Candy

Deets about the Young, Foxy & Free Calendar Issue advertising and features

2009-12-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

Wow, what an issue! Thirteen notable Athens artists*, presented in a calendar that's ready to hang, populated with moon phases, Athens events, and one event date per advertiser. The "masthead" on the cover is a removable sticker, leaving behind the art of Lou Kregel. One Athens non-profit will be featured each month.

Our ads remain $250 for this winter issue, with a distribution and ad partner promotion until March 20—but an issue that will remain in sight and in use for one year.

We also have new promo for the Young, Foxy & Free brand on the way, which means more bang for your ad dollars as we enhance our property:

Young, Foxy & Free photo booth at various events, capturing portraits to appear online and in future issues;
Young, Foxy & Free koozies available for sale and giveaway;
Young, Foxy & Free cable TV ads to express our vibe and add to our intrigue;
still in the works, a potential downtown store window display;
more sidewalk distribution boxes;
delivery to all of the Greek organizations;
underwriting announcements on WUOG 90.5 FM campus radio station;
and more!

With our calendar issue, we''ll also promote our current online Google Calendar—a go-to resource for leads on the best art and music shows, film, lectures, and other events—with an emphasis on what our ad partners are doing or sponsoring.

Join Young, Foxy & Free as an ad partner this week, December 7. We can still get your ad in, we can wait until December 15 for payment, we'll actively promote your business through March 20, and your ad will be in a 2010 calendar, hanging in rooms all over Athens.

Contact Michael at michael@yffmag.com or 706-549-0191.

*Artists for the Winter Calendar Issue are Dan Donahue, Christy Bush, Kim Kirby, Chris Bilheimer, Michael Lachowski, Jim Fiscus, Mike Landers, Matt Blanks, Carol John, Layet Johnson, Cindy Jerrell, Jeff Owens, Lou Kregel.

Young, Foxy & Free Fall Scene Issue

2009-11-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

In mid-September, the Fall Scene Issue of Young, Foxy & Free was published by Candy—on September 21, the Fall Equinox, the first official day of fall.

The issue was welcomed into the world with a fun party at 283 Bar, featuring Dan Donahue and Page Campbell as DJ's, and attended by many YFF contributors, advertisers, subjects, and readers.

The concept behind the fall issue is inspired by what many other publications do in Athens in the fall—it's a "welcome back students" and/or Guide to Athens kinda idea—but done with the full-on Young, Foxy & Free treatment. First of all, our issue came out 4-5 weeks into the academic year, after the flush of moving-in, getting oriented, and getting bombarded by other publications and their special fall issues—packed full of text book ads and pizza coupons—had receded. So, from YFF comes the inside dope on Athens.

Then, we told the story of Athens as a physical place, as a culturally active place, and provided a sense of orientation through use of images and design. We started with a photo of the burning Georgia Theatre (something that may have happened "while you were gone"), and also had old Polaroids by Chris Bilheimer with the original Grit location on fire. The music and party scene was rendered with photos by then-art student Eddie Whelan. We showed cycling as a mode of transportation and sport with bicycle messenger and athlete Zak Noles. Two art projects presented unique takes on Athens, as well as photographer Daniel Fell with his moody landscapes. More Athens bands were photo'd just for this issue, and two local models and our mayor posed in key Athens landmark locations.

Glued inside the issue, and also made available at the Athens Welcome Center, is our own Athens On A Postcard—a guide to the best of Athens local businesses, the ones who also support Young, Foxy & Free with their ads.

Young, Foxy & Free is rooted in Athens, dependent on its creative people, the businesses that partner with us, with printing by Athens Printing Company. We try to give back to all of these through our printed page and also our various online assets, including our blog, Google Calendar and Map, Facebook page and Twitter posts. You can find any of them and see the last two issues by starting at our website, youngfoxyfree.com. Join us at these locations, comment, contact us, follow us. Come be Young, Foxy & Free!

Sticker design just in time

2009-10-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Candy worked with Dana Jones on his newish business, Athens Print Studio, to develop an identity. We set upon designing a logo, and in that process discussed the nature of his business (how to define it for potential customers), what should the logo express and how, has a URL for the business been secured, what materials will be generated featuring the logo?

