Visual Lure's Graphic Design Blog Post | St. Louis Graphic Design Agency

Branding a Global Amusement Operations Company

Posted on September 12, 2018 by JUSTEN HONG

ICON Global Partners is an international amusement operations company that personally guides owners, investors and operators through the entire design, development, implementation, servicing and maintenance process. Their main focus is in developing markets, and they work with clients who aspire to be world-class in a time when service and safety expectations are continuously increasing. The company is lead by two industry leaders, Chris Perry and Tim Mow.

ICON came to Visual Lure for branding guidance and logo development, graphic design services, and WordPress website design and development. Below is some of the work we completed for ICON:

Initial Brand Exploration

When we are creating a new brand from scratch, exploring and defining the brand is an important first step before any design work is completed. This can be done through conversations or by filling out a brand framework form. Here is ICON’s brand positioning and messaging:

Brand Promise:

Proactive, transparent, personalized (hands-on) service from concept to opening, and beyond.

Brand Positioning:

Helping the leisure and amusement developer to success by listening and providing comprehensive support and technical assistance throughout the development process.
ICON wants to be the company of choice for those aspiring to achieve international standards of safety and service for their amusement facility in developing markets.
ICON is an operations speciality company for amusement facilities that aspire to be world-class in developing markets.

Master Positioning Statement:

What: The only amusement operations speciality company
How: that will hand hold (lead) through the entire process
Who: for owners/investors and operators
Where: in developing markets
Why: who aspire to be world-class
When: in a time where service and safety expectations are increasing globally

Target Audience:

Owners and investors of potential amusement facilities and mixed-use developments globally
Existing operators looking for assistance with a future redevelopment or looking to improve their operation
Amusement suppliers/manufacturers that are involved in projects which have not yet defined who the operator is
IP companies (Cartoon Network, Cirque du Soleil) that are involved in amusement operations that would like to have clearly defined design and operating standards for their brand
Hotels that are adding aquatic elements and want to ensure they are safe and operationally efficient

Brand Mission:

ICON’s brand mission is to help others who (aspire, have a desire, have a drive, want, aren’t afraid of the journey) to become (iconic, world class) in their market.

ICON’s Thought Process:

Where can we lead our customers (so that our competitors can’t follow)?
By developing strong relationships and partnerships that are built on trust, transparency and hard work. Personalized, client-centric commitment focusing on direct interaction and solving potential issues before they become problems
How can our brand help customers help themselves?
By working hand in hand, we are teaching people how to think differently
What new forms of value can we deliver?
Working hand in hand in partners in an economical way (by being based in the region) By being more than an operator and representing our clients in our own areas of expertise
How can our brand become a platform for creating customer opportunities?
Volume of key clients in region. Building brand awareness by the success of client base
How can our brand become a richer context of living?
Safer, more enjoyable facilities, with better service. Partner for future projects with an easier path of development/openings. By taking the stress burden off of the owner and/or driving higher profits through experience, knowledge and efficiency.

Brand tone of voice (Brand’s personality):

Confident
Personal/Genuine
Local
Helpful (solution focused)
Passionate

What does ICON do better than their competition? What makes ICON different?

ICON is based in their target region (Southeast Asia, which reduces travel costs and makes us easier to communicate with vs. having to speak with someone in North America or Europe)
ICON is personally involved vs. passing the work to a project manager or hiring someone other than the leaders of the company
ICON’s operators have recent operating experience in some of the most recognized water parks in the world.
ICON is not afraid to get their hands dirty and work with clients onsite
ICON offers multiple solutions through their own resources (one-stop shop)
ICON prefers a client representative approach in which they will interact with other consultancies on the client’s behalf

Final Logo Design

Here is the final logo. It features a globe made from waves – as water parks represent the core of their business. We also added a swoosh/splash under the mark to give it a sense of playfulness and motion. The typography is heavy and arched from the bottom to give it an “iconic” feel, and gradients give it a sense of depth – making the mark more fun, which is what this company is all about.

Logo Explorations

Below are a handful of logo design explorations we presented. The client requested that we use a globe, and they preferred the color blue – because a majority of their business is water park related.

Business Card Design

Website Design

Designed and developed in WordPress, the new ICON website is a fully custom, simple, clean, and easy to maintain theme. Even though it’s a pretty simple layout, we added a wave to the sticky header so that it didn’t look like a cookie cutter theme. The site is of course fully responsive, rendering beautifully on any type of device or screen. Additional features include: easy to apply column short codes for layout flexibility, an RSS industry news feed automatically pulling from an industry news resource, and an accordion services section.

We also installed and configured WordFence for added security, and WP Rocket for improved load-time speeds giving the site an A rating on both GTmetrix and Pingdom.

Visit the ICON Website »

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Package Design for Disposable Vaporizers

Posted on July 16, 2018 by JUSTEN HONG

Nui is a California based cannabis company that will soon be launching two disposable vaporizer products. One called Sunrise – that has an uplifting feel, and Sunset with a more relaxing effect. Before coming to Visual Lure, they had worked with a handful of designers on multiple packaging options, but were unsatisfied with the results. During our initial conversation, they explained that they wanted the packaging to be “simple, upscale, classy and discrete”. They didn’t want it to look like a cannabis product. In one of the owner words: “if you saw it on someone’s desk, you wouldn’t know what it was”.

