At our core, we exist to create branded experiences for people to interact with. One of the best ways to do that is through the most tangible creative medium; print. Our Art Director, Ryan, took some time to explain the importance of print and why, as a company, we believe it is still the most powerful tool.

“To convey the sensory and emotional aspect of a brand, we obsess over the tactile experience of print. There’s something to be said about the impact when the right paper is met with beautiful print techniques such as letterpress or emboss, thoughtful details, binding, and well-executed design. All our senses are engaged, aside, perhaps, from taste — although you never know, some folks may be enticed to take a little nibble off a lovely print piece. Stranger things have happened.”

We’ve pulled together several of our recent print projects for you to see. From menus to real estate brochures and business cards – we’ve been busy printing some really cool pieces!

Be sure to follow us on instagram and facebook to see all of our print work fresh off the press!

As a brand development studio, we aim to build a strong foundation for every company we work with. From their brand story to logo design, we are right there creating assets and experiences that will help our clients communicate effectively to their audience – like we did for our two latest clients, casana and plant intention. 

But what happens after all our work is done? How can these brands build upon the foundation we’ve created and engage with their community? Queue our friend and foe, Instagram. Even though this platform is constantly changing and evolving, there are consistent, effective ways to use it that can strengthen your brand and build a following. 

1. Show your work // 

People who follow you want to see your work. This will look different for every company – some sell products, others sell a service or experience. However, the principle remains the same: give people an inside look into the new products you’re releasing, projects you’re working on, or daily happenings at the office. If someone is following your brand, it’s because they have an interest in who you are and what you do. Give them the inside scoop they’re looking for and let them come behind the curtain. Here are some practical ways to do that:

–Share photos of your process: these don’t have to be perfectly curated and edited – use the story feature on Instagram for an unfiltered look into your process.

–Create video tutorials for your products: this is a great way to show people how to best use your products.

–Show off customers who use your product and/or service:  This can easily be done by reposting photos that feature your work or product.

–Take time to do live videos: engaging with your followers and answer the questions they have about who you are and what you do will give them the feeling of an insider – and who doesn’t love that? 

2. Highlight your location & culture // 

We all know that people eat with their eyes first. Do you have a cool location? A great office, restaurant, cafe or building? SHOW IT OFF! Digital Content can be the first interaction someone has with your brand. Try your best to give them a similar experience as someone who enters in-person. If someone can imagine themself in your space, the chances of them making a trip to see you are high. Here are some practical ways to do that:

–Share photos of your space: the architecture, furniture, products on display, the food and beverages [if that’s your thing] and even the music you play throughout the day. 

–Show off your culture: If your office isn’t open to the public [and even if it is] highlight team members, meetings in the office, team events and outings, and any quirky things you find yourself laughing at on a daily basis. This gives both prospective customers and employees a look into the culture you have, bringing the right people to your doorstep.

3. Use photography as an extension of your brand identity //

As a brand development studio, we spend most of our days creating, designing and strategizing for various brands. When we design a Brand Identity, we are creating more than just a logo. We’re writing the story, researching and selecting color, fine tuning typography, creating symbols, and setting guidelines for photography. The way businesses should approach these visually focused social outlets, has everything to do with photography. The photos you post are an extension of your brand. When someone views a photo you’ve shared, they should identify it as one of yours before reading where it came from. Here are some ways to maintain consistent photography that represents your brand:

–Use a consistent editing style [or filter]: is your brand light and airy? Dark and Moody? Warm? Cool? Whatever it is, find an editing style that matches and stick to it.

–Have someone in charge of curating the content you will be posting: Ideally, have that person shooting and editing the photos as well.

–Plan your feed: This may sound excessive, but laying out future posts from a visual standpoint will keep your content consistent and further enforce the visual style of your brand.

–Have fun! Instagram is an amazing tool to showcase your business with – always remember to have fun with it!

Be sure to follow us on instagram and facebook to see how we’re using social media to show off our latest projects, award winning work and studio culture!

Although our creative studio is well known in the real estate development and hospitality space, you might be surprised to read we’ve worked on branding projects in a wide array of industries. Like that time we re-branded a manufacturer of industrial safety accessories [a.k.a goggles, gloves, and safety vests]. Random, right? Shout out to our awarding-winning brand, ironwear.

We’ve also worked on personal brands – that is building a brand for an entrepreneur, a coach in this case, with a very niche target audience [the award-winning brand for katie sandler].

The key that has given us the flexibility to effectively brand any business is our tried and tested Discovery Session process. For us, this is stage one. We don’t jump into brand messaging or brand design without first taking our clients through a discovery phase, which is exciting and enlightening for both us and them

In a nutshell, a Discovery Session is an in-depth and in-person meeting with all the decision-makers leading the to-be-branded project and the helium creative team. The Discovery Session marks the beginning of our brand development process and can be anywhere from a 2-hour meeting at our Fort Lauderdale studio to a multi-day, on-location discovery trip on the other side of the world. We’ve taken a day trip within Florida and even crossed the pond to London in order to experience, and profoundly understand, the culture and environment of the brands we’ll be defining

During these discovery trips, we immerse ourselves in the experience our client’s clients will be having. We love it when our clients plan out the trip itinerary, suggesting the must-see spots and activities which allow us to walk in their shoes. During this journey of discovery, we gather inspiration from each little detail we encounter. It could be a sight, a feeling, something overheard in passing – most of our iconic brands have been inspired by the creative insight gathered during these trips.

