Candy

A Walmart in downtown Athens

2011-11-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

It's sad that Athens lacks any vision for its future. Or that our little county-city isn't sufficiently valued to the extent of having safeguards protecting our small footprint from raw business interests.

I asked my informed urban planning friend Jacob Lindsey, a UGA Landscape Architecture graduate now working in Charleston, about this. Jacob worked for a small firm that hired Candy to provide naming and marketing for several projects in the greater Charleston area and sponsored an art exhibit I created on the topic of Charleston's history (Charleston Historical Art, Dude!). He now has his own company, Fabric Urban Design, LLC. Here's a portion of his response:

"I think part of the problem is cultural, as decision makers (elected officials, land owners, developers) come from a tradition that's especially unsophisticated in regard to planning matters. They also have the classic Southern land ethic that regards land as nothing more than a vehicle for profit.

"Contrast: In Charleston, there's a clear understanding that any kind of development comes with tremendous design review and public scrutiny, which all developers fear and take into account prior to any design effort. We also attract a relatively savvy developer, as this place has a somewhat more competitive and mature real estate market. This drives up land values but also can also spur better quality.

"Athens is a real hard nut to crack, from a planning perspective, and it really breaks my heart to see [stuff] like this happening."

I realized from this that, all too often, all we Athenians have is an after-the-fact "public scrutiny"—or more accurately, public outcry—as a tool against bad development and/or historical preservation plans. And it's a really crude tool.

Fully frustrated, I composed this juvenile anti-Walmart graphic (above). But I wish I knew how our city—which is seen as being so cool and progressive to people I meet from elsewhere—could develop a vision for our future that would be supportive of new economic development of the sort that would contribute to our better features and our seriously great potential. To me that would be businesses that hired more than minimum-wage workers, provided high calibre products and services, and helped to foster—rather than just benefit from—our cultural frameworks. You know, along the lines of a Blue Heron River District.

Because of his experience and insight, I'll conclude here with Jacob Lindsey's follow-up comments, questions and suggestions:

"It's worth mentioning that Charleston's tradition of public development review starts at the conceptual stage and typically has 2 or 3 phases, if all goes well. Some projects can stay in public review phase for years if the developers can't get things right. This attitude is a often a problem for "good" projects, and can be politically manipulated to fight personal vendettas, but in general has prevented the city from being wrecked over the past 70 years.

"Unfortunately Wal-Mart is the 'worst of the worst' when it comes to development practices, so the only option is to fight and kill the project.

"How far along is the project? Does it require a rezoning or variances? Where can opposition groups apply pressure?

"I think some enlightened and motivated Athenians should form a shadow government of public review sessions, exposing every development project to the public in an unofficial way. Setup a venue for the public critique of development projects and invite an outside expert panel to review them (I'll volunteer!). Vince Graham did this when he created the 'East Cooper Planning Council,' which he used to help influence the design of streets in Mt. Pleasant a few years ago."

Bloodkin 7-inch vinyl design

2011-10-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Candy has worked with the long-running and excellent Athens band Bloodkin to provide CD packaging, posters and stickers a number of times over the years; in fact, Bloodkin was one of our first Candy customers—for their 1996 album Creeperweed. We also designed Out Of State Plates and the band's frontman Daniel Hutchens' release Lesser. Now we've done a vinyl single for the band and the Athens record label Analogue Records.

Working with Daniel Peiken and Hunter Hoskins of Analogue and Daniel from the band, Candy was asked to incorporate the USA flag-based artwork of Georgia folk artist Ab Ivens. Our other constraint, as with most jobs, was cost—there is no obvious way to produce gorgeous custom packaging when the quantity is around 300-500 units.

For the record label, we stuck to one print color and picked from the vendor's stock ink offerings. The design is lifted from a photo I took of an Ab Ivens art piece that Daniel owns (with permission of the artist, of course), and the resulting star was placed in the center of the spindle hole so it would rotate when the record is played. The text is in a "design-free" font and shoved off to the edges with a circular alignment so it could "spin."

The cover design is an example of Candy Efficiency; we borrowed a format that Candy devised for our recent 7-inch single packaging for the Athens band Supercluster. Instead of getting actual covers printed, die-cut and glued into sleeves, many bands these days use folded one-sided print sheets that wrap around the record and the whole held together by a clear plastic slip cover. The Candy design adds a flap to this approach, providing two benefits: a space to include wordy credits that is attached to the packaging but not visible when in the slipcover, and a barrier to keep the record from slipping out if the slipcover opening is on the side.

The printing was farmed out to the national online company Discmakers because they offer 11" x 17" band promotional posters at a price that is remarkably cheap for digital printing at this scale. (Candy prefers to use local vendors but our primary fidelity is to our customers and their budget!) We used almost every inch of the "poster" by adding the flap to the single cover and attaching a second print job, a narrow 3" x 17" poster. This layout requires us to carefully measure and consult with Bel-Jean Copy/Print Center in downtown Athens who provided the cutting and scoring so Analogue can assemble the covers.

