I knew very little about my college major (advertising) when I first chose it freshman year. It was my professors who taught me the trade, helped me improve and opened my eyes to the opportunities stretched out before me. They encouraged me, critiqued me and congratulated me when I finally succeeded. My professors were my bridge from youth to adulthood, from student to professional.
The professors I’m referring to are those from the University of South Carolina. But if I had attended Virginia Commonwealth University (and if I had been a design student) I would be speaking of Peyton Rowe.
I’ve only met Peyton once, but once is all it takes. She has a huge, friendly, enthusiastic personality. There’s no other word for it – she is beloved by her students. Not only is she open and fun-loving, but she also took Riggs Partners’ CreateAthon and adapted it into a student event called CreateAthon onCampus. She provided a way for her students to do real work for real clients. And trust me – to a student, that is a huge deal. (I’m not even a student anymore, and I still feel like a celebrity when I see something in public that I created.)
This summer, Peyton is switching roles. She is going to be the student, attending a summer intensive hosted by the School of Visual Arts in New York City. The course is called IMPACT: Design for Social Change, so Peyton will be learning new ideas and methods to implement with CreateAthon onCampus. On the downside, the total cost of her adventure will be roughly $10,000.
Students, this is your opportunity to say “thanks.”
Here at Riggs Partners, we’ve started a fundraiser to help Peyton pay tuition and living expenses. We have created a Facebook page called “Send Peyton Away,” a place for her students to gather and show support. On the page, we ask for a $10 donation (although some donors have generously given more). I know how tough it is being a poor college student; it wasn’t that long ago for me. But I think everyone has $10 to spare, especially for that one person who helps you reach your goals and chase your dreams.
What has Peyton done for you? Let her know how much it meant: http://facebook.com/sendpeytonaway.
The Good Samaritan Clinic is a free medical clinic serving uninsured members of the Hispanic/Latino community in Columbia, South Carolina. The clinic provides general medical consultations, diagnostic testing and, when available, free medicine.
Those who find rescue in the Good Samaritan Clinic are escaping an overwhelming set of circumstances – a need for medical attention, a lack of means and a language barrier. The Good Samaritan Clinic helps by acting as a liaison between the Spanish-speaking community and Columbia medical resources. The clinic offers interpretation and health education services, referrals to other medical centers and community emergency assistance. The clinic also keeps a public phone line open, allowing people to ask questions and receive answers in their own language.
There is much need in Columbia. Unfortunately, as a result of physicians’ busy schedules, volunteers are few. The Good Samaritan Clinic’s biggest challenge is to bring in more working physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners. Riggs Partners addressed this issue, develolping for the Good Samaritan Clinic a strategic marketing plan and several recruitment materials.
FivePoint Solutions is an enterprise information management (EIM) company. Put simply, they provide digital document management and data exchange, as well as paper-to-digital conversion, for companies and government entities with complex (and often high volume) records management needs.
We immediately recognized a great branding opportunity for our new client. EIM is a rapidly growing industry filled with look-alike companies fixated on one selling point: efficiency. From our first meeting with FivePoint, it was clear their focus is on the people who rely on the technology.
And so we began by helping FivePoint Solutions define their process as the center point for a new branding program.
Then we began identity exploration.
Final logo.
On August 11, 2009, after 22 years in the industry, veteran agency Riggs Advertising announced its move from a larger agency with on-staff employees to a five-person partnership that works with a network of strategic contacts. The model was innovative, bold and ahead of its time – and it was dubbed “Riggs Partners.”
Six months later, partners Cathy Monetti and Teresa Coles presented the new Riggs model to more than 50 agency principals from across the country.
The presentation was part of a three-day seminar held by Second Wind, a business-improvement information network consisting of more than 9000 small to midsize advertising agencies, design firms and related businesses. The seminar, held at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, highlighted the SMALL+SMART agency model, an idea which held an uncanny resemblance to Riggs Partners’ existing structure.
“Riggs Partners was smart to make this shift from traditional ad agency to small and smart outsourcing agency,” said Tony Mikes, managing director of Second Wind. “Their structure is a wise and timely response to economic change, overhead-weary clientele, increased freelancing and advanced technology. They have recognized an idea whose time has come.”
Monetti and Coles offerred expert advice to a number of inquiring principals attending the seminar. “It will be interesting to see how many traditional agencies now move to a smaller structure,” Monetti said. “I hope to see many follow suit, because I truly believe – especially for midsize companies – our structure is the agency model of the future.”
Opera, boring? Blasphemy!
Opera is a dramatic, heart-wrenching form of entertainment, full of complicated love triangles and murderous villains. The Palmetto Opera has spent molti years working to share its love of opera with the people of South Carolina.
Founded in 2001 by a group of motivated enthusiasts, the Palmetto Opera started small until its first big break: a sold-out, full-length performance of The Marriage of Figaro. The organization’s wish is to garner enough community support to fund the presentation of a full opera performance every year.
Enter CreateAThon.
We developed a strategy for the Palmetto Opera designed to introduce a new, younger, previously untargeted audience. We designed a modern, interessante new identity. (Huge thanks to guest designer Jason Smith!) We also created a beautiful new design for the website.
To introduce the new identity, we designed invitations for the Palmetto Opera’s annual fundraiser dinner, An Evening in Italy, and we developed a new program to introduce opera to the new target audience in a comfortable, approachable atmosphere. More details to come in Part 2. Ciao!
