We Had Some Fun with Outtakes from a Recent Photo Shoot…

Jessica W. King — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:18:45 +0000

King Design Wins Small Business of the Year Award!

Abby Tolotti — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:43:47 +0000

Last night, King Design LLC accepted the award for Small Business of the Year from the Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, sponsored by the Jenkintown Community Alliance. Linda Kligman, Executive Director of the JCA, provided the introduction for the principals of King Design, Jessica and Michael King, who graciously accepted the award on behalf of the entire agency.

The formal award ceremony was held at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club on the evening of Wednesday, May 19th, 2010. Other winners included Abington Memorial Hospital, winner of the Business of the Year award. The entire King Design team was proud to be able to look out on the crowd and see so many familiar faces, including the faces of many of our clients, without whom such an honor would not be possible.

This week, King Design LLC accepted the award for “Small Business of the Year” from the Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. Sponsor, Linda Kligman, Executive Director of the JCA, provided the introduction for the principals of King Design, Jessica and Michael King, who graciously accepted the award on behalf of the entire agency.

The formal award ceremony was held at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club on the evening of Wednesday, May 19th, 2010. Other winners included Abington Memorial Hospital, winner of the “Business of the Year” award. The King Design team was proud to be able to look out on the crowd and see so many familiar faces, including those of many of our clients, without whom such an honor would not be possible.

Web Developer Needed. Where Art Thou?

Jessica W. King — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:19:24 +0000

Oh, future King Design Web Developer, where art thou? We NEED you! We’re a busy firm with websites, microsites, content management systems, custom Facebook pages, and HTML email campaign projects coming in left and right. Not to mention ongoing site maintenance for current clients. We’ve gotta get some help around here!

So, we’d like to meet you. But you’ve got to be willing to code some amazing stuff for us. We’ll of course give you money… and coffee, chocolate, occasionally some beer and tasty food (there’s a great bar right across the street from our studio). We’ll also buy you tickets to kick-ass concerts and let you tag along with us as we attend industry seminars, events, volunteer at various charities and the like – whatever interests you. We’ll give you lots of freedom to experiment with new technology and if you come up with great ideas – we’ll listen and probably implement many of them. We’ll treat you like a human being. We won’t bog you down with pointless meetings and we’ll do our best not to interrupt you too much when you’re in the middle of an intense coding session. We’ll sometimes ask you to pay attention to our dog when he needs some love and we might, on occasion, ask you to take a look at our server when it’s acting up.

More about what we need…

Here’s the thing about the amazing stuff we’ll ask you to code for us. It has to look exactly like our designers intended – that’s a given, but it also has to be rock-solid with regard to today’s web standards. It has to work in all browsers – even that pesky, time-consuming, ‘bang your head against the wall’ IE6 (many of our corporate clients are still on it, you know). It has to be clean, search engine-friendly code, so anyone who jumps in to make a change doesn’t say “what the heck is this? It’s so antiquated!” You need to be able to work in PHP, at least one or more of the popular CMS programs (Expression Engine, Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress), and be at least a little familiar with Facebook’s current FBML capabilities. You must also be willing to quickly learn what you don’t know today and master new technology as it comes out in the future – we’ll pay you to learn, but we’ll count on you to do the research and take the initiative. Finally, you’ve got to know this site, love this site, and visit it often: www.w3.org

And another thing…

We also don’t want you to be just an ‘order taker.’ We need you to be a thought-partner and a strategist. We need you to tell our creative team (nicely) when their designs won’t work and if there is a better way… preferably BEFORE they get in front of a client. We also need you to be open to learning from our creative team. (Sometimes they know what they’re talking about)

We’re a tight-knit group with some serious drive to be the best at what we do. We occasionally (respectfully) disagree with and challenge each other. Sometimes we stay late or put in a few weekend hours to complete a project on time. We all pitch in to take the trash out when we notice it’s overflowing. We also have a lot of laughs together. So we want you to be at least a little flexible, a smarty-pants, AND have a sense of humor. None of this should sound like a tall order.

Perhaps we might try an initial freelance engagement to first figure out if we’re really in ‘love,’ or just in ‘like.’ We both deserve to be happy and sometimes this is a good way to find out.

Sounds great. What do I do now?

Sounds good? Ok, then. Send both your resume AND links to several sites you’ve recently built (all by yourself) to: jess@kingdesignllc.com.

If you don’t hear from us for a little while, don’t fret. We’re busy, but we will call if it looks like you might be a good fit. Also, if you haven’t heard from us, please don’t call to inquire about this position – email is much easier. We appreciate persistence, but will get annoyed if you pester us.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you! If you don’t already know us, learn more about our firm here: kingdesignllc.com

When I get to the next level…

Mike King — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:13:03 +0000

What does that mean? Everyone says it. “When I get to the next level I am going to…”. What is so great about the next level? I’m talking about the “business” next level. King Design has been in existence for 8 years now and we’ve definitely gone through multiple levels. Level one was my first real paying job. I think it was a logo design. What’s crazy is I remember thinking, while working on that logo, “I can’t wait to get to the next level”. I’m not sure what my idea of the next level was at the time but it probably looked like a couple of logo projects and maybe a website thrown in for good luck.

