Interactive branding, marketing and advertising blog

The Bees-ness of Philanthropy and Charity for Brands

Philanthropy and charity are key ingredients to humanizing a brand. However, it has to be real and truthful or else it won’t be effective. The best way to be truthful is by aligning with an initiative that directly benefits the company itself. I know, it sounds antithetical, but it really isn’t. The reason it’s not a bad move is simple.

When a company aligns with an initiative the benefits its own interests, then the reason behind the philanthropy is obvious to the market. That doesn’t mean it’s not as important, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The people quickly see that you are TRULY behind the initiative and aren’t just using it as a ploy. Therefore, they too can get involved for their own reasons without feeling like the company is benefiting directly from them. Read the rest of this entry »

Whoa Mama! New packaging and branding for hair care line

UPDATE // This work has just been featured on renowned packaging design website, The Die Line

When we were approached by the mom’s at 5th Avenue Salon in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, we were ready for a challenge. Like many salons, 5th Avenue wanted to put out a hair care line, but didn’t know where to start. Vigor’s unique approach to branding, strategy and positioning garnered the intelligence needed to develop a position, naming and design.

Packaging design for hair care line focused on mothers.

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Cooking up a chef’s website

Website design for Chef Cyrus Keefer

Seasoned chef turned culinary consultant, Chef Cyrus Keefer, approached Vigor about creating the beginnings of a brand identity. Vigor quickly turned around a typographical logo design, website design and business cards to get him on his feet.

Visit the website: http://www.cyruskeefer.com

Ads of desperation and exploitation

Yes, this article is going to start off with “in these difficult economic times…” So, in these difficult economic times everyone is feeling the pain. Each industry tends to think theirs is feeling it worse than the other. I think it is safe to say that the restaurant industry is definitely feeling the brunt of the economy as folks start to pull in their superfluous spending budgets in exchange for a more frugal lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »

What makes a restaurant logo great?

Restaurants tend to jump into logo designs. Some are great. Some are pretty bad. Our suggestion would be to hire us for your logo design, but we understand that that’s not always in the budget. At the very least, here are some points to take into consideration so you too can have a great logo.

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New Vigor Site

Hey all you vigorians!

We have finally updated our image and redesigned our website. It’s been coming for years, but we buckled down and launched her yesterday. http://www.vigorbranding.com

We’ll be adding more work to the portfolio as well as expanding our service descriptions ongoing. Don’t forget to subscribe the email list when you get a chance.

Let us know what you think here on the blog!

Datum literature brainstorming

Redesigning the datum literature

PQ Sea Designs doesn’t know email marketing…

This morning brought forward a laughable situation I just had to write about. It involved an invitation to a mixer by a Harrisburg web design firm that was revoked when they discovered Vigor was a competitor. The outcome is hysterical. Read the rest of this entry »

The hut? really

I know shortening words helps with memorability and people have nicknames for brands. These nicknames work because they are made by the true owners of the brand; the consumer. Trying to monopolize on the recognition is a tactic easily seen through. People love to buy. They hate to be sold to.

In celebration of the new Coach, A New Raiders Look

Revamped for a new coach and new mentality, the Oakland Raiders.

So, my personal favorite NFL has hired their coach. I’m happy to say it’s the coach made interim during the season, Tom Cable. Congrats to Tom and I hope we see more of the team we saw near the end of the season. Steelers fans feel free to thank the Oakland Raiders for your gateway to the superbowl.

As a gift to my favorite team, I have taken some free time to redesign their horrible logo. Jason, the other half of Vigor and illustrator extraordinaire, helped form this new logo into it’s true badassness. Read the rest of this entry »