“Best Visitors Guide in the State”

Those words were music to our ears; especially because they came to us recently from a tourism professional who spends their time traveling Washington, teaching and learning from people in the industry. We’re not being coy by not sharing a name; the speaker isn’t in a position to make such statements publicly.

Beach Vacation Planner is a combination lure/fulfillment piece produced by our Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau.  For ten years now, we’ve been honored to produce this guide for the agency, and to work with business owners to develop their ads within.  The Planner has received accolades from day one and our favorites come from advertisers because that is the feedback that tells us the guide works.  In fact, the majority of our advertisers have been with us the whole way because advertising has a very low cost per impression and a very targeted audience, which translates to sales.

It’s fun to sit in one of the fine local restaurants and watch visitors interact with the guide.  In fact, we get some of our best ideas for improvements by eavesdropping a bit; please forgive our big ears!

Keith and Wendy (360-642-4431) are taking final ad reservations now and 60,000 copies of the 2010 guide will be available for distribution before 2009 comes to a close.   You can pre-order your copy online or by phoning the Visitors Bureau at 1-800-451-2542 (local 360-642-2400).

When we bought our building and set up shop here at 1517 Pacific Ave N, we did so in a flurry of construction, moving of walls, new electrical, a burglary, contractor issues, and a few other trials.  Consequently, we rushed through City Design Review and getting our sign made and installed.  By the time we got that far, we were seriously in “git ‘er done” mode so we could move in!  As a result, we’ve never been happy with our own concept for the sign, made worse by the fact that we sell graphic arts.  Oh, how the cobbler’s kids go with no shoes!

Randy Brown has been working on a new sign for us.  We got our first sneak peek yesterday and are so excited, we want to share it with you:

Have you noticed some changes at Seaview One Stop [SOS] lately?  The building’s gotten a fresh coat of ‘Texaco Gray’ paint, there is a new sign out front and another above the door.  But its when you go inside that the real changes grab you.  Everything is old-fashioned Texaco style, from the custom Pepsi cooler to the vintage signs on the wall.  The SOS bathroom might be the best public-use restroom on the Peninsula!

Katee Woodby was well on her way to developing her brand when we first started working together.  She’d done a tide book, coffee cups, some signage, beach balls… she knew what she wanted but was having some trouble keeping consistency in her logo and designs.  Our first task was vectorizing the SOS logo and providing the artwork in multiple file formats on disc, including a couple of variations for embroidery application through Lost Weekend Clothing Company.  This way, Katee is be able to use her logo when ordering from a variety of vendors.

Next came using the logo in a variety of applications, including:

Business Cards

Coffee Loyalty Cards

Loyalty Rewards Program Advertising Flyer with Coupon

‘Peel-N-Seal’ Business Envelope

While Katee and Keleigh were working on all of these print projects, the web team was busily building SeaviewOneStop.com.

Katee has a few more projects in the works, including hot cups, rubber stamp and… oops! We aren’t letting that cat out of the bag!  Stay tuned!

You might recall our somewhat recent post on the overhaul of HomespunQuilt.com.  When Lydia needed to order more business cards, she wisely decided on a redesign that would further impress the visual branding of her website.