By the time I reached the next level I was dreaming of its older brother. The brother with a couple corporate projects and maybe an employee or a partner along the way. Well, I reached that level and continued to dream of the next. Recently someone asked me why I want to go to the next level. For the first time I wasn’t quite sure what it looked like and I certainly couldn’t tell them why I’d want to go there. For the first time I took a step back and really thought about the level we’re at. I asked myself “What’s wrong with the level we’re at now?”

Why does every business book tell you to go higher. Get to the next level. That’s a lot of pressure. And how can you possibly enjoy the ride when you’re always thinking of what’s next.

I couldn’t have imagined when I was working on my first project that I’d be where I am today. What makes this level better than what I imagined is my frame of mind. I’m content. Our firm could be making more money. We could have more clients, a larger team, a bigger studio, with cooler gadgets. I could be at a place where I’m no longer working in the business but only on the business. I hope I’m never just working on the business. I love working in the business. That’s why I do this.

I was working late last night on a rush project and I was loving it. I was lost in the process. I said “this is why I do what I do”. I caught myself with my tongue sticking out of my mouth like I used to do as a kid when I was concentrating really hard on a drawing. Bottom line, success is contentment. I urge you to stop listening to what other people think success is and take a hard look at where you are and what you have. Teach yourself to be content and to enjoy everyday for what it is. Chances are you’re doing just fine and there is no reason to go to another level.

6 Types of Websites – Which One Are You?

Mike King — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:39:40 +0000

With so many sites competing for attention, your users should be able to figure out the purpose of your site within the first few seconds of their visitation. Here are the 6 main categories of web sites that you can choose from to help clarify their experience.

1) E-Commerce
Otherwise known as web-based sales sites. This website sells products. Its sole purpose is to allow users to browse, select, and purchase products online; self check-out. Be careful and tread lightly in this arena. There is little difference between a brick and mortar store and an online store. Important parts to think about; customer service, shipping, taxes, and inventory. In other words, if you have physical products, you need someone to manage the store. And in some cases it’s a 24 hour job.

www.jcrew.com

2) Legitimizer
Otherwise known as Offline Sales Sites. This site supports your sales team. The sales cycle goes something like this. Sales person meets prospect at networking meeting, sales person leaves behind a business card with web address, prospect checks out web site to learn more about company, website supports what sales person stated and provides additional information so prospect can make an educated decision. Most service-based businesses use a Legitimizer to support their brand and help land new business.

www.giroudtree.com

3) Lead Generation
This site’s sole purpose is to get leads. It is typically supported by various marketing efforts, including; email marketing, telemarketing, direct mail campaigns, and social media. This site has multiple portals for contacting, signing up, downloading, and testing products.

www.salesforce.com

4) Market Awareness
This site is usually built by big-brand companies. It is usually marketed using a large budget, leaning on Search Engine Marketing, online advertising, and a social media campaign. Often companies will incorporate custom games, iphone apps, and custom Facebook apps to gain market awareness.

Red Bull Facebook Page

5) Informative and Entertaining
Think of National Geographic, NASA, and The New York Times. It can also be smaller sites like local government, non-profit organizations, and online gaming sites. These sites can sometimes charge a fee for services but most let the user try the site for free and offer a premium membership at a nominal fee.

www.nationalgeographic.com

6) Influential or Persuasive
An example would be a politically motivated organization. This site can range from a soccer mom blogger to an international terrorist group. Ha – pretty crazy range but figure out where you fall in between, and please stay closer to the soccer mom mentality. This site can also fall under the non-profit orgs; someone or some people trying to make a difference in a community.

momjeansblogger.blogspot.com

So now you’ve got a starting point for your new site. Most sites fall under multiple categories but all lean towards one more than the others. Once you have a clear direction of the type of site that fits your organization you’ll be better prepared about what it should do. You can then begin to build your goals. We’ll talk about goals in a later entry.

Draw a Line in the Sand

Mike King — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:32:18 +0000

45 minute brain dump
I went to see Jason Freid, founder of 37Signals, speak last night at an AIGA event in downtown Philly. It’s not often that I come away from a talk like that where I feel the need to call Jess, my wife and business partner, and brain dump on her. Well last night I talked to her on the 45minute drive home about what Jason said.

Draw a line in the sand
He began his presentation with this line. He used Whole Foods as an example of a company who drew a line, stating that they will not sell any foods with artificial ingredients. How much easier are their decisions now about what foods to place on the shelves? If Coca-Cola asked to be in the store, you know there is no time wasted in board meetings about where to place the product and how much to sell it for.

His point was to figure out in your own company which products you are going to stock on the shelves. For me it’s difficult. I like stocking tons of different items. It keeps it interesting. Every day we’re doing something different. On the flip side it’s exhausting. And most importantly, it can sometimes be unclear what we do and what we do really well.

