Client
Medicine Hat Community Housing Society
Project
Annual Report
The Story
The Medicine Hat Community Housing society is a charitable organization providing social housing programs in the community, with a specific focus on addressing and ending homelessness.
This document hightlights the strategic achievements of the organization in Year 2, of a five a year plan to end homelessness in Medicine Hat.
The design direction of this publication was derived from one of the key messages that the Society wished to communicate: "No one aspires to be homeless, and average families and individuals can find themselves in dire circumstances through no specific fault of their own." This statement was the impetus for the creative direction which alludes to the trauma of a house fire. The pristine white background of the paper stock was worked into a very stark contrast of a fire damaged cover, and punchy typesetting and visuals.
Services Required
- Brand Development
- Possibly one of the most important design related decisions in the communications arena. This process requires a very articulate understanding of your organization and audience. Although this development process is often client-initiated as a standalone project, results are more succinct when coupled with more extensive brand research, development and planning. Corporate identity design is often mistakenly isolated as a “logo.” Although the development of a solid and memorable logo or trademark is an important aspect of this process, it is only one aspect in the myriad of elements and brand collateral that can be used to control your organizations’ perceived personality. Our approach to identity design is multi-faceted and sets the tone for all other elements that follow in the future. For example; vehicle lettering, corporate memos, advertising, annual reports and public announcements are all developed according to the direction and directives set forth in the corporate identity—which in turn is developed according to the mandates of the brand and content strategy.
- Brand Collateral
- This is everything you use to inform, communicate or reinforce your brand strategy. We pride ourselves in the design of poignant brand collateral that speaks boldly to your audience. This can often take the form of brochures, brandmark (logos), folders, insert sheets, audio and online materials. However, when traditionally dry materials such product nomenclature or operator’s manuals are carefully crafted, even these can become very strong elements of brand collateral by reinforcing your brand messaging.
- Commercial Photography
- We have a strong in-house group of commercial photographers with extensive experience in producing dynamic photographs for museum and art galleries, corporations, government agencies and the hospitality and tourism sectors. With some of the highest quality photographic equipment available in our industry today, we create parallax correct interior and exterior photographs, or product photographs of unrivaled quality and clarity. We provide special assignment secure photographic services for the armed forces and dignitaries and have provided these services to both Canadian and foreign nations. Many of our photographs have been featured internationally appearing in coffee table books, magazines, broadcast television, brochures and a myriad of sales literature. Although we have an in-house studio for commercial product photography, we also provide on-location services that include 360º view shots or studio quality product photographs for a variety of clients.
- Website Design
- We excel at creating beautifully crafted websites and applications. Much of that success relies on a deep understanding of website design best practices coupled with leading edge technologies. These fundamentals when applied in accordance with the overall brand strategies, result in websites that regularly exceed expectations. Working from a strong understanding of your goals, we deliver completely custom website design solutions that engage your visitors through creative, thought-provoking visuals.
- Advertising Campaigns
- When a clear message has been established and the marketing direction has been defined, we can lead you into a clever and memorable campaign stage. Our team has experience in all of the traditional media, developing content for online, broadcast television, radio, and of course the burgeoning (but not so traditional) multi-faceted online forms of ad campaigns. Our involvement in this aspect of your project will ensure a dynamic and creative approach to campaign theme development that will have all avenues of design and development at your complete disposal.
- Print Production
- When it comes to document publishing many of our clients manage print production on their own. For the majority however, the technicalities in ensuring colour accuracy, media selection and proofing are all areas that they would rather leave to us. Tables of contents, glossaries, indexes, cross references and design are just where things begin for us. We also offer a single-source solution for all of your print collateral and distribution needs. We have multiple sources available for any print production requirements and fantastic relationships with some of the largest printers and binderies in Canada. From offset and web presswork to vinyl signage or dry mount plaques for your next sales campaign—we've done it all—and often for prices that are lower than those available directly to our clients.
