American Century Investments wanted to make its quarterly publication more dynamic, timely, and relevant to the concerns and interests of its audience. Working with Ulicny, Inc., Brand Design gave the publication a complete facelift, using fresh, bold photography, lively illustrations, and engaging page layouts, while respecting the branding guidelines of the firm. The publication recently won a MFEA Star Award for best intermediary newsletter.

California Saw & Knife Works knows saws. The company has been in saw research, design, testing, and manufacturing for 120 years. When Cal Saw wanted a brochure to announce new manufacturing process improvements, added services, and enhanced alloy steel blades, it approached E.H. Manning & Co. and Brand Design. We applied the same clean yet elegant approach we had used for the company’s website.

Brand Design has created marketing assets for several groups within Wells Fargo. Shown here are materials created for Online Services, International Banking Group, Human Resources Recruiting, and Campus Card Services.

Just as businesses compete to win customers, cities compete for businesses that contribute to a stable tax base and help create a vital economy for residents. The City of Richmond chose Brand Design to lead an all-points marketing campaign aimed at attracting businesses to the city. The effort included print collateral, website design, ads, and sales presentations for trade shows. On the print side, we created a custom folder, a capabilities brochure, and one-page inserts profiling successful Richmond businesses. Brand Design also designed and developed a Flash commercial called "A View of Richmond", which is distributed as a CD in the folder package and can also be seen online.

Ulicny, Inc., and Brand Design collaborated to produce a custom folder, a capabilities brochure, and fixed-income and equity brochures as part of a larger effort that included a logo redesign, stationery system, website, and PowerPoint presentations. Collateral imagery was drawn from photographs in the firm’s office to reflect the core values of strength, focus, adaptability, and restraint.

When money managers talk about generating “alpha,” they are referring to the Holy Grail of Wall Street — investments that make money even when markets slump. Brand Design worked with Ulicny, Inc., to create a capabilities brochure that highlights Forward Management’s philosophy and approach to creating investment opportunities focused on alpha generation. The Forward Management brochure won a Star Award from the Mutual Fund Educational Alliance.

Ulicny is a marketing communications firm that concentrates exclusively on the financial services industry. Founder Jeanie Ulicny wanted to stay on her customers’ radar but with a very soft sell. And so was born Ulicny’s Little Guide to Faux Pas–Free Communication, a humorous look at the little ways language might get you in big trouble. The guide was mailed with a card featuring the headline “What’s a Few Measly Basis Points? Thousands of Dollars.” For anyone in the financial services industry, it was definitely an attention getter.

Located in San Francisco’s Union Square, Scheuer Linens carries the finest and most luxurious bed, bath, and table linens from around the world. Scheuer does a brisk online business, but longtime customers still look forward to its quarterly print catalogue. Brand Design’s approach to the catalogue makes it ideal for a leisurely leaf-through. The catalogue is the next best thing to visiting the store, where customers sit in comfortable chairs while they are presented with options by a courteous and knowledgeable staff.

Successful fundraising needs more than a worthy cause. It needs to engage the emotions and the imagination. To help Redwood Day School develop momentum for its high school fundraising efforts, Brand Design created a set of colorful, slotted cards that could be assembled into a variety of shapes. Each card told part of the story behind the vision for Redwood Day High School. The cards, which were handed out at school events, came packaged in an elegant box with a vellum insert that encouraged recipients to “build with them, lay them flat, or read them one at a time.” The RDS High School cards won an award of excellence at the 37th annual West Coast Show, sponsored by the Western Art Directors Club.

The people at Analytic Investors believe the way they process and interpret financial data distinguishes them as a premier investment management company. Five years ago, Analytic Investors was the first to offer a short-extension, “120/20” hedge fund. Of course, since that time there have been many “wannabes” in the short-extension asset category. Brand Design worked with Ulicny, Inc., to create a direct-mail piece that would leave no doubt that when it comes to short- extension strategies, Analytic Investors is “often imitated but never duplicated.”