The trip included accompanying the team to the open waters of Kona, as well as working with a Four Seasons chef to prepare the sashimi-grade Hawaiian Kampachi for our photo shoot. Justine's report: "It's an impressive operation, with great people and the fish is delicious."

Where does your food come from? Why does it matter? Our seas are over-fished and the solution lies in sustainable fresh fish farming.  Sustainable food is a topic that aligns with our beliefs, so this is a perfect fit for our branding skills.

Our project scope includes Brand Identity, Website, Collateral and Packaging. This is our client's third company and we've branded all three ventures - from technology to sustainability and mariculture.

Fun fact: Did you know that Kampachi (yellowtail) don't need help reproducing? No hormones are necessary. Let's just say they are happy fish and quite motivated to multiply their species.

The company was looking for a creative firm that understood their business and had demonstrated ability to combine technology with strong branding to create an effective online experience. A glowing reference from Shorenstein helped Crow Holdings make a swift decision and HDSF is currently in the process of designing websites for both their investment and development companies.

We recently returned from a collaborative session with upper management and were impressed with their progressive creative perspective. Our challenge was to develop a concept direction that would work for both companies, with entirely divergent site maps and marketing goals. We did it and survived the 110-degree heat as well.

Old Parkland, Crow Holdings corporate office is located in an impressive century-old structure. Built in 1894 as a grand hospital, Crow Holdings renovated the property and it now serves as their headquarters and a base for other investment and venture capital firms.

Fun Fact: Crow Holdings built an elegant club exclusively for its employees. With soaring ceilings and luxurious dark wood paneling, it feels more like an Ivy League school than a staff hangout.

With our extensive experience creating effective real estate brands, we set out to capture the essence of this unique community and its local flavor.

After completing our local research, we sent one of our best neighborhood photographers with a detailed plan to capture the vibe that highlighted the best local haunts. When it comes to learning new cities, we do our research, plan carefully and then allow the photo shoot to unfold organically. A few surprises along the way bring richness to the creative product.

"Near Perfect" was our positioning statement. It was an effective marketing tool, as the play on words addressed the two key selling points - luxury product and the proximity to a renowned wine region - while communicating a slightly irreverent perspective.  

Increasingly, clients are contacting us from outside the Bay Area for our innovation and brand expertise. Where will HDSF go next?

The engagement includes development of a digital image database and retail signage design that will set the standard for their health facilities nationwide.  

This project is a good example of how we combine our Brand Experience with Environmental Design. Creating design standards for a 3-dimensional environment requires a strong knowledge of architectural concepts, an ability to visualize diverse spaces and expertise in creating large-scale environments.

With the goal of providing flexibility within a framework, we are in the process of developing a comprehensive design matrix for each of five retail environments. The solution will provide a consistent visual language that maintains brand continuity, yet can be adapted across diverse national regions.

The foundation's services include cash grants, office and meeting spaces for nonprofits, affordable housing and ELL language education.

Our scope included a Brand Strategy Workshop with the Board of Directors to uncover the opportunities for the organization to increase its community value and impact by establishing brand meaning and alignment. The project deliverable took the form of a digital Manifesto, outlining the story of the foundation's vision and provided a guide for all future marketing initiatives.

Known as a superb ski and sun destination, Sun Valley has experienced a significant influx of sophisticated second-home buyers from major metropolitan areas. The bar has been raised from a marketing perspective and that's where we come in. Our approach was based upon the notion that the ability to imagine oneself in the environment is key to buy-in. Thus, we personalized the website, using the first person perspective. "My Story" captures homeowners stories, "My Surroundings" features an interactive site plan, and "My Home" included entirely new staging and photography. The new website is convincing - if a condo had been included in our contract, we would be there now.

This book was carefully curated by Kiki Eldridge, principal of KE Creative Services, to provide professional designers and students with an invaluable source of ideas, inspiration and advice.

The brochures included are BLU, The Artani, The Portrero and Foundry Three. For more information about The Best of Brochure Design 11, please visit the publisher's website at www.rockpub.com.

TIBCO approached us to develop a content-rich Customer section for their website, in order to better communicate their intense focus on solving customers' enterprise challenges.

Though their software solutions are ubiquitous, the TIBCO name is not recognized by most consumers. The Tibco solutions enable critical enterprise transactions, such as helping FedEx to track its deliveries in real-time, guaranteeing that Delta can respond to delays and gate changes, and allowing Citibank Asia to spot valuable up-sell opportunities. These are just a few examples of the infrastructure solutions that TIBCO provides. Their challenge was to communicate this value to a wide customer base.

We shifted the discussion from technology to benefits. The benefits-driven approach resulted in a content-rich customer section, including 109 Customer Success Stories, 70 videos and approximately 150 content pages from customers worldwide. Our approach utilized the customer's end user to tell the TIBCO story and create an engaging user experience.

The application enables users to create a virtual wine cellar, add photos/audio, browse the existing knowledge base, add