Geoff is also a guitarist and composer, writing and recording guitar based instrumental rock / jazz music. Please check out his newest compositions here: www.soundcloud.com/electricflambeaux

Project: Website Design & Dev
Client: Dana Music
Art Director: Geoff & Dana

www.danamusic.com

We recently revitalized the brand name, Dana, and custom built a great looking, successful website for Dana Music. Dana Sutcliffe is Dana, a master luthier and instrument setup and repair specialist. Before designing and developing this website, he had a wix.com flash website, which did not reflect his brand properly. In fact, it didn’t reflect his brand at all. It used a different logo altogether.

After learning more about Dana, I discovered that he was the Dana. I had seen his logo on guitars and guitar pickups since I was a young kid, browsing in music stores. Dana is an internationally recognized brand name, with some amazing products and accomplishments associated with the name. However, I did not initially make the connection between my new client, Dana Sutcliffe and the Dana brand instruments. I made this connection when I first walked into his shop and saw an award for the Alvarez Dana Scoop electric guitar. I was familiar with the guitar, and instantly made the connection that this Dana, was that Dana.

This is, I wouldn’t have known this from his website, unless I looked through the photo gallery to spot that instrument, among many others. The logo on his site was totally different than the recognizable Dana logo used on his instruments. I knew that it would be important to revitalize the Dana brand name.

We built a beautiful website to properly represent the Dana brand name, to appeal to multiple target audiences and be easily managed thanks to WordPress. The interface is custom designed, using a sleek contemporary style made up of woodgrain and gradient images. Customers’ instruments are featured on the home page, along with a testimonial from them. All photographs and woodgrain images were photographed and tweaked in Photoshop to tile properly. The site is built using hand coded HTML, CSS and PHP.

Please have a look at www.danamusic.com

Project: Brand Identity Design
Client: ITMS, Inc.
Art Director: Geoff Matheson

www.itms-turf.com

At Geoff Matheson Studio, we strive to create meaningful, iconic logo and identity design for brands that suffer from under-achieving design. Through our design process, we create symbolic identities that properly communicate the values of the brand, create recognition amongst their audience and elevate them from their competition. These aesthetic changes are extremely valuable, and can greatly impact their bottom line.

This is evident in a recent project we completed for the organic lawn and plant care company, Integrated Turf Management Systems, Inc. After our initial consultation, it was apparent that ITMS suffered from an unprofessional brand (or lack thereof). Their brand used a confusing, dated logo and was used inconsistently on materials that did not communicate the value and benefits of their services.

At the beginning of the branding process, we discovered who ITMS was, what makes them unique and competitive, and who their audience was. ITMS provides superior lawn and plant care service that uses 100% natural, organic proprietary products. By evaluating a customer’s property, and providing a custom tailored plan, they create an ecologically balanced environment, right in their back yard! Through these lawn and plant treatments, ITMS is helping the environment – one yard at a time.

The new ITMS brand identity was inspired by the phrase “Green Plants, Blue Water” which is a cause and effect statement that became the voice of their brand. Essentially, through the use of ITMS’s services, you will help to create a greener environment (figuratively and literally) which in turn creates a healthier Earth.

After the initial discovery phase, we set to sketching thumbnails and creating digital comps. We had already defined our color palette of green and blue, providing a natural, organic aesthetic. We also knew that we needed an iconic logomark, that could be used in conjunction with the logotype “ITMS” or the full name “Integrated Turf Management Systems.” We always aim to create versatile brand identities that can be used in a variety of applications, while maintaining consistency of communication and appearance.

Our early comps included abstract representations of green landscapes and plants, blue water and sky. Upon presenting these preliminary logo comps, and several others, it was clear that the third option was the strongest, communicated our message appropriately, and would present ITMS as a high-end company. This was a huge improvement from the old logo!