Focus on what you love
So although I’m not ready to draw a line in the sand, I am ready to begin editing our line of products and services. Who knows what the final list will be. I imagine we’ll be editing and adjusting it forever but I know in my gut that I need to begin to focus on the things I love to do.

New Brand Identity, Website and Social Media Integration for PhIMA

Abby Tolotti — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:35:58 +0000

PhIMA, or the Philadelphia Interactive Marketing Association, is a regional nonprofit organization established to encourage open communication and enhance a sense of community within interactive marketing professionals in the Greater Philadelphia area. The organization, headed up by a volunteer Board of Directors and funded entirely through sponsor fees, came to the realization that their website had become outdated and no longer reflected the caliber of either the members or sponsors the organization represented. King Design was brought in to address the organization’s need for an updated look and feel as well as improved functionality of their existing site.

PhIMA Home Page

King Design, both sponsor and member of PhIMA, began this process of revamping PhIMA with extensive research. Meetings with the Board established the internal wants and needs of the organization. In order to determine marketplace demand, we conducted surveys through a variety of mediums, from email and written surveys to in-person conversations at the PhIMA holiday event this past December. Similar and competing organizations’ media outlets in other regions were also explored for a better understanding of common industry practices. After the research was completed, it became clear that the primary concerns to be addressed by a redesign were: a need for an updated look and feel, ease of registration, incorporation of a job board, inclusion of social media tools, and enhanced sponsor value-adds. It was determined that the most effective approach to remodeling PhIMA’s online presence was through a phased approach.

Project Deliverables

Brand identity design
Site strategy & architecture
Content management system
Database creation for membership records & event registration
Custom forms: Event registration, job posting, membership & sponsorship, feedback
HTML email template design
Facebook Fan Page account creation
Customized Fan Page landing page with interactive functionality
Twitter account creation with customized background
Custom photography
Copywriting

In Phase 1, the first step was to create a new brand identity for the organization. With strategic color choices, fresh logo, effective brand messaging, and cutting edge design and development, King Design created a new website to effectively visually represent the interactive marketing community of the Philadelphia region.

The technology behind the new site is just as innovative as the outward face. Built on a robust content management system, the new site incorporates analytics and a custom-built database to aid in managing membership, event registration, HTML email, and job postings. The new technology incorporation now allows for members and friends of PhIMA to easily submit jobs, which are then approved and posted to the site’s job board.

Facebook

Social media incorporation was an important part of the overall update. With the overall adoption of social media both in corporate and personal lives, inclusion in social media platforms is essential to staying relevant in the marketplace, particularly for an organization representing the best and brightest in interactive marketing. PhIMA was previously handling a Facebook group; a member had organized a LinkedIn discussion group. In Phase 1, King Design created a Facebook Fan Page with customized tabs and a fully designed landing page with hotspots redirecting back to the PhIMA website, which helped the organization to solidify their presence on the platform. A Flickr account to host pictures that are used on both the site and other social media outlets was established as well. The group within LinkedIn also is now sporting the redesigned logo, for brand consistency. A customized Twitter page, mimicking the design of both the overall site as well as the custom Facebook page, rounds out the social media components of the PhIMA online footprint, and gives current and potential members more direct conversation with the organization. A custom HTML email template was also developed for consistent messaging throughout all avenues, powered by King Design’s own Mailer King.

With all of these updates, PhIMA can now offer an even greater value to both members and sponsors. Currently, the site is undergoing preparations to be mobile-specific by Movitas. After future research and feedback is compiled, PhIMA and King Design will commence Phase 2 operations.

Check out the new site: www.phillyinteractive.org

Project Deliverables

Identity Design

Site Strategy & Architecture

Content Management System

Database creation for membership records & event registration

HTML template design

Facebook Fan Page creation

Facebook Fan Page customized landing page w/ interactive functionality

Twitter page creation with customized background

Oh, Yeah!

Jessica W. King — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:22:30 +0000

King Design Does Philabundance – View Video

Jessica W. King — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:03:00 +0000

In the spirit of “giving” during this holiday season, the King Design team recently volunteered at Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization. We helped move over 17,000 pounds of food to help feed those in need throughout the tri-state area.

View Photos

Social Media: Strategy and Framework

Jessica W. King — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:05:22 +0000

The following is a high-level overview we recently put together for how to think through a social media campaign.

Bottom line: Understand the culture, create a plan, and make sure it’s integrated with all other marketing tactics.

How to Take Your Facebook Fan Page to the Next Level

Abby Tolotti — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:09:28 +0000

Everyone wants to stand out from the crowd. With the ease, accessibility, and popularity of social media and Facebook, it seems that every company has their own ‘fan page’ or profile on the service. So how do you make people take notice of yours? Customized Facebook fan pages.

Make it truly your own

One of the most important tenets of social media is to be transparent; let your fans and followers see what you and your company are all about in order to build relationships and trust in your brand. With the updates that Facebook implemented this past February, you can do just that. Flash animation, external data pulls, and actual fan interaction are all possible with the HTML or FBML customization that can now be incorporated into your page design.

