Following on the heels of firmly establishing a fulfilling hobby in homebrewing, I’ve evolved what started out as a “sandbox” for my brewery-related creative endeavors (234 Craftbatch Handcrafted Ales) into a notional “pseudo-brewery” with a more fully-formed brand expression.

Reforming an identity and extending it to a microsite/blog and packaging design for updated and refined recipes became a “relaunch” of sorts for my homebrewing efforts, and a more serious approach to what “could be” in the unlikely event that Straw Bale Brewing lived a life beyond our basement.

The concept behind Straw Bale Brewing is centered on the idea that “simple,” “local,” and “quality” can all exist simultaneously in ways that benefit the maker, consumer and ultimately local economies. Straw Bale Brewery (myself, my wife and my son) seek ingredients in our own back yard (seriously, like our own garden – right there in the back yard) and tend to each part of the process with conservation, quality and simplicity.

While we aren’t selling products (yet), Straw Bale Brewing focuses on doing things in ways that would be beneficial to our community if they were being done on a larger scale. We capture all water used for cleaning and brewing and reuse it. We source ingredients from our local farm markets and grow some of them ourselves. We even use spent grain from brewing in homemade breads and soap.

To Straw Bale Brewing, staying locally-focused and making things with care is not only better for us as makers and consumers, but is also more delicious. We’re committed to making sure that people know, understand and appreciate that they do have a choice to make a better decision, and a tasty one, too.

As a brand, Straw Bale Brewing has a rustic personality, with a consistent warm and farm-friendly voice. Each release flirts with concepts that seem to jump from the pages of the Farmers Almanac, with both a nod to tradition and a modern reinterpretation of age-old ideas.

The type figures used in the Straw Bale Brewing mark (and display type on labels) were digitized by our friends at Bearded Studio – straight from their letterpress. These were printed using wood type, which we feel lends a classic and timeless character and an extra layer of interesting texture. Thanks, guys! (check out the Wood Type Revival website to keep up with the Beardeds while they secure the future wood type)

After a few years of waffling, and even a few failed attempts, I’ve started focusing on a new hobby – more of a deliberate distraction, really – homebrewing.

I could no longer ignore the craft beer culture. For years I have appreciated thoughtfully created and artisanal beer and wine simply as a matter of taste, although the recent trend towards buying and sourcing more locally has led me to look closely at craft beer in that way.

So, I started brewing. With the help of some knowledgeable friends and the support and tolerance of my wife, I have successfully gotten over the initial intimidation and have now brewed four distinctly different styles. I’ve even entered my latest – an oatmeal stout – into a local homebrewing competition in order to get some basic feedback and to help inform some improvements to my process.

So, considering that I haven’t had to dump any of it down the drain yet, I would say this qualifies as an official hobby, and as any designer would probably agree – that means it needs to be branded. It was inevitable that the design side of my brain would take over and this whole effort would undoubtedly need to be styled, color coded and organized into a system. Thus giving rise to another personal project – 234 Craftbatch Hand-Crafted Ales.

Of course, this is merely for the purposes of satisfying my own creative appetite, but nothing is more fulfilling that pouring a glass of something you crafted with your own hands that tends to be better than most you’ll find in the stores. On top of that, add a label created by you, and you’ve got one seriously tasty experience.

Comments welcomed.

On Thursday, February 4th, 2010, the Pittsburgh creative community came out for the CREHAITIVE RE/VISION benefit event – an incredible collection of posters representing the group’s response to the earthquake event in Haiti. The posters also shined as an example of the collective support of the greater Pittsburgh community for the relief efforts of the Red Cross, as they came out to bid on these one-of-a-kind designer-submitted creations.

USE #CREHAITIVE and add yours to the Flickr Group >

$1,050 was raised and will be turned over directly to the American Red Cross for their continued relief efforts in Haiti.

Ali and Jamie McMutrie joined us for the evening as special guests and answered some questions about their recent activities and their experiences following the earthquake at their BRESMA orphange. We couldn’t have hoped for a better turn out.

