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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.”
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How some big business decisions sparked Jobes Henderson’s total brand overhaul
Challenge
When engineering firm Jobes Henderson knocked on Fulcrum
Creatives’ door, they were on the forefront of some big
changes—including shifts in ownership and management. Poised and ready
for the operational changes, they still had questions about if and how
their brand should change alongside their business.
Solution
Our answers to those lingering questions were resolute: “Yes.”
And “Let’s go.” We saw big opportunities for Jobes Henderson—to revive a
long-outdated identity, celebrate a rich family history and legacy of
personal service, and highlight the firm’s progressive vision for the
future of engineering. Extensive stakeholder research and brand strategy
provided a solid basis for the creative development of a new photo
library, website, and collateral system.
Impact
Jobes Henderson’s CEO Jim Van Ostran said it best: “We’re based in
small-town Newark, Ohio, but we’re not a small-time engineering firm.
We’ve grown tremendously since our first clip art logo was created years
ago. Our brand now reflects who we are, who we want to be, and what
we’re capable of.” Not to mention, Jobes Henderson received multiple
awards for its new website, including third place for the national
ZweigWhite Marketing Excellence Award.
For more information on Jobes Henderson view out portfolio entry on the project!
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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.
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Local Matters approached Fulcrum Creatives to help with a short documentary video project about the Weinland Park neighborhood. Weinland Park is located in Columbus, Ohio, east of High Street close to the Short North and University District areas of the city.
The community has battled with many urban issues, from crime and violence to food availability and transport accessibility. Now, the community has begun to change; community gardens give teens an opportunity to get off the streets and produce free food for the community, increased police presence reduces violence and crime, and community members harness their skills and knowledge to spur positive change in the community.
During the course of this project we spoke to many individuals with a diverse range of experiences in the neighborhood. Some were lifelong Weinland Park residents, dedicated to bettering their neighborhood, and others lived outside the area but worked tirelessly towards revitalization and implementation of existing resources. As with every video project, we captured volumes of great stories and footage we were not able to include in the final video. The Weinland Park neighborhood has recently seen input from Local Matters, The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, and other organizations that will help the neighborhood become, and remain, a valuable resource and home for many.
Take a look at the the video we produced:
Local Matters is a not-for-profit based in Central Ohio whose mission is
to transform the food system to be more secure, prosperous, just and
delicious!
Local Matters does this by promoting healthy food education, by
increasing access to wholesome, delicious food and by advocating for
fair food policies.
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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.
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City Year's Columbus branch, a nonprofit service organization, is a valued client of ours. When they asked us to help create banners for their annual Starry Starry Night fundraiser event, we were happy to apply multiple mediums to meet their goals. Fulcrum Principal, Jason Moore, and Marketing Coordinator, Taylor Kruse visited the City Year offices in Downtown Columbus for an on-site photo and video shoot. The City Year offices feature a large warehouse style space, with an impressive skylight that created the perfect venue for our mobile studio set-up.
The images we shot were used in creation of a series of large banners for the fundraiser. Each image of the volunteers, in their easily identifiable red jackets was paired with a quote or phrase and printed onto a vinyl banner at larger than life size, creating a professional and impressive addition to the event venue for the night of the fundraiser.
Check out our portfolio entry on this project for more images, and the video we produced!


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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.



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During the photo shoot for the Bike to Work Challenge posters we also took a few minutes to ask cyclists why they rode their bikes. See what they had to say in our latest video feature:
In our last post we mentioned our involvement and work with Yay Bikes! Bike to Work Challenge. The challenge starts next Monday, May 10th, with a launch party pancake breakfast (click to view the facebook event) at North Bank park on the west side of Columbus.
We will take this opportunity to introduce the Fulcrum Creatives' Bike to Work Challenge 2010 team: http://biketoworkchallenge.com/teams/fulcrum-creatives/
The Riders:
Taylor Kruse
Position at Fulcrum: Marketing Coordinator + Creative
Time bike commuting: 5-6 years now whenever possible
Bike: Serotta fixed gear or LeMond road bike
Commute: About three miles through downtown
Favorite part of his commute: Riding through the center of downtown and watching the city get started every morning. The blue reflections from building windows across the intersection of 4th & Broad on especially sunny days. "I either need coffee or a bike ride to get my morning going. When I have both, my day is always better."
Liz Samuelson
Position at Fulcrum: Principal + Creative
Time bike commuting: 2-3 years
Bike: Specialized Tricross
Commute: About three miles through University District
Favorite part of her commute: "Speeding down High St. with the with blowing through my hair."
Ellen Schulte
Position at Fulcrum: Design Intern Extraordinaire + Creative
Time bike commuting: 1 year
Bike: Huffy road bike
Commute: About two miles through the east side of downtown.
Favorite part of her commute: Riding down E Gay st. and then traveling faster than the cars on N High st. "It makes me feel powerful!"
The 4th fulcrumite, Jason Moore, is passing on the Bike to Work Challenge this year, due to a new born child (due any day now!) But, do not question his dedication to the cause, Jason previously bike commuted for four years, and his low mileage VW stands as proof.
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It has been a busy 2010 so far for Fulcrum Creatives, we hosted a party for our friends, family, and valued clients. We have sponsored a variety of events and causes, from The Update Earth Day celebration, to Yay Bike's Bike to Work Challenge. And, we have welcomed new clients and more work from existing clients.
As you have hopefully noticed, we also launched our new web site! If you haven't had a chance to look around, visit our portfolio page (create) and see some of our recent work. Since we now have an official portfolio area, we will be transitioning this blog section to a more casual and social tone. We're planning on keeping you up to date on our clients, projects, goals, and how we feel about what's going on in the world around us. It should be a fun time, so be sure to check back in the future.
If you are a Columbus resident, hopefully you have noticed Yay Bikes!' Bike to Work Challenge materials going up around the city or online. Yay Bike's is a local non-profit that promotes a mode shift from driving and other modes of transport to bicycle, as well as creating resources to ease this transition. Every year Yay Bikes! organizes the Bike to Work Challenge, a friendly competition among employer-based teams in Central Ohio to determine which can achieve the highest bicycle mode share. Bike to Work Challenge has been a really fun project for us. Our sponsorship included a web site design, a sponsorship packet, posters, and promotional videos. Jason Moore took charge of logo design with a hand drawn banner presentation; take a look at the top of this post.
Liz Samuelson led the sponsorship packet design; check out our portfolio entry for images.
Jason and Liz both worked on the web site design, now live at biketoworkchallenge.com. Development of the web site was completed by Yay Bikes! member and talented programmer, Michael Reed.
Our new intern, Ellen Schulte, a very talented graduating senior from CCAD, designed the posters.
Finally, Taylor Kruse completed a Star Wars inspired teaser video and informative video segment on the Bike to Work Challenge.
All of the Bike to Work Challenge materials included images from a photoshoot we hosted in The Sandbox. We asked commuting cyclists from around the city to stop in on their commute home from work and be photographed. Check out the album of some of Jason and Liz's images on Yay Bikes! facebook page.
We love working on projects that allow us to cross over into multiple mediums and create integrated campaigns and materials. Get ahold of us if you would like to see something like this for your business or organization!
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