It's great that bands still want to release their music on physical media of any kind, vinyl included. Candy is happy to play a small role in the Athens music scene by working on projects like Bloodkin's!

Candy wins award for volunteer work

2011-07-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

Going way back to the time that Candy started up—around 1996—Michael has done pro bono ("denoting work undertaken for the public good without charge") work for the Mental Health Association of Northeast Georgia's annual fundraiser, entitled "The Mental Health Benefit." On Tuesday, the association (now named Mental Health America of Northeast Georgia) held a banquet and presented Michael with this award for Outstanding Volunteer.

The award is named for Hans Peter Dietrich; he approached Michael way back then about doing a poster and related designs for the benefit. While Hans' involvement in the annual event ended quite a few years ago, Michael has continued to provide new campaign designs every year.

The Candy role in the marketing effort of the benefit has varied with the fluctuating energy and changing directors over the years. In some of those years it was an ambitious effort that included the poster, billboards, postcards, t-shirts, ads, bus signs, cable TV spots, stickers, and event-specific literature—and Candy had a role in every element. But the one consistent element has been the event poster.

Usually measuring 18x24 inches, the large scale poster is a refreshing change from the more ubiquitous 11x17 or letter-sized posters commonly seen around town. They've been either two or three spot color designs with full bleed and have all been printed by the Georgian Press as part of their generous in-kind sponsorship.

For Candy, the best aspect of doing this work has been the freedom! The kind people at Mental Health America have given Candy full reign to develop campaign concepts and designs without any interference. Candy has successfully weened the posters of excessive detail and sponsor logos—arguing that the poster is more effective if it can elegantly attract attention to the event while allowing the other media (display ads, postcards, website) to provide the nitty-gritty.

Another key role that Candy played was to help the benefit play up its message to "fight the stigma associated with mental illness." As that was a recurring theme, we placed more emphasis on that message in the designs and also by advising the association to adopt the website domain URL, fightthestigma.com.

Attending the banquet this week was really beneficial. Learning more about the work of Mental Health America, how the $7,190 they raised with this year's benefit was put to use via five mini-grants to local organizations, and being in a room full of hard working and dedicated mental health medical, legal, and counseling professionals and volunteers was inspiring. And I'm happy to report that it has motivated me to want to work for the benefit again in 2012. Fight the stigma!

Candy designs grace American Pie IV movie

2011-06-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

That's right: American Pie, the movie. The film at hand is actually entitled American Reunion—the characters are now all around 30, and they're back together after various life changes.

Right now in Conyers, Georgia, near the Olympic horse park in a huge building that once housed a Japanese manufacturing concern, the offices and sound stage for American Pie IV are tucked away in a wooded industrial park. Lucky for Candy, our friend Jennifer Blair thought to call when filming was imminent for an office scene (shot at a location near Atlanta); they needed to decorate a cubicle with some design work that someone had the rights to.

I sent a number of designs for various projects, many of them personal side projects or branding ideas that hadn't been put into action beyond a graphic and a web presence. They chose 10 different designs that were sent as PDF's for printing in-house and by a vendor.

The three that you see here were printed large, 40 x 30 inches. New Young Americans was an idea for a website to encourage voting by young people. Natural Purity is a modeling agency that still is working with models—and that lead into the founding of our magazine Young, Foxy & Free. Cream Jeans was an idea for a pop-up shop to sell denim jeans.

Elsewhere in the movie is a cork board loaded with ephemera that includes our buttons, stickers, and more graphics. All of the work is for the Set Decoration department of the film—although the Joy All Over It koozies might make it into the Prop department.

Fun stuff! It's nice to be paid for intellectual property that isn't doing much and to provide items that might get some camera time. It's a great outlet and exposure for Candy. Thank you Jennifer, Bill, David, American Reunion, and Universal Studios!

ACHF logo and newsletter

2011-05-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Candy touch was recruited by Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation in July of 2010 when Michael was asked to be on the board and become the chair of the Communications committee. This is a working board—the trustees really do put in time and effort according to their core skill set and interests. So the first projects at hand were the logo, newsletter, Facebook, website, email messaging, and similar elements of integrated marketing communication.

Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation was founded in 1967 and is "the leading advocate for the importance of historic preservation to the future of the Athens community." The board of trustees had been toying with their logo when I came on board. I felt that their well-intentioned effort was heading in the wrong direction and argued for a more conservative design than the contemporary direction they had tried out. I suggested that the logo needed to represent history, consistency, balance and permanence—just like a well-designed and built building. I wanted to go back to the core of the organization's legacy logo, an illustration of their headquarters in Firehall No. 2 set inside an attractive oval. I addressed their desire to emphasize the word "Heritage" by stacking what had previously been a long linear name below the graphic.

