years and is an influential and active member of the Gorham business community.

When Peter Bishop contacted me, it had been a long time since he had advertised his properties online. Some may look at this as a problem since it means starting from absolute scratch, but I actually view this as a positive – especially when clients aren’t familiar with how the web has changed in the years since they’ve been away. It represents a unique opportunity to talk in depth about what it is that I do, and to also answer some questions that I may not have been asked in awhile. Those are the things that keep me sharp and motivated to learn more about design.

The format chosen here is a simple one that allows for a viewer to see all of the properties offered by Peter on the front page with the most essential details. Each property then has its own page with more information and how to contact Bishop Properties for more information. Overall, this was a fantastic experience, and it was great working with someone who has a great deal of experience in running their own business and is very generous with their time.

Visit: www.bishopproperties.net

Aquaboggan is Maine’s oldest water park and has been operating since 1978 in Saco, ME. The above designs were from the 2009 Summer tri-fold brochures that were distributed to various businesses and visitor information centers throughout the state.

The challenge here was to take the previous year’s brochure (which I didn’t design) and update it to increase the size and change information without losing all of the things the client liked about the previous incarnation. To accomplish that, I maintained an open line of communication with the client and tried, whenever possible, to simplify rather than complicate.

In addition to the brochures, I also had a chance to design scorecards for Aquaboggan’s miniature golf course and a couple of print advertisements as well.

Retrospecticus is a Portland’s premier party and events band. Comprised of some of the finest musicians available in and around the Portland, ME area, they have been playing shows for over 6 years and receiving rave reviews for their energetic and fun stage show as well as the quality of their musicianship.

The original idea for the Retrospecticus site was to keep it fun and light, and I was given carte blanche on composing most of the text. Part of this included concocting fictional biographies for the band members and doing my best to channel George Clinton’s funky sci-fi storytelling sensibility for all the other informative text. The result was a amusing combination of fact and fiction that fit the band’s personality to a T.

As 2010 began, the band had experienced turnover in their members and had accumulated some exceedingly talented new members, fleshing out the band to nine pieces, complete with 3-piece horn section. In addition to the new members, they’d also changed direction and were looking to focus on the level of proficiency and professionalism of the group. As a result, the previous copy for was scrapped and I composed text that was more appropriate for their new direction.

This also included creating a new promotional kit for Retrospecticus that would allow potential clients and bookers to see their information, send it to others, and also print it out. The result is a single download containing both versions of the promo kit in PDF format – one in full blazing color and the other a more subdued (and printer-friendly) black and white. Click here to download them and have a look for yourself, or take a look at the thumbnails below.

Visit: www.retrospecticus.com

The Border Trust Business Center is more than just “office space for rent”. It is an inviting, comfortable and finely appointed work environment that will help you grow your business. It is located in Topsham’s historic lower village and enjoys easy access to a full range of professional services, restaurants and great views of the Androscoggin River.

Visit: www.bordertrustbusinesscenter.com