the word

Porkchop is in the house!

2009-08-03T11:15:00.003-04:00

Leonard P. Zimmerman, Jr. (Cum Laude, Savannah College of Art and Design), has joined the team, adding substantial design horsepower as well as a unique third perspective to our mission. What does that mean to you? Even more bang for your buck, which is ridiculous.

Relax.

2009-07-16T07:15:00.004-04:00

Our new heart campaign for University Hospital gave us the chance to work with some great talent. In one day, we shot 18 different scenarios at 2 locations with 9 models. Whew, pretty stressful. But, wierhouse delivered the goods. Here is one of the many ads that you will see around town in the coming months. So keep your eyes peeled, and relax.

Taking 37 for the Team

2009-07-13T11:31:00.005-04:00

A recent photoshoot for The Imaging Centers and Brown Radiology had an interesting twist. Our concept for their campaign and brochure involves x-rays of hands doing different signs and no stock photography or existing images would do. The solution? Alex takes 40-50 small exposures of radiation to get it done. He wasn't glowing, but by the time the brochure and campaign are in full effect, the client will be.

Aftermath of a "Collection"

2009-06-27T11:47:00.002-04:00

16 questions, 3 hours, and 1 excited client. This process, developed by us here at wierhouse, is an information gathering session that goes down at the genesis of a project. It's how we move forward cultivating our clients message, brand tone, and identity.

The Fresh Prints

2009-06-15T21:29:00.004-04:00

While thumbing thru one of Jay Jacobs' sketchbooks, we came across one of the most super flavorful brothers ever. He's perfect, and printed on 10 one-of-a-kind wierhouse test prints. We call him Reggie, short for "registration". All of you printing nerds should love that one. Get one before they are all gone in the wierhouse store.

Social Canvas

2009-06-08T18:34:00.005-04:00

When the Morris Museum of Art asks us to design a poster for their semi-annual art/music gathering on the Riverwalk, we knew just what to do. Well, not really. It was actually kind of a tough one to concept. Then, like a gift from the heavens, it hit us. What about images from an old phonebook? I mean, that was step one in getting "social" back in the day, right? The result is an explosion of CMYK inks and 60s pop illustrations. Pick one up in the wierhouse store.

We Love Augusta - Round 2

2009-05-19T14:18:00.003-04:00

Well, the "Do it Deke!" shirts sold out. And thanks to your support we were able to donate $1000 to the Golden Harvest Food Bank. With the way Mike Firmin et al are working it, that ends up being over $7000 worth of food for the hungry! That's making a difference, and that's why we started iloveaugusta.org. Next up, a shirt for our mighty Savannah River to benefit www.savannahriverkeeper.org. Buy your shirt now at iloveaugusta.org - let's keep the ball rolling - make a difference in your hometown and look good doing it!

The KicPocket is a star

2009-04-28T09:44:00.003-04:00

Here at wierhouse, we're very lucky to be a part of some really great brands. KicPocket is no exception. We are thrilled to see this product in the pages of Eurosport magazine in just a few short months. With some mind-blowing photography from Brent Cline, we're confident that it will be a huge success. Fly KicPocket, FLY!

Special thanks to Ryan McArdle and his Augusta Arsenal Gunners for lending their talents to the shoot.

Thoughts on the Collection

2009-04-03T15:10:00.004-04:00

The first part of our process is what we call the Collection. During this exhaustive session, we learn all there is to know about a client's business, brand, and ambitions. It's how we gather the information that we will eventually whittle down to their message, and the best way we know of to fully understand a client's current brand and history. It's amazing what you can find out.

The Bark Park

2009-03-28T12:48:00.005-04:00

Pendleton King Park has been a fixture in Augusta since the 1960s. Currently, they're making some marked improvements to the park, including its brand. This is the first of our efforts to this end, the logo for the Bark Park, a heaven on earth for dogs, in Pendleton King.

The Billboard Guru

2009-03-28T12:41:00.003-04:00

We believe in outdoor. Our clients are seeing some serious results from billboards. If you need the best outdoor broker in town, consult the Guru. He consulted us to create his identity.

The Soul of the Savannah

2009-03-28T11:57:00.006-04:00

Augusta's got soul. Take that however you want. Soul is powerful. Soul is ingrained in our culture and heritage. Soul is something to be proud of. Here at wierhouse, we consider our fine city to be "The Soul of the Savannah". Don't you agree?

We Love Augusta - who's with us?

2009-03-09T13:35:00.004-04:00

We've been talking for some time now about doing something to give back to our fair city and we finally figured out how to use our talents to give the city some nice representation and make money for local charities at the same time - iloveaugusta.org. On this site, we'll be posting Augusta-centric t-shirts that we've designed and selling them to raise money for some great causes. As of now, we've got the first in our hands - our "Do it Deke!" shirt in honor of our Mayor. You gotta like what Deke is doing for Augusta, and we wanted to show our support. All proceeds for this shirt will be donated to the Golden Harvest Food Bank. Since all this dough is going to charity, we ask you order these through the iloveaugusta.org site and pick them up at our office in the old Richmond County Board of Education building at the corner of Heard and Heckle. Like we said, order them online and then come and get 'em - Monday - Wednesday from 12-1pm. It's for a great cause and they're damn good looking. Next up, a design for saving the Miller Theater. Who doesn't want to see that? Get on board with us and help us do something positive for Augusta and look good at the same time. Check with the site from time to time to see what's new. In the works right now - Bring Baseball Downtown, I Love Augusta, and some possible Godfather of Soul Ts.

P.S. - You might want to jump on the Deke shirts - there's only 100 and he's got a million friends on Facebook.

