Websites

A well-designed and well-written website is key to presenting a professional, polished image to the public. An effective website is much more than just programming; without the right balance of design, navigation and relevant content, your organization runs the risk of presenting an amateurish online presence.

Over the past decade, I have project managed, designed and/or art directed a number of websites for a variety of clients. A partial list includes:

Blueshift3 www.blueshift3.com
Carpenter Co. (manufacturing) www.sleepbetter.org
The Doctors' Patient Education Network (medical) www.drpen.com
Dr. Graham Gardner (orthdontics) www.gardnergrins.com
Koster Cattle Company (food industry) www.kostercattle.com
The Greater Richmond ARC (not-for-profit) www.RichmondARC.org
Pediatric Dentistry of Virginia (dental) www.pdova.com
Reliatech (enginieering) www.reliatechllc.com
Virginia Estate Plans, PLC (legal) www.virginiaestateplans.com
Virginia Fiduciary. PLC (legal) www.virginiafiduciary.com

The Virginia Lottery

From designing and illustrating point-of-sale signage (pictured at right) to illustrating stoyboards for broadcast TV commercials, I have been involved in almost every aspect of advertising for the Virginia Lottery. I first worked under the direction of Matt Smith, former creative director and vice president of the Arnold Agency (Richmond) as a freelance illustrator and designer, then directly for the Virginia Lottery's marketing department as a freelance illustrator/designer, and finally for Riddick Marketing as an art director on several print projects. In 2000, I was commissioned by the Virginia Lottery to execute the first cartoon version of the famous "Lady Luck" that was used on promotional items, signage and mini-blimps at events around Virginia.

Agencies: Arnold Agency, Riddick Marketing, The Virginia Lottery. Art Director/Illustrator: D. Payne

The Virginia Lottery

From concept to reality: Lotto scratcher ticket "Dog Gone Lucky" dog was first illustrated by hand using extreme perspective for client approval, then digitized and finished for in-store signage.
Agency: Arnold; Creative Director: M. Smith; Illustrators: D. Payne, M. Rochon

Mobilistings

From 2002 to 2004, I co-founded and served as vice president of communications for Mobilistings, a software company that produced a streamlined professional grade wireless software application for Realtors. I named the software, designed the corporate identity, and helped develop the technology, print & media collateral and public relations strategy. Mobilistings software is designed to deliver the most up-to-the-minute Multiple Listing Service (MLS) property listings on next generation smartphones (Treos, BlackBerrys) for real estate professionals. The first application of its kind in the nation, Mobilistings allows real estate agents real time access to their entire MLS database - including color photos - from anywhere via a cellular data connection. Mobilistings saves time, increases productivity & profitability and gets the agents out in the field to do what they do best - show and sell homes. Working closely with a long-time friend and colleague, Kirk Monroe in Washington, D.C., we were able to garner press in top-tier national publications such as Forbes.com, Wireless Week and The Discovery Channel.

Forbes.com article www.forbes.com
Wireless Week (quoted) www.wirelessweek.com
Engadget www.endgadget.com
BlackBerry www.blackberry.com
PalmOne www.palmone.com

DrPEN.com

A few years ago, a Virginia family practice physician observed more and more of his patients were seeking medical information -- including answers to specific conditions -- online. However, instead of finding useful information, patients and caregivers often found masses of incomplete and/or misleading information. A practical solution was needed for doctors to guide their patients towards authoritative, reliable patient education information on the Internet.

The physician soon turned this observation into a business. Doug worked with the doctor and his marketing agency to refine the concept, craft the name and visual identity (DrPEN® - an acronym for The Doctors' Patient Education Network)and develop an integrated marketing strategy that positioned DrPEN for long-term growth.
DrPEN labcoat pocket directories list commonly diagnosed medical conditions, ICD-9 insurance codes and provide links to related information easily accessable by patients from the DrPEN website www.drpen.com.

The DrPEN® resource system includes a comprehensive website, a Primary Care Pocket Directory edition, three specialty practice editions and software programs that allow convenient access to the DrPEN database through a PDA or from a desktop application.

Agency: Riddick; Creative Director/Art Director/Co-Project Manager: D. Payne

Visual Identity / Logos

One of my specialties is visual identity design and development.

A branding platform begins with the design and refinement of a lasting logo or mark. In fact, the word "brand" literally has roots in the old west in the branding irons ranchers would sear or "brand" into their cattle and other livestock. Going back even further, artisans and craftsmen of colonial and medieval times would often stamp a unique hallmark to identify their silver, pewter and other handcrafted items; customers would look for the mark and knew it meant the item was of the highest quality. (Who says our ancestors weren't label conscious?)

The logos and wordmarks of today reflect the same commitment to quality, but are most often used on a practical level as a kind of graphic shorthand to identify a company or its products. Each mark is unique to the company or organization it represents, and each should convey the personality of its owner.

The RealStore.com

The RealStore.com is a one-stop information destination for buyers and sellers of real estate. The challenge was to create a wordmark that concisely conveys both a name AND a web destination. To this end, a classic primary font was selected, with "tweaks" to give it a personality, and a warm color palette was selected to make visually arresting and inviting.

Noah's Children

Noah's Children is a children's hospice located in Richmond, Virginia. It serves as a support for children and families faced with terminally ill children.