Surprisingly, not too many companies have jumped onto this fantastic opportunity for unique, commercial self-expression. A few have, and have done it right.

Examples of great custom facebook pages

The Facebook fan page for iTunes, boasting over 2million fans, opens directly to their customized page. Here users are encouraged to become a fan of the page by the promise of 15 tracks of free music from the service. That’s quite the incentive, and it’s seemed to work well so far. The page gives the general feel that an iTunes user would expect, with familiar color scheme, typefaces, search bars, and general formatting. In fact, the page itself has many of the features that make iTunes so popular (chart listing, podcasts, search/share, etc). This creates a unified overall brand presence between both the application and the fan page. iTunes users feel comfortable here.

1-800-Flowers takes it a step further. Not only do they have an incentive to become a fan through a ‘fan-only’ discount code, but they’ve included a shopping cart feature. Users can actually search, select, and purchase flowers directly from the Facebook fan page. Compared to the traditional method of directing the user back to the company websites, they use the fan page for the entire check-out process, never taking the user away from Facebook or away from the social media experience.

These are just two examples of effective customized fan pages. Plenty more are out there already, and many more are likely on their way. Now is the time to set yourself apart from the pack and make your company stand out from the rest.

Want more examples?

Check out what these brands have done with their fan pages:

Volkswagen
J. Crew
Dunkin’ Donuts
Macy’s
Best Buy
Red Bull
Skittles

Oh, yeah, and if you like what you see, we’d love to have you as a fan, too!

King Design’s Fan Page

New, Strategic Website for e3bank

Jessica W. King — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:49:34 +0000

e3bank is a leader in green banking – committed to restoring and protecting the natural capital that supports life and our economy. As a new, innovative player in the industry, e3bank is currently focused on raising a substantial amount of investor capital in order to meet their targeted opening date in Q1 2010. The leadership team recognized a need to update their existing website (first launched in 2008) as it had become confusing for users due to several one-off content additions. The process for users to find and sign up for important events, a core component of e3bank’s marketing strategy, was also ineffective.

Solution:

King Design worked with the leadership team to first establish a new site architecture and content organization strategy that better aligns with their goal of captivating two distinct audiences: prospective investors and future retail customers, each with their own unique demographics. The site is designed to walk users down a specific path with an ultimate goal of getting them to fill out one or more forms customized to capture demographic data used for ongoing marketing and sales efforts. In addition to the targeted forms, the site features embedded videos and editable news and special events pages. The new site also integrates with Salesforce, their current CRM system, helping to streamline and automate the lead data collection process.

Project Deliverables:

Website strategy and architecture
Refreshed visual design
Custom forms for prospect data collection
Technical development into a CMS (News & Events pages)
Form integration with Salesforce (CRM system)
Website hosting

Visit e3bank’s new site

More featured projects

Photos from Jenkintown Jazz and Brewfest

Abby Tolotti — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:47:11 +0000

A community of jazz and beer enthusiasts congregated in the heart of Jenkintown this past Sunday for the 10th annual Jenkintown Jazz and BrewFest. King Design was proud to be one of the main sponsors for this event, hosted by the Jenkintown Community Alliance. With the soothing musical backdrop of Denise King, Richie Cole, and their team of jazz musicians, over 3,000 visitors mingled and relaxed in the Town Square sipping fresh craft beer and enjoying the late summer afternoon.

And then the King Design team came along. Armed with bottle opening key chains and insulated beer cozies, we pulled up our neon orange socks to spread the King Design energy to everyone who came near. Our beer pong table drew in both experienced players and future champions alike. We quickly befriended the many breweries that traveled from near and far to showcase their brews, and we each had our own favorites of the bunch. River Horse Brewery, from Lambertville, New Jersey, brought some tasty samples of their Lager and Belgian Wit to the fest.

Philly’s own Philadelphia Brewing Company came prepared with their signature Walt Wit and an especially delicious brew aptly named “Joe,” as the flavor stirred up flavors of a great cup of joe. The Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant, known as a top nightlife destination in the area, came through with a variety of ales fit for any discerning beer drinker, and Hometown Beverages showed off their Pennsylvania and New York Lagers. Also enjoyable were Magic Hat Brewery’s Vermont-based concoctions as well as classics from Gretz Beer Company.

A big ‘thank you’ goes out to all the volunteers who participated in the event, from manning the crowds to pouring the drinks. They truly made this event a success.

Check out the rest of our Brewfest photos on our King Design Facebook page

Cheers!

The KD Team

KD Team Building Event at Twin Spring Farm

Jessica W. King — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:18:58 +0000

Inspired by the latest Bachelorette* episode during which Jillian passed over our friend, Reid for, um, Ed… The King Design team decided to blow off a little steam on the new SKYTRAIL ropes course at Twin Spring Farm.

*Just to be clear, we’re all only watching the show because of Reid…

Thanks to Dick Hood and his father, Mr. Hood, who founded the legendary Twin Spring Farm in 1945, the KD team got to experience an afternoon full of death-defying rope challenges not meant for the faint of heart.