After refining this mark, looking at multiple colors and typography options, and creating comped-up marketing collateral with the new logo as tests – we had our logo. Following the design of the logo, we went to work on crafting the brand identity. The identity uses consistent visual attributes to form part of the overall brand. We created the various versions of the brand identity, to work in multiple situations on different applications. We then went to work creating the stationery, marketing collateral, vehicle graphics, signage, apparel and website. Each piece was carefully crafted using the new brand identity, resulting in their overall corporate image.

Thanks for checking out the branding process used at Geoff Matheson Studio. While we always try to make our jobs short and sweet, they are much more complex and involved than this post suggests. We create hundreds of thumbnails, and dozens of digital comps – in order to achieve our goals and objectives.

Please feel free to leave comments!

Geoff Matheson Studio is now working out of the coIN Loft in Wilmington, Delaware. Our main studio is still in Bear, however, we are meeting clients and developing new relationships, during this exciting time, in Wilmington. Please stop by and say hello or contact me to set up a meeting.

Check out the coIN Loft here: www.thecoinloft.com and be sure to take a look at all the pros that work here!

The website content previously seen on this site in the multiple portfolios, has all been moved to the blog. All of the writing and featured projects will be featured throughout the blog, and new projects will be added.

The main portfolio will be condensed to feature a cohesive slideshow of new and recent projects. Please browse through the content and feel free to leave comments!

Project: Website Design & Development
Client: Salero
Art Director: Geoff Matheson & Dawn Horton

www.saleroonthebeach.com

Salero website home page during the day

Salero website interior page during the day

Salero website home page at night

Salero website interior page at night

This is a project we recently finished for a venue in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware – Salero. We wanted to capture the beauty and awesome view that you see at Salero. The venue is very elegant, with beautiful hardwood floors, and a fantastic view of the Atlantic Ocean through very large windows. Overall, it feels open, airy and, well.. majestic! We successfully captured these feelings through this website design.

The experience you have when viewing this website is pleasant and should feel relaxed and not stressful. As most wedding and event planners are women, the site appeals to the feminine sensibility. And because planning any event is perhaps very stressful, we wanted to communicate Salero as a stress relieving service – as they will take care of every detail of your event – and also provide a break from the stress and provide inspiration and hope through beautiful graphics and photographs. Any visitor to this site should feel inspired by what their event can be like.

Another compelling feature of this site is that it has two different appearances. During the day, between 8am and 8pm, the scene is a beautiful beach in the day, with a bright sun shining. However, at night, between 8pm and 8am, the beach turns to night and the sun is replaced by a huge moon. This is not only a nifty detail, but it communicates and represents Salero, as they are available for both the day and night. The Salero client is also going to view the site multiple times, as Salero provides plenty of excellent content, photographs as well as interactive booking and menu choices in their booking section. This Salero client will come back to the site many times while researching and planning their event, and will probably visit during the day and then come back later at night to be greeted by a full moon and the beach at night.

Another unique feature of a custom designed website done by Geoff Matheson Studio. And not only are these unique features aesthetically beautiful, but it makes sense and will have a positive effect on any business’s bottom line.

This website was designed and developed with XHTML, CSS & PHP, using WordPress as a CMS and SlideShowPro Director.

More often than not, we see great businesses, offering excellent services that suffer from having a poorly designed logo and brand identity. The majority of businesses that falter from having a poorly crafted identity do not even realize it.

A well crafted logo, and brand identity, is the foundation for whom the identity represents. It is the most important piece of marketing collateral, which will be used the most, and should not be overlooked or quickly disregarded as purely aesthetic. While a logo and identity does have enormous aesthetic value, it is moreso a means to communicate the essence and intrinsic value of the company, business or organization. Your identity is just that – your identity; your face shown to the world; the one graphic or image that represents all that you are.

The value of a well crafted logo and identity can be priceless. This value increases over time, as a successful logo will create brand recognition and customer loyalty. Not to mention that it will aesthetically present the business in a professional manner.

If you are a business owner with a dated logo, that maybe you or your secretary created when you first started your business 25 years ago, you should consider having a professional designer and branding expert redesign your identity. You will ultimately receive the best return on investment (ROI) of any marketing endeavor you pursue.