We approached the design in two ways, one simple and clean, and the other a little more eye-catching.

The Clean & Simple Design Options

Below are the two ‘simple & clean’ options we presented. We used an orangish-red color to represent Sunrise, and a deep purplish-blue to represent Sunset. We incorporated sun illustrations in both – one with arrows on them to show the sun moving up and down, and the other with the sun in different locations on the label.

NUI packaging design, full label 3

NUI packaging design, full label 2

Nui simple & clean package design options

The ‘Eye-Catching” Design Option

Even though the client wanted the design to be more subtle and discrete, it still needed to be eye-catching in order to stand out from its competitors. Below is our more eye-catching design we presented. We incorporated tropical flowers as the company name, Nui – means great in Hawaiian. We also used a simple illustration of a sun, one above Sunrise and one below Sunset.

NUI packaging design, full label 1

Nui eye-catching package design option

Are you about to launch a new product?

If you are about to bring a new product to market and need help with professional branding and package design, contact Visual Lure today for a FREE quote. Don’t waste time and money hiring sub-par or entry-level designers. Get it done right the first time, and make sure buyers won’t reject your product due to poor presentation. Looking for additional packaging information, this will help: Learn more about our package design services » | view more of our packaging projects » | contact us with for FREE design quote »

How did you find us?

On a side note: Are you a business owner? If so, do you know where ALL your leads are coming from? If not, you NEED to know. How else can you measure the success of your marketing efforts and dollars. This client found us on Behance, an online platform that showcases creative work from around the world. The cost for this lead: zero dollars. Only the time it took to prepare and place projects on our Behance portfolio page.

Logo, Branding and Website Design & Development for the St. Louis HERO Network

Posted on June 21, 2018 by JUSTEN HONG

The St. Louis HERO Network is a non-for-profit online directory that promotes local first responder and military owned businesses. In addition to the business directory, users can find a help wanted section that features an up-to-date list of local police, fire and EMS departments that are currently hiring, training and classes that are offered by local fire responders (such as CPR and stroke life support), real estate listings, and a calendar of events. It also features a HELP A HERO section where you can make a donation to a local fallen first responder’s family.

The HERO Network came to Visual Lure to help build a website along with a logo and additional collaterals. The new logo features a badge, an arch, and a HERO ribbon. Icons were also included to represent the four types of members. The color palette was inspired and pulled from typical fire responder related colors.

As for the website, it was developed in WordPress using a fully custom, responsive designed theme. The back-end is extremely complex as it integrates e-commerce memberships, an approval process, member listings that can be edited, ad listings with payments, donations, an event calendar, database feeds that automatically organize and populate the directory, custom post types and more.

You can check out some of the designs below, or visit stlheronetwork.com to learn more about the network. The official launch date is June 22nd, 2018.

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Logos & Branding | Website Design & Development | Graphic Design

Visual Lure Project Featured in St. Louis AIGA Design Show 23

Posted on June 19, 2018 by JUSTEN HONG

Ever since I joined the St. Louis AIGA, while still studying Graphic Design at SIU Edwardsville, I would go to their Annual Design Show every year to see all the world-class design work coming out of Saint Louis. Eight years ago, I entered what I thought was one of my best logos, but it didn’t make the show. It discouraged me, and it wasn’t until this year that I decided to enter another piece. I am honored to share with you all that my project was selected, and one of my professional goals has been fulfilled.

When I received the email that read “Congratulations, your work has be selected to be in the AIGA St. Louis Design Show 23!” I was both excited and oddly relieved. I think the relieve came from a sense of accomplishment as I’ve had this goal for over 18 years. It also represents the second check mark off my “top three professional goal list”. While still in college, I used to dream of having a logo published in a book called LogoLounge, having a project in the AIGA Design Show, and lastly having work featured in Communication Arts.

To date, I’ve had 31 logos published in 7 different LogoLounge publications, and I can finally say that I’ve had a project in the St. Louis AIGA Design Show. I just have Communication Arts left. I share this not to brag, but to hopefully inspire other graphic designers as design really is a skill that is honed and crafted. You definitely need artistic skill and creativity, but everything else can be learned and improved upon with practice and dedication. A slight obsession with design, color, type and space helps, but if you have the foundation, you really can become a good designer. When I compare my portfolio coming out of college, to my work today, it really does confirm this statement.

This years judges included: Su Mathews Hale – a senior partner at Lippincott, Justin Ahrens – principal and creative director of Rule29, and Ilene Sandler – designer/owner of Treat Street Studios.

About the Project:

Bear River Brewing is a branding project we did for a Tampa, Florida craft beer brewer. Visual Lure actually came up with the name which is based on his son’s, Barrett (which they call Bear) and River, hence Bear River Brewing. The logo depicts a bear rowing a canoe down a river carrying a huge beer bottle with palm trees in the background as a nod to Tampa. One of our favorite pieces is the beer taps which are shaped like canoe paddles.