Ok, it wasn’t actually all that scary… except for Abby who is terrified of heights. (We’re so proud of her for getting out there!)

Dick made sure we were safely harnessed up, then turned us loose to climb as high as we pleased.

Just as we were about to head out for the evening, Dick got a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he asked us to follow him across their 30 acre property to a water park where he had safety goggles, a moon bounce-like obstacle course, and some high-powered water guns waiting for us!

We all immediately regressed to about the age of 12 and I personally found myself laughing so hard I could hardly hold my gun let alone shoot it.

Needless to say, most of us left Twin Spring Farm completely soaked, but also further bonded as a team.

All in all, great day indeed!

To view more pictures from the event, visit our King Design Facebook page

To learn more about Twin Spring Farm’s new SKYTRAIL ropes course and their summer day camp programs, please visit their website: http://twinspringfarm.com/Day-Camp

Giroud Gets a New Brand Identity and Website

Jessica W. King — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:23:53 +0000

Giroud has been a premiere tree care service provider for the Greater Philadelphia region since 1974. Recently, they augmented their service capabilities to include lawn care. As they planned for their 2009 marketing and sales growth needs, the Giroud leadership team felt they needed professional help to update their marketing material to better reflect their new capabilities and, at the same time, update their visual brand identity to make it more consistent and attractive to their target market. More speciﬁcally, they wanted their marketing collateral to better reﬂect their reputation for the highest quality tree and lawn care services as compared to their competitors.

Solution:

King Design approached Giroud’s needs in phases starting with an updated logo, fresh color palette, and other new ‘look and feel’ elements. We then re-designed their existing website to better reflect the high quality services they are known for. The primary goal for the site was to instill a sense of confidence via prominent certifications, testimonials, educational tips, bios of key personnel, and relatable imagery with an ultimate goal of leading users to sign up for service via a new contact form. Existing customers are also able to complete an online satisfaction survey. The site was built on a Content Management System (CMS) with an integrated blog to allow Giroud the flexibility of updating their own content as the seasons change and new trends emerge.

Project Deliverables:

Updated Logo
Visual brand identity w/guidelines
Website strategy and architecture
Website design and technical development into a CMS
Integrated blog with embedded videos
Website hosting

Outcome:

“Working with King Design was an absolute pleasure. They are savvy marketers, who approached our project with a fresh and creative perspective that capitalized on the current technologies. The result is a beautiful new look for our company that captures who we are and a website that is perfectly suited to our business and easy to maintain. We couldn’t be happier.”

- Lou and Cindy Giroud

Visit Giroud’s new website

View more featured projects

King Design Wins Jenkintown 5K Sunset Run!

Jessica W. King — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:37:56 +0000

On June 23rd, the King Design team participated in the Jenkintown 5K Sunset Run, an annual event sponsored by the Jenkintown Community Alliance (JCA).

Not only did we participate, but we also helped to promote the event through the design of posters, brochures, volunteer and participant t-shirts, and a custom banner for the JCA website home page.

Why we decided to call ourselves “The Wild Parrots” is beyond me, but we’re proud to report that our team came in first place!

Check our King Design Facebook Page for photos

Rittenhouse Spring Festival

Abby Tolotti — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:19:47 +0000

The weather gods finally decided to smile down on Philly this past Saturday as the city shut down the streets of Rittenhouse Square for the annual Spring Festival. After previewing the tastes of the day at the Rittenhouse Row Kick Off Party this past Tuesday, we all had high expectations for this annual Philadelphia event. As always, when it comes to food and drinks, this city does not disappoint.

We started our day at the Blue Moon tent, where the smiling faces of the reps greeted us, handing out samples of their new flavors and trusty originals. We tried an interesting Pale Ale brew that’s been added to their repertoire this year – definitely different. Check it out and decide for yourself…

Many of our favorites from the Kick Off party had booths on display Saturday, serving up fantastic amounts of their culinary delights to the masses. The pure volume of attendance milling about the city streets made for interesting eating options, leaving most to fashion tables out of their own hands.

Alma de Cuba, among a few others, had tables positioned along the route, providing revelers a much-needed opportunity to get off their feet and enjoy the scenery. And by scenery, of course, I mean people. Food wasn’t the only thing on display on Saturday. A whole host of personalities turned out for the day, and people-watching provided ample amounts of quality entertainment.

I’ve heard before that dog owner’s tend to look like their canine friends – there appears to be more than a grain of truth in this saying.

Away from the craziness of the streets, sunbathers and those just in need of a brief respite could be found lounging in the grassy areas of Rittenhouse Square.

After a day of first-rate food, drinks, and company, who could blame anyone for needing a little time-out?

