I had the privilege to team up with Amanda of vagabond photography once again on a photoshoot for Oakwood Industries. As always we had a blast working together and I must say the images came out wonderfully. LOVE their latest furniture collections. You should definitely head down to their showroom on HWY 136 in Memphis, MO! Just in time for Christmas I’d say! Photos courtesy of vagabond photography!
So, I received some VLove today! I was so pleased with the presentation… felt like I was receiving a gift and yep, made me feel special. It got me to thinking… {uh oh!} my husband and I also own & run Red Rooster Trading Company together. We wrap our products in hand.stamped burlap bags then nestle them in a bed of shredded newspaper {recycled from our local newspaper} and put them in a sealed gift box. To top it off we thank each of our customers using a Bb card and yes, actually writing each one by hand.
This is important to us because we appreciate our customers so much, without them we wouldn’t have a business! My mom told me that when I was little I always wanted to have my own retail shop so that I could say ‘Thank you & have a nice day!’ I may not have a ‘brick & mortar’ {yet, anyway}, but we do have our online shop, I just get to write it instead of say it. You see, dreams really do come true. 
Ok, back on track… at Red Rooster we receive comments & reviews and practically every one of them says something about the packaging and hand.written note. They appreciate that there is a real live person handling & packaging their product that cares about the products they receive. And they appreciate being appreciated. So, if you own a business where you ship your products… it only takes a little effort to make a nice presentation, make someone feel special and show some pride in your product {Pride can be a good thing}. And a lot of times those people share their experience with others… word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools ever!
I took a few pics to inspire you… I had the privilege of working with each of these businesses on their identity & branding. I love having the opportunity to work with such a variety of companies. Each of my clients has an idea of how they want the world to see them and the best way to present that. It is my job to take their ideas and make them shine.
First up is how Rebecca Michaels shows her customer appreciation… don’t you feel the love? {I ordered a headband}
Next is a photog client of mine… vagabond def shows her appreciation with her packaging.
And last, but not least… Red Rooster’s packaging.
Thanks for stopping by, maybe you got a little inspiration. Now go and present your company well! If you need any design work or ideas feel free to shoot me an email for pricing.
I believe in ‘curb appeal’! Especially when it comes to your business. When you have a storefront it is important to show on the outside that you care about your customer and what you are offering them. A hand.painted business sign is one way {and not as expensive as you may think} to show that and draw your customers inside for more! The hand.painted part is not the only beautiful part of these signs… they also have logos & a color palette that make them stand out and allow the sign artist to shine! I have had the pleasure of working with Mike Meyer on a few different signs… he has been hand.painting signs for a long time and it definitely shows. Not only are these signs beautiful, but since Mike has the experience he knows how to make them so that they last for years to come. Check out the signs he hand.painted below using custom logos by Bb design… now don’t you just want to stop in and see what’s going on behind these doors. If you are in NE Missouri Area… you may have seen these signs… I am hoping to get a few more up in the area. Aren’t they beautiful! What a fabulous and cost effective way to show a little pride in our community & businesses.
First up is the Scotland County Pharmacy… I had the privilege of building their logo a while back and was so excited when they decided to get a sign made using their new logo. Mike is pictured with his wife, Aileen, in the first picture… it was so much fun to meet this couple. They love life & really enjoy what they do together!
Next up is Memphis Area Pregnancy Care Center. With the combination of the new sign & the vinyl decal in the window, this really makes their curb ‘appeal’ just that much more and makes people take notice. Mike graciously hung up the sign for us as we are not the experts in sign hanging.
And last but definitely not least… The Willows Lakehouse. I have been working with The Willows for several years on different projects, starting of course with their logo… if you have not discovered the Willows, you must check out their site and plan a visit. Especially if you are in NE Missouri area… this is the perfect getaway that is not too far away! {www.thewillowslakehouse.com} Mike took the Bb sign design & hand.painted it to make a sign that I would even love to decorate my home with!
