Archive for the ‘Design’ Category


20
Sep 11

Process case study: Molasses Reef, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve

Overview
Molasses Reef is a new above-luxury brand by The Ritz-Carlton which consists of a boutique hotel and villa-style residences spread along 1.5 miles of pristine white sand beaches on the uninhabited island of West Caicos, in the Turks & Caicos Islands. The marketing materials needed to communicate what life would be like as a home owner on a deserted island, serviced and managed by The Ritz-Carlton.

Results
50% of Phase I development was sold within one year of a partnership with Courtney & Co, and designs were awarded grand prize in a national design competition.

Download case study PDF (2.7 mb)

09
Sep 11

Process case study: Example of website design process

Overview
Here’s a good example of our web design process. By separating site design (content & navigation) with visual design (visuals, colors, layout) we are able to efficiently develop sites that are both visually appealing, yet functional— all the while helping to improve business performance. Here’s a few images to help walk you through part of the process.

Results
The CPC site was widely received, and the addition of a Member Forum and Resource Library was helpful to CPC as they work to educate and set best-use practices for protecting children in crises situations around the world.

Download case study PDF (2.3 mb)

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05
Sep 11

Process case study: Logos for the Caribbean Resort Cap Juluca

Overview
Located along the intimate crescent of Maundays Bay on the exclusive island of Anguilla, Cap Juluca’s Greco-Moorish architecture is as timeless as the sea itself. And thanks to a $28-million renovation, Cap Juluca is tailored to today’s travelers and seekers of solace, yet focused on improving your overall resort experience. Courtney & Co was tasked with developing new brand identities for 6 venues throughout the resort. Below are three examples of logo explorations, along with the final logo selected for each.

Results
Cap Juluca is a top 10 Caribbean resort, as reported from Conde Nast Traveler. Working in tandem with new renovations, the resort has fresh logos reflected of the guest experience one would expect from a resort of this stature and beauty.

Download Cap Juluca case study PDF (4.1mb)

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04
Apr 11

Process Case Study: Pilot Employee Benefits

Overview
Pilot Employee Benefits is a local Long Island employee benefits company that wanted to look more professional to compete against larger more established regional companies. Formally known as Rosenberg & Senders, the owners wanted to develop a new name and brand identity that better fit their business goals. The resulting name of Pilot Employee Benefits was the cornerstone for creating a new brand identity, website and marketing materials.

Results
“It not only helped us improve sales, most recently by an increase of 50%, but made it much easier to recruit new employees.”    —Josh Senders, Partner, Pilot

Download the presentation PDF (1.6 MB)

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29
Mar 11

Process Case Study: 344 Bowery

Overview
344 Bowery is a conversion of a historic building in the new and growing residential Bowery neighborhood. The building is being converted into full floor loftstyle condominiums. The vibrant, trendy, and young neighborhood was to be reflected in the design of the website and sales and marketing material.

Results
The sale material captured the personality of the building and the neighborhood resulting in complete sell out of the 5 available units.

Download the pdf

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10
Feb 11

Five Acre Farms Launches “Local Milk” in Brooklyn

Courtney & Co designed the brand identity and packaging for “Local Milk” the first product to launch for Five Acre Farms. It can be seen in three Union Market locations in Brooklyn.  Stop by Union Market in Brooklyn and buy some “Local Milk”, milk so fresh you can still here it Mooing.

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Five Acre Farms is a brand of supermarket-ready produce and products that are grown and prepared within 275 miles of where they are sold. Whether found in New York, Chicago or Washington, DC, all of our products will be true to our mission: to bring local food from farm to table, to bring the farmers market to the supermarket.

06
Oct 10

Early work for Babalua Beach brand identity

We’re in the process of designing a brand identity and web site for Babalua Beach, a 6 acre development on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Here’s a sneak peak at some of our work.

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Brand driver boards and a close up of the logo

Early web site exploration

Early web site exploration

01
Sep 10

buildOn’s After School Campaign Site Launches

We worked with buildOn to develop a site dedicated to fundraising for their After School Programs, which they run in 118 high schools across the country. The site features student profiles of all 118 schools along with the ability to donate directly to the school of your choosing. Each school program costs approximately $20,000 and you can see which schools have been funded and which still need more donations. The site is part of buildOn’s efforts to show more transparency and draw attention to the needs of their after school programs. Visit http://www.buildOnafterschool.com and check it out.

