News Archive
2012 Coaster Calendar Promo
February 8, 2012
While everyone else was rushing around trying to find the perfect holiday gift, we were trying to find the perfect year-end or new-year promotion. It had to be fun, and cool, but not too flashy. Something useful. It had to properly represent the brand we’ve worked so hard to build. It shouldn’t be too expensive. Oh, and we needed to get it done really really quickly.
Then, POOF… an idea began to form in our minds. We decided to design a series of letterpress coaster calendar cards, custom branded hand cut wood block card holders, design stickers, labels and packaging. In order to make the best impression, we decided that we should put them all together and get them out the door before the New Year. We immediately ran to the sketch board and started coming up with ideas – one for each month of the year.
So, why did we choose to do this as opposed to, say, a plain ol’ holiday card?
We wanted to do something that would be fun and useful. We liked the idea of having a promotional piece that could sit on our clients’ desks all year long. We accomplished this in three different ways: we created an easily referenced desktop calendar that provides fun facts about each month, and when a month is over, it’s an actual coaster that you can use for your beverage of choice.
We also wanted to do something different and integrate a printing technique (letterpress) that is somewhat new to us, with online interaction (take pics of the coasters and post to our Facebook, or check out some of the websites we mention on the coasters).
So while everyone was vacationing during Christmas break, we here at Fifth Room were researching and creating these coasters. It was a ton of fun doing twelve mini design assignments.
Now, obviously we missed the New Year’s deadline, but we were okay with that. But, how’d we do it? Well, let us tell you…
Design & Printing
Luckily, we’ve got amazingly talented designers right under our roof here in NJ…so design wasn’t a big problem. The biggest challenge was designing for a new medium – letterpress. It’s not the same as designing for the web or even for offset or digital printing. We have amazing local friends that do spectacular letterpress work, but in our search for getting these done (done well, quickly & cheaply), we found a vendor in Colorado that does these on a regular basis and has a way to get them done very cost effectively. So we tapped into the talents of Meadowlark Creative to produce our 2012 promo piece. The talented Shelby Montross was insanely helpful in bending the learning curve for us. She offered us some great tips and guidance in how to design for letterpress on these thick blotter coasters. She even sent us some awesome progress photos along the way! We’re crazy satisfied with the results!
Labeling
We figured we’d send these out using US Postal Mail in some nice boxes, but we needed a solution to seal them and address them. Luckily, our favorite online business card vendor has some great stickers and labels…so it was an obvious choice to get circle stickers and mailing labels from Moo. Their online tools are great for designers, and they always deliver stellar quality with great turnaround times.
Packaging
There’s a ton of box companies, both brick-and-mortar and online, but Google delivered Bayleys Boxes. We needed a specific size to hold 3.5″ x 3.5″ cards (13 of them) and a block of wood, and it had to match the style of the promo piece. We found exactly what we needed at Bayleys Boxes. Their prices were good and they deliver pretty quickly – even when we realized we ordered the wrong size boxes and had to order again!
The Branding
Our favorite part was having a personalized electric brand made with the Fifth Room creative log on it. The guys at Brand First were super helpful in suggesting the right kind of “brand” for our project. The only problem now is we keep looking around the office for more things to burn our logo into! It’s an interesting experience to actually brand something, after running a branding agency for all these years.
We did a short run of these for a handful of prospects we wanted to get in front of as well as some of our most active clients over the past few years. We would’ve liked to have done thousands of these and gotten them in everyone’s hands, but reality set in and we just couldn’t justify a six-figure promotional piece in a recession. We’ve gotten some early feedback, and so far people are really happy with them – that’s always great to hear!
We posted some photos on our Facebook page here and made a fun little video that you can watch below.
We did this fun project for ourselves, but we did this kind of thing every day for our clients. If we can help you with something great like this, please get in touch with us.
Saving The Breasts
October 4, 2011
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Fifth Room Creative is working to raise some money for Susan G. Komen. We’re not asking anyone for any money though… instead we’re simply asking people to stalk us.
How does it work?
We’ll donate $0.25 in support of healthy women worldwide each time you:
- Like us on facebook
- Follow us on Twitter
- Sign up for our email list
It’s pretty simple really.
Keep us honest, here’s the current numbers as of October 1, 2011:
- Twitter Followers: 873
- Facebook Likes: 59 (lame – come on people)
- Email Signups: 0 (it’s a new list, relax)
Other ways you can help – spread the word for us!
GDUSA Triple Play
September 19, 2011
We’re honored to have learned that we we awarded with three GD USA awards for our work.
We’ve been awarded for the following work:
- Clark Davis Associates Rebranding – view the logo work here and the related collateral here.
- Our web site – you’re looking at it
- Our company brochure – learn about our fully realigned brand here or contact us and we’ll happily send you one!
It’s always a great honor to be selected by our peers for work that we pour our heart and souls into.
New Milestone, New Look
June 1, 2011
It’s been five amazing years for us so far!
It’s hard to believe that just five years ago we took a chance and opened an agency to help clients do amazing things – and to do what we love each and every day. Amazing that client after client, we’ve been fortunate enough to work with so many inspiring companies.
Read More »
NJBIZ 40 Under 40
October 1, 2010
NJBIZ Honors New Jersey’s 2010 Forty Under 40!
Steve Guberman, Owner and Creative Director of Fifth Room Creative in Denville, has been named a winner in the 2010 NJBIZ Forty Under 40 awards program. Learn more here and here.
Alchemy Merger
September 1, 2010
As of September 1, 2010, we’re really excited to announce that Fifth Room Creative and Alchemy Consulting and Design have joined forces. This merger has allowed us to bring on some great new talent to support our current client base as well as start working with some amazing new clients. All in all, this is a great venture for everyone!
See the official announcement about the merger here.
Coworking in NJ
February 16, 2010
Welcome Coworking to NJ, finally. We’re excited to be able to be a part of bringing Coworking to NJ for the first time. Open in June 2010, Converge is NJ’s first Coworking space.
Art Directors Club likes our work!
July 16, 2009
Fifth Room Creative has been selected as a winner at the Art Directors Club of NJ’s 46th Annual Awards. The award-wining website was built for Parsippany Library System.
BMA chose us to win!
July 1, 2009
NJ Business Marketing Association selected our capabilities brochure as a winner in their 13th Anniversary Impact Awards! The brochure was designed as a self-promotional piece to tell potential clients about our services and help them understand our culture better.
Read More »
Hat Trick with GDUSA 2008!
February 16, 2009
Fifth Room Creative won three American Graphic Design Awards from the 2008 Graphic Design USA Competition! Winners included work for IBM.