Dana specializes in art reproduction and commercial printing, with an emphasis on custom jobs and archival printing on specialized papers. He was midway through a large project for a client who will be selling faithful reproductions of paintings at a major art fair. This was an opportunity for Dana to get his name out there—so we decided that an adhesive label of the logo should be produced ASAP in order to brand the pieces that were about to go to market.

The Candy logo was designed with this use in mind—imagining the logo on a small sticker (1.5 inches square) positioned on a wide range of sizes of foam core backing for the custom reproductions. The treatment of the straightforward type involved reversing the font, then reducing the black boundary area to allow some letter forms to create shapes. The resulting design has the effect of letting the white from the type flow outward to the edges of the sticker and beyond—to the whole area on which it's placed. The logo isn't confined to it size; it bleeds into any contiguous white space.

Candy is a vendor of labels and stickers and got these one-color stickers produced in a few days. Dana was able to complete his client's print job and brand them with his new logo. Candy continues to work on Athens Print Studio's marketing materials, while Dana is to print a limited-edition photo-poster for Michael, entitled White Pylon. Dana can be contacted for hire at athensprintstudio@gmail.com.

Art show card for Didi, Carol & Lou

2009-10-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Michael is a member of Athens Design Development (ADD), and he was asked to design a postcard for an art show by three of the other members of ADD: Didi Dunphy, Carol John and Lou Kregel.

The show, which is at Athens Academy Bertelsmann Gallery (1281 Spartan Lane, Athens, GA 30606), is now on view until December 11. The reception is Sunday, October 25, from 2-4 PM.

Because there were three artists in the show, the design steers clear of showing any of their work. All three are accomplished colorists—Didi's painted surfaces and vinyl colors, Carol's quality-pigment oil paint, and Lou's expertly-applied house paint all share color as a key feature. So for this Candy job, Michael chose to just use type and color to create an eye-catching card.

The font used was chosen for its monumental presence—just like the art! The type was skewed to get more dynamism, and that perspective suggested the extruded 3-dimensional treatment.

The back side of the card was crafted to allow for mailing; by placing a 3-inch wide address label on the bottom left and a stamp on the upper right, the card could be mailed without obscuring any of the info—which runs diagonally.

The high-gloss card was printed by Candy through our special vendor relationship, which allows us to offer our clients inexpensive high-quality cards at many stock sizes.

It's an honor to be able to represent three artists through Candy's graphic design, and I'm thankful that they trusted for this job. Go Didi, Carol & Lou!

EcoFocus Film Festival, Year 2

2009-10-01T11:23:00.001-07:00

The second annual EcoFocus Film Festival is occurring during this month of October—with 2 or 3 feature-length films showing per week, as well as 3 blocks of shorts. Most films will show at Ciné, 234 W. Hancock Street in downtown Athens, Georgia.

Last year, Candy worked with festival director Sara Beresford on the 2008 EcoFocus Film Festival to design the 16-page program and a promotional postcard. Coming late to the process, Candy was working with the logo and campaign visuals that had already been developed—but we were able to provide useful assistance through marketing advice and production of those pieces.

This year, Candy's role expanded to include responsibility for all of the design elements for the 2009 festival. Candy designed a striking visual as the cornerstone for all promotion: a large lower-case letter "e."

The letter E was chosen to represent "environment," which is the topic of all of the festival's films. It was also floating around in Michael's mind from the 1970's when he was involved in the so-called "ecology movement" as a teen; there had been an attempt to brand the movement with a symbol—in the manner of the peace sign—that was based on the letter E and/or a Greek letter.

The Candy design renders the E with the graphic element found in the permanent festival logo—which is loosely based on a film reel. The graphic was rendered at various sizes and colors of green, a color that had been studiously avoided in the 2008 campaign and in the logo itself; Candy sought to reintroduce "green" as a color without resorting to what is understandably an overused idea in the realm of marketing "green" solutions for everything from consumer products to multi-national oil companies. By using lime green, blue-green, green-blue and olive, the color is varied and fresh. Then the chaos of all the overlapping and differently sized and colored icons was overlaid with a unifying color at the outline of every icon. Since it is not constrained by the big "e," this thin stroke in a light lime-green creates a fuzzy "halo" around the design.