View the Entire Project »

Logo, Identity & Website for a St. Louis Metro East Railroad Company

Posted on March 15, 2018 by JUSTEN HONG

The Prairie Line is a St. Louis Metro East/Southern Illinois railroad, transportation and logistics company. Lead by a team of highly experienced partners, The Prairie Line prides itself on providing personalized service that often gets lost in the rail industry. Additionally, their ability to cut through red tape and deliver quick decisions (along with their cargo) sets this company apart.

Below you will find everything from the initial logo design options to their newly painted locomotives and custom WordPress website, all which Visual Lure designed.

The Logo:

The top left logo option uses a single line to make two “i”s tying the two word marks together, the top right option (which ended up being the final logo) plays off a line dividing the “P”, the bottom left logo features prairie grasses that make negative space in the type, and the last logo is a P created with a single line that also mimics railroad tracks. Below the options are the final logo lockups.

Color Palette, Typefaces & Paint Scheme:

We selected a color palette inspired by colors of prairie grasses with clean, easy to read typefaces making sure signage and locomotive numbers are readable from a distance. The paint scheme was inspired by the curve in the logo and the placement gives the locomotives a sense of motion.

Custom WordPress Website:

We wrapped up this branding project with a fully custom, responsive designed WordPress website. The site features a sticky header and menu bar for convenient navigation, a couple custom sliders for the “what makes us different” and the “leadership” sections, and an auto-populated news feed that is fed from the fully integrated blog.

CLICK HERE to view more of our branding projects » or CONTACT US today to learn more about any of our branding and design service!

New Website, Catalog & Print Ads for a Colorado Cattle Tag Company

Posted on September 28, 2017 by JUSTEN HONG

Ritchey Livestock ID, based out of a Brighton, Colorado, is the creator and manufacture of the World’s greatest cattle tags! What makes theirs the best? Ritchey tags are 100% fade proof. How? Their tags have a core color with 2 outside colors. The colors are NOT layers, they can not peel apart or separate because they are made out of one solid piece of material. When engraved, or heat stamped, the core color is revealed – therefor the tag number, brand, or whatever information that has been applied never wear offs.

Visual Lure was recently contracted by Ritchey to redesign their e-commerce website. We were in charge of the design, while another company handled the development. The new responsive designed website was built in WordPress using WooCommerce for the online store. Immediately after completing the design of the website, Ritchey re-engaged us to design a new product catalog along with multiple print ads. See samples below:

WordPress/WooCommerce Website Redesign

Ritchey Responsive website design

Like so many other websites, their old site was not mobile friendly, and with Google’s new mobile first indexing and over 1/2 of all web browsing done on smart phones – this was an issue. The new site, now utilizing a responsive design, renders beautifully on all devices.

New Sample Product Website Page

The new e-commerce store, powered by WooCommerce, has been simplified and streamlined to help improve conversion rates. We also implemented conditional logic on many of the product order forms to make the checkout process fell less daunting.

Old Homepage Design:

Old Ritchey Website design

The old website, which looked like a generic template, had tons of issues. It was not responsive, the checkout process was confusing and not user-friendly, and the design was void of all character.

New Homepage Design:

New Ritchey Website Design

The new design now has a rustic aesthetic using weathered wood, old paper, leather and cow hide textures along with cattle photos to appeal more to ranchers, their core target market. In additional to the website, Visual Lure also digitally recreated all their cattle tags to ensure correct colors and product consistency.

Catalog Print Design

Immediately after completing the design of the website, Ritchey hired us to redesign their product catalog. Other than the website, this is their main marketing tool, and like the old site – it too lacked character. Here is the cover and a sample spread from their old catalog:

Old Ritchey Product Catalog

Building a Visually Cohesive Brand

Using the same rustic wood background, old paper and leather textures from the new website, the catalog now complements it, and becomes the first step in the development of creating a visually cohesive brand. Below you can see the new cover, a new ad for their Hook Doctor product, and a couple sample spreads (along with some of the new digitally rendered cattle tags).

New Ritchey Catalog Design

Print Ads

Lastly, Ritchey engaged us to design some of their print ads. Here is the first one we designed announcing the release of their new pink tags:

Ritchey Pink Tag Print Ad

Ad Redesign (Before)

Ritchey Bw Ad1

Ad Redesign (After)

Ritchey Bw Ad 2

Whether you need help with a new e-commerce website, print/graphic design, or assistance with creating a visually cohesive brand – contact Visual Lure today for a FREE quote.

Commemorative Magazine Design for Blackburn College

Posted on September 19, 2017 by JUSTEN HONG

Visual Lure was recently contracted by Blackburn College to design a commemorative magazine to celebrate a highly successful fundraising campaign. Blackburn College, located in Carlinville, IL, was founded in 1837 and is affiliated with the United States Presbyterian Church. It provides a coeducational student body with a rigorous, distinctive, and affordable liberal arts education that prepares graduates to be responsible, productive citizens.

The magazine features a clean, corporate, institutional design with a financial summary, infographics about the campaign, large images with ample white space, and inspiring staff & alumni quotes spread throughout the magazine. Check out some of the main pages and spreads below.

Blackburn Commemorative Magazine Design

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