Creative KickStart: Behind-the-Scenes
Our inaugural Creative KickStart weekend has come to an end…
…and we could not be happier with how it turned out!
Branding an organization is normally a lengthy and calculated process—and for good reason! Creating a visual representation of your organization that encapsulates your mission and attracts your target audience is a daunting task. Normally, it takes us anywhere from five weeks to four months to brand (or rebrand) an organization. However, too much time and too many considerations can cause problems. We’ve found a longer process can result in losing sight of the original goal. As a result, the integrity of the brand can take a hit. This experiment was exciting for many reasons, but we were definitely eager to see how this shortened timeline would effect the decision-making process. Which is why we're thrilled to announce that our first ever Creative KickStart experiment was a huge success and the time crunch only helped the process! We stuck to our deadlines and the client team was incredible in their responsiveness, dedication to the process and tight turnaround with feedback. The result: a huge suite of materials created over three diligent days and one of our all-time favorite branding projects.
Oh, and did we mention that due to COVID-19, everything was done virtually?! We communicated by Zoom, Dropbox, Google Drive, phone, email, text, and smoke signal (okay, that last one was a lie). This was obviously not our original plan, but through teamwork, clear communication and constant collaboration, the weekend worked out way smoother than we ever could have hoped.
The Creative KickStart winner — Glens Falls Community Theatre — was not only a well-deserving recipient, but we absolutely loved working with their team. They proved to be the perfect organization for this exercise. They came in knowing exactly what they needed while also being extremely trusting of the design process. They were quick to make decisions and provide feedback, and as a result we feel that this is one of the strongest brands we’ve ever built. And we were able to provide them with their entire wishlist in just three days! Here’s a sneak peak of what this weekend looked like and how we tackled everything in such a short timeline. Stay tuned for the full rebrand reveal!
Cara and Kelli’s Home Office Setups: Complete with Cute Distractions!
[Before Creative KickStart Weekend]
While all of the design was done in just one weekend, we worked with Glens Falls Community Theatre beforehand to gather all the content, carefully go over the plans, and to collect and discuss the creative direction for their new brand. It was so vital to have that input up front so that we could hit the ground running on Friday morning.
Grace’s illustrated guide to KickStart Weekend!
Day 1: Friday [The Logo]
We spent the first day tackling the logo—each of our designers created several logo concepts based off the creative direction we received in advance. We kicked off Friday evening by presenting multiple concepts to the GFCT team. Our concepts were presented via Zoom in black and white (we find that color can be overly influential in the beginning stages of a branding project) and we immediately opened up discussion so that GFCT was able to give us real-time feedback. By the end of that first presentation, we were able to eliminate a few of the concepts and narrow down the choices. We gave them time to discuss amongst themselves and they (very decisively) picked the winner within the hour!
Sketches & Inspiration: Will’s Creative Process
Day 2: Saturday [The Work]
Our focus for day two was to finalize the logo suite and get the brunt of the remaining work done. We took their chosen logo concept and built out multiple lockups including stacked and badge versions that they could use for different applications. We introduced color and provided two palettes for consideration. As Will finalized the logo, Grace and Kelli got a head start on the rest of the materials—the website, rack card, Season Subscriber brochure, and email blast. Once Will finalized the logo, he jumped right into the Show Posters and accompanying Season Materials for all four of GFCT’s 2020-21 shows. At the end of the day, Will and Steph (from GFCT) jumped on one last Zoom call—this time with Spectrum News! The Capital Region news channel picked up the feel-good story for a human interest piece and a small bright spot during these challenging times.
The Sidekick Team (plus Phoebe) on the Millionth Zoom Call
