Medifast’s Take Shape For Life:

Redesign of Optimal and template building for in-house use

Challenge:

Create an integrated, distinctive, modern, simple, flexible and most importantly, easy to use magazine design to permit the in-house staff to layout the magazine.

Analysis:

Medifast is a weight-loss program that was developed by a physician. The program been recommended by more than 20,000 doctors since 1980. Take Shape for Life (TSFL) is a health network — a group of coaches that live and teach The Trilogy of Optimal Health - Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Finances. The magazine, Optimal, is for The Trilogy of Optimal Health coaches. LTD Creative was tasked with redesigning the magazine and providing templates and support to the in-house staff after the redesign was complete. The magazine changed its name requiring a new masthead that incorporated the TSFL logo.

To meet TSFL’s design needs, LTD Creative developed and implemented a comprehensive redesign that included a new masthead and cover treatment, unique table of contents for two sections, a news spread, departments, feature and design for the leadership recognition section.

Results:

LTD Creative’s design communicates the expansive, yet personal nature of health coaches through imagery, expanded typography, and a flexible layout. The strong underlying structure of the layout reassures coaches that this a news magazine and not just a recognition piece. The bright colors and contemporary type treatment attract attention while communicating that this is a magazine for the sophisticated, savvy self-employed coach. The first issue is in production.

The American Surveyor:

Design of new magazine and provide ongoing art direction, design and production

Challenge:

A surveyor, editor and salesperson want to start a competitor magazine in the land surveying market that focuses on both the current and historical sides of the trade.

Analysis:

The American Surveyor is designed to reach professional surveyors who are interested in information about top companies, and new technology and products, as well as historical aspects of surveying. LTD Creative was tasked with designing the magazine, creating templates, and providing ongoing design and production.

To meet The American Surveyor’s ongoing design needs, LTD Creative designs and produces each issue, including FOB, monthly departments, features and places all ad pages and makes corrections where needed. LTD also creates designs for periodic special house ad pages.

Results:

The design was awarded an OZZIE award from Folio Magazine for Best Design/New Magazine/Consumer/Under 250,000 Circulation.

The surveying community has responded positively and subscriptions have increased each year.

A seamless production schedule has been in place since the first issue was published in January 2004. The staff at The American Surveyor loves working with LTD’s designers and continues to work closely as they expand their related online publications.

Teen Times:

Redesign of a magazine and provide ongoing art direction, design and production

Challenge:

A low-budget publication aimed at high school students is cluttered and hard to read. A redesign and renaming of sections is needed in order to bring greater visibility to the magazine.

Analysis:

Teen Times is a quarterly magazine designed to reach high school students who want to focus on the multiple roles of the family member, wage earner and community leader. The readers develop skills for life through character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communications and career preparation.

LTD Creative redesigned the magazine’s sections, and assisted in re-naming the departments to give it a younger appeal. LTD Creative created new templates for all of the sections, including the news briefs (FYI), departments (alumni corner, how to, and FCCLA in action), features and the back page quiz.

Results:

Teens love it! The National Officers have indicated that it is so reader-friendly and they love the photos of themselves throughout the magazine.

Awards love it! The 2010 March/April issue of Teen Times won an APEX Award of Excellence for Magazines & Journals.

The staff loves it. LTD Creative has been contracted to design the magazine through 2012.

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
National Conference and Exhibition (NCE):

Developing Brand Logo, Theme Logos and Integrated Marketing Campaigns

Challenge:

Create an integrated, distinctive marketing campaign for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition (NCE) from 2008-2011.

Analysis:

AAP is a nonprofit professional association of 60,000 physicians dedicated to the health and well-being of children. AAP’s national conference brings together these committed pediatricians for networking and continuing medical education.

LTD Creative was tasked with increasing the conference attendance through the creation of a standard NCE logo to brand the conference. For each subsequent year, we developed theme logos. The design elements were targeted to the conference attendees including AAP physician members and non-members, related health care professionals, and regional attendees.

To start this process, we devised a unique name for NCE. Since the attendees are encouraged to bring their families, we created a name that not only resonated with the professional healthcare attendees, but also conveyed a warm welcome to their families.