To build the logo, we were lucky that executive director Amy Kissane was able to get a clean digital file of an early version of the firehall design by Ron Evans of the now-closed Kudzu Graphics. I chose the font Caslon since it was the main font in use at the time of Athens' founding. The logo was well-received by the board and will soon find expression in revamped letterhead and other materials.

Next was the newsletter which had been fallow for a couple years but was viewed as an important communications tool by the executive director and the board—especially for members who are less inclined to get their information online. Working closely with board president Jennifer Lewis and designer Eleonora Machado, a typical Candy approach resulted in a redesign of the newsletter. Rather than maintain the elegant yet extravagantly printed large 3-panel design that had been designed by R.E.M. graphic designer Chris Bilheimer, or to revert to the generic newsletter format that ACHF had used previously, I suggested a digest-sized booklet that would have more the feel of a magazine. I proposed that we'd extend the reach of the newsletter beyond being a perk for members by printing extra copies to disseminate in the community—for the dual purposes of being able to convey a fuller understanding of our activities so as to advance our standing, and to deliver a membership sign-up form wrapped in 23 pages of illuminating information.

Jennifer Lewis devised a content list for the first issue, harangued the board members for their articles and photos, enlisted board member Tom Wilfong as meticulous editor, and conveyed the resulting content to Eleonora Machado who expertly assembled the results according to the Candy vision. A black-on-cream 24-page booklet was printed by Athens Printing Company. Also, for the first time, ACHF now has a full-color online edition of the newsletter available via Issuu.com for convenient viewing and to download as a PDF!

Thanks to the efforts of these many people and their trust in the new ideas foisted on them by Michael at Candy, the Athens-Clarke Heritage message is receiving better circulation with a more intact identity. I look forward to helping the group continue this effort in the near future. And I encourage you to check out our new newsletter and invite you to attend our 42nd Annual Preservations Awards on the UGA Campus on Monday, June 13!

Another satisfied customer

2010-09-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

We did it again—another low-cost logo!

After reading a previous post on this blog about a $100 logo, we were contacted by a principal at a new boutique event planning business in Athens named Swoon.

We explained that a logo is cheap if the design is smart and fast. Swoon co-founder Ashley assured us that the Swoon crew knew what they wanted and could make solid decisions. So we started, trying to realize their concept of using typographer's flourishes as they'd seen in old books, and using a lower-case typewriter font.

After some asymmetric versions, we quickly migrated to the ye-old standby: pure symmetry. In the end, Swoon was very pleased even as our regular rate brought the price up to $165.

Swoon's website and marketing materials aren't in effect quite yet, but if you'd like to contact Swoon for a carefully cultivated event, just let Michael know and we'll hook you up!

Young, Foxy & Free in 3D!

2010-08-30T13:58:00.001-07:00

This is gonna be so huge!

So far, we've only found two examples of this in the national media: a monthly issue of The Skateboard Mag has a photo shoot in 3D along with red-blue glasses sponsored by Converse, and Armani Exchange has a 2-page spread in the new GQ with the glasses to view the ad as well as an online video.

Then there's the little art-photo-music-design-fashion free quarterly magazine in Athens, Georgia—Young, Foxy & Free. And on September 22 it will hit the streets with free glasses in a free magazine featuring scenes from all around Athens in glorious anaglyph 3D.

Get ready to get your copy! Ad partners, be sure to order your ad ASAP—deadline September 9.

30-page guide for Young, Foxy & Free ad partners

2010-07-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Now available—a thorough guide to the features, promotion and pricing for ad partners in Young, Foxy & Free magazine.

View it online and you can download the PDF file there too. When you get to the last page, you'll find the contact info for purchasing your ad.

The ad deadline for our 2010 Fall Scene Issue is September 8, with no payment due until our release date on the Autumnal Equinox, Wednesday, September 22.

Come join Young, Foxy & Free!

Candy brings 3D to our own free magazine!

2010-07-20T09:50:00.001-07:00

We've decided to ape Avatar and Pixar and do something awesome in the next issue of Young, Foxy & Free—we're going Three Dee!

We've heard that our magazine is a "coffee table book," our useful calendar issue hangs everywhere, and lots of people save and collect our mag. Who wouldn't want to own and retain an issue with 3D photos & art, and free red & blue glasses to view them?

Even ads can be in 3D—available for full page only. As with all ads, Candy will provide the 3D photo and design for free. (Full page ads are $1050, or $875 if on a 4-ad contract, which could include 4 ads of either ad size. The one-sixth page ads are $300/$250.)