OK, just one more… Red Rooster Trading Company… Mike took the logo I built for Red Rooster and knocked this one way way outta the park. I actually do have this one hanging in my living room cause we loved it so much! Mike sent me some behind the scenes pics of the Red Rooster sign which I will blog about soon! He really takes care in his work & it shows, what a gift!
Thanks for stopping by! And if you are interested in pricing for a hand.painted sign by Mike Meyer & Britta burrus design. give me a shout… call or email and I will be glad to discuss your needs/wants for your business. 509-429-1989 or design@brittaburrus.com
PS… I think a personal sign would also be wonderful… so if you are interested in one for your living room, kitchen, hanging outside somewhere {barn, garage, house} or bathroom… whatever your ideas, I know we can come up with something beautiful!
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. ~Thomas Edison
They say pictures say a thousand words, but it helps to have a good quote to go along with it… Thomas Edison’s quote is convicting, inspiring, a good reminder… but it also says that anything is possible with a good idea and a lot of hard work. Now I guess I better get to work…
~Britta
Hi, Spring is in the air and people are thinking about marketing their biz, standing out from the crowd, getting the word out! In spite of all the valuable online marketing tools, Billboards are still a great way to advertise your biz and grab someone’s attention. I had the privilege of working with several people in the Memphis, MO area on their billboards. If you are from this area, you may have seen them as you are on your way to and from work, school, grocery shopping, etc. Billboards are fun & challenging as you don’t want them to be too busy. You only get a small window of time to grab their attention as they are zooming by. See what we came up with below… and keep your eyes out on the road.
You may also recognize some of the Oakwood pics from our photoshoot with vagabond photography {http://www.vagabondstyle.com}, not only is Amanda an amazing photographer but she also styles & stages her shoots! And Mona from Mona’s photography took the shots of the adorable babies on the SC Hospital billboard.
Spring is in the air and with that comes the need to reorganize, clean things up a bit and work on a little marketing for Bb. I have all these ideas in the back of my head for Bb & Red Rooster… it’s finding the time to work on them that’s the trick! Clients projects of course come first and with Spring on its way, the flower & veggie gardens are calling my name. Anywhooo… I am working on reorganizing the Bb blog. Don’t you love it when things are organized & all in their place! I reorganized the blog into the following categories…
Bb {Portfolio} : featuring Bb projects to give you ideas on what we can do for you
Design, Marketing, Social Tips : Everything from Marketing, Design, Brand, Social {e.g. facebook etc} and maybe even a garden & cooking tip or two thrown in.
Inspiration & Gift Ideas : What inspires me, what inspires you? and Gift Ideas
Quotables : inspiring, provoking, funny, clever quotes
Fabulous Freebies : Fonts, Textures, Software, Bb Notecards — who doesn’t love a good FREEBIE!
Behind the Biz : Featuring some of the businesses that I have the opportunity to work with and the who & inspiration behind them. My clients ROCK and I want to share a little more about them and how they got to where they are today.
DIY {Your Way} : Do it Yourself Projects
I {heart} cooking/baking : Recipes…
Red Rooster Trading Company : posts and pics about what Red Rooster is up to.
RiBbet : Most of you might know that I love to make cards, still do, just haven’t had a lot of time to spend here. RiBbet will be the place to find the Bb cards. Someday, I plan to have an online shop exclusively for them.
I went through all the previous posts and organized them according to category, so, you can start browsing. Hope you have some fun and get some ideas & tips along the way. Thanks for stopping by and hope to have you again! Look for Mondays post next!
~Britta
Recently I had the opportunity to work with Alisa, director of PR & Marketing for the Scotland County Hospital. What fun projects and what great ideas/concepts Alisa came up with. Her ideas and working with such cuteness made my job a ton of fun!