Candy designed a bus poster, city poster, marquee posters and program cover. Candy also designed and printed 5000 two-sided postcards. The Candy design was provided to other agents for use in billboards (Fairway Outdoor Advertising), cable TV (Comcast Spotlight), print ads (Flagpole Magazine), and website. Candy was pleased to recommend Athens Printing Company to EcoFocus for the program, and also for their new environmentally-friendly large-format printing services. (Athens Printing Company expertly prints our Young, Foxy & Free magazine.) Candy provided its services at a reduced rate for this non-profit festival, and therefore is included as an in-kind sponsor of the event.

Last year, Michael was impressed by the quality and content of the festival's feature films; the idea behind the festival is that the movies are entertaining, even as they provide insight about topics such as transportation, food, energy, the environment. Because, as the festival tag line states, it's about where we live. Come to Ciné this month and see some engaging films at the 2009 EcoFocus Film Festival!

Supercluster designs by Candy

2009-09-04T07:56:00.001-07:00

Candy worked with Vanessa Hay—my bandmate from Pylon—on some of the designs for the debut CD by her other group, Supercluster. We started with art work by Randy Bewley, the guitarist of Pylon who also played on most of the Supercluster tracks before his death in February. I combined elements from the two drawings that Vanessa and crew wanted to use in order to create a wrap-around panel for the CD booklet, with the left half serving as the CD cover and the right half as the back cover of the 8-page booklet.

The Supercluster "logo" is comprised of the font Unicorn, which Vanessa had chosen a while back. For the 2-color disc design, I flowed the text into the wave-like shapes of an op art graphic.

It's typical Candy design—not fussy, tries to stay out of the way of the art work, and hopefully errs towards legibility. The interior of the booklet and the CD tray card were designed by Supercluster bassist, Kay Stanton.

In the role of photographer, I recently photographed the 8 members of Supercluster who played on the CD or in live performances. That photo will make its debut in the fall issue of Young, Foxy & Free, coming on the Autumnal Equinox, September 22.

Supercluster's Waves CD will be released on October 6, with shows around that time in Athens and Atlanta.

Promotion Before The Fall: boxes, calendar, Facebook and Tweets

2009-08-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

HELLO YFF AD PARTNERS

It's mid-August, still hot and relatively quiet in Athens—but we're working to give your more traction this summer from your ad in Young, Foxy & Free.

NEW PUBLICATION BOXES

The physical distribution of our magazine is important in getting your ad our there and in the right hands. We've just expanded that system by getting two of the downtown Athens publication boxes—and we'll get more as they become available. Now you can be sure that YFF is always available, day and night, at these two spots: in front of the post office on Hawthorne Avenue, and on the NE corner of College and Clayton, by the Fred Building (Southern Mutual Building) and across from the parking deck.

NEW ONLINE FEATURES AT YFFMAG.COM

We've added two new features to our suite of online offerings: a Google calendar of our choice events in Athens, and a Google map of all our distribution locations. If your business is not listed or if you are out of copies of YFF, please notify Michael at michael@yffmag.com or text-phone him at 706-363-0933.

HELP US PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

We view our relationship with you as ongoing and mutually beneficial—and we want to continue to bring value to your ad presence in YFF. As we head into the busy period of students moving in and faculty and families coming back from the summer, let us promote you in our blog, Facebook page and Twitter posts. Please send ideas and information to Michael, become a fan of our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter (so we can follow you and repost some of your tweets). Send us pertinent links, dates, details!

OUR FALL ISSUE IN THE WORKS

Our Fall Scene Issue is in the works and will be all about Athens as a place, a vibe, a social context. We'll explore the physical landscape, landmarks, transportation, people, parties—and of course, more music and art. After all the "Welcome Students" publications have run their special issues—loaded with ads, coupons and come-ons—the new Young, Foxy & Free will appear on the scene after everyone has gotten their bearings and it's starting to feel like fall, on the Autumnal Equinox, September 22. We think they'll be ready and attentive to our presentation, our content, and our ad partners. Make a commitment now to be an ad partner in our fall issue; as long as you run continuously, you are eligible for our 4-issue rate of $250. And best of all, you'll have an uptick in your sales receipts before we need to collect for your ad: our ad deadline for proofs and payment is September 8. Reserve now and Candy can begin work on your one-sixth page color display ad for fall.

