Lucy Takes Root

Brand ID for New Napa Valley Restaurant

Reflecting Executive Chef Victor Scargle’s locally-sourced organic approach, the modern logo is simple and stunning. The menu system’s natural wood textures and elegant typography enhance the restaurant’s farm-to-table style. With the fresh menu changing often, all restaurant menus are kept up-to-date by utilizing a Word template system, then printing in-house on preprinted stock. Experience the brand first hand by stopping in at Lucy Restaurant and Bar in the Bardessono Hotel, Napa Valley.

What do CNN, Lollapalooza and Volkswagen all have in common?

They all use WordPress. What started as an open source blogging tool and publishing platform is quickly becoming the tool of choice for Content Management Systems used for everything from the coffee shop on the corner to major news outlets. Not to mention Katy Perry and Jay-Z.

As it turns out, here at e! we are on the cutting edge. We've been busy creating custom web solutions using WordPress for clients for the past few years. Check out our lastest project for Plymouth Housing Group's Seattle Dances. It's even optimized for mobile devices!

Contact us to find out how we can help you build your business through the Web.

Just for Fun - Bumbershoot Ads

It's not everyday that we get to design something that resembles a rock poster, so when Polygon NW asked us to create an ad for the Bumbershoot guide we were thrilled. We had fun coming up with ideas that would catch the attention of the concert-goers and be appropriate to the event. 

Here are some of our comps, starting with the the winning design. Enjoy!

All images © Effective Design Studio

Design Win!

261 sexy miles to the gallon. Volkswagon's XL1 concept car:

"...highly anticipated XL1 hybrid concept car: with a look that's part Prius, part Tesla, and part... DeLorean (dig those split windows and gullwing doors, Marty!), the XL1 appears to be stuffing 10 pounds of futurism into a five-pound bag."

Read all about it at Co.Design's blog.

e! Wins Silver Award at Nationals

Effective Design Studio is excited to announce that we are a 2010 Nationals Awards Finalist and recipient of a Silver Award for the "Best Website for a Community" for One Main Street's website: www.onemainstreet.com. The Silver Award Winners are the top vote recipients in each category and are finalists for the Gold Award, winners of which will be announced and presented at The Nationals Awards ceremony on January 19, 2010 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Now in its 29th year, The Nationals pays tribute to superior new-home sales and marketing achievements by individual sales and marketing professionals, homebuilders and associates, and sales and marketing councils. The competition is presented by the National Sales and Marketing Council (NSMC), a council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

We are proud of the work we are doing on the One Main Street website and appreciate the recognition. These luxury condos in Bellevue, WA have been fun to market, and the development and sales teams have been wonderful to work with. We look forward to the awards ceremony in January and are hoping to bring home the Gold!

A Fun and Effective DIY Project...

Here at Effective Design Studio we do a lot of Real Estate Marketing design work. The Real Estate market is on the rebound, but competition is still fierce to make your product stand out from the rest.

I’m personally trying to sell my condo right now (great timing eh?) and my Realtor suggested some large artwork to highlight the 19’ walls in my unit. I decided to make some pieces myself, a little DIY project. It turned out to be so simple I thought I would share it with you. Now you can make your own fabric wall art. Enjoy!

Supplies:
* Fabric
* Canvas Stretcher Frame Bars (art supply store)
* Staple Gun
* Measuring Tape
* Scissors

I got my fabric at IKEA, they have big bold prints that are perfect for this. Here are some of the options that they had:

Measure your wall to see which size will fit best. Choose your frame sizes. I went with two 44” squares. You can mix and match stretcher bar frame pieces to create any size you wish. They snap together, so minimal assembly is required.

Iron your fabric and lay it out on the floor. Place your assembled frame on top of it and make sure the print lines up in the frame they way you like. Trim off any excess and staple the remaining fabric to the frame. Pull the fabric tight so it is smooth on the frame. Begin in the center of each side and work your way out with the staples. For the corners – fold them like you are wrapping a present.

Voila! You now have a new piece of artwork! Here's how mine turned out:

Good luck and have fun!