Refer to our Fall Scene Issue as your intro to the season, available at the September 22 launch party on the Autumnal Equinox. Have a zip-lock bag ready to save your collectible 3D Young, Foxy & Free!

Summer issue introduces a 5th color!

2010-06-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

Young, Foxy & Free announces a new color for our Summer Music Issue: 806C.

Since our 2009 Summer Music Issue, YFF has taken to the bright and pure palette of CMYK; that is, using the component inks of the 4-color process printing that allows for "full color" rendering of continuous tone photographs and art. While these 4 colors can combine in the small dots of half-tone screens to produce green, red, purple et al, we use them graphically by themselves. No blending, no tints—just pure solid color.

(We also use Rich Black, which is a mix of the four colors to get a blacker black.)

While watching and videotaping our Spring Body Issue in the making at Athens Printing Company, we asked: Hey, wait—can we add a spot color on this press?! Plans were made to use a fifth ink for our Summer 2010 issue. Introducing 806C, or fluorescent hot pink.

Next up, figuring out which pages would get the extra ink. Luckily we had some press sheets from the spring issue, so it was easy to see which pages shared that press plate with the front and back cover: 4, 6, 7, 26, 27 & 29. (Since our mag is "self covering," we get to use it inside. The big magazines that use spot colors—fluorescents, metallics and good red or oranges—just put it on the cover.)

Adding the color to the design process was easy, but visualizing it is tough. There's no way to approximate the appearance of a fluorescent color on a monitor or a printed proof. Worse, the color that the programs use to represent 806 is a sickly pale pink, less vivid and interesting than the pure magenta that we'd been using all along. (See graphic above.)

So you have to design with faith—faith that the extra expense of adding a fifth color is really going to be worth it, that when the ink hits the page and the mag hits the street, the new color is really going to POP! We put the ink here and there, in solids and gradients, modest and bold. It's all designed and at the printer. We can't wait to see it, to see how our designs using 806C will look!

The issue will launch on the Summer Solstice, June 21, with a party at 283 Bar (283 E. Broad Street, Athens, GA) from 8PM until midnight. Come see our new magazine and get your Foto Pixx portrait taken!

Simple response card for Young, Foxy & Free ad partners

2010-05-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

This is a design with a generic pedigree‚ like most of the Young, Foxy & Free graphic and layout concepts. (Although this one does sport 4 different font sizes, which is a switch from our normal mundaneness.)

The front presents a commonly used (trite?) response card technique and there's postage on the back, ready to mail. But there are some design features that we think raise it up a bit.

The huge font and check boxes—they can't be more prominent.

And then the presence of text on the affirmative side with the complete lack of text on the opposite side. Even if you can't read the two, you get the idea: one of these choices is utterly lacking in anything but a big fat NO. By contrast, the YES side appears more interesting.

If you read the bullets, the first one says what is being agreed to—continuation of the ad partner's ad presence with an ad in the upcoming issue. But wait, there's more: the other bullets itemize some of the other benefits of being in the mag, including more passive attributes such as supporting the creative scene in Athens.

All of which is true, there's nothing phony about our pitch! We're just hoping that the graphical rendering of the choice and the ease of responding will allow us to get a straight answer fast; as usual, we're in a crunch and coming down to the wire on our deadline.

Speaking of the Summer Music Issue: it will be out at our launch party on the Summer solstice, Monday June 23. Come to our launch party at 283 Bar, 283 E. Broad Street, Athens, GA, 8PM-midnight!

Name, logo, identity & collateral in 2 weeks!

2010-05-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Candy was approached by a Realtor® in early May with a request: "Can you name our new business, create a logo, and get our business cards, note cards and yard signs made for our big launch on Memorial Day Weekend (May 29-30)? On a tight budget?"

"No problem."

Staring two weeks ago, we had their basic story and limited requests in hand. We did some quick research within the industry, spent time crunching word combos, vetted our naming ideas by looking at top-10 results on Google and Bing, then checked on domain name availability. Before presenting our three variations of the one idea, we purchased the domain names—just to be sure we had the solution in-hand. The name was presented along with a wordy document that provided the rationale and a defense for the names. And luckily, we were dealing with very amenable clients: a name was quickly approved.

Next was the logo—not too complicated. We wanted something that looked very professional and that would read well on a yard sign. As always, a visual shape and a modest color scheme was desired. Our single logo solution was accompanied by an explanation of its merits and was also swiftly approved.

As of today, the business cards and yard signs are ordered, and we'll have a few more details to attend to next week. The domain names that we purchased are temporarily being forwarded to one of the partners' existing websites. And budget-wise, we're just 7% past the agreed-upon package price.

If next week's wrap doesn't get out of control, then Candy has managed to provide quality work for a client on a tight budget and timeline, done it at close to our normal rate, and we've already been paid. Maybe there's some benefit to "just get 'er done."

