Although it may look like our recent “Spring Break” was all fun and games, we were also hard at work re-imagining The Core – from logo and layout to content and posting frequency.   While we’re very happy with the results, ultimately it’s YOU, our readers, who we want to please.  Here’s a “behind the scenes” look at the ideas and reasoning that went into recreating The Core to both prove that there really is method behind our madness and continue our open forum of marketing conversation.

Our “journey to new” began with a logo update since your brand should inspire the look and feel of all your touch points.  We streamlined the logo by removing the apple image and replacing it with a clean font “O” and simple leaf.  You probably recognize that leaf – it’s the very same as the one that adorns the DMA “A.”  We decided to align the logos more closely so that there is continuity between DMA the marketing company and The Core, our digital publication – one big happy, consistent family!  To add some flair (since that’s what we like to showcase in The Core), we splashed the inside of the “O” with COLOR!

Speaking of COLOR, we knew we wanted to use color to complement our communications.  And, having the ability to keep The Core FRESH looking with regular “cosmetic” tweaks was also an important and necessary feature of any new design.  These items on our wish list led to the color palette “dots” in the header.  The dots represent a “color story” that, each month or so, will inspire the color palette of The Core – from the “dots” and article titles to even the splash of color in our “O.”

• The Layout – aside from the customizable color palette, we kept a very neutral, sleek layout (navigation, header, footer, social icons, and right/left info columns) allowing our content to be the star of the show.
• Imagery – The Core of yore had both a graphic header AND photos/imagery throughout.  The new & improved Core will be pushing story-supporting photos to the forefront – letting our photography have its 1000-word say.

From heavy-hitting to light and fluffy and tools of the trade(s), as we write and publish The Core in this 4^th year, our content will continue to touch on all of these and then some.  As always, we crave your input, article ideas, guest posts, comments, etc.  And please let us know what you think of our reinvention – we listen!
Posted by: The DMA Solutions Team

Tags: Blog Design, Blog Redesign, Color Communications, Core Design, Core Redesign, DMA, DMA Solutions, Logo Design, New Logo

Posted Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 at 10:37 am and is filed under Blogging, Branding & Messaging, Culture & Creativity.