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09
Aug 10

Four questions designers get asked most

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1. What do you do again?
It’s easiest to explain what we do by using the analogy of a doctor patient relationship. The patient, in this case a business, has symptoms that are causing him to feel pain. Symptoms like slow sales, poor awareness or an image that looks out of step. The patient recognizes something is wrong—can’t fix it on his own—and makes an appointment to see a doctor, in this case a Graphic Design professional. The doctor asks a lot of questions to get a better understanding of the pain the patient is feeling. The doctor listens carefully and using his professional education and experience comes to a conclusion called the diagnoses. After careful consideration, the doctor prescribes a path to recover. The prescription, if taken regularly and to completion will make the pain go away and make your business, I mean patient, feel better.
2. How can it help me?
On any given day a business leader comes to the realization that there is a communication challenge that they need to solve and it can’t be done in house. They need an outside point of view. A fresh perspective. A good graphic designer has worked with hundreds of business leaders in a variety of industries and can offer expertise advice and creative solutions that cut through the clutter and communicate more effectively. They can be that outside pair of eyes and ears to help you figure it out and offer a fresh solution.
3. What’s it going to cost?
Budgets vary and every communication challenge can be solved a hundred different ways. I’ve seen businesses solve problems with beautifully simple and low cost solutions, and others with expensive marketing campaigns. Clients that are experienced marketers have a budget in mind, and successful design firms can choose a solution that has impact for most budgets. A good creative firm know how to stretch budgets to get the biggest impact.
4. What kind of experience do you have in my industry?
It would be impossible to have experience in every industry, but the good firms have enough experience in a variety of industries to bring practical knowledge and perspective to each project and marketing challenge encountered. It doesn’t matter if it’s the brand identity for a 120 square mile island in the Bahamas to a brand identity for an international non profit, the problem solving approach and principles of design are the same.

1. What do you do and how do we work together?

It’s easiest to explain what we do by using the analogy of a doctor patient relationship. The patient, in this case a business, has symptoms that are causing him to feel pain. Symptoms like slow sales, poor awareness or an image that looks out of step. The patient recognizes something is wrong—can’t fix it on his own—and makes an appointment to see a doctor, in this case a Graphic Design professional. The doctor asks a lot of questions to get a better understanding of the pain the patient is feeling. The doctor listens carefully and using his professional education and experience comes to a conclusion called the diagnoses. After careful consideration, the doctor prescribes a path to recover. The prescription, if taken regularly and to completion will make the pain go away and make your business, I mean patient, feel better.


2. How can it help me?

On any given day a business leader comes to the realization that there is a communication challenge that they need to solve and it can’t be done in house. They need an outside point of view. A fresh perspective. A good graphic designer has worked with hundreds of business leaders in a variety of industries and can offer expertise advice and creative solutions that cut through the clutter and communicate more effectively. They can be that outside pair of eyes and ears to help you figure it out and offer a fresh solution.


3. What’s it going to cost?

Budgets vary and every communication challenge can be solved a hundred different ways. I’ve seen businesses solve problems with beautifully simple and low cost solutions, and others with expensive marketing campaigns. Clients that are experienced marketers have a budget in mind, and successful design firms can choose a solution that has impact for most budgets. A good creative firm know how to stretch budgets to get the biggest impact.


4. What kind of experience do you have in my industry?

It would be impossible to have experience in every industry, but the good firms have enough experience in a variety of industries to bring practical knowledge and perspective to each project and marketing challenge encountered. It doesn’t matter if it’s the brand identity for a 120 square mile island in the Bahamas to a brand identity for an international non profit, the problem solving approach and principles of design are the same.

17
May 10

Designers doing good

I’ve noticed the trend of more designers turning their talents to giving back. This might not be a new trend, but merely something I have noticed recently because my own interests have turned here. Nevertheless, there’s one design firm I particularly love to follow because their passion for design is equally matched with their passion for doing good. Tiffany Handshoe Bachman, a former Courtney & Co all-star, and her sister Leslie Handshoe Suter have started a design firm focused on creative services for companies who “work smart” and “give back”.

The firm called Handshoe Design Collaborative (http://handshoe.com), came galloping out of the gate in February with a successful t-shirt campaign challenging their clients, colleagues and friends to “Love what matters”. The campaign called “2010love” urges people to make a positive change in their lives and the lives of others. You can order a t-shirt (a portion of each shirt sold goes to charity) or read all about it on their blog (http://www.2010-love.com). Handshoe Collaborative has struck a chord and has successfully sold t-shirts across the US and internationally in countries like France, Norway and China. Congratulations!

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