TwelveStone Health began as a humble startup with an inconsistent brand identity, an outdated website, and little digital marketing presence. As the client was essentially a solo founder with a small team, they lacked even a company name when they approached us.
The Need
Our client required a complete transformation into a well-established company, starting with a new company name and a corporate identity that signified growth, regardless of their current size.
The Proposal
Our first step was brainstorming a suitable company name. Drawing inspiration from the founder’s Christian values, we identified a favorite biblical verse that led to the creation of “White Stone Health.” We then crafted the logo, designed essential print collateral, and developed a fully responsive website with compelling copy. Experience design played a crucial role in this process. Following this, we meticulously planned and implemented a multi-channel digital marketing strategy.
The Outcome
Throughout our partnership with TwelveStone, we consistently met and exceeded the client’s expectations. White Stone Health has continued to thrive, building upon the foundation we established at the outset. This strong foundation has demonstrated that strategic planning for future growth is a valuable and enduring investment.
Lessons Learned
Our upfront research and planning for TwelveStone Health proved to be invaluable. Regardless of the company’s rapid expansion into new territories, our corporate identity and design remained adaptable. One challenge we encountered was that the branding, while reflecting the gentle sentiment of the biblical verse it was inspired by, required adjustments in terms of color and saturation to accommodate various applications as the company grew.
Simply put, white space is an empty area surrounding a design element. And don’t be mislead by “white” and “empty” because the design element isn’t always surrounded by a field of pristine white, but possibly a texture like grass or sky or some other regular background. But the effect is that in relation to the featured design element, the area around it is empty. “White space” is simply a convenient term.
Why Is White Space a “Beautiful Thing”?
Now you know WHAT it is, WHY is it? And what makes it a “beautiful thing”? To understand why designers have relied on white space since the beginning of Design, one must understand its effect on a viewer.
Because we’re basically animals, when any of us with normal, healthy vision looks at a designed piece, they generally see elements in a predictable order:
Faces
Color
Symbols
Edges
Text
You can imaging how difficult things could get for a designer if this order were set in stone. Fortunately, we have work-arounds and among the most powerful of them is white space.
There’s one thing I left off the list above because it’s not really a thing, but the phenomenon of comparison. You see, more than any specific type of element, humans pick on differences more strongly than about anything else. Our eye shoots right to the piece of spinach between the boss’s teeth. We can’t NOT see the one out-of-step solider. We notice the child among adults at the business meeting. And it seems there is no turning off command of our focus.
And that’s where the magic of white space finally comes into play. If you need the text to be seen before or more prominently than, say, the model who is speaking, leverage white space in two directions:
Framing. By placing the element of focus—the text, in this case—in a semi-central location in the design and by giving it a lot of room on all sides, we see it as special or important.
Diminishing. Conversely, by removing white space from around a design elements that might otherwise steal attention, we communicate to a viewer that the element is less consequential.
Of course there are better and worse ways to utilize the concept of white space but at its root, it really is that simple.
A blunt but successful example of using white space is how we always see “Got Milk” campaign or the Nike swoosh presented, by themselves and with ample space around them. But an experienced designer will consider white space in every aspect of design. The spacing between headlines and paragraphs, the tightness of lines in the title of a book, or how much space there is between elements of a business card are all examples of how white space is a conscious decision a seasoned professional makes at every point of design.
It is often the single most notable difference between design work that a viewer will subconsciously categorize as “pro” versus “amateur”.
Posters are big, colorful, attention-grabbing and relatively inexpensive to product. However, the particulars of their design and production present unique challenges best left to a professional.
Regarding design, amateurs or less-experienced designers are frequently tempted to fill a poster corner-to-corner with text and images until the viewer’s eye is has no clear starting point or natural flow.
Regarding production, due to their size, posters often require special printing vendors, paper stock, mounting, and framing.
Since posters are such a good value-for-effect proposition, let me handle the design, production, and delivery of your posters to ensure optimal quality and effect.
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