Thanks to the creative team: Katy Miller, Cathy Monetti, Jason Smith, Lauren Bowles, GP Worrell, Zach Lepine and Sammy Rutkowski.
In Part 1 of the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen project, the CreateAThon team addressed the objective of reintroducing the Soup Kitchen and the relevancy of its work by developing a new identity and outdoor campaign. Next, the team integrated the new identity into a plan for launching the public phase of its capital campaign.
To drive donations from the general public, we developed two exciting incentives. First, we designed custom melamine dishware sets, called Soupware. It was great fun creating the design, which incorporates the “S” from the new logo. We suggested that a new design be created each year, so annual donors can collect different sets over time. The dinnerware sets will be sold on a tiered pricing model, ranging from a hundred dollars for two sets to a thousand dollars for eight sets.
Second, we designed a series of new t-shirts, called Soupwear. These items provide incentives for lower-level donations.
The CreateAThon team developed a brochure to present these fundraising incentives to the community. To further promote the campaign, we created a master design system for a new website, helpthekitchen.org, so people can make donations online.
It has been a great pleasure helping the Soup Kitchen in their mission to feed the hungry. Keep serving up those plates full of goodness!
CreateAthon Spartanburg Soup Kitchen Team: Teresa Coles, Lee Price, Julie Turner, Tim Floyd, G.P. Worrell
Spartanburg County is constantly developing. Although business growth is important, many of these new office buildings and communities are taking over what were once forests, watersheds and other green spaces.
The Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE) exists to balance progress with preservation, protecting and maintaining Spartanburg’s undeveloped land as the county continues to grow. SPACE protects land by purchasing conservation easements, creating green spaces and maintaining lands already entrusted in its care.
SPACE is a non-profit organization that relies heavily on donations, so the CreateAthon team devised the Evergreen campaign to attract generous donors. Just as evergreen plants provide unending color and beauty, the Evergreen campaign will help to preserve Spartanburg’s natural beauty for generations to come.
To promote the capital campaign, the CreateAthon team designed a beautiful “pochure” (a brochure that unfolds into a poster) explaining and visualizing the importance of SPACE’s mission. They also refurbished the SPACE logo.
This is a mock up of the team’s suggested ambient ad. The idea is that overnight, SPACE will transform a parallel parking space in downtown Spartanburg into a green space, complete with sod and a park bench.
Kevin, Julie, Tim, Jay and Melissa – great job!
I would just like to say bravo to Vista Lights. The Congaree Vista’s annual event is the unofficial beginning of the holiday season, but I was thrilled to see just a tiny dash of festive cheer. Personally, I feel that anything involving Mr. Claus should wait until after Thanksgiving. Especially when we’re in South Carolina and it’s pushing 70 degrees during the day.
Vista Lights didn’t get carried away with the Christmas tree; it wasn’t even a pine tree, just something tall and leafy and strung in pretty lights. Apparently Santa made an appearance, but I never saw him. I mostly saw cute little ballerinas, food stands and a bunch of really cool art exhibits. I only heard one carol, and I can’t even remember what it was.
I’ve always been weirded out when stores start stocking holiday decorations way back in October. I believe Halloween candy needs to be on clearance before dreidels and reindeer start showing up. It’s a little morbid when Freddy masks are just one aisle down from Rudolph.
I hope I don’t sound rude. Trust me, I’m no Scrooge. I love the holiday season. I hang paper snowflakes in my doorways and start my holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving. But not a day sooner.
So again, I applaud you, Vista Lights. It was great to get out of the house and have fun without spending very much money. Last night I had a free crab cake, discovered a few new hangouts, and got a light, yet satisfying, appetizer of holiday cheer.
It was Riggs Partners’ 15th year competing, but last Friday was my first time attending InShow. For those who don’t know, InShow is AIGA South Carolina’s juried competition showcasing exceptional talent from around the state.
Basically, a display of creative genius in all its glory.
I arrived with the Riggs Partners clique to the InShow gala locale. It was an old brick building on Whaley Street with a hidden majesty you couldn’t quite see, but you could feel.
Inside, guests were chatting with each other, some networking, others catching up with the friends they only see on this day each year. Most of the attention was on two long tables running down the center of the room. Displayed on the tables were the winning entries. Immediately, I joined everyone else in perusing the aisles of work.
I was amazed at the varied mediums of work entered in the InShow. I saw not just posters and websites, but also bat mitzvah invitations and a student short film. It was interesting to see how many different forms creativity could take.
This year the InShow event was dubbed the Grocer’s Gala, and the awards were handcrafted Styrofoam blocks of cheese. Riggs Partners stacked up nine. Our self-promotion piece won, as well as our work produced for:
We were also honored with two special judges awards: Most Delectable Self-Promo for our own newsletter, In The Country of Epigrams; and Freshest Interactive for the Girl Scouts of South Carolina-Mountains to Midlands website.
After the awards presentation, the members of Riggs Partners posed for pictures, juggling our huge stack of cheese. We congratulated and celebrated. It was a good night to be a part of Riggs Partners.
Then I took a moment to step back and just be there in that antique building, soaking in the creative atmosphere and letting myself be filled with inspiration.
This industry sure is fun.
