Coaching Corps pairs volunteers with students in low-income communities to teach athletic skills and life lessons. We created this new home page interaction to help the nonprofit recruit more volunteer coaches in their 13 locations throughout the country.
Creative direction, copywriting
Design: Lacey Ankenman
Web Development: Alan Dague-Greene + Michael Herring
Agency: Vermilion
The City of Boulder passed legislation designed to increase recycling and composting rates, then launched a website to educate businesses and residents about their role in achieving zero waste.
Copywriting, creative direction
Art direction: Lacey Ankenman
Illustration: Julia Williams
Agency: Vermilion
Two years, later, the Daily Camera reports Boulder is preventing more than half of its waste from entering landfills—composting 1,791 tons of food waste and recycling 2,081 tons of plastic, metal, and other items.
The Town of Vail is embarking on an ambitious sustainability program to dramatically improve recycling rates and increase protections around Gore Creek--the stream that runs through the heart of the city. I worked with Vermilion's art director Kevin Bonner and freelance designer Loren Klein to craft campaigns for these two initiatives; update the town's sustainability website; and create signage, brochures, reports and infographics to be distributed to residents and visitors.
Creative direction, copywriting.
Art direction: Kevin Bonner
Design: Loren Klein
Agency: Vermilion
Fundraising campaign for Rubicon, a nonprofit working to address poverty and homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a special emphasis on those returning home from prison. Part of Elefint's Desgn.It volunteer event in Lake Tahoe, CA.
RESULT: Unveiled at the organization's annual dinner, the campaign helped Rubicon raise $160,000 in one evening.
Copywriting
Agency: Elefint
Honestly Bare came to Vermilion with a concept for a new brand of dog food--one that included only a handful of ingredients and appealed to people willing to spare no expense for their pets. We worked with their team to craft the visual identity, brand language, packaging, and website.
Copywriting, creative direction
Design: Mark Pinkerton
Agency: Vermilion
The Town of Vail had just implemented some pretty serious recycling legislation, and wanted to draw the attention of residents and visitors with a funny, lighthearted campaign that would offer a friendly nudge in the right direction. I looked to dated ski fashions for inspiration, to remind the audience that we've all made mistakes in our past—like tossing bottles and cans into the garbage bin—but now we know better. The campaign included print ads (top) as well as stickers designed for local pizza shops, magnets for hotel/condo refrigerators, and digital ads.
Note: At the last minute, well after final production was complete, town representatives worried that the campaign was too edgy, so we presented several other options, and landed on the "Some Decisions..." campaign captured here. I include the work in this portfolio because it represents my thinking and captures an advocacy message in an unexpected way.
Concept, copy, creative direction.
Design: Kevin Bonner
Agency: Vermilion
Naturally Boulder is the leading trade association for the natural products industry, and it's well known for hosting events that gather key players from Boulder and beyond (think Justin’s, Celestial Seasonings, and Rudi’s Organic Bakery). The organization came to Vermilion hoping for an updated look with more compelling photography and an opportunity to showcase resources for companies outside of Colorado, including videos and white papers. To help accomplish those goals, our creative team identified and hired an event photographer, drafted compelling copy to tell the Naturally Boulder story, and created a more intuitive way to search for online resources.
Creative Direction, Copywriting, Photo Editing
Art Direction: Lacey Ankenman + Karen Chin
Photography: Marliee Langner
Agency: Vermilion
It's no secret--America's kids have been getting a little pudgy lately. That's one reason why the Boulder Valley School District was looking to increase the activity levels of students in its classrooms. The goal was go beyond dodgeball and other PE staples to educate kids about eating right, exercising and abstaining from drugs and alcohol. In some cases, it's as simple as getting students out of their seats and walking up to the chalkboard to answer arithmetic questions. We worked with the school district's health and wellness lead to create a site that informs parents and provides easy-to-use resources for teachers.
Creative direction, copywriting.
Design: Lacey Ankenman
Agency: Vermilion
Visit the site.