I branded the event, curated and organized the poster submissions which came in right to (and beyond) the last minute. Plans are underway for other events where we hope to share this collection again with the public, including the submissions that did not make it in time for the event – stay tuned!

Here is the official gallery of posters in their entirety and a few from the event.
(please contact me if there are any errors – much appreciated, and please share your photos from the evening!)

Image courtesy of ThoughtForm

I attended a great lecture by ThoughForm’s John Sotirakis recently as part of local printer Trust Franklin Press’ lecture series.

John, who is the creative director and branding guru from ThoughtForm’s (formerly Agnew Moyer Smith) team, took time out to describe a bit of a “behind the scenes” look into their process of developing a branding program. The gist of his talk was that, while a branding and identity program should appear to be simple and clear on its surface, much upfront work, planning and research is done in working with the client at the front of the process. Hence the “iceberg principle” – 90% of the branding effort is unseen. Having worked on John’s team during my career, his presentation reminded me of why he is one of the foremost thinkers (and a kind of a local hero) on the subject of branding. He, like me, is a self-proclaimed “branding geek” … another reason I love hearing him talk!

In his example of the American Planning Association identity (APA), the evaluation and planning tactics he used working with APA’s national governing organization and their associated local chapter sub units reminded me of some of the larger branding projects I have worked on, so this talk was especially interesting.

Here are some of the take-aways from my notes:

Branding can be organized into a four phase process:

1. Discovery (Understanding & Strategy)
2. Brand Structure (Articulation of the brand “picture”)
3. Brand Expression (Execution of branded elements / Design)
4. Guidelines (Standards, Templates and Guidelines for use)

Since it’s Discovery that constitutes much of the upfront analysis and planning work of a branding program, John spent the majority of the talk discussing this first phase.

1- Discovery:

Communications Audit

One of the most important parts of the Discovery phase is taking a look at all of the existing material within an organization. This can include external as well as internal communications collateral, templates, brochureware, etc.

John advocates a thorough process of evaluating each piece’s effectiveness across a spectrum of criteria. In other words, for a given brochure – how well does it express the desired personality of the brand? How well does it maintain the consistency of the brand’s parent pieces? How well does it the meet expectations?

Personality Profile

John also spoke about examining the brand from a personality profile standpoint. Much in the way traditional DISC or personality profiles are used to evaluate, a brand can be evaluated across a wide spectrum of traits. Ranging from one extreme to the other, John recommends looking across an organization and ask, “Friendly” or “Reserved,” “Outspoken” or “Subdued,” or even “beer” or “champagne.” By plotting where across a continuum these traits fall, it can give valuable insight into the target for a brands personality. John also suggests that this type of exploration should be done openly and publicly.

If Your Brand Was A Magazine

John also described an additional exercise as asking the branding team stakeholders a simple question:

“If your brand was a magazine, which one would it be?”

This is a clever and fun way to get to the heart of the perceived “personality” of a given brand in the eyes of those in charge. Again, John urges those who engage in this process to do so publicly.

Word Association

In the same way the brand’s stakeholders can help uncover the personality of an organization by describing it as a magazine, it can also be useful to articulate it with “gut reaction” word associations. “When I say ‘Process,’ you say ‘xxxx’ “

Position Statements

John also described a process that seemed familiar to us here in SEI Marketing, and that’s position statements. By breaking the branding team up into groups, A, B C and D, and asking each to write statements that describe the position (desired outcome) of the brand, useful information can be gathered. John outlined a template for these statements, following a “_______ + ______ + ______ = _______” approach.

Audience Survey

By using a series of qualitative questions and statements, John also outlined a process of measuring the audience perception across a “Agree” to “Disagree” continuum. This might include things like color theory, familiarity and statements that test a variety of hypotheses.

