How we helped Yay Bikes! align a visually rogue initiative with their master brand

Challenge
Yay Bikes! has become a strong, credible voice for bicycle mobility in Columbus. But as they prepared to organize their third annual Bike to Work Challenge, it became strikingly clear that the event branding didn’t reflect the organization’s serious advocacy chops, or the strong community spirit and civic pride tied to it.

Solution
Fulcrum Creatives set out to rebrand the event with a critical question in mind: What does the Bike to Work Challenge represent for people? The answers came quickly: Many different people coming together for cycling. Friendly competition. City pride. And just plain fun. The event’s evolved look and feel reflected exactly that—complete with a logo reminiscent of a winner’s award ribbon, and photography portraying challenge participants in proud stances.

Impact
From posters and flyers to buttons and water bottles, the evolved look and feel for the Bike to Work Challenge brought new energy and credibility to all 2010 event communications. Says Meredith Joy, President of Yay Bikes!, “Even the national media took notice—calling our Bike to Work Challenge one of the most professional and impressive-looking events of its kind across the U.S.”

The promise of warm weather has us thinking about spring cleaning. And not just for our closets. Often, when dynamics—like your industry, audience, or sometimes even the seasons—change, your brand can keep pace with an update or two. But how do you know when gradual updating isn’t enough? Here are four signs your brand is due for a totally fresh point of view:

You do X. Your brand makes it seem like you do Y.
The longer you’re in business, the more your offering evolves. What worked for your brand—in your photo library or in your tagline—when you began years ago may no longer reflect who you are or what you do today.

You’ve got your eye on someone new.
Has your target audience shifted significantly? Are you hoping to appeal to a different set of people in the years ahead? Your brand should connect emotionally and intellectually not just with your tried-and-true followers, but with the audiences you’re after, too.   

You’d regret looking like this in 5 years.
If you think you might be looking a little outdated, you probably are. Your brand may not innately be trendsetting and cutting-edge (most brands aren’t), but that’s no reason to become irrelevant or to be left behind.  

You don’t stand out (in a good or bad way).
Sure, fitting in is a comfortable place to be. But allowing your brand to blend seamlessly into the industry crowd may be exactly what’s keeping you from standing out for the things you want to be known for.

It's not often we blog about other bloggers, but that's just how Columbus Food Adventures creator, Bethia Woolf, got her start in the Columbus food community. In late July 2008 Bethia started her blog, Hungrywoolf's Food Blog. It quickly grew in popularity, spawning two other Columbus food blogs, Taco Trucks Columbus and alt.eats.columbus.

ith her vast experience and relationship with the Columbus food community, Bethia sought to create the first food tour business in the city. With that idea, Columbus Food Adventures was born. We developed the CFA website using the Wordpress CMS* to ease the transition between Bethia's many blogs and updating the food adventures site. Designs were developed to represent the city and its food, starring our own Jason Moore's arms to the side of the page. We're excited to have a great food tour business in our city, and happy to help CFA with their web site.

Take a look at the live web site and sign up for a tour at: columbusfoodadventures.com

Or, check out our portfolio entry on the project.

Pictured above, and to the right, is a sneak peak at the Wordpress* admin panel. Most web sites we develop emply some kind of Content Management Systems to increase the ease of updates by clients.

As we were writing this blog post we noticed that the ultra-productive Woolf recently released yet another Columbus food blog, this time focusing on street foods, all the other places without tacos that is; Street Eats Columbus. Take a look and get information on all the latest carts, trucks, and more on the streets of Columbus.

*We can happily develop websites using all kinds of different content management systems, just let us know what you need. Or, if you don't have a favorite, we can suggest a system that will support your needs. For example, this website is constructed using Drupal, another one of our favorite systems.

We were delighted when Columbus, Ohio festival, Comfest, approached us this year about designing a small card with the goal of attracting more volunteers to the event. In the past, the cards were simple and utilitarian but did not speak to the playful spirit of the festival. Additionally, our client was limited by the quantity they could produce due to the higher costs associated with using a retail chain as a print vendor. As a solution, Fulcrum Creatives came up with a more exciting design that incorporated their environmental ethics and gave them more bang for their buck.

Keeping environmental impact, cost, and overall efficency in mind, we implemented a few solutions to reach their goals. We chose to use a regional printer, Richardson's, allowing an increase in the quantity and quality of the print job while simultaneously decreasing cost. Our design intern, Ellen, created a whimsical piece using a single, oh-so-tasty, metallic pantone color; we never get to use those enough. Finally, the project is printed on remnant paper, excess from other projects that would have otherwise gone to waste, donated from the paper company RIS Paper.

We came up with a design solution that fits The Community Festival's needs, budget, and values — while simultaneously aligning with ours. Fulcrum Creatives is happy to give back to the "party with a purpose!"

How can Fulcrum Creatives help you incorporate sustainability into your marketing materials?

For more ideas on how to think differently about your marketing materials, check out this great article from the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design.