Green & Clean logo was fast & cheap

2010-05-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Luckily for the planet, there are now incentives for clean energy solutions to be adopted. A friend in New Jersey knows an electrician that is rebranding as Clean & Green Energy Solutions and getting into the solar power installation business. He asked me to do a logo for pay, but I knew they were paying out of pocket and didn't want it to cost much.

But Candy logos never cost much because we work efficiently to solve for the core need: to communicate clearly. We think that a simple and "clean" design does that, and it isn't that complicated.

Since Candy charges by time instead of by the job, the timer was started at the outset of this design session. The second design (above) was deemed worthy and sent to our client. They loved it and were ready to pay, asking "Did you say that was around $250?"

I checked the time sheet; how about $100? A one hundred dollar logo that can work and survive all forms of use is a good deal. Candy is affordable because we're fast & cheap.

Bar code color

2010-05-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

While working on a self-addressed and stamped response card mail piece for Young, Foxy & Free's ad partners, I wanted to include our postnet barcode for a speedy and professional return of our card. And, to make it look more cool.

Trying out a few online barcode generators, I wasn't exactly sure if I was putting in the right content. So I looked at some incoming mail to our PO Box from big companies and saw that their codes matched but were different from mine. So I decided to "hand roll" our code by building it.

Counting the little bars required reading glasses and I was using color to select the high and low bars in sequence. Later the blue ones were reduced to half height, and all were turned to black.

Along the way, this nice primary color artifact was noticed—and that was the purpose of this post!

Buy an ad in the Summer Music Issue of Young, Foxy & Free

2010-03-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

BUY AN AD

Get a hyperlink in our online edition, social media by YFF, mobile phone coupon option, dedicated Quick Info page, and optional “as seen in YFF” door sticker with your own QR code. We include a lot of extra promotion and exposure for your business when you purchase an ad. We're always looking to co-promote with you too—ideas are welcome!

OUR ADS ARE CREATED EQUAL

You don’t need to out-spend other advertisers to get attention—all ads are one-sixth page, full-color, and include free design by Candy. Expertly printed by Athens Printing Co.—you won't find better quality in any other publication.

BY INVITATION ONLY

Your ad will be in good company—with quality that compliments our content. We're picky on behalf of our readers and our other ad partners. We reserve the right to refuse any ad design, content, or advertiser.

ADS THAT PEOPLE NOTICE

They comment on them as much as our content—we’ve heard it a lot. No kidding; they are positively engaged with our ad style and the caliber of our ad partners.

LOCK IN OUR BEST RATE

Commit to 4 ads and save $50 per ad with a 4X contract; you’ll get our current rates, an event date in our 2011 calendar issue, and other prime placement. (Current and returning ad partners get the same without a contract just by staying in the mag.)

THE CONTRACT RATE is $250 EACH

Or $300 for a single issue. (Try us once and we’ll pro-rate your first ad when you commit to 3 more issues.) Our publication schedule is Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, with a launch on the first official day of each season.

COMPARE US TO OTHERS

Here‘s a check list: quality, originality, online edition, promotion, price. Add in our readers’ enthusiasm, desire to contribute, engagement, portraits in our Foto Pixx. And our passion!

CONTACT

michael@yffmag.com • 706-363-0YFF

YFF mobile calendar brings puts advertisers in the hand!

2010-03-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Young, Foxy & Free continues to create new exposure for our ad partners.

Combine our curated Google Calendar of local events with our new QR code-enabled "quick info" page for each of our ad partners—and then put it on a mobile device.

The prototype—which is still in development—is functional and shown here in this screen shot. (Click here to see it in your browser, or save the URL and try it on your phone.)

Our calendar lists events that we recommend. Click an event to get more info, including a link to a Google Map of the location, and a link to a URL for more information. After expanding the event's details, you can tap the event title or the YFF header to return to the list view.

At the base of the calendar will be a link to one of our ad partners' quick info page at YFF's site. This is the same page that our Quick Response code on your YFF window sticker goes to. The ads at the bottom of the calendar will be chosen at random; right now you can try it out with our entry for The Globe.

Young, Foxy & Free print ads come with these other features at no extra charge. Our magazine is in the vanguard of culture and marketing in Athens. Join Young, Foxy & Free as an ad partner. Just respond to this simple form in time for us to build your ad by March 12!

(Young, Foxy & Free ads are by invitation only. We reserve the right to refuse any advertiser, ad content or ad design.)

YFF combines QR code with web listing for ad partners

2010-03-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

Young, Foxy & Free has a new innovation to help promote our ad partners' businesses. We are combining two new elements: a QR code on the front of your business, and a dedicated listing for your business at YFF's website.

What is a QR code? It's like a bar code except it can hold a lot more info—such as a web page URL. To use it, you "scan" the code with a mobile phone or device that is equipped with a camera and web access. A free QR-reading app on the phone will decode the info and provide immediate access to the embedded webpage.