Whether or not we travel for a Discovery Session, we always take time to have a formal sit-down meeting during which we ask a list of very crucial questions that have been curated through the years to provide us with the most insight into the intention and goals for the brand. The answers we receive to these questions are the gasoline that fuels our creativity. The more backstory we receive from our clients, the better. In fact, some of our discovery meetings have been so inspiring they’ve lasted over 8 hours! When a company has a rich backstory and is self-aware, we can create a visual representation of their history through their brand.

Another component of our Discovery Sessions is having all the meeting participants fill out a S.W.O.T. Analysis. This is a diagram where they fill out the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and perceived threats as of this moment in time. This simple, but effective marketing tool allows us to assess what makes this particular brand unique, how to leverage it, and who they’re up against. We bring up the key takeaways from the gathered S.W.O.T. forms and discuss as a team during the meeting, which always leads to new insights for our clients as they get to see their company from new perspectives.

At the end of each Discovery Session we always leave with a notebook full of juicy, creative notes, a phone full of inspiring photos, and a handful of new friends with whom we get to work with. There’s a bond that is built knowing that we understand where a company has been and where it’s going – and that we’ve taken the time to experience it as they experience it every day. For us, that is the discovery that ignites our creative spark.

Be sure to follow us on instagram or facebook for an inside look into our discovery session trips, latest projects and award winning work!

Here at the studio we’ve been busy creating brand identities, launching new websites into the world and organizing photoshoots [have you seen our latest blog?] Of course, in the background of all the work, we’ve been listening to some great music that we’re excited to share! So here it is: sights + sounds vol. III 

This is also the most fire playlist cover we’ve ever dropped. Just saying.

You can listen the full playlist on Spotify here

The Joke – Brandi Carlile
Sometime Around Midnight – Airborne Toxic Event
Piano Man – Billy Joel
Stand By Me – Ben E. King
Let It Be – The Beatles
Good Thing Gone – Elle King
Happy – Julia Michaels
Anxiety – Julia Michaels
Mama’s Worried – Patty Griffin
How’s It Going to Be – Third Eye Blind
Congratulation – MGMT

RISK! Storytelling

We cannot confirm or deny, but theres a rumor that Ryan has been selected to speak at RISK’s Fort Lauderdale event in May. WOOHOO!

Check out some RISK stories here

Dave’s  sights + sounds

Top Songs

Something I’m loving this month:

Check out the press release here

What’ are you listening to and enjoying these days? Share your sights + sounds on instagram or facebook and tag us @heliumcreative!

January of this year marked our 15-year anniversary. Yes! That’s 15 years of branding, website development, graphic design, and marketing projects that have brought upon amazing experiences and made helium creative a recognized full-service creative studio.

We are humbled that we’ve been able to stay strong for 15 years and to still be honored by the American Advertising Federation, especially the Greater Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches chapter, with some of their top awards.

On March 7^th, the helium crew traded in Fort Lauderdale for West Palm Beach to attend the 2019 ADDY Awards Gala at Harriet Himmel Theatre. In company of other remarkable creative agencies, we received a total 7 awards – including Best of Show for the 2^nd year in a row!

Check out the full list of the winning projects.

BEST OF SHOW + GOLDdrip pop Website

Last year, drip pop’s brand and packaging design won Judge’s Choice and Gold. This year, the intricately animated and colorfully designed website won Best of Show! This truly makes drip pop an all-around award-winning brand. See more.

GOLDBad Harriet Brand Development

A Gold ADDY Award is quite fitting for this gold + black, film noir and femme fatale inspired brand: Bad Harriet. Developing the brand for this upscale bar located in Auberge Resorts’ Hotel Jerome in Aspen was truly a sinful pleasure. See more.

GOLDRevelation Design Website

Who said all florals had to be delicate? Revelation Design is a modern-day, floral and event design studio for whom we conceptualized and designed a custom e-commerce website that is equal parts romantic and edgy. See more.

SILVERParagon Website

With Paragon, a concept project developed in conjunction with renowned architecture firm, García Stromberg, we pushed the boundaries of what we consider reality and showcased the possibilities of virtual reality through an award-winning website. See more.

SILVER
EDSA Magazine Design

Design Matters is still leading the pack for most ADDY awards received throughout the years with a total of 6 since 2013. Being able to work closely with EDSA to concept and design their annual emblematic publication is truly an honor. See more.

Want to learn how we develop these award-winning brands? Join us for an exclusive Behind the Scenes of the creation of the ADDY Best of Show winner: drip pop. We welcome you to our studio on Thursday, April 18^th, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm for a conversation about how the multi-ADDY-winning brand and campaign work for drip pop came to be. Grab your tickets here.

And follow us on instagram and facebook to keep track of our future award-worthy work!

With Summer just around the corner, many college students have started applying for internships at design studios all across the country. Many of them with similar questions:  What does it take to be a good candidate? What does an agency look for in my resume? What do I need to know?

We answered those questions [and many more] in an interview we did with web designer Magazine.  Take a look at this snippet where we talked about working here at helium.

Think you have what it takes to work here? Head over to our contact page and fill out our join the team form, we’d love to hear from you!

As always, you can follow along with our team on instagram or facebook @heliumcreative.