Co-founding partner at kor group, MB Jarosik is so proud of the entire kor
family and notes Jim Gibson, an Associate at kor group is one of our
greatest assets. His passion for design and true client collaboration is
unstoppable.

Some of the projects Jim has worked on in his 13th year include: Beaver
Country Day School Summer Program, Bancroft Country Day School publications,
and Holy Cross College integrated marketing communications program.

Congratulations Jim – here’s to the next 13!

With clients in a number of industries, kor group is often looking at ways of communicating to different audiences within the same campaign. We consider factors such as social background, economic status, gender, etc. When working for clients within the financial sphere, the predominant way of dividing an audience is by economic factors. This makes sense, right? We’re promoting financial services and thus we should adjust our message based on income. While this is a viable and successful method it is certainly not the only way to reach an investor. Generational lifestyles and values are as influential on purchasing and investment decisions as other demographic factors such as income, education, and gender.

Working with a major global benefit plan provider, kor group recently created a set of materials that employed this generational approach to communication. Dividing the intended audience into three distinct generational groups – Millennial, Generation X and Baby Boomer – our research identified the key factors motivating a particular group in terms of their retirement investing behaviors. By speaking to their key priorities, we were able to develop communications that spoke more directly and powerfully than traditional methods. In addition to the generational-targeted messages, the color palette was shifted between the materials to appeal to each age group. While customized to each generation, the palettes maintain the sense of a single campaign by utilizing shared colors and tonal shifts.

In a time of economic uncertainty, these materials meet investors where they are in their investment life cycle; providing support, confidence and a sense of partnership with their plan provider.

Above is the beginning of a timeline that will run through an upcoming brochure celebrating the 40th anniversary of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. Here the passage of time was very important in understanding the history of the organization.

In Bucknell University’s Academics in Action we showcased students and faculty and their impact on world. With this infographic we aimed to reveal how social responsibility is pervasive throughout the Bucknell Community. Click here for a larger version of this graphic.

In Bucknell’s Life in Full Motion the goal was to reveal how vibrant life is outside of the classroom while showing how closely knit the community is on campus. We accomplished this by highlighting several students’ “paths” on campus.Click here for a larger version of this graphic.

Mostly VP’s of Enrollment, Admission Directors, and College counselors attend the almost week long conference to download trends in higher education, connect with colleagues and be wined and dined by their brand advisors!

I look forward to this conference every year to see what our competitors are up to and to engage in conversations with potential institutions who need our help. This year I was joined by kor group Principal Anne Callahan and Brand Strategist Rob Levinson (shown in kor booth pic below). We had some great conversations with current and prospective clients, had a wonderful dinner with Assumption College and Merrimack College, enjoyed a few cocktails (ugh) and attended a wonderful reception sponsored by the Catholic Colleges at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards.

One of my favorite outcomes of NACAC 2008 was meeting and now working with Merrimack College. At NACAC 2009, Merrimack showcased the new branding and communications we have been working so hard on. It looks great and so does Jorge (shown pic below)!

Here’s to NACAC St. Louis 2010!

The Overview:
In the morning she spent time with Liz, our office manager, who gave her an overview of how things work from an operational standpoint at kor group. She then spent some time looking through our printed samples to get a feeling for the type and breadth of work we do. She was ready for us (we like that) with lots of great questions about how a design business runs.

Coffee break with paper:
At around 11 am we met with Dana Sallee from Appleton papers and Joyce Robillard from Arjowiggins. We poured over paper promos and swatchbooks over coffee-talk about Curious and Utopia papers. Interestingly, Joyce had one of our printed pieces that we designed for MIT!

Creative Tour:
We spent some time making our way around the studio to see what the other designers were working on:

James reviewed proofs with us (see image below) for the Cargo Ventures project for the Drydock Building collateral which he teamed up with Matt on. 

Rusha showed us the trade show panels she is designing for Bond, a construction company.

Justin showed us the alumni magazine he is currently designing for New England Law Boston.

Brigitte showed us some new concept boards that she and Matt are working on for ING.

 

A project in proofing stage

 

 

Brain Power:
After we all had lunch (yes we really do all take lunch together at one long table), Samira joined a brainstorming session for Bucknell University, lead by Anne, Dan, and Libretto (a writing team we work with). She offered a fresh perspective to the brainstorming session.

We said our good-bye’s and off she went with her bag of kor schwag; just another fun and productive day at kor group!

Thanks for spending the day with us, Samira!

Everyone celebrates the holidays differently. Some people shop ‘til they drop. Others spend hours decorating the tree. Here at kor group, we like to celebrate the season by creating stylish holiday stuff that you can’t find anywhere else. 

This year we’re selling some of our favorite festive wares at Etsy, an online store for handmade items. You’ll find a wide selection of cool ornaments, wrapping paper, gift tags, and holiday cards, all of it created by the kor group team.

We hope you get a chance to swing by Etsy and see what we’ve been up to. 

Visit our Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6231350

Lou Dorfsman, a design director for CBS, who’s work included the creation of the CBS Didot typeface, passed away last Wednesday. Perhaps his most famous piece of work, the Gastrotypographicalassemblage wall in the CBS cafateria, is the largest, modern typographic artifact in existence. It was discarded by CBS but is in process of being restored by the Center for Design Study. It is amazing to me that someone could choose to destroy something of such obvious worth to the history of design. Check out the radio interview of Dorfsman discussing his creation on the Centers’ website.