Marketing firms typically spare no expense when it comes to wooing clients, often sinking big money into lengthy proposals done up with expensive materials. Waste tends to be high in the name of winning new business and a design team is often asked to push itself beyond creativity and into the churn of burning the candle at both ends. So it's refreshing to see a project from a team of inspired creatives focused more on building a meaningful print piece than a lavish trophy.
Our newest case study comes from designer Jim Hargreaves, who led the design team at Colorado firm Barnhart on one of the more impressive pitch projects we've seen (for burger joint Larkburger, whose focus on environmental responsibility sets it apart from its competition). As Jim describes in our exchange below, some serious thought went into this job:
Jess: Can you give me a little backstory on how this project developed? Did you start off looking for ways to emphasize sustainability/re-use, or did that evolve?
Jim: We developed this as a new business promotion for Larkburger, an eco-friendly and 100% natural burger joint that was getting ready to open a new location in downtown Denver. We wanted to make a piece that showed we truly understood the client and their mission, and one that would also reflect our own passion for sustainable design. Using reclaimed materials for the booklet was the clear solution.
JS: Tell me about the materials. It looks like you've used stuff like newsprint, food wrappers, and such—where exactly did the chosen materials come from? How did you pick and choose?
JH: We basically gathered the materials from our everyday surroundings—trips down the street for lunch, wrappers from the corner coffee shop, newspapers sitting at the front desk, junk mail on our desks—things that normally would just get trashed. I looked for materials with interesting textures and graphics, but they also had to be pliable enough to assemble into large sheets and run through a laser printer.
JS: There must have been a fair amount of trial and error involved here. Were there any abysmal failures? Did you have to adapt the production process as you discovered new materials or moved away from ones that didn't work? Did the design itself have to change at all as your hands-on experiences with the various materials evolved?
JH: I ran a piece of Tyvek through the printer and almost destroyed the entire thing! It basically started to melt inside the machine. Ha, sometimes you forget how many things are made synthetically. Many of the wrappers I used also had coatings on them, each reacting in its own way—some good, some bad. The hardest part was assembling sheets that were sturdy enough to run through the printer; fast food bags, newsprint and sandwich wrappers are really thin for a Xerox.
I designed the entire layout knowing that the background would be very random, so I was able to not have to make any changes midstream.
JS: Clearly the printing process was particularly challenging given the materials. Why bother?
Well, first off it was fun! We also wanted to present the client with something that was authentic in regards to their philosophy. It would have been easy to just print the piece on virgin stock, but that would have been contrary to everything Larkburger is trying to do. We also knew that doing something unique would have far more impact, which is worth the extra effort.
JS: How do you think the materials themselves influenced the design of each page (did you design to the material, or choose the material to fit the design)? And how do you think this might have changed had you used virgin stock?
JH: The materials definitely forced simplicity within the design. The graphics and type had to be bold and high in contrast to stand out from the visual noise that had already been printed. But I can't really say which came first, the layout or the materials—I think I formulated both components in my head before ever putting pen to paper.
We knew from the get-go that the piece was going to use recycled paper—had virgin stock been the only option, we just wouldn't have done it. The reclaimed materials were really the essence of the piece.
JS: I'm really interested in the binding—I've found it tricky to locate vendors willing to do one-off projects with challenging materials. How did you bind this?
JH: Believe it or not our production supervisor stitched it by hand. We had some old string laying around our supplies, and it seemed like a fitting solution. It was as simple as punching some holes and threading it through.
JS: The big question, of course, is how Larkburger responded: did it work? What did you as a designer (and the firm as a whole) get out of this process?
JH: The piece was well received. As often happens, timing prevented us from securing any additional work, but it's without a doubt one of the best new biz pieces we've ever put together—a sentiment that's been echoed by many of our peers.
From a design standpoint, the piece proved to me that the best concepts tend to be the simplest. Assembling the piece was somewhat tricky, but the formula as far as message and design was really basic. Getting your hands dirty can be a really good thing too. The layout was rather simple, but the materials truly brought the piece to life and created something that was visually exciting.
As a firm, I think it solidified our commitment to tailor-made new biz promos. They speak to the client much more than a typical capabilities piece, and you also get a bigger creative reward out of it—we were able to push our thinking, try new things, and add something really great to our portfolio.
JS: Did you have different conversations than on more conventional projects? Did your processes change? Did your team involve themselves differently than they typically would?
JH: Effectiveness aside, I think we really had fun on this project, which motivated us to find interesting techniques on future projects as well. It's not always possible to do something as handcrafted as the Larkburger piece, but at the very least we're at a point where we always ask "how can we make this special?"
The team involvement was definitely changed up. We had account managers out gathering trash and I was making a substrate from scratch for the first time. And Teresa, our production supervisor, got to bust out her sewing skills. The project gave everyone something out of the norm, which really helps people stay creative.
We love Barnhart's willingness to use sustainability as a trigger for creativity, rather than a noose. It just goes to prove that using new approaches and different materials than we're used to can produce gorgeous results. Thanks, Jim!