Our stickers will provide a unique URL to go directly to the Young, Foxy & Free "quick info" page for your business. Here, a potential customer can find out what you offer, plus your location, hours, contact info, and hyperlinks to your website, Facebook Page, or other online assets—such as a menu.

We have created a simple form for our YFF ad partners to fill out so that we have consistent info from each business. In addition to the window sticker and QR code marketing, we will direct our fans and followers to ad partners' YFF quick info page through other means.

To help introduce the QR code utility to Athens, we will plaster a code on the front cover of our Spring Body Issue, and provide QR app info inside. Although we expect this technology to become commonly used sometime soon, it's still a novel concept—and so our window stickers will be noticed.

We have a sample of a YFF quick info listing for The Globe; take a look and you'll see that this kind of handy info is often unavailable when someone needs it most. Young, Foxy & Free is working hard to ensure that our ad partners receive real value for their support of our mag.

Young, Foxy & Free ad infinitum

2010-02-22T07:07:00.000-08:00

We can go on and on about the benefits of advertising in Young, Foxy & Free—and so we do in this blog post! Read on if you dare…

THE ADS

Our magazine is extremely popular and well-regarded, which is good thing to be associated with. Our advertisers are by invitation only, which means that we're controlling the environment in which your ad (and our creative contributors' content) will be seen. Because of the gallery-like environment of our magazine (all images, very little text copy), our readers report that they study the ads. They also say that they keep the magazine and go back through it time after time.

We eliminate the competitive nature of buying an ad—since they're all the same size, you don't have to play the upgrade game of trying to outsize the other ads. The ads are one-sixth page, resulting in a sturdy 3 X 3 inch square. The ads are separated from each other by a thick black border that highlights the colors and individual ads' visual content.

Our ads are in full color, offset-printed on quality coated glossy stock, and then given an additional aqueous coating to increase the saturation, sheen and touch of the page. The magazine is printed locally by Athens Printing Company, and Michael of Candy is on-hand to check in with them during the printing process to ensure our publication is done right and on schedule. The quality of the finished product is one of the features we get a lot of feedback on.

We feel that our ad partners represent the best of Athens, and we're working to expand that group by inviting businesses and trying to attract them with our track record for excellence and our growing acclaim. We feel that all of our ad partner businesses should be pleased to see who else is in the magazine, including their competition. We seek to expose visitors to Athens to Young, Foxy & Free so it can be a de facto guide, and we are developing new ideas for communicating that message all the time.

Our magazine is distributed with care in a large number of prominent locations, including retail and service establishments throughout downtown and surrounding districts, select UGA campus locations, two publication boxes downtown, and at all of our advertisers. Our magazine is delivered to the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at their request—for the permanent collection. We don't find evidence of Young, Foxy & Free being casually used and abused, ruined or underfoot; we believe the mag is being picked up and kept.

ONLINE

The full version of our magazine is available online, which means that all of the ads are visible online. We display our online edition through Issuu, which is also now viewable on Android platform mobile devices and will be available soon for the iPhone and forthcoming Apple iPad.

We are continuing to develop our online presence. Currently our website includes our searchable (and subscribeable) Google Calendar of selected Athens events in categories of film, music, art, sports, civic, lecture and family. We provide links to the websites of all of our ad partners, contributors, subjects, and featured non-profit agencies. We provide a Google Map for locations to find a magazine. In addition to occasional blog posts, we link to our Twitter posts and Facebook Fan Page. Our Twitter posts and Facebook Fan Page status updates push featured items from our Google Calendar to our growing number of followers and is maintained daily. Our Facebook page features Facebook pages of our ad partners. (Please let us know if we have overlooked your business for any of these stated perks.)

INNOVATION

We are innovating our brand and product mix all the time. In our Fall Scene Issue we made a postcard format directory to all of our ad partners that featured a YFF-style photo of City Hall and was glued into the magazine. Our Winter Calendar Issue took the format of a wall-hanging calendar and featured the art of 14 local artists. (NOTE: If we can reach our ad sales goal, we'll be able to increase our page count for Spring—with the potential of a pull-out Foto Pixx section!)