The Whigs - New Tour Poster

2009-02-19T17:37:00.004-05:00

This month, we were pumped at the opportunity to design and screen print a tour poster for one of our favorite bands - The Whigs. A reference to the band's single "Right Hand On My Heart". It's a jam. The poster is not half bad either.

Wounded Warrior Care Project

2009-02-16T11:14:00.005-05:00

We were recently given the opportunity to lend our talents in helping out with a great cause. Laurie Ott approached us about creating an identity for the CSRA Wounded Warrior Care Project. This phenomenal charity helps injured soldiers in their transition from battle back to everyday life. They are fully funded, and Laurie knew it was important that they have a strong brand to help legitimize their far-reaching efforts. The above result is one we're very proud of and will serve the CSRA Wounded Warrior Care Project well. A heart of dog-tags - pretty apropos, we think.

2008 ADDYs

2009-02-02T10:07:00.002-05:00

Saturday evening was a blast. We had a great crowd and theme and wierhouse took home lots of awards - all told, 2 Bronze, 10 Silver, 7 Gold and a Best in Show for our very own website. Jessica Stanford did a great job as ADDY chair and hostess. We're particularly happy that our collateral materials - that's our cards, envelopes, job jackets, and even invoices - were awarded gold. We're really serious about brand development and offering that as a strong service to our clients, so it's nice to know that our own collaterals are considered exemplary. And our Best in Show was our site. So we know we've got our identity in a good place - we can do the same for you.

Peach Butter by VeryVera

2008-12-30T11:40:00.004-05:00

Our Peach Butter packaging. VeryVera's solid new brand in action. These cartons are heavy duty with some Southern flare - kind of like Vera.

Updating a Classic.

2008-12-30T09:38:00.010-05:00

We're all very excited about the new identity for VeryVera. We were approached by Vera to design new packaging for all of her deliciously Southern products. From a Strawberry Layer Cake to Mama's Egg Salad, the new mark has the difficult task of representing each product's unique flavor while keeping with her 1950s vibe.

The VeryVera logo needs to be able to go a lot of places and do a lot of things. This new version is great at being placed and adapted for whatever application may be required of it, changing color, size, etc. It's a utility player.

As far as retail goes, the new version is easier to see - higher impact. The old version has a drop shadow and is just hard to pick out of an overall design (it also makes the mark three color). Alone, it does pretty well. The new logo can be seen on the packaging from 15 feet away (we tried). The same cannot be said for the former.

It's rich, it's luscious - we love it, so does Vera.

The Only Girl at the Dance

2008-12-22T11:27:00.006-05:00

If you think about it, commerce works a lot like a high school dance. As businesses compete, they're trying to make themselves attractive to potential customers, in effect asking them to dance with them, rather than their competition. Ultimately, the choice of whether to use one business versus its competition is solely decided by the consumer. For a business to succeed, it needs to be accepted by a lot of people. Your business needs to dance.

Unfortunately, the reality in 2009 is that about 40% of the girls just got up and left the party.

So, how important does that make the ones that stayed?

This year is about getting them to dance with you, not your competition. Better make a great argument for yourself, because all the boys are still here, and you don't want them telling your potential dance partners about you. Talk to the ladies - bring them flowers, get a new tie, make yourself look good - because these girls are what's left and you really, really need the ones that have decided to stay. We can help you fill your dance card. It's easier than you think.

Unknown Hinson is Ridiculous

2008-10-30T13:12:00.002-04:00

If you ever get a chance to see undead Country and Western troubador Unknown Hinson, do it. One of the best guitarists we have ever seen. 3 hours without a pause of really on-point classic country mixed with old school rock and metal. We screened a two color poster for the show and splattered them with a fake blood mix that was Jay's personal recipe. A late night - not a big deal for a vampire, but pretty rough on those of us that had to be at work by 8.

Bob Photo

2008-10-03T07:58:00.004-04:00

We're lucky to get to work with some phenomenally talented people around here. One of the best is Brent Cline. Brent Cline is a photographer and designer out of Aiken, South Carolina who routinely blows our minds when we bring him on to shoot for our clients - just check out the stuff above for VeryVera. Ridiculous. Toast, Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial, Battle Lumber Company, First Tee of Augusta, Rock Fore! Dough, our website, and a whole lot of other businesses and charities in the area all benefit from Brent's technical savvy and creativity behind the camera. With clients from NYC down to here, we're glad to have him as our Bob Photo.

Jay Jacobs - artiss

2008-10-02T13:53:00.004-04:00

If you check out our site, you'll see a lot of Jay Jacob's art. From the logo portrait in the vault to the sketches by our profiles (which we think he spent about 3 minutes on), Jay can flat bust it out. We dig him because he stays on the grind, constantly turning out remarkable stuff while managing not to have a real job (besides illustrator for the MetroSpirit).

Meeting of the Minds

2008-10-02T12:30:00.010-04:00

About a month ago, we all attended a great charity event for SafeHomes of Augusta called "Roll the Dice to Save a Life", for which we donated the design of the invitations.

Response to the invitation was great, and there was a packed house of supporters who all got to enjoy fake gambling, a steak dinner, and a silent auction. We wanted to pick something out of the auction and take it home in support of SafeHomes, and when we saw "Lunch with the Mayor" we were all over it. We won, thanks to Jeff Annis backing the hell off, and last week got to sit down with Deke at French Market Grille. Mayor Deke is the man. Since we didn't have any kind of agenda, lunch was laid back - we talked Georgia football, James Brown, and downtown baseball. All and all, a very enjoyable experience. I think we're all lucky Deke is running things in Augusta.

Immediately afterwards, Deke befriended Charlie on facebook.

You can visit Mayor Deke on Facebook and keep up with the inner workings of Augusta, Georgia's government here.