The project is ‘Baby Place’… The maternity ward at Scotland County Hospital. {which if you are expecting you better just go check it out and take the tour. Sounds like the place to be} We needed a print ad and also billboards… billboard design is so much different as you only get a few seconds as a driver is zooming by… I think we did a good job at grabbing attention with those cute little local faces and have just enough info to get the point across. When the ads are out people will recognize it from the billboard and get a little more info.
You might have noticed the billboard as you are driving West on 136 from Memphis, MO. If not, look up and to the right as you are headed outta town. You may have also seen the commercial that was all Alisa’s doing on KTVO. She also had the fun job of managing all that cuteness and making it work on TV.
Thanks Alisa… it is a blast working with you! Check out the billboard & print ad below… and see if you recognize any of these adorable faces!
I {heart} my job… I got to go shopping for Oakwood, I am so excited about this! They say it’s all in a name, but not so in Oakwood Industries case. There are some new things going on around there… Not only are they introducing new styles & finishes but to make it even better they have added some creative and unique Home Decor. So beautiful and every piece definitely stands out from the crowd…
I took a few pics for a sneak peek… couldn’t stop snapping cause I just love it all! Be sure to stop by their showroom to check out the rest. These would all be amazing Christmas presents, you don’t see these pieces just anywhere. Just in case you were wondering I would put everything here on my Christmas list. Candles Coming Soon!
If you stop by Oakwood’s Showroom be sure to tell them Britta burrus design. sent you their way!!
I could NOT believe my eyes and I am so excited to share the story of how Bb design got published. I have never done anything like this before… but I thought what the heck, might be fun.
About a year ago David Sherwin made a call to designers everywhere through his blog {http://changeorder.typepad.com}. He was in the process of writing a book “Creative Workshop – 80 Challenges to sharpen your design skills”. I emailed him and let him know I was interested, he sent me several challenges to choose from and I chose ‘Totally Cereal’ .
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Totally Cereal
[time] 30 minutes
[topic] Packaging
[description] Write one or two sentences describing a new type of breakfast cereal, including a brand name, audience, and type of store where this product will be sold. Your product must have a special selling point that sets it apart from similar products — e.g. organic, sustainably grown, cage-free, whole grain, and so on. Then spend 30 minutes sketching at least two package designs concepts for this new product.
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I don’t do a lot of sketching… I usually start by praying then just jump in and start, I get inspired by fonts, colors, texture. Once in a while I will do a rough sketch to see if layout will work, it’s not always very pretty but def gets the ideas going. In this book it is cool to see how every designer gets to the end result in a different way. Guess that is what makes everyone unique.
Anyway… my challenge was published in his book… another very exciting thing is that it is a HOW Book {www.howdesign.com} So, have fun checking out the pics… I haven’t read through the whole thing yet, but I think it would be a great design resource. You can purchase it at amazon.
Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend. — Britta
I finally did it… I updated the Bb blog, it is a work in progress, but I gotta get to work for real now. In the meantime… I decided to give away some Bb notecards. See below for details…
Tis the Season to Give Thanks!
I love everything about Fall… colors, weather, fires, jeans, sweatshirts, turkey, pumpkins, pumpkin pie… I also love getting mail & sending it, the old-fashion way. It means so much when I get a note in the mail, a friend saying hi or thinking of you, sharing their life with you. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to design & print notecards… the matching recycled envelopes with their rich colors are the icing on the cake!
In honor of Fall & Thanksgiving I am going to give away some of my favorite notecards! ‘Say Something…’ about this post by sharing something you are thankful for & get a chance to win one of three packs of Thankful notecards {Click Say Something… at the end of this post to comment}. Each pack will have a mix of the three notecard designs you see in the pic {2 of each design with matching envelopes}. I will pick 3 random winners on October 29… that way the winners will have time to get their thankful notes in time for Thanksgiving! Make someones day by telling them how you are thankful for them!
I am thankful for Jesus, Justin, Branton, family, friends, Bb clients! for starters… I could go on and on. So much to be thankful for! Thanks for stopping by & good luck! — Britta