*************************************************************

Photos: Mike King

Photos from Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival

Jessica W. King — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:03:04 +0000

Typically, springtime brings to mind thoughts of fuzzy bunnies, polka dot umbrellas, and the occasional painted egg. Here in Philadelphia, springtime means its time for the annual Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival, and with that, the Restaurant Row Kick Off Party (executed by Corie Moskow of Gloss PR; sponsors including one of our clients, Penn Medicine). With so many reputable establishments gracing the stage this year, King Design swooped in with camera ready and napkins stocked.

Parc

Ever reliable, the Stephen Starr establishments impressed us in both presentation and taste. The knowledge of the staff of Butcher and Singer was trumped only by their engaging personalities – definitely up for the photo op! Continental Midtown and Parc also had some great offerings (who knew mushroom soup in a shot glass could be so good?). Granted, the chef at Parc was rocking a Penn State cap, so we may have been a bit biased…

Marathon Grill - Roasted Tomato & Avocado Gazpacho

Next booth over at Di Bruno Bros, we stumbled upon heaven. Heaven in the form of fig, cheese, and nut, that is. If either of the lovely ladies from the booth is out there, please let us know what cheese that was, or we will forever be searching (and sampling)!

A little more exploring brought us to TWENTY MANNING, one of Audrey Claire’s two Rittenhouse Square restaurants. Here the Executive Chef, Kiong Banh, was in-person and serving up scrumptious dumplings with Audrey’s doppelganger assistant, Abby Feiner.

As to be expected, excellent eating leads to excellent drinking. *smiths restaurant and b*smiths gourmet catering had one of the most memorable signature drinks of the night – a variation of a margarita that begs you to drink just one more. Sooo… I did.

Di Bruno Bros

Blue Moon also made an appearance at the party, showcasing their ever-popular seasonal Summer Ale. Take note everyone – the artist behind Blue Moon’s marketing material, Shelly Bartek, will be popping in at the Spring Festival this weekend. Those of you who visit their area at the festival will have the opportunity to add to a mural that will be drawn on-site. Go be creative, Philadelphia! All in all, it was a time to be had. Best part of it all? It was only the first taste – the real deal is this weekend. This Saturday, May 9^th, 2009, you better be somewhere in Rittenhouse Square. I know that’s where we’ll be.

-Abby Tolotti

Photos: Mike King

King Design is Getting Naked!

Jessica W. King — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:38:04 +0000

Well, our website is, anyway. We believe in adhering to best practices in current Web Standards. And we want to get naked to prove it.

King Design will be participating in the annual “CSS Naked Day” scheduled for April 9th. Every year, for one full international day (48hours), webmasters from around the world will be stripping out their CSS (Cascading Style Sheets – the design elements of the site that make it pretty) leaving only the body copy exposed. The sole purpose is to show how a nice looking design is only a fraction of what actually goes into creating an effective website. When built correctly, a ‘naked’ website should still be fully functional with proper use of XHTML, semantic markup, and a good hierarchy structure. This is also what search engines ’see’ when they crawl a site looking for relevant content.

Designing a website that is fully accessible to those who use it takes skill (and patience). It is not always easy to make sure every web page design works with every web browser as well as the newest technology trends – mobile phones, for example. It takes strategic planning, coding, designing for accessibility standards and search engines; validation, QA testing, incorporation of javascript, PHP, and XHTML… just to name a few.

We are so grateful to our lead Web Developer, Dave Scarlatella, who keeps us on track with all of this stuff! And we’re proud to show off the high-quality development work he has put into our own site. Oh, and our clients love him, too!

Want to learn more about CSS Naked Day?

Visit: http://naked.dustindiaz.com and follow CSS Naked Day on Twitter

Yep, we’re on Twitter, too.

Jessica W. King — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:28:42 +0000

Follow our tweets:

http://twitter.com/KingDesignLLC

King Design is on Facebook

Jessica W. King — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:50:28 +0000

Advertising through social media has been increasing in popularity and seems to have significantly spiked in the past six months. Perhaps the best evidence of this growing trend is how Obama’s team leveraged such sites as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Digg in last year’s presidential campaign. Networks like CNN are also taking advantage of it for the volume of ‘real-time’ feedback they can get from viewers on a variety of breaking news stories.

Market researchers have taken note and some agencies now offer social media marketing campaigns as part of their service offerings. Still, there are many skeptics who cite inconclusive data regarding the actual effectiveness of such campaigns in driving sales – in other words, the ROI can be difficult to calculate.

Despite the skepticism, King Design is on board with leveraging social media as part of our own comprehensive brand strategy and marketing plan for 2009.

Check out King Design’s Facebook Page, then contact us to learn more about how we can help your organization test the social media waters as well.

New E-Commerce Website for Penn Medicine

Jessica W. King — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:53:29 +0000

Penn Medicine is a world-leading institution for patient care, education, and research. King Design has been their marketing partner for several years now with multiple print design and promotional marketing projects.

Most recently, to augment financial support for some of their programs, the Penn Med team turned to King Design to create a new e-commerce store where family and friends can purchase gifts to help make a patient more comfortable while in the hospital or following a hospitalization.