Competitive Benchmarking

As an interesting approach to measuring a given brand’s performance against other similar organizations, John revealed a useful “points distribution” system. By distributing a total number of points (20) across a series of criteria for a brand against other competitor brands, you can begin to see patterns or “thin spots” reveal themselves regarding these factors. This can be particularly useful in assessing the needs of the brand, or the kind of work a given identity system must do to support the goals of the organization. It may also uncover many issues that extend beyond the brand’s identity itself and may lend itself to consideration of factors deeper than the superficial public-facing presence.

Personas

Another familiar exercise described by John was to examine the brand from the perspective of a variety of relevant personas. In other words, how does a potential customer view our brand? A potential collaborator? An industry partner? A stakeholder? These all give a branding team useful insight into the end user.

Market Evaluation

John also discussed the process of market evalation by way of a quadrant plot approach. By using a 2 x 2 matrix, on one axis spanning from “Reactive > to > Proactive” and the other “Discreet > to > Outspoken” you can plot the perception of the brand by the stakeholders. This can also work to get to the heart of what makes up a brand’s stance on what it is willing and is not willing to say and do.

Define Success

John wrapped up his discussion of the Discovery phase by urging branding teams to finally ask another simple question of the branding team’s stakeholders; “What would success of the branding program look like?”

John also notes the importance of a “Brand Champion” within the client organization. It is most often incredibly difficult to gain and maintain the needed momentum for a successful branding program effort without the help and support of an internal resource. This “champion” makes certain that the branding effort maintains the presenence needed within and organization and keeps the “seat at the table.” Without this person at the center, it can be difficult for the effort to hold the priority it needs to among other issues.

2 – Brand Structure:

Understand and Articulate Brand Structure

From here, as John describes, the branding process moves to 2 – Brand Structure, where the branding program begins to take shape. The team begins to articulate the brand configurations of signatures / wordmarks and in context of any subrands or secondary business units.

3 - Brand Expression:

Design

Through the design process, the brand voice and personality is extended throughout the various pieces of collateral. Here is where we begin to see a “family” of material form, with common elements and theme tying the pieces together. This is where consistency in branding has real value and power, keeping the character of the brand firmly intact.

4 - Guidelines:

Documentation of Guidelines

As John points out, perhaps one of the most important final steps in any program is to document and articulate guidance for those who will be using or creating any the branded material. Not only is the “how-to” material critical, but it’s also important to relay the branding team’s findings and recommendations. These guidelines may take many forms including electronic, web-based or a traditional “kit.”

A big thank you to John Sotirakis for a fantastic talk, and for sharing a bit of the little known but critical thinking work we designers do.  This is a great reminder that what we do as “design thinkers” can have real business value. It’s the work of those like John that reinforces the shift that communication and information designers have made from “decorators” to “thinkers” and continues to legitimize our roles as strategic partners.

As I think about where I am and look back, I consider a few key things:

• If money was no object and nobody else needed help I would spend all my time with my family doing things we love.
• If there were no bills I would quit my job and work on designing things that helped people.
• Reality can be frustrating, and I would much rather do things because I cared about doing them, rather than needing to do them to get paid.
• …more

As I really look closely at things, there is a thread tying many of these things together, and it’s this – I hope one day I find myself in a position to leave behind some work that has changed things in some way. Rather than just making things with limited uses, or temporary purposes, made of paper or things that end up in the trash (hopefully recycling bins), I hope I can leave behind some lasting impact for someone, or some cause.

On the plus side, I can look positively on an item from the recent past that I had almost forgotten about entirely. A few months back I had been selected to be on a list with some of my heroes, all who are dedicated to design for change and labeled as “role models” by an organization named, Creative for a Cause. An honor indeed – some of these folks are seriously heavy-hitters.

To say that as designers we have a responsibility to the people we work with, and that we have power as agents of change is indeed an understatement.

In the following interview, given by AIGA Phily, Pentagram partner Michael Bierut discusses this in the context of the global economic climate, the proliferation of forces like “Target” and their ability to democratize design in today’s culture. He is also asked to comment on IBM’s Watson’s idea that “Good design is good business.”

If you had any doubts about the collective influence of the design discipline, take a listen to one of today’s foremost thinkers on the subject.