Thus, coming to NCE was the whole experieNCE. The following words were used to promote the conference: confereNCE, differeNCE, excelleNCE, scieNCE, intelligeNCE.

Using these words, LTD Creative developed and implemented an integrated marketing campaign that included direct mail, exhibitor and sponsorship materials, signage, website design, onsite conference materials, promotional items, and print advertising.

Results:

Increased overall conference attendance:
2008: 11,581          2009:11,747          2010: 12,054

Registered attendees said the design materials brought the conference to another level and that the materials cut through the clutter of other competing information and were noticed.

Demonstrating their appreciation of the design elements, attendees took photographs of themselves near the registration counters the featured the banners with the conference design.

The ExperieNCE logo has led to new ideas, including modifiying the look to create a newsletter, the show daily, Convergence.

American Health Care Association &
National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL):

Develop Brand Logo and Marketing Campaign

Challenge:

To create a brand identity for AHCA/NCAL’s annual convention and expo.

Analysis:

As the nation’s largest association of long term and post-acute care providers (nursing homes), the American Health Care Association (AHCA) advocates for quality care and services for frail, elderly and disabled Americans in 11,000 member facilities. AHCA represents the long-term care community to the nation as well as to government, business leaders and the general public.

When asked to develop a brand name that would have a long life, LTD Creative developed the tagline “Quality Care Plus” to convey the ideals and goals of ACHA to the convention and expo attendees. The clean, fresh logo used two stylized shapes: one that represented the “Q & C” the other a “+” sign. We used colors pulled from each organization’s (AHCA & NCHI) corporate style guide.

Results:

The logo was so positively received by AHCA and NCAL staff that they wanted to include other programs under the brand name “Quality Care Plus.”

Licensing Executives Society (LES):

Theme Logos and Marketing Material for 2009 Meetings

Challenge:

To promote LES meetings, LTD Creative was tasked with creating an overall design theme and a series of logos.

Analysis:

Established in 1965, the Licensing Executives Society is an association of 32 national and regional societies, each composed of business professionals who have an interest in the transfer of technology, or licensing of intellectual property rights. The intellectual property rights range from technical know-how and patented inventions, to software, copyright and trademarks.

Using the overall theme “Licensing: A Global Culture,” LTD Creative developed separate logos for each meeting in the series. These logos, which included the themes: Embrace the Professionalism, Embrace the Networking, Embrace the Education & Diversity, was designed so they would work together or as stand-alone components.

The design products for this campaign included sponsorship and exhibitor brochures, web banners, mailers, and signage for the meetings.

As the final step in the campaign, LTD Creative wrote a style guide that outlined the logo, color and font usage.

Results:

For the first time, LES achieved consistent brand identity. This clear branding provided LES team members the necessary tools to produce materials that resonated with the targeted audience.

Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI):

Creating a New Brand Identity

Challenge:

Create a fresh brand identity for DMAI in conjunction with the organization’s name change.

Analysis:

DMAI is the world’s largest and most reliable resource for official destination marketing organizations. DMAI is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of its members—2,800 professionals from about 650 destination-marketing organizations in more than 30 countries.

To meet DMAI’s design needs, LTD Creative created a logo that incorporated a stylized globe made of dots that represented various locations, and/or a human/arrow form. This abstract, non-destination brand mark conveyed the sense of a global community.

Three concentric ovals derived from the stylized arrow of the logo were used as a sub-brand identity mark for all DMAI programs. The concentric ovals were used so that each DMAI program was connected to the overall DMAI brand without overusing or manipulating the association’s logo. To keep the typography consistent with the corporate standards, we incorporated one of the corporate fonts into the design.

We also created a comprehensive corporate style guide to provide DMAI with information about using the logo, font, color and image appropriately.

Results:

The dots became the design element that acts as a tie-in for all DMAI marketing materials. These materials included membership brochures, pocket folders, booth graphics, and website.

Our easy-to-use first ever DMAI corporate style guide received accolades from DMAI users. DMAI members said the guide made it easy for them to use the logos and to understand the branding. The new branding materials also received praise from DMAI industry-related publications.