Come be Young, Foxy & Free!

michael@yffmag.com

706-363-0933

This email is from Michael Lachowski at Candy, the Pro Active ad agency, PO Box 749, Athens, GA 30603.

Call for Submissions to the EcoFocus Film Festival Environmental Short Film Competition

2009-07-08T05:07:00.000-07:00

Candy is working again this year with the EcoFocus Film Festival, scheduled this year for October. The festival shows feature and short films that combine entertainment, inspiration and information on topics including food, transportation, climate, water, energy, development and nature.

A call for submissions for their environmental short film competition follows; please pass this information along to those who may be interested:

Call for Submissions to the EcoFocus Film Festival Environmental Short Film Competition

Short film entries for the EcoFocus Short Film Competition should be submitted no later than August 7, 2009 through www.withoutabox.com. Early submissions are encouraged. Short films (maximum 40 minutes) should in some way relate to the environment. We are open to any genre or style of film, and welcome a variety of environmental subjects. Films that push beyond the boundaries of what one would generally consider to be "environmental" are welcome. We seek films that promote awareness, discussion, and hopefully action among the film’s viewers. We would like these films to inspire our audiences. Awards and prizes will be determined. Although films of up to 40 minutes are accepted, please note that it is easier for us to program shorter films. Questions can be directed to ecofocusfilmfest@gmail.com.

EcoFocus Film Festival will take place during the month of October 2009. EcoFocus is a presentation of the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. The mission of EcoFocus is to bring great films to our audiences and combine them with creative outreach activities and events to inspire audiences to become better stewards of our planet. EcoFocus is a community effort that draws upon the dedication of a variety of individuals, organizations, foundations and sponsors from the Athens community and beyond. More information can be found at www.ecofocusfilmfest.org.

Candy introduces new ad format in Young, Foxy & Free

2009-05-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Candy had put Young, Foxy & Free aside for a bit in 2008. But a new ad layout at a much cheaper price has provided the promise that a new Young, Foxy & Free can work even better for all parties involved.

The magazine will be a tad bit larger by 1/2 inch in both dimensions: now 9" x 6". But the biggest change is in the ads: display ads, in full color, at one-sixth page, and half the original price!

For just $225, our exclusive ad partners can get a Candy-designed display in the most artful magazine to come out of the Athens scene. The same artists, musicians and photographers who make Athens so special are our contributors. The upcoming Summer 2009 MUSIC issue will feature a tribute to Randy Bewley by Pylon. We also have a number of photographers shooting local bands; The Glamorizer doing a DJ Roundup; and the 1999 music scene as captured by key participant Dan Donahue (Krush Girls, Groop, Great Lakes).

The Young, Foxy & Free effort to partner with our advertisers will find new expression on our website, blog, Twitter posts, and a new free button promotion.

Get involved now if you think your business will fit in our exclusive club. The deadline is soon: June 1. We're moving fast and will be out for AthFest. Young, Foxy & Free is back!

Twilight Bike Weekend in Athens

2009-04-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

The 30 annual Twilight Criterium just overwhelmed the downtown Athens grid this weekend, transforming vehicle passageways into pedestrian hangouts, zones of inflated fantasy and hardcore BMX, and a course for runners, kids, handcyclists, and women and men's elite bicycle racers.

Candy can't help but be involved with the Twilight. We helped instigate the Twilight Film Festival at Ciné, which brought Olympic cyclist Nelson Vails to us. We developed the official Twilight logo a few years ago, and this year we repurposed the logo with a new blue, yellow, pink and black design that graced billboards, posters, postcards, Jittery Joe's coffee, and a sticker on the cover of the Athens Banner Herald. And Candy designed a new t-shirt for the Locos Cycling Team, using photos of shadows of their Bianchi bikes - abstracting the bike for a large-print shirt on Bianchi Celeste Green.

