The old Osseo logo was designed in 1997, and 11 years later with lots of exciting changes on the way… Osseo needed a new logo! This was such an important project for us at Prime, and exciting for me personally because I grew up close to Osseo and I went to Osseo Junior & Senior High.

It’s so exciting to work on a project that affects the community you live in, and it’s exciting to see the logo I designed popping up everywhere in Osseo! The word discover is in a handwriting font and keeps in very friendly. The city wanted to have the 2 elements that people remember Osseo for - the clock tower with the flower baskets, and the church steeple. The new brand identity for Osseo will be repeatedly communicated, on all printed material including: stationary, signage, newsletter and of course on their new website as well!

As part of their new look Prime has just also finished the NEW “Osseo Outlook!” The look for the new newsletter incorporates the city’s new logo and some bright yellow sun rays shining from behind the city. The light yellow give this a bright, fresh, clean look. While designing the logo I was told the name Osseo means “There is light.” I really wanted the newsletter to have cheerful, positive feel to it, and I think it will be well received! The businesses in Osseo were SO excited about the opportunity to advertise in the newsletter it sold out almost instantly!

Check back to find out the progress on the new website!

In March we asked Leslie Byzewski , a personal trainer and speaker, to come speak to our company about general fitness and heart health. In just one hour, she had our group discussing our resolutions/goals, how to manage change and even got us up doing exercises with resistance bands.

It is interesting how we look to our co-workers as team members to get our daily jobs done, but it quickly became apparent how they can also help with personal fitness goals. A big part of getting fit is the education. We know certain foods can be bad for us, but learning why and what is in it is very eye opening. To help us continue on this journey of fitness, we asked Leslie to come back and speak about nutrition.

To keep us on track and make it a little more fun, we will be starting a 6-Week Prime Fitness Challenge. During the next six weeks we will be tracking points based on a daily physical challenge, a weekly nutritional challenge and offering a 30 minute fitness class once a week led by Leslie. For each item we complete, we will get points to work towards a grand prize!

Be sure to check back as our active employees will be sharing their experiences throughout the 6-Week Prime Fitness Challenge.

Looking to open up the communication between themselves and Credit Union professionals, CUhire decided to add a blog. Readers can visit their blog or subscribe to the RSS feed to receive up-to-date information on employment & recruiting trends and best practice information specific to the Credit Union Industry.

Since launching their blog on March 10, 2008, the average daily users has increased 62%! CUhire  has done a great job of continually adding new posts & bringing the latest credit union news to it’s readers. They also have started a weekly tradition on Wednesday’s called "Weekly Water Cooler Talk & Links" which summarizes recruiting news and hot topics from other Credit Union sites, newsletters and blogs. Check out this week’s post.

We look forward to seeing how CUhire continues to grow their business & relationships through their blog.

Vision Remodeling

Vision Remodeling is a Twin Cities area home remodeling company providing exceptional craftsmanship in their work. In our "remodel" of their website, we did a complete redesign. We took their site to a wider design, providing more space to showcase larger photos of their remodeling projects. Additional, we moved the client to the SMC which would allow for more ease in updating their site regularly. Vision Remodeling participates in many remodeling events throughout MN & is in the media quite often for their work, so it was very important that there site be very easy to update!! You can check out the visual transformation with the before & after below:

Before:

After:

 Kieran’s Irish Pub

Kieran’s Irish Pub, is a traditional Irish Pub located downtown Minneapolis. They came to us to improve the visual appeal of the site, but to also increase the functionality & usability of their site. The Site Management Console (SMC) was one of the most important pieces to the client. The ability to update their site with food specials, music events & happy hour each day was crucial to them. We built in a function to allow them to enter their specials in at the beginning of each week, and as a day would pass, the old specials would leave & the new ones appear.

The other very important piece for Kieran’s was updating their photo gallery frequently. As you can see, being just a week later, they already have the St. Patrick’s Day photos up for everyone to enjoy & look back fondly on!! You can check out the transformation of this site below in the before & afters!

Before:

After:

If you are looking for a change to the look, feel & usability of your site, give Prime a call! 

I am guessing many of you have done a winter vacation to Mexico, but you need to check out Costa Rica. Not only was the weather nice, in the 90’s all week, but the scenery is gorgeous. And what is scenery without wildlife? We were entertained daily by the Howler Monkeys that hung out in the mango tree above our pool and you had to watch your step as the iguanas would pass by your feet.

Business cards formally announce you and your company. And if they are distinctive and easy to read, they will differentiate your company from the competition. Business stationery is the hard-copy vehicle for communication between the company and clients. The “look and feel” of these hard-copy tools is important. Business cards and stationery are investments in the success of the company. They should have substance and accurately represent the culture of the company. They should also be memorable and have staying power. Business cards and stationery also need to complement each other. They are two simple tools that can prove their worth daily. Put the same care into designing them that you would any other important project, and the investment will be rewarded several times over.