Rebranding Example – Woodin + Associates

The following images give a look at a recent rebranding project for Woodin + Associates. Their old logo and identity was inconsistent, dated and nonsensical. The lockup used an art deco style typeface, and provided a look that was hardly 21st century. The new brand identity is cohesive, professional and now presents them as a contemporary firm.

Before Rebranding

Woodin + Associates Old Logo

Woodin + Associates Old Identity – Business Card

Woodin + Associates Old Website

After Rebranding

Woodin + Associates New, Rebranded Logo

Woodin + Associates Rebranded Identity – Stationery

Woodin + Associates Rebranded & Redesigned Website

This is the beginning of an indepth look at the value of having a well crafted logo and brand identity. Please check back regularly to read more. Also check out the logo design and branding work from Geoff Matheson Studio.

Check out the new blog, where you can read about my thoughts on graphic and website design, development and other various topics. I will be adding new posts frequently, so please bookmark the page and check back frequently.

Geoff Matheson Studio Blog

I’ve dedicated the past year and a half to learning web development, building several different types of websites along the way. My web skills have progressed immensely since this time, and I now make my living almost exclusively designing and building websites. I have fallen in love with the web and everything that goes with it. I got my start as a print designer, studying communications design at The Delaware College of Art and Design and The Pratt Institute. I took one web design class back in ’02, but it was more of a theory and history class.

When I first fell in love with the web, I was drawn to everything that was Adobe Flash. Perhaps it was because it was popular at the time, but I always loved the look and the experience of a Flash site. Not necessarily the long, drawn out intro splash pages, but the overall experience it provided for the user. I loved how you can use animated timeline, create transitions between content and use preloaders. The sites I was drawn to created this overall experience for the user.

Now, as I’ve matured as a web developer and designer, I’ve quickly learned that every project is different and therefore requires different tools to get that specific job done right. While there are certainly projects where a Flash site would work, the majority of the type of work I do needs to be done using html, css and CMS’s like WordPress. Don’t get me wrong, I love designing in html and css. But I want to be able to create that same user experience with all tools.

What I want, is to create powerful websites, using WordPress, that provide a cleaner, smoother user experience. I want that same smooth quality that a well done Flash site provides. I want to be able to use page transitions and preloaders. I hate the loading of content that you see when visiting a standard html site, and the FOUT (Flash of Unstyled Text) that you see when using @font-face typography. I want the web site to provide a smooth experience, from the home page, to any other link on the site.

If anyone out there has recommendations, please feel free to comment. I have researched a few options.

1. Using XML-RPC with WordPress and a Flash front-end. I have been trying to get this to work, but unfortunately have not been able to successfully integrate WordPress posts into a Flash front-end. I am already using a Flash based image CMS, SlideShow Pro, for many of my sites, and want to continue to use it in the future.

2. Using AJAX to load the internal links of a website into itself, while leaving certain content as is and not reloading it on each new page load. This is really cool, and there are excellent tutorials for how to do this at www.css-tricks.com but for the page links to work properly, you must use specific javascript to enable deep linking through the use of hashtags. While this seems to work well for a WordPress site, if you try to use any Flash within that site, it will not load at all. I’m not sure exactly why this is, but believe it is because of the embed javascript files used for that Flash SWF file.

So anyway, my goals and direction for where I want to take my websites in the future, is to provide a smooth user experience. I want to eliminate page loading nonsense, and make every aspect of it clean. I love how you can use preloaders in Flash. Can you use preloaders for html content?

I also know that with the advent and integration of HTML5 and CSS3, that a smooth user experience is easily attainable. And I also understand the limitations of using Flash for websites – from the mobile phone issues to SEO.

But is it too much to ask to be able to create beautiful websites, that can provide this amazing experience, from start to finish?

I would love it if some of you out there could comment and provide examples of websites that you think provide an amazing user experience, that don’t use Flash. Or perhaps someone could help me to build Flash websites with an excellent CMS, like WordPress.

Thank you.