The project included:

Strategy for website architecture
Custom photography
Web page designs
Technical development
Vendor coordination for e-commerce transactional components

Visit Penn Med’s New Website: http://shopatpennmed.org

Check out the rest of our print and web design portfolio

Holy Crap, It’s 2009!

Jessica W. King — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:56:56 +0000

It’s a new year and the King Design team is rapidly gearing up for some very exciting projects in 2009. Many of our clients have realized that now, more than ever, is the time to focus on maximizing brand equity and being strategic in this year’s marketing plans. For many businesses, the market has changed and that means what worked yesterday may not be as effective today. Read more on why now is the time to market your company. We’ve certainly been heeding our own advice. Last year we focused on ourselves almost as much as those we serve.

2008 marked a year of tremendous growth for the King Design firm. We moved our operations to a new studio location, brought on some new creative talent, forged several important strategic alliances, launched a new website, and refined our own brand strategy and marketing tactics. Quite honestly, we exhausted ourselves, but all of our hard work is already paying off in terms of new client relationships and increasing number of projects. We put our money where our mouth is because it works!

Be sure to check back frequently. In the next few months we will be featuring several new client case studies as we launch their current initiatives.

May this year bring good health, great joy, and many successful business ventures for you all!

Check out our latest project work and visit other select client projects in our portfolio

We Brand. Santa Brands. You Should Brand.

Jessica W. King — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:43:45 +0000

A brand is more than just a logo. At the heart of every company is its essence: core capabilities, values, key personnel, symbols and metaphors. The art of developing a powerful brand identity lies in pinpointing those defining qualities and bringing them to life through a creative theme. The result becomes a springboard for the company, its products, and all communications. A company’s brand identity becomes the foundation – the touchstone that all marketing and interactions come back to. That’s why it is so vitally important. And it’s from that unity and consistency that the business gains a competitive edge.

As we take a moment to indulge in the spirit of the holiday season, let’s do a quick examination of what is, quite possibly, one of the world’s strongest and most enduring brands… Santa. After all, it is Santa’s brand that inspires millions to dig deep into their pockets and purchase billions of dollars worth of retail and philanthropic gifts each year for those most important to them - even during the height of a recession! There have been many brand and marketing strategists who have come before us to dissect what it is that makes his brand so powerful; so while not a novel concept, we at King Design sat down to do our own analysis. The following is what we’ve come up with to describe the essence of Santa’s brand…

Key Messages:

Give Generously
Inspire Kindness, Goodness, and Hope
Laugh Often – ‘Ho Ho Ho’
Work Hard

Core Capabilities:

Quality products delivered on-time and on-budget
Brings joy to millions
Ability to know who’s been naughty and who’s been nice

Key Personnel:

Santa (duh)
Rudolph and the other reindeer
The elves
Mrs. Clause

Symbols:

Santa’s familiar red suit, long furry cap and black buckled belt
A sleigh filled with gifts
The North Pole
The famous ‘naughty vs. nice’ list

Color Pallete (PMS):

Main: Red-186C
Accent: Black-7547C, Cream-7499C, Green-341PC

When we compared our analysis to other studies, we found that all results were quite similar; further underscoring the power and consistency of this particular brand – everybody knows it well.

We also want to commend Santa for his ability to keep up with the times, remaining relevant through current technologies. Over the past few years, it seems Santa has developed his own website where, among other things, children can now send wish lists to the North Pole via email instead of snail mail.

While Santa’s brand is strong – there is always room for improvement. Our team suggests that a website re-design may be in order. We’ll get into the principles of effective web design in a future article…

Happy Holidays from our team to you!

To learn more about our company and services, visit our main site at kingdesignllc.com

American Heart Association’s “Start! Heart Walk 2008″ Campaign

Jessica W. King — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:24:51 +0000

Every year the American Heart Association, a non-profit organization with a mission to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, turns to King Design to create their annual “Start! Heart Walk” marketing collateral and promotional items. This year, the team worked in collaboration with the Association to design and print a brochure that was both upbeat and fun while also serving the utilitarian purpose of providing schedules, display and stand information, survivor stories, and promotional ads. The team then infused this design theme throughout all of the supporting walk items.

Project included:

Banners

Brochure – 4 color, printed on coated stock paper

Name Badge Cards

T-Shirts

Sweatshirts

Lanyards

Table Covers

Awards for Key Contributors

Learn more about our promotional marketing products and services

For more examples of our work, be sure to check out our Portfolio

To learn more about the American Heart Association and their mission, please visit their website at www.americanheart.org

Principal, King Design Runs for Leukemia

Jessica W. King — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:42:12 +0000

Mike King, Principal of King Design, recently completed the Dublin Marathon (yes, that’s 26.2 miles) to support funding for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Through Team in Training and the generosity of many; $5,600 was raised to help accelerate finding a cure for Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers right now.

To learn more about these important organizations and how you can get involved, please visit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Team in Training websites.

Is Now the Time to Market Your Company?

Jessica W. King — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:40:28 +0000

Yes, if your goal is to keep your sales pipeline full and the wheels of profitability churning, this is the time to invest in marketing your company and maximizing your brand equity. While always a good idea, in times such as these, it is absolutely imperative.

