A couple of months back several clients asked for a joint brochure and digital presentation to be created, one that they could take to the Farnborough International Airshow, the world's largest aerospace event. The event is held every other year at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, England. Our clients Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative Communities, Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, and Virginia's Growth Alliance were attending the show as a team, displaying in the Virginia Economic Development Partnership booth.

The clients wanted a 4-panel brochure that didn't open accordian-like, and requested a die-cut design. Printer Dogwood Graphics in South Hill, VA, advised that die-cut would add a substantial amount to the cost, so we worked with them to devise a concept for the illusion of a die-cut. Dogwood chose a hefty cardstock for printing, and the brochure turned out great!

At right are photos of notes & sketches from our initial meeting with the clients, a proof printed on plain ink jet paper to test the concept, and a proof printed by Dogwood Graphics (we'll post pix of the entire brochure later). Below are photos from the Farnborough Airshow. Click any photo to enlarge.

Well, we at Glerin showed our crazy side at this year's Virginia Cantaloupe Festival by wearing t's sporting a design that started out as a joke in the office last year.

My cousin was down from Des Moines to attend for the first time in over 20 years, and my aunt (her Mom) was a good sport in tolerating our boisterousness. She's almost 80 and I guess has given up on any thought that we'll be demure :)

The t's were so popular and requested by so many at the festival that we'll probably end up selling a batch. This is one of those things that will fall into "when we have time to think about it," which is totally unpredictable. Will let you know when we do!

Friday, June 13 will bring the 34th annual Virginia Cantaloupe Festival, and Glerin developed the theme for marketing this year's event. One of our passions is helping clients look like they're in the big leagues, and the illustrations for this year's poster and t-shirt are on par with any you'll see at larger festivals.

The theme we developed for 2014 is "You've Got Friends in Lope Places." We created a character named Lope to carry through the marketing campaign, and our designs and campaigns were created to reflect the fun summer atmosphere that will abound at Berry Hill Resort for the festival.

Designs created included:

• official commemorative 24x36" poster
• flyer version of the poster
• an inventory of newspaper ads
• t-shirt design
• social media images

Lope made his way throughout the community, attending meetings at the Tourism and Chamber offices, as well as shopping for flowers and groceries. He also hung out at Benchmark Community Bank, one of the festival sponsors.

Click the images in this post to view larger versions of some of the work on this campaign.

We also designed the poster for the 2013 Cantaloupe Festival and adapted it into the 2013 t-shirt design. As with this year, we created fully custom illustrations.

Glerin recently designed the poster for the 33rd Annual Virginia Cantaloupe Festival and brought a whole new look to the event.

Working with the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce, our goal was to start a new tradition of a collectible poster for all festival years beginning with 2013. This year's design has fun with changes in schedule and location from past years.

The festival is being moved to Berry Hill Resort, bringing back memories of the beautiful rolling hills that we enjoyed during the first years when it was originally held in Turbeville. Scheduling a month earlier to avoid the thunderstorms that have plagued past years resulted in a bit of local controversy since Halifax cantaloupes won't be ripe until the next month.

Never fear, though, because each festival-goer will receive a voucher good for one free cantaloupe from local growers.

After throwing around many concepts, we decided to go in a totally different direction than the festival had ever been and, having some fun with the controversy, went with the theme "The Melons Are Coming!"

The design team drew inspiration from old sci-fi movies and "The War of the Worlds" radio drama.

Hope to see you at LopeFest on June 7, 2013!

We've all heard the saying "beware the cost of the lowest price," and this also applies in design.  The best option doesn't necessarily have the highest price, but often the lowest priced option has the highest cost.  "How?," you ask... Let me share an experience I had today, and how poor usability cost Walmart a sale. Add enough of these sales up and it could be a substantial chunk of change, even for a company of that size.

First off, remember that price is the sticker price of an item but true cost is arrived at by combining that price with what you stand to lose in sales, time, goodwill, efficiency, etc.

We needed an item for the office that wasn't available locally so I decided to order online.  I was on the road and a quick search on my phone gave the exact item I wanted for $99 at Walmart's online store.  Being in a hurry, I was prepared to order without shopping around.  The problem arose with the poor design of their mobile checkout process and Walmart's sale became Amazon's sale.

I chose the free "ship to store" option but in the next step found that the item wouldn't arrive until near the end of the month; the initial shipping options step didn't show the prices of the various paid options, so I went back to change to standard shipping to check the price & see how much quicker I could get it. The mobile checkout process didn't have the option of changing the shipping choice after it had been selected. I couldn't even select a new choice if I deleted the item from the cart and then re-added it.