Dominion Credit Union

Dominion Credit Union (formerly Virginia Power/North Carolina Power Credit Union), is the official credit union of the Dominion Companies based in Richmond, Virginia. The Board of Directors wanted a clean, simple look that conveyed the name change and the Credit Union's commitment to new online services (hence, the lower-case "d"). In addition to a new logo, they also wanted a series of product and service icons that leveraged the new look. Finally, to underscore their commitment to the digital age of financial service, I penned the tagline, "A World of Service at Your Fingertips™"

Cannon Ashby

The visual identity for Cannon Ashby, my wife's jewelry design business, was a lot of fun. She primarily designs and creates Victorian-era jewelry, incorporating modern beads with authentic vintage elements. She was looking for a unique card , and when she showed me a very time-worn Victorian carte de visite (visiting card) she discovered at a flea market, we both knew it had interesting possibilities. I scanned the card, digitally "erased" the 125 year-old typeface, enhanced the patina, dropped in an appropriate period border, then set the type "Cannon Ashby" in an elegant, complementary font. In this particular case, the card itself IS the identity. Now when she hands her cards, folks do a double-take, thinking it is a period carte de visite (even the back of the card is "antiqued"). The name Cannon Ashby is derived from an old northern English estate known for its beautiful gardens.

Visit Ashby's jewelry portfolio at www.CannonAshby.com

Glass Boat

The Glass Boat has become a Carytown shopping district icon in Richmond, Virginia. The clothing, gift and furniture boutique cannot be easily defined other than to say it's California casual-chic in style. The logo needed to reflect it's unique personality and character. (With homage to Edward Gorey, Illustrator 1925-2000)

The Greater Richmond ARC

The Greater Richmond ARC is a 50 year-old organization that annually serves approximately 1,300 individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. The old logo, which had served the organization well, had become somewhat dated in recent years. The new logo, coinciding with the launch of the organization's first public awarenes campaign, also reflected a marketing name change from "Richmond Area ARC" to "The Greater Richmond ARC."

Website www.RichmondARC.org

“Your new logo is great – it is smart and professional. The new ad campaign is also clever and fun. I hope it generates lots of buzz!” -- S. Stoddart, Executive, Circuit City Stores, Inc

S. K. Williams

S.K. Williams builders of Richmond, Virginia wanted a logo and tagline that reflected their architectural and historic renovation work in the Greater Richmond region.

Virginia Estate Plans

Virginia Estate Plans PLC, a Virginia law firm, was established in 2001 by former Williams Mullen attorneys to provide clients with superior estate planning and trust administration services without the premium fees charged by large law firms. They do this by being very tech-savvy and efficient (emails and PDFs replace traditional means of paper correspondence) and needed a logo that reflected their unofficial motto: "Not your daddy's law firm."

Website www.VirginiaEstatePlans.com

Mobilistings Wireless MLS

Created the name and logo for a wireless application and service that provides real-time access to real estate listings and color photos on PalmOne Treos, BlackBerrys and a variety of java-enabled smartphones. Design element incorporates a house and a clamshell smartphone.

Dr. Graham Gardner

I art-directed and illustrated complete identity platform for GardnerGrins.com, an energetic orthodontic practice in Richmond, Virginia. Played off the doctor's initials, "GG."

Website www.GardnerGrins.com

Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics of Virginia

I worked closely with the doctor-partners of this multi-office practice located in central Virginia to design a visual identity across a variety of print and web platforms.

Website www.pdova.com

Horwitz Parrish Macon Collie + Pretzer

Horwitz Parrish Macon Collie + Pretzer is a mouthful to say (and write), and the doctors of this multi-office Triangle-area North Carolina practice needed a strong visual idenity that incorporated the initials of their last names. With five letters -- HPMCP -- it struck me that they could be joined like teeth, with orthodontia. A bright color palette was selected to add vibrancy to the visual identity system.

West End Orthodontics

I created visual identity and stationery system for this progressive, tech-savvy Richmond, Virginia practice. Incorporated the monogram "WEO" into a face that is at once playful and professional.

Fidelity Capital Mortgage

Fidelity Capital Mortgage is a subsidiary of southeastern US homebuilder and developer, Keystone Homes. The goal was to create a professional two-color logo that also visually incorporates the "keystone" design element in the wordmark. Italicizing the "F" and "Fidelity Capital" completes the right-hand portion of the keystone graphic at the extreme left.

Outersphere

What do you get when you cross a tony Washington D.C. hair salon with a Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie set? Outersphere hair salon for kids and adults. Outerspere mixes high-tech entertainment -- a cyber cafe/waiting room area and music videos piped into each hair station -- with the area's best hairdressers. It's an out of this world salon experience that needed an appropriate logo and look. The tagline "transform your head" was written to encourage customers to change their perception of the traditional salon experience -- and to literally get a new do, if they so desired.

Max Boxxer / Yo Wear

Visual identity and logo for this Charlottesville Virginia-based boxer shorts manufacturer. What could be a more appropriate mascot and logo for a boxer short company than a Boxer dog? Since 1989, Maxwell Boxxer has hand-crafted premium quality 100% cotton boxers in a variety of styles and patterns for men and women. As an added touch, the label is sewn on the outside front of the hidden elastic waistband to aid in brand recognition. Made in the USA and available in finer men's retail locations and online at www.maxboxxer.com

Autopilot

Autopilot, a wireless application for next generation handheld smartphones. Client: NaWire, LLC

DrPEN.com

Red Dog Peanut Co.

Red Dog Peanuts are gourmet peanuts grown on Virginia farms that date back to colonial times. The owners wanted a "classic" look that conveyed their commitment to old-fashioned quality and great taste. The "red dog" also represents a beloved family Irish Setter who died several years ago.