We create strategic communications for corporate and nonprofit clients around the world. Helping C-suites and social innovators name new ventures and find the voice of their brands. Articulating what they do and why it matters. Then helping them know how best to use communication design to reach the right audiences in the right ways. Click above for case studies, or scroll right for a taste of how we work, and why we never stop working.
“A remarkable debut collection of short stories, that inspired a beautifully rendered partnership between visual and verbal storytelling – from 1 writer and 8 designers. Stark and funny, provocative and tender, the stories tell of characters who propel themselves into situations where everything changes. Some are spare, some spontaneous; together, they round out a fictional world that is as ambitious as it is original.”
Click the image above to download a free preview chapter, ”All the Way to L.A.X.”, written in 3 weeks in China, with lovely visual interpretation by Beth Joseph.
Past free preview: “What Marinela Didn’t Say,” with design by Michael Hendrix of IDEO.
In the spirit of the project, we decided to launch the book on Facebook. Click above to preview stories, download a free sample chapter, meet the writer and designers, and order a print version … even if you do not have a Facebook account.
“Ludwick’s debut brings both graphic art and emotional, articulate writing into a volume of short stories that is simultaneously inspirational and heart-wrenching… eloquent writing permeates the book. Ludwick is a writer who gives his heart and holds nothing back.” – Chris Kelly, The Pulse Alt Weekly
8 designers – Michael Hendrix of IDEO, Ben Horner of Papercut, Mandy Lamb Meredith of Widgets & Stone, Nick DuPey of YoungMonster & IDEO, Liz Tapp of Mule Magazine, Roby Isaac of iV Design, Joseph Shipp of IDEO.org, and Beth Joseph of True North – visually interpet the stories through brand play, typography and handmade illustrations.
“Less collaboration and more ‘independent, solo creative acts bumping into each other’… this collection feels anything but disparate.” – Kelly Cree of Under Consideration
Print quality downloads of 20+ spreads shot by Dotson Studios are available on the Behance network, the world’s leading platform for creative showcases and curated online galleries.
Sustainable design company Tricycle wanted to draw attention to unnecessary waste in the design process of the carpet industry and interior designers. This ad made change quantifiable, accessible and achievable – and set the stage for manufacturers to save $ millions. Because transparency can be as simple as telling the truth, Tricycle could be unapologetically optimistic about industry change on a grand scale.
Philanthropy is changing, but the world’s deep needs remain. Equitas brings resources to field partners fighting child slavery around the world; we created messaging building blocks around a “truth + action” strategy to build common ground with supporters, credibility in the field, and public interest in the fight.
We love skeptics – who are by nature hopeful, but used to being disappointed. So they (we) tend to welcome a bit of good news. As when we were asked to help the public engage with a revisioning process for a citywide public library system. The result was a strategic campaign of street graffiti on library walls, Letters to the Editor, bookmark postcards, and thought provocations left in un-book-friendly sites around town.
How to create a communications strategy for a downtown’s economic development company? Start conversations with a 300 foot love letter… then coach a team of freelance writers to tell how the city is being built into a brand new place with a history.
City promoters often focus on banner events and big ideas – but what about the stretches of dead street between focal points A and B, boring afternoons and silent Saturdays? For Chattarati.com, Widgets & Stone asked us to rethink a public eyesore in the center of a downtown: what if private lots became public spaces, animating the street and encouraging redevelopment?
The crazy thing about air pollution is that it is all preventable. Working with one of our favorite clients, sustainable change company green|spaces, and Widgets & Stone, we transformed their offices into a faux crime scene – to raise awareness about air quality and educate the public about the “why” behind LEED standards.
Commissioned by the Small Business Administration to create a campaign celebrating a sustainable design company, we worked with YoungMonster, using postcards (the original, friendly, tangible, friendly, mail-able “LIKE button”). Sent to friends, heroes & antiheroes, each invited recipients to a Facebook redirect to post their own reasons for sustainable optimism.
An experiment in incarnational marketing. We’ve all heard marketing claims that diet and exercise can change your life – so we teamed up with Fitness Together Chattanooga to find out if what’s possible. All we needed was a chubby body, and our principal happened to have one with him…
We were asked to create the packaging message for a giveaway at the TED Conference – a DVD that went in each TED gift bag to raise awareness about the leading genetic killer of children worldwide.
In open fields, empty lots and city alleys around the globe, millions use their feet to dream of soccer. But right here at home, when we say ‘football,’ most people think ‘SEC.’ We say – let throwball fans have their Sundays, because Saturdays bring thousands out to cheer for our hometown heroes, the Chattanooga FC. We’ve been proud to write the brand identity that spurs love of our club.
Calvin Donaldson Elementary’s writing scores hovered around 50% until teachers banded together and raised scores to 80%+ in just 3 years. For 3 years we’ve helped the “Wordsmiths” club, who published the school’s first lit mag in 2011. One 5th grader wrote: “…all day long I’m black and and I’m bright. This is what I think about as I drift off at night.” (photo by AL/TFP)
Nood Fashion wanted to launch as a green company that makes carpets (rather than vice-versa). We were privileged to write their manifesto, which won awards from Type Director’s Club, Print magazine and STEP Top 100 of the Year.
We were invited by AIGA to speak about how writers and designers can work together to create compelling communication design. Because design without great writing is a missed opportunity – and what we do, without great design, is just a Word doc.