Let Prime Advertising take away your stress of designing the perfect stationery package. Once we have developed your creative design, we find the best printer to match your needs. Prime partners with more than ten print manufacturers to ensure you the most cost-effective and top quality service.

Since 1968, esp has been building a successful and highly respected IT placement company that specializes in both consulting and direct hire services for IT professionals throughout Minnesota.

When esp President, Ray Davey first came to Prime Advertising, he was looking for an update of the company’s logo and a complete redesign for his website. Years of dramatic changes in the computer technology industry called for a fresh image with more contemporary appeal.

Although the first instinct of Ray and the esp group was to choose a logo design that conformed closely to the original, their final choice was significantly different. Working directly with the Graphics Design team, esp received a new logo that  was able to reach the target market of a new computer generation and let them know that esp is constantly changing to meet industry needs.

Previous Logo Design                                                       New Logo Design

Once esp’s new logo design was complete, the Prime web team began building a fully functional interactive website. Looking to find a tool that would allow esp to update their site regularly, keeping them constantly up-to-date, Prime provided the SMC (Site Management Console). Using the new logo as a guideline to start from, our web team created a new site that looked professional, but also was packed with SEO to help esp obtain more traffic to their site. You can see the transformation below:

Previous Website

New Web Design

 
By working together closely on the various projects, the Prime team was able to create a consistent and coherent marketing package that makes it easy for esp to do business.

As part of the graphic design team, I work with color all the time, but is not only an important part of my everyday job is a part of who I am as a person! I am a Graphic Designer by day, Artist by night!!
 
When we look through advertisements, websites or just anything is everyday life…color is all around, but what are colors all about?  According to Color Wheel Pro the meanings of each color is as follows…

Red

Why would you use red?

• It is highly visable    
• Stimulates people to make quick decisions
• Perfect color for ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Click Here’ buttons on Internet banners and websites    
• In advertising, often used to evoke passionate feelings (red lips, red nails, etc.)        
• Widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic lights)

Orange
The color orange is commonly associated with joy, sunshine & the tropics.

Why would you use orange?

• Has very high visibility, use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design
• Very effective for promoting food products and toys

Yellow
The color yellow is most often associated with joy & happiness, along with intellect, or energy.

Why would you use yellow?

• To evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings.
• Promote children’s products and items related to leisure
• Highlight the most important elements of your design
• Avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety

Green
There are several different emotions & feelings that the color green usually evokes, nature, growth, harmony & safety, and of course money!

Why would you use green?

• Suggests stability and endurance
• Indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products
• Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote ‘green’ products

Blue
The color blue has a variety of emotions that is commonly is associated with; depth & stability, trust & loyalty, wisdom & intelligence, along with tranquility and calmness.

Why would you use blue?

• Promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids)
• Promote air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners)
• Promote water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water)
• Suggests precision when promoting high-tech products

White
The color ( or non-color ) of white is commonly associated with light, goodness, innocence & purity.

Why would you use white?

• In advertising, white is associated with coolness and cleanliness because it’s the color of snow
• Suggest simplicity in high-tech products.
• Appropriate color for charitable organizations or to promote safety

I definately want to say thank you to the subscribers/readers and commenters here over the last year.  It’s been fun interacting with you and also forming friendships along the way.  I would say it’s safe to say I will reappear on the blogosphere soon.

To my team of Luke, Jeff and Janna … you are all top notch and I know the high level of work will continue and probably even improve as I depart.  At least I’m not holding you back anymore!    I admire your abilities and dedication to do the right thing and how well you work together.  It will be fun to stay on top of the web work you guys turn out for clients.  Thank you for everything you have taught me and all of the fun times we’ve shared.  I’m having a hard time imagining leading a better group.

The good news is that more of the experienced and talented people at Prime will be getting involved with the Prime blog upon my exit.  You can look forward to more insight, tips and examples from our print department and hopefully even the community guide crew.  So instead of just me spouting off, the content here should diversify a bit and increase.  That’s awesome.

I could write a million more things, but brevity has its purpose.  The Internet rocks, good luck and stay classy.

 

Below is a screen shot of their home page.

The website allows for their current and new customers to create their own account online or log-in to their existing account. Once an account is created the second screenshot below shows the capabilities users have.  They are able to administer to their account info and password, place new title insurance orders, view past orders, check the status us current orders, upload documents and more.  This really gives Central Land Title the ability to provide improved service and work flow internally and externally.  We’re positive their customers will appreciate the website’s offering and ease of use.

Account Log-in & New Account Registration Screentshot

 
User Account Management Screenshot