Firm: Daniel Pipitone (freelance)

The identity for Emmanuel Christian Church marks the first step in their approach towards an entirely new branding program. With a renewed focus on outreach and engaging their community in Pittsburgh’s Northside neighborhood of Brighton Heights, Emmanuel is committed to reshaping their church, making themselves more accessible, inviting and becoming a bright spot in their community.

Leading up to this identity redesign, I worked together with Emmanuel’s pastoral staff to carefully consider a range of branding “markers,” including:

Reputation: How well is your organization known?
Esteem: How highly regarded are you?
Relevance: How important are your organization’s mission and activities to the concerns of the audience?
Differentiation: Are there others that do what you do? What makes you different than them? What  makes you the same? Where are the points of  “alignment”?

We also underwent an in-depth profiling exercise (as outlined by DK Holland in her book, Branding for Nonprofits), where we looked closely across a spectrum of issues in order to craft ourselves a creative brief to work against. These items we examined were:

• Profile
• Context
• Positioning
• Audiences
• Personality
• Current  Situation
• Budget
• Schedule
• Design Media
• Technical / Practical Requirements

Following through on this examination proved incredibly valuable in helping us uncover many of the reasons why Emmanuel stands out among many established and emerging churches. The results of our preliminary work together provided the basis for an identity and branding program that not only stands out among other Christian evangelical churches, but has made Emmanuel confident they now possess a voice that expresses their core values and personality as closely as possible.

Firm: Daniel Pipitone (freelance)

A fresh identity was created for Revolution Wellness to introduce the health and wellness start-up to potential investors, subscribers and used for all marketing materials, including sales / proof-of-concept presentations.

“Active lifestyle” and “lightness of being” were the watchwords for this identity’s creation. An important requirement was for the mark to become a personality that struggling dieters might be able to connect with on an emotional level easily and without intimidation.

Exercise and nutritional awareness are the keys to this plan, but they make no promises it will be easy. Revolution Wellness offers a strategy for holistic wellness through a total lifestyle shift.

/ RevolutionWellness Background /

RevolutionWellness is the result of one man’s heartfelt desire for wellness. A personal search for a balance in diet, exercise and emotional well being led to a platform from which he could share his research and plan for healthful success.

Visit RevolutionWellness.com >

Firm: Giant Ideas

I handled all asset design and maintenance of the Pittsburgh Opera website for the 2005?2006 seasons. Much of the artwork is based on the illustration of Michael Gibbs.

/ Award /
2005 ADDY
Illustration Campaign

/ Pittsburgh Opera Background /

Pittsburgh Opera is a world-class opera company with some of the brightest vocal and music talent of our time. Each season is a fresh new lineup of operas, both classics and reinterpretations, presented on a grand scale.

View all Pittsburgh Opera Materials >

Visit the Pittsburgh Opera Website >

Firm: Giant Ideas

I was responsible for design and production of collateral brochures, performance programs and posters based on the illustration of Michael Gibbs.

/ Pittsburgh Opera Background /

Pittsburgh Opera is a world-class opera company with some of the brightest vocal and music talent of our time. Each season is a fresh new lineup of operas, both classics and reinterpretations, presented on a grand scale.

Visit the Pittsburgh Opera Website >

/ Award /
2005 ADDY
Illustration Campaign

Firm: Daniel Pipitone (freelance)

With strict national identity guidelines to adhere to, CASA of Allegheny County made clever use of their standards to recreate a full set of materials from the ground up.

I was responsible for the design of an updated identity system, including business papers and personal note cards.

This identity was also extended to a refreshed website, quarterly newsletter, corporate brochure, annual report and various other collateral.

/ CASA Background /

CASA of Allegheny County is a truly special client. CASA works hard for one sole purpose…children. They act as a child’s advocate in the courts, in situations of abuse, neglect and family-centered issues, when children would otherwise have no voice.

/ Award /
2005 ADDY
Public Service | Campaign Elements

View all the CASA materials >

Visit CASA’s Website >