Orange Element, in partnership with Novak Birch, recently completed our first project for The Peace Corps, which I wanted to share with you. The Family & Friends Resource Guide is used by recruiters as a tool to inform, educate and alleviate common concerns of family members and friends of those who are invited to serve as Volunteers in The Peace Corps. This initial design project has effectively begun to establish a visual brand platform that will be used to develop subsequent recruitment materials for the organization. Here are a few photographs of the Resource Guide we designed:

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Recently, I wrote about some work we did for The Brick Companies to promote their environmental stewardship efforts. In case you missed it, it’s HERE. We love the idea of electronic or online brochures because they are both a cost-effective and sustainable collateral solution.

But what about tangibility? That’s the beauty of a printed piece - it gives people an opportunity to touch and feel the message you’re trying to communicate. Printed pieces can also be used as a leave behind, mailer or a handout at a trade show for example. This is impossible for an electronic piece, which lacks that same tangibility.

For The Brick Companies, delivering something that was both sustainable and tangible was a necessity. Our solution was to create a postcard that informs consumers that the environmental brochure exists online and encourages them to go check it out. But these are not your average postcards. They’re printed on seed-infused paper allowing the user to plant it and grow flowers when they’re finished. Here’s the postcard, which also reminds folks to sign up for The Brick Companies Classic, their annual charitable golf tournament.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Just a quick note to let everyone know we launched a new MySpace page for the Department of Energy (DOE) today. The DOE’s newest page on MySpace is for their Diesel Program, and the goal is to help folks increase their Diesel IQ. Diesel engine technologies are getting more attention for their high performance, durability and increasingly clean combustion - click this link to learn more: http://www.myspace.com/DieselIQ.

Don’t forget to check out these other DOE pages we’ve designed as well:

http://www.myspace.com/h2IQ
http://www.myspace.com/solardecathlon07

Nice work, Andy & Sarah!

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

We recently completed a piece that I’m really proud of - an environmental stewardship brochure for The Brick Companies, based in Edgewater, Maryland. This project highlights the outstanding efforts that this real estate company makes toward sustainable business, and reinforces their collective commitment to doing work “for good.”

This is not your average brochure. As a sustainable company, The Brick Companies sought to communicate their commitment without creating additional waste. We suggested developing a brochure in the form of a downloadable PDF housed on their Web site, which is available for downloading and printing if necessary. And since at events and at their locations, their customers often demand something tangible, we have created a postcard with the Web address and a short description which is printed on seed paper (paper that when planted actually grows).

We’re quite happy with the results, and I encourage you to click HERE to visit the environmental stewardship section of their Web site or click HERE to download the PDF to check it out for yourself - If for nothing else, to read all about what a forward-thinking company does to lessen their impact. A few select pages of the brochure are below.

Nice work, EJ, Beth and Ande!

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com/

Hi all -

I might have mentioned it a while ago but Orange Element recently won a Gold Addy award in the American Advertising Federation’s District 2 regional Addy Competition. District 2 is comprised of ad clubs from DC, Maryland (Balt/Frederick), PA and parts of New York. The competition is fierce, so we’re excited to have been able to compete and win amongst all of the entries that were submitted.

The trophy has arrived, and we captured a quick shot of it standing proud next to the work that garnered the award (Matt Mendelsohn Photography promotional kit). Like proud parents, we wanted to share the photograph with you as we again bask in the glory:

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Happy Friday! Wahoo!

This weekend is Baltimore’s famous Artscape, America’s largest free public arts festival. Garret posted a bit about it earlier this week, if you want to know more.

We thought it made sense for this week’s freebie to show off the illustration Andrea did for the screening of Harrod Blank’s Automorphosis: Wild Wheels 2 (which will be showing for FREE this Friday, on the side of The Charles Theatre). The film is a documentary about art cars, so, if you look closely, you’ll see she used a bunch of film-related objects to create this crazy car. The illustration rocks, Ande!

We used this on the tickets and posters. Andy Bonner did some sweet hand-drawn type, too. It’s always the most fun when the graphics we do are a collaboration.

Click a link below to download the art car desktop wallpaper:

1024×768 (best for standard)
1680×1050 (best for widescreen)

Have a delightful weekend, and don’t forget to go see the free screening on Saturday!

Sarah Rosenthal
http://www.orange-element.com