PROMOTION

Most of our promotion for our ad partners has been through our online calendar, blog, Facebook, and Twitter updates. Depending on the business, we are able to develop other ways of boosting the promotional benefit of joining Young, Foxy & Free—and we remain open to suggestions from our ad partners. Some examples:

The YFF promotion that we constructed in the window of Kum's Fashion (115 E. Clayton Street). This was a mutually beneficial trade off: Kum's gave us use of one window to promote the magazine, featuring Kum's wears, and Kum's gained the attention-getting benefits of our dramatic window display, resulting Facebook posts and chatter, and stunned reaction from complacent passers-by.
The Globe is hosting our Spring issue launch party on Saturday, March 20.
Bob Salon is offering to provide stylists for various photo shoots.
Gig Worn, Dynamite Clothing and Ohh, Boy! have loaned clothing for photo shoots.
DOC hosted a Foto Pixx portrait session at their building on Barber Street next to Ohh, Boy!
Mama's Boy used our ad photo concept for their Christmas card, the Globe used their YFF ad in a Guide2Athens ad, Jittery Joe's asked us to turn their ad into large display panels for Taste of Athens and their four stores and a postcard, Hub Bicycles got us to repurpose their YFF for a special promotion print piece.

MUTUAL BENEFIT

Our advertisers are contributors to our magazine no less than the creative talent and the willing subjects that comprise the magazine's content. We truly view our advertisers as partners and encourage active participation from them for our mutual benefit. For instance, we want our ad partners with a Facebook page to encourage their page followers to also follow Young, Foxy & Free; that enlarges the YFF scope of promo for all of our advertisers, and it adds dimension and shape to your own followers' understanding of your business. We want our ad partners to promote their involvement with YFF—their employees and customers will appreciate their support of a high-quality cultural asset. That's why we're offering "As see in Young, Foxy & Free" window stickers for our Spring issue. The advertiser can and should be engaged, not just a passive "purchaser" of ad media.

FOTO PIXX

Our new Foto Pixx portrait project invites anyone who is willing to pose for a photo and sign a model release to become part of Young, Foxy & Free. This is one way in which we are working to engage our readers—so they are truly part of the mag. We'll take their photo, post it on Facebook where they can tag it, offer it to them as a free download, and print it in the magazine. Foto Pixx is seeking locations and events where we can set up our backdrop and studio lighting. We've created a stand-alone website for the project at fotopixx.com and will be developing this new feature over time. Currently, two Foto Pixx sessions are scheduled: our March 20 launch party at the Globe, and opening night of the Robert Osborne's Classic Film Festival at the Classic Center Theater. Our first sessions have generated some lovely images of true individuals!

COMMUNITY

YFF is ingrained in the Athens community, and actively engaged. In our Winter Calendar Issue, we feature one local non-profit agency per month, and include them on our website. We've added to the exchange between town and gown by bringing the work and efforts of current students onto our pages and behind the scenes. Our window design for Kum's Fashions was done with grad school artist Helen Farmer. We're committed to our local scene and working to enrich it.

CONTENT

The "ad vehicle" of Young, Foxy & Free is a magazine of locally produced original creative content. Almost all of the content is created specifically for the magazine and seen for the first time in its pages and online edition. This is our defining feature—that we are generating new creative work, not just running it or reporting on it. On top of that, we are creating situations where various talents are working together in collaboration, often without any previous connection to the other! Photographers are getting together with bands at our request, new photographers are finding an outlet for the first time, artists are being encouraged to create for our pages, rank amateurs are being enlisted as models. We're trying to maintain high standards of quality while reaching out to less experienced new talent. We're striving to be inclusive, as our forthcoming photoshoot of sorority and fraternity members indicates. The creative direction from Michael at Young, Foxy & Free is to instigate and activate—so that all parties will have expanded their work in some way.

GOALS

We have almost endless ideas and goals for Young, Foxy & Free. At the most basic, it is to develop a sustainable context for high quality creative work that is mutually beneficial to all contributors, supporters and consumers. To achieve it we'll do everything from hefting heavy boxes of mags to conceiving lofty new modes for engaging our readers. We're passionate and practical. To get there, we need your support with a paid ad. Join us—come be Young, Foxy & Free.

Saved by Apple's Aperture 3

2010-02-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

Gosh, what a relief; I think I've found the photo management program that I can live with.

This is a very premature position to take due to a lack of hands-on experience—but I think I am in love with Aperture 3, and am ready to throw out the Lightroom 3 Beta. (These comments all pertain to my "important" photography; I had been using iPhoto for my "personal" photography. Then the iPhoto Library got messed up, and lots of data was lost. Since then I've continued on without a separate app for my "personal" photography.)

Once upon a time when I tried out Aperture, I hated its interface with the floating transparent black palettes and all. Around that time, I was getting by with Adobe Bridge to find my images, view and label them, move groups of images into Photoshop for web galleries and batch processing, etc. From Bridge I moved to Lightroom 2, and was glad to have more image controls, more versatility, a lot of stuff that looked promising that I didn't even tap into but was glad to have at hand. Slowly I'd gotten used to things being sluggish, but accepted it given the huge legacy of cataloging and labeling that I'd built up.

