Category: Development

On August 26, 2014 | By Maryellen Lazzaro | Branding, Clients, Design, Development, Extended Care, Invitations

Creating a Brand for an Annual Event

Clever branding made an annual event stand out among the many hosted in the tristate region each year. The Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation hosted an annual spring fundraising golf tournament and yearly, in the dead of winter, they sent out save-the-date cards. Using stock photography and Photoshop techniques, Maryellen Lazzaro created a snowman from golf balls and golf clubs with a Silvercrest logo emblazoned on its body and a Silvercrest baseball cap jauntily perched on its head. The incongruous idea of considering a warm-weather event in the midst of the cold season was made logical and memorable by this frankly adorable character. Sometimes he would show up on the save-the-date card in silhouette, sometimes just popping in from the side of the card, sometimes front and center.

The actual invitation, mailed in the spring, featured the important element of the snowman–the golf ball. From year to year, the client and the tournament participants looked forward to greeting the Silvercrest snowman through Maryellen’s playful imagery and effective branding. The snowman made the card, and the event, instantly recognizable in the slew of other save-the-date cards that receivers get in the mail.

> If you need help with branding an event, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.

On January 22, 2014 | By Maryellen Lazzaro | Annual Reports, Brochures, Clients, Design, Development, Editorial, Hospitals

Case Study: Major Capabilities Brochure

Several years ago, Lazzaro Designs was retained to create what the client called an “annual report” for the Department of Orthopaedics at Beth Israel Medical Center. After an in-depth meeting where we asked questions and listened, we helped the client focus their attention on creating a major capabilities brochure, with all the impact and pizzaz of an annual, but without the “financials” that the word “annual” implies. We understood their needs were threefold: 1) drive patient referrals, 2) make a splash in the orthopedic community at large given their status as a renowned center of excellence, and 3) provide material for philanthropic giving. Here’s specifically what we did:

Voice: Lazzaro Designs organized the 36-page book primarily around the subdivisions with a hefty physician directory at the end. Our writer undertook the massive job of interviewing all the key players of each division and consolidating all the salient points into concise, professional, but accessible copy. She also wrote the tagline for the book that captured the department’s mission.

Vision: Maryellen created spreads that enticed with eye-popping design that relied on a savvy mix of photography, illustration and exciting use of color to reflect the dynamic department. She created a theme using a significant image or object for each spread to illustrate the subdivision—an xray image for joint reconstruction, various balls for sports medicine, a teddy bear for pediatrics. She also designed a stunning cover featuring the perfect anatomical illustration to convey the book’s thematic tagline: “Restoring movement, Repairing damage, Rebuilding bodies.”

Getting it Done: Lazzaro Designs project-managed the enormous effort, including coordinating the interview and approval processes. We also retained and coordinated the photographer for all the significant photos throughout the book, arranging and facilitating the individual physician appointments during a series of headshots days, and providing numerous on-site facilitation and art direction for all such efforts.

The client was thrilled with the impressive result, which had all the gravitas of an annual report, but a longer shelf life. For years, the department proudly used the book and witnessed a boost in referrals and donor dollars.

> If you need help creating a capabilities brochure or annual report, give Lazzaro Designs a call or shoot us an email.