In the process Candy worked with Fairway Outdoor Advertising, ABC Printing, Athens Banner Herald, AKO Signs, Satisfactory Printing, Georgia Cycle Sports, Bel-Jean Copy/Print Center, Ciné, Jittery Joe's Coffee Roasting Company, and The Adsmith. As usual, Candy enjoyed working with the Twilight and these excellent local vendors (many of which were generous sponsors of the Twilight).

And of course, as an individual with long term connections to the cycling community - and with the perfect weather - I had a really fun weekend taking part as a spectator. Thank you Gene Dixon, Ravi Rajcoomar, Ashley Forgay, Kei Sakai, Amanda Roberts, and all of the other people who tirelessly worked to realize the Twilight weekend once again. I long for the day when Athens comes to fully appreciate and support this event - so that it can continue as part of Athens for years to come!

Athens businesses, It's Spring!

2009-02-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

As you can see from this photo - taken today outside of City Hall - Spring is already here.

And we know that Athens commerce is very seasonal, and many local businesses bellyache the loudest in the Summer. The new year isn't so new anymore and graduation is on May 9, which leaves 80 days of opportunity - starting today.

You might be forgiven for thinking that The Economy was the grand determining factor in what was about to happen, could happen, or might happen. But in Athens, life goes on… and our main economic engine is going to go away for summer break!

Do you have a new message that reflects new realities, and are you getting that message out? For sure there's been a re-calibration of thinking about spending and values, so the messages that once made sense might be less effective now. And the means you use to communicate might need to be tailored to your own new economic realities.

Are you reaching your previous customers with a refresh? Getting new customers is far more expensive than keeping the ones you've got or reconnecting with those who've experienced your services before. Get their attention in-house, through your contact list, or with marketing that'll resonate with them.

Candy has worked with many local businesses to craft a message and produce marketing pieces. We appreciate working within limited budgets, yet recognize the value of being pro active. Done right, any marketing you do now should aim to increase short term revenue, serve to strengthen your brand image for the long haul, and put you in higher relief compared to your competition.

Spring is here - it's time to stop sitting on our hands and to get off our butts. Candy is ready when you are; contact Michael Lachowski.

Twilight art design

2009-02-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

Candy is working again this year on the visuals for the Twilight - the hugely popular annual bike race and related events.

A few years ago, Candy convinced the Twilight promoters to adopt a single logo in lieu of their previous practice of developing a new design every year. We argued that they were losing an opportunity to brand the event, and that they might also save by being able to produce print items that could be used in successive years. So a Candy design with a distinctly retro feel (the race started in 1980) is now the permanent logo.

That doesn't mean that the event can't still have a new look - or campaign - for a new year, including the logo's color and fill attributes. This year, Candy is once again crafting a design - in coordination with local vendor AKO Signs, one of the Twilight's in-kind sponsors. This multi-layered piece has a heraldic look with laurel leaves and ribbon banners, and a symmetrical silhouette on spring hues with a pattern of bicycle gears. The image above is cropped from a screen grab of all the elements of the design highlighted while prepping the billboard files for Twilight sponsor Fairway Outdoor Advertising.

The Twilight is mounting the 30th running of the criterium this year. Sponsorship opportunities are available at many different levels for businesses that would like to tap into the biggest sporting event in Athens after Bulldog football, and the biggest crowds that gather every year in downtown Athens. The Twilight weekend of jazz music, participatory sports events including cycling, running and BMX, and the spectator offerings will be held on April 24 and 25. Don't miss it!

The Candy logo

2009-02-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Any demonstration or discussion of logos designed at Candy should start with our own logo, shown here in one of our favorite - but not exclusive - colorways.

The logo was designed at the outset of the business in 1996, and it hasn't changed since then. That doesn't mean it hasn't been fun to play with; it's been rendered in quite a few colors, for instance, and has been there to represent Candy as an ad agency, an electronic music DJ record store, and a clothing boutique.

But there are a few essentials about the Candy approach to logo design that this logo exemplifies:

It's bold. It has a shape (form) that allows for a very basic visual ID. It hasn't changed.

