Each year, MarketSpace is honored to work on the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children’s Annual Report. Normally, when you think of an annual report, certain assumptions come to mind. A static report full of numbers and charts. Necessary documentation for business records. Tedious information displayed in an uninspiring way.
However the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children is different. They are a one-of-a-kind educational facility committed to training visually impaired students who are also faced with additional disabilities. They want the uniqueness of what they do to show through in any piece of work they produce. So together, MarketSpace and the School have defied the preconceptions of a traditional annual report and taken the idea and execution to a whole new level.
Each year, the School comes up with a theme that encompasses the year that’s past. MarketSpace takes that theme and puts a creative twist on it, bringing it to life with a design and story that weaves through the numbers.
In 2005-2006, the design complemented a “Behind the Scenes” theme which was focused on the faculty and committee efforts to support educational programs. We used simple black and white photography highlighted with simple metallics to give the reader the feeling of getting a special glimpse of the day-to-day school operations.
In 2006-2007, the theme was “Making Progress,” and the report focused on the accountability and effectiveness of educational programs. The report was designed to mirror academic tradition, with a bright contemporary color palette to suggest forward thinking. This design won a Neenah Paper award.
In 2008-2009, the report theme was “Building Bridges to Independence,” and it highlighted the School’s commitment to creating pathways for the students that help them overcome their disability. In design, we used a bridge graphic to thread the theme through the entire piece.
We just finished the 2009-2010 annual report, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. The theme was “Reflections,” and the whole concept was to look back on a year full of achievements. To complement this theme, we came up with a scrapbook-inspired design. It was a perfect way to showcase the pictures and tell the story of milestones, achievements and events of the past year.
The report is a heart-warming snapshot of the exceptional children and the extraordinary experiences they have at this special school.
Take a look at the whole report now!
MarketSpace Puts Another Website on the Grid!
When a technology company wants a website that’s technologically savvy, you know you have to pull out all the stops. That’s exactly what happened when Muninn approached MarketSpace and asked us to redesign their existing website.
Muninn is a leading control, software development and engineering firm in North America focused on providing solutions for Building Automation and Industrial Automation Applications. They help building owners, manufacturers, and Architect and Consulting Engineers make the most of their budget allocated toward technological improvements.
When Muninn approached MarketSpace, they already had a website in place, but it was a boxed template that didn’t match their corporate brand or culture. They are a very modern and unique organization, they get involved in the community as much as possible, and they even have their own company band! To better suit their company persona, they wanted a cool, flash site with modern, European styling. And they were interested in having a clean, grid format to showcase their broad base of work.
With this input in mind, we came up with a sleek homepage design that uses flash animation for added flair. Just about anything you roll over on the homepage animates or moves somehow, growing and stretching along with your cursor. We even took their request for a simple grid idea one step further, dimensionalizing it into a 3-D rotating cube with individual squares highlighting case studies, client work and company interests.
We built Muninn’s website in Joomla, allowing the client to control all site content on their own. On top of that, we figured out a way with this customized CMS that they could update the grid on their own. So if they want to add new photos, case studies, or other information, they can do it themselves.
The new website design is a much better reflection of Muninn’s brand and culture. We are really proud of how the final design turned out, and the client couldn’t be more pleased with the look and the functionality. See for yourself at MuninnGroup.com.
That’s right. We said, Happy HalloWin, not Happy Halloween. That’s because that was the theme for our October Facebook promotion.
We’ve been working on social marketing promotions and other web-related contests for several years for clients like rue21 and World of Green. For rue21, we created the rueVolution, a social teen impact campaign. This contest asked teens to upload stories about how they were making a difference in their communities. Winning entries were awarded rue21 gift cards, plus money to put toward their cause. MarketSpace concepted every aspect of this campaign, from the name of the contest to the way it worked, to the design of the site, to the viral video that promoted it. We also developed the rueVenture game, an online scavenger hunt. With clues hidden on rue21’s website, Facebook page and MySpace page, it had people exploring and spending time in their key sites across the web.
When WorldofGreen.com launched, just like any new website, there was no awareness and no traffic. To help increase site visitors, brand ambassadors, and PR interest, we created the “40 Gifts in 40 Days” giveaway, which coincided with the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. For 40 days in a row leading up to Earth Day, World of Green gave away one free green product per day. To promote this event, we created a communications plan for Facebook and Twitter. The event was so successful, and helped to organically grow their Search Engine Optimization. In just 30 days, World of Green went from page six to page two. Today, they are number one on page one!
So…if we can do it for our clients, why not for ourselves? We thought Halloween was the perfect opportunity to offer some special “treats” to fans on our MarketSpace Facebook page. We began posting and tweeting about it a week ahead of time. Then, every Tuesday in October we pulled a winner to receive a Halloween-related gift. It was a great way to reward our fan base.
Because after all, they “liked” us. We wanted them to know we “like” them too! And in the process, we even gained more fans on our page.
We had a blast with HalloWin, and we already have something in the works for the Christmas Holiday. So stay tuned. And if you’re not a fan of our Facebook page, what are you waiting for! “Like” us now so you don’t miss out on all the holiday fun.