Turns out I didn't really understand Lightroom's library mode very well, which became clear when I saw images in my library but couldn't get at them, and when I'd try to re-import them, it said they were already there. I ended up doing some ridiculous work-arounds—using the Mac OS Spotlight—just to retrieve the photo and open it in Photoshop so I could get work done. With the Lightroom 3 Beta I started rebuilding those libraries from scratch; yippie!, I know where all my stuff is and I can get to them and the Camera Raw plugin actually claims to support my new model cameras (Canon S90 and 7D)!!!!

That junk was so slow and buggy that I had to schedule a special session just to import and work with image files—quit all other apps first, present a clean slate to Lightroom 3 Beta. Wait wait wait, anything to keep the system operating in the hopes that the final version in April would be my new salvation.

On top of those frustrations was the supreme pin-cushion distortion in my wider Canon S90 shots; as far as I could determine, the camera was supported by this configuration—but I could be wrong. I still felt like I was hobbling along, hoping that the technology I depended on would one day catch up with the other technology I was using daily. The announcement of Aperture 3 came the day after I downloaded a trial of Aperture 2 out of desperate curiosity…

Long intro—but it leads up to 2 days ago when I started trying out Aperture 3. Oh my god!

They still offer those black floating palettes, but you don't have to use them. (What is HUD?!) Beyond that, I'm still figuring it out. But here's what I've noticed so far:

It loads and quits fast, it grabs the images off the camera card fast, you can switch from Library to Metadata to Adjustments fast. (Yes, it has to process images and hogs RAM and takes some time, but at least the interface is cooperatively responsive.)
It may not be married to Photoshop like Lightroom and Bridge are—but it is married to many other things that I use even more often—like Mail, export variously-sized JPG's (quickly), Flickr and Facebook support built in, and MobileMe (which I have, but don't use as much since I'd have to think of using it).
I'm not clear on how Aperture wants to organize images in the file hierarchy (will they live in a file Package?), but at least I can grasp how it organizes them in the interface. And it's not black.
It looks like it wants to keep certain feeds updated on its own, such as a given Facebook Photo Album; is that true??

I know that Aperture is meeting the hobbyist halfway instead of staying hardcore in the pro photographer's camp. But I can use the iPhoto-ish features and can enjoy the OS-friendly and MobileMe-promoting aspects, and can export and upload (a Photoshelter plug-in is available) and be nimble and quick. It's $200 instead of $300 for Lightroom. I've got 27 more days in my trial… but I might have found The App.

Logo for a punk rock label

2010-02-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

Since 2001 when Candy had moved into the Synergy Center of the UGA New Media Institute on the 3rd floor of the Bank of America Building, I've known Beth Thrasher. She ran the Synergy Center as well as her Short Attention Span Film Festival. Now Beth and Jason Thrasher are married and head up Thrasher Photo & Design, providing commercial & band photography and web site design & search engine optimization.

I've worked with Beth and Jason on various projects: Gold Star Art, Short Attention Span Film Festival, design and printing for Thrasher Photo & Design, Jason's band photos in Young, Foxy & Free, collaborating with Beth on website design for Athens Research & Technology and Counseling Associates For Well-Being—and now, for Beth's punk rock band.

That's right; Beth is a punk rocker. Or at least she was 12 years ago when her San Francisco-based band Scrambler recorded a record that Beth is just now getting out into the world, in memory of her bandmate Daren. Beth mixed it at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, then put together the print package for the CD jacket and disc with such finesse that Candy didn't have anything to lend to the process—except a logo for her new record label, grandmaster456.

Here is the logo, a fast-and-fun Candy design, based on the colors of the Ampex reel to reel tape that the label name is inspired by. Congratulations Beth on your forthcoming Scrambler CD, "The Golden Gate." I'm anxious to hear you rock out!

Businesses aren't supposed to be people on Facebook

2010-02-04T12:42:00.001-08:00

The Supreme Court may not agree with this, but on Facebook, a business is not supposed to be a person. Instead of creating a pretend identity for your business entity, you can create a Page—which Facebook used to call a Fan Page. (You must have your own identity account already established on Facebook before you can generate a Page for a business.)

A business, band, brand, celebrity, DJ and similar entities should have a Facebook Page. It allows you to do most of what a real individual can do, but it provides you with more data; you can see lots of stats about you followers (Facebook users "follow" your Page instead of "friending" it).

Here's a good example: I can have a FB account for myself, Michael Lachowski. But if I wanted to use Facebook to share information about my commercial photography services, for example, I could start a Page called Michael Lachowski Photography. And another one for my wedding DJ services, etc. You can administer many Pages and you can allow others to administer them with you.

So if you own a business, start a Page. (Heck if I can remember how to get to the starting point. You might have to user FB's Help or Google that.)

When should you create a Facebook Group? That is the third animal on Facebook and it is for an organization of people who are going to need to communicate within the group, discuss, arrange. Google it or go to Mashable for more info.

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.