So those three aspects sum up its key features - but what are the benefits?

The boldness comes in handy for reproduction. Candy believes that a logo should look good and work well in a wide variety of applications, and be legible at various sizes. So it will obviously look good in any preferred presentation - but also hold up and have its essential character rendered in a really crummy situation (a very small logo in a slew of sponsor logos in an ad in newsprint, for instance).

The visual identity means that the logo can be recognized without really reading it; that a viewer can become familiar with the logo in the same way you can easily recognize a loved one's face, or a person's gait. You just know it instinctively, not intellectually.

And the fact that it hasn't changed is the icing on the cake. If you're starting with something good (the first two attributes), then it should never change. Through consistency alone, a logo takes on attributes that the design had nothing to do with: reliability, quality, confidence.

Okay, did you get to those last three words?! Who wouldn't want those values ascribed to their business or endeavor? Yes yes yes, that's the bomb!

So now you know that we can get excited about logos, and we think a lot of our own. But not because of a big head - because we can see the effects.

And at Candy, there is no better job than being given a chance to make or remake a logo.

Definition of a pylon

2009-02-05T16:01:00.001-08:00

A Google search for the name of my band, Pylon, brings up a list with our own website as the top result, followed by some other references to us - such as Wikipedia and Myspace. Then a manufacturing company, a software outfit, more about us. At the bottom was an odd one: This Is A Pylon. What the…?

It's a stand-alone site dedicated to one person's suggestion that a new term is needed to identify the portion of a stencil letter that connects to the "counter" (the typographic term for the interior of a letter, such as the inside of the P), so the middle doesn't fill in. And they want to call it a pylon.

Bull-honky. All the other uses of the word - high-tension masts, turning point in a race (esp. aircraft - see the Faulkner novel), structure marking an entrance, traffic cone, name of a rock band from Athens, Georgia - have no relationship to this support-structure role.

The author - who also has a font, offered for free, named Pylon - should go back to architecture and find a term that really makes sense. And leave our word alone. And get off the top page of Google's PYLON results.

Thank you from We Are Pylon.

G10

2009-02-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

After lots and lots of research - until my head hurt reading detailed reviews - I got the Lumix (DMC-LX3). Then once it was in my hands I couldn't put up with the user interface, controls and menus. And it defaulted to the 24mm equiv angle of view every time I turned it back on. And the aspect ratio setting is a switch on the lens barrel - so the camera ended up at 16:9 by mistake. And there was a separate lens cap that I had to hold or allow to dangle off a retaining strap…

So I had to move "up" to the Canon G10, which is bigger, heavier, has a slower lens, has more on the zoom end instead of the wide angle end, was widely reviewed to be worse in low light, and also provided more than necessary and beneficial in the megapixel department.

But it is sweet - so sweet - to use! The controls I need and use the most are right there. There's a shortcut button that I can program to immediately bring up the White Balance control. And best of all, the 2 Custom Settings let me save a zoom setting, so the camera goes to exactly that point at startup and I can treat it like a prime lens! It's a 4:3 ratio, although with some digging it can be changed to 3:2. (I was coming from a 6x7 medium format and 4:3 Canon Powershot SD20, no longer a fan of the 35mm film aspect.)

That huge battery that adds to the weight? 400 images per charge.

Time to take some pictures.

Super Bowl ads focus on destruction

2009-02-02T16:11:00.001-08:00

My main impression from just barely watching the show was that most of the ads were filled with smashing, splatting, crushing and other forms of violence and destruction.

Today I watched through Time.com's excellent wrap-up of the ads, all graded by reviewer James Ponewozik. And my initial impression has been pretty much confirmed. I mean, lots of bodies got slammed into stuff!

Since I don't watch TV, maybe I'm just a ignorant naif -- unaware of the level of visual violence that mainstream America needs for an ad to grab our attention. Instead, I'm hoping that those spots are all just the last gasp of 2008, the culmination of a lot of bad policies, ideas and practices that we've participated in and consumed. And that ads going forward will need to reflect a new attitude about how to live, live together, and to renew our country and our culture.

I guess my favorite one is the babies with voice-overs for Etrade.