There are many ways to strengthen your brand image and keep it front and center for your target audience – something your competitors may be shying away from right now as they tighten their budgets. Lucky you! By simply investing now, you’re already getting more bang for your buck - less competitor noise! Marketing your company doesn’t have to cost a lot, but it does have to be smart.

The Right Foundation is Key

So, where to start? Well, that depends. It depends on how established your brand identity currently is. For example, how persuasive and relevant your key messages are; and the strength and cohesiveness of your current brand symbols – logo, imagery, metaphors, color palette, font treatments (yes, these things all matter… a lot). Do you fully understand your target market and what they need? Has anything recently changed within your customer base that might require a different approach?

Before you start investing in a specific marketing tactic – a website, brochure, ad, or tradeshow display, for example, it is wise to assess the brand foundation first. When a company’s brand messaging, look and feel are disjointed, the strength of a particular campaign in terms of leaving a positive, lasting impression is diminished. Dollars first invested in a solid brand foundation will ultimately save money in the long run – mainly because once you have it down, it becomes the touchstone that all marketing and interactions come back to. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time. It cuts down on future design work and this saves you money. Not to mention the likelihood of an increased response rate as your strategic, cohesive design and tactics start to resonate with your target audience. Learn more about one of the strongest brands in the market today.

Be Smart in Your Approach

If you’re reading this and thinking “yep, already got that down,” then it’s time to think about some smart ways to maintain market visibility this quarter and into 2009. While a presence on the web is a given for any successful company these days, design for print – brochures, ads, stationery, publications, and displays are still a mainstay for everyday business activity. Both web and print formats support one another creating a more dynamic branding package when used in conjunction.

Printed mass mailings may be important for your business, but, perhaps, an email campaign might also do the trick in getting your message out without the cost of paper and postage. Electronic HTML brochures, when done well, can be beautiful and the response rate statistics are measurable. This might also be the time to better optimize your website for search engines – let them do the work for you in driving traffic to your site. Think about investing in some strategic promotional items to spread some holiday cheer over the next few months while at the same time getting your message out, once again, in a creative way.

We Can Help

Of course, we wouldn’t be writing this article if we didn’t think we could help. We can. King Design is a full-service graphic design and marketing boutique headquartered in Jenkintown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. We focus on brand strategy, web design, print design, and promotional marketing. Check out our services and portfolio at kingdesignllc.com, then give us a call to discuss how we can partner with you to market your company in order to sustain the health and growth of your business during a time when your competitors may be doing just the opposite.

King Design Hosts “The Whole Shebang”

Jessica W. King — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:59:38 +0000

On September 18th, the King Design team hosted “The Whole Shebang” – an open house, professional networking, and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) fundraising event at our new studio space in Jenkintown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia.

The event was a whopping success as many clients, professional associates, friends, and family came out to celebrate, network with other local business professionals, and give generously to a worthy cause.

Photo vignette from the evening’s festivities:

Photos by Dan Z. Photography - http://www.danzphoto.net/main.php

Thanks to “The Whole Shebang” Sponsors

Jessica W. King — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:53:29 +0000

We are so grateful to the many local businesses whose donations and service contributions helped make “The Whole Shebang” event on September 18th possible – Wine tasting from the Chaddsford Winery, hors d’oeurves from West Ave Grille; photography by Dan Z. Johnson; communication marketing by VertaPointe and PhillyEdge.com; furnishings by Modern Interiors; Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Raffle prizes donated by the HIWAY Theatre, Moshulu Restaurant & Bar, Daddy-O Hotel & Restaurant, David Arnold Hair Salon, Made Ya Look Salon, Joshua’s Catering & Naturally Prepared Foods, West Ave Grille, and Tot-Time Kids.

Check out our “Shebang” sponsors:

Chaddsford Winery - www.chaddsford.com/site/

West Ave Grille – www.westavegrille.com

Modern Interiors – www.modernelife.com

HIWAY Theatre – www.hiwaytheatre.org

Moshulu Restaurant & Bar – www.moshulu.com

Daddy-O Hotel & Restaurant – www.daddyohotel.com

David Arnold Hair Salon - davidarnoldhairsalon.com

Joshua’s Catering and Naturally Prepared Foods - www.joshuascateringnaturally.com

Dan Z. Photography – danzphoto.net/main.php

VertaPointe - www.vertapointe.com

Tot-Time Kids - www.tottimekids.com

Made Ya Look Salon - www.madeyalooksalon.com

PhillyEdge.com – phillyedge.com

Philadelphia Suburban Young Professionals Network - psypn.com

King Design Moves to New Studio Location

Jessica W. King — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:23:40 +0000

As a result of a tremendous growth period, the King Design team has recently moved their operations. The new studio space is located in the heart of Jenkintown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia, and represents a new launching pad for the future growth of the firm.

New Address: 305 Old York Road, Suite 200, Jenkintown, PA 19046