Every year, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation invests $200 million in nonprofits working to improve education, political freedoms, the environment, and local issues in Flint, Michigan. But its outdated website wasn't reflecting its international scope and its level of sophistication. Vermilion was hired to make a serious upgrade in copy, photography and design, to put the organization on a par with its peers--the Knight Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Bloomberg and others. Launched July 2016.
Creative direction, content strategy, copywriting.
Design: Lacey Ankenman
Agency: Vermilion
Created a digital campaign with animated Google display ads, Google search ads, and landing pages with coupons, for Froozer--crushed, frozen fruit made with a patented process that locks in flavor and nutrients.
Creative direction, copywriting.
Design, illustration: Kevin Bonner
Agency: Vermilion
A key tool for NPCA's marketing and fundraising efforts, NPCA's annual reports presented a great opportunity to showcase the organization's victories, using photography and illustration.
I oversaw the creative direction and the content for these pieces, with the graphic design skills of our in-house art director, Annie Riker and Fuszion, an agency in Alexandria Virginia.
In 2010, I contacted Northwest Art Mall, which allowed us to use art from the postcards and posters sold in park gift shops. In 2014, we were involved in the Creative Action Network's "See America" project, which enabled us to use their crowd-sourced artwork throughout the report.
A few sample spreads from NPCA's membership publication, National Parks Magazine (circ. 330,000), which won 12 FOLIO awards for writing, design, and photography during my tenure as editor in chief.
I oversaw all aspects of the magazine including a FT staff of three—assigning articles, selecting writers and photographers, editing text, and art directing our freelance graphic designer, Jessie Despard.
Baiting grizzlies with donuts and chicken fat?
Using snares that trap bears to be shot like fish in a barrel?
Shooting grizzlies and their cubs during hibernation?
Not cool.
As part of NPCA's campaign to protect grizzlies in and around Alaska's national parks, we created the #Unbearable campaign, which addresses irresponsible practices allowed by Alaska's Board of Game. For years, the state agency has approved specific hunting methods and season lengths that allow hunters to kill bears and wolves simply to increase moose and caribou populations, so there are more for sport hunters to kill. Leveraging promoted tweets, the project generated 339,251 impressions, had an incredible 12.4% engagement rate, yielded 1,060 retweets and led to 1,500 link clicks to NPCA's take-action page. NPCA delivered 45,000 signatures and 30,000 letters in support of the Park Service proposed hunting regulations, which would eliminate these unsporting practices. UPDATE: In November 2015, NPCA won the protections for Alaska's grizzlies.
Art direction.
Illustrations by Drew Litton.
As part of a broad campaign designed to gather public support for park funding, increase NPCA member engagement, and marketing exposure, we asked NPCA members to send snapshots of their park visits, then we added a VO and set it to music. Generated 12,000 views on Vimeo and YouTube.
Access the video here.
Concept, creative direction, photo editing.
Video editing by Jesse Rosten.
Script by Kallie Markle.
Infographics produced for NPCA, illustrating Park Service programs that use food to interpret American history, best times to view wildlife throughout the country, and a close look at the economic impact of national parks during a budget battle that closed the sites for several weeks.
Concepts, writing, copyediting, art direction.
Design by LouLou & Tummie, Matt Brass, Mike Kasun and Lemonly.
NPCA's Government Affairs team approached us looking for a way to promote their campaign for a dozen new potential park sites. Rather than use a typical "fact sheet" for each, we came up with the idea of creating "postcards from the future," which document the important attributes of each site, as a more tactile, visual way to express the message.
On their first trip to Capitol Hill, our lobbying team got a great response from legislators--one House staffer tacked every postcard to her office wall. In the months that followed, many Hill staffers referred to the sites as "the postcard parks."
RESULT: In December 2014, Congress approved and the President signed the bill designating 11 of the 12 sites, as part of the biggest public lands bill passed in years. Pullman National Historic Site in Chicago was added to the Park Service via separate legislation, February, 2015, making the campaign a perfect 12 for 12.
NPCA was the unquestioned leader in moving the legislation, and this marketing campaign played a crucial role in this achievement.
Concept, creative direction.
Design: Loren Klein.
