Case Studies & Design Samples
Throughout my career I’ve had to opportunity to work with and lead some amazing teams. Together, we’ve created meaningful and strategic work that not only delivered results…our moms would be proud to put it up on their fridges. But that’d be weird to show you mom’s fridge, so I’ll put some of them below instead.
CPI Catalog Redesign | CPI Corporate Brochure | CPI Brand Update | Graphic Design Work | Photography
CPI Product Catalog Redesign
In 2016, I lead the reimagination of the CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute) product catalog. Historically, the catalog had two major updates per year: product updates in the fall edition, pricing updates in the spring edition. These updates required two equal rounds of effort making the catalog a project that was tying up resources throughout the year. By moving both product and pricing updates to the spring edition and making only minor updates to the fall edition, we were able to free up considerable resources for other initiatives.
Not only did we create efficiencies in production, we took the opportunity to strategically aligned the mail dates. Instead of mailing in March, a date that was purely driven by staff resourcing, we moved the production up to hit mailboxes in early January. This aligned with the annual price changes made in January, ensuring accurate price information for our customers. By moving our second mailing from September to June, we were able to get the catalog into the hands of educators before they returned to school when many trainings occur.
We partnered with our print vendor, Ripon Printers, to find the most cost effective size for our catalog, what a difference an inch makes! Moving from a custom 8 x 9 inch to a standard 8 x 10 inch cover allowed for a more open and comfortable layout to read. The new solution allowed us to produce a more premium catalog in a higher quantity and at a lower cost than the previous version, and saved CPI 31% per catalog. The cost savings allowed for enhancements such as heavier paper stock and an aqueous soft-touch coating on the cover, making the catalog stand out from other pieces in the mail.
Included in the reimagining of the catalog are editorial style stories which showcase customer success stories, new product details, and articles to help improve Certified Instructor confidence. From a 2018 survey, “over 70% of Certified Instructors feel that the new catalog helps them feel informed as an instructor.”
While some might say digital is king and print is dead, we wanted to test that theory against conventional wisdom. In 2018 we surveyed our more than 35,000 Certified Instructors about the product catalog. More than half of the respondents told us the catalog influences their ordering decisions. While 69% told us they preferred the new product catalog with feature articles and additional information over the previous version.
CPI Corporate Brochure
The Challenge: To engage C-Level decision makers, explaining a complex suite of offerings in a quickly digestible manner. To deliver the messaging to a wide variety of industries in one brochure.
The Solution: A brochure that makes an emotional connection up-front, and then delivers CPI’s unique value proposition and it’s wide portfolio of training solutions.
We couldn’t start talking about ourselves before we helped the reader see why they needed CPI. By pulling actual headlines, we hit a real fear of any leader…a news spotlight of negative events at their organization.
CPI’s training is not inexpensive — many of our competitors claimed to be less expensive. We needed to help the reader see the lifetime value of our programs, instead of sticker-shock from the upfront cost of the initial training event.
What do you believe in? We took valuable real estate to make bold statements which would be thought provoking, difficult to contest, and ultimately align CPI with the reader and their organization.
CPI 2015 Brand Update
In 2015, CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute) rolled out the first major updates to their program in more than 20 years. It was an opportunity to update and enhance the visual branding to distinguish the “legacy” content from the “enhanced” program, bringing a contemporary and premium feel to the corporate brand.
The Challenge: To visually distinguish the updated program without overwhelming current customers. To still feel like the same trusted company they know and love.
The Solution: To reinterpret and update the current brand guidelines without undergoing a complete rebrand.
The corporate logomark is made of soft, round elements. The legacy typeface of Akzidenz-Grotesk was squared off and felt hard by comparison.
Updating the typeface to Avenir Next LT Pro with it’s rounded elements complimented the logo giving an approachable, modern update to the brand.
While not outside of the brand guidelines, previous designs were heavy with floods of browns, greens, and creams.
Moving forward, we used floods of color selectively, opting for crisp and clean white wherever possible. We also elevated the use of Corporate CPI Cyan as the primary color, instead of leading with the individual programs’ brand colors (Green, Pink, Purple).
The largest change to CPI's branding system was an update to the logos of their individual program offerings. The legacy system required the use of both the corporate logo and the program logo on all materials. Not only visually cumbersome, this system often lead to confusion around the brand itself. Was the program the primary brand? Was it CPI training or Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training?
The solution was to move all the programs under the CPI logo, thus resulting in the need for only one logo on any given piece of work. This streamlined approach brought clarity to the customers and elevated the awareness of the CPI brand.
Imagery moved from fear-based and intimidating images to showing the success of our program by featuring happy and confident people.
The legacy interpretation of the brand guidelines had left the brand feeling old and stagnant. A new, streamlined imagination of the brand brought new energy and excitement to the programs. The updates were implemented across the board, from marketing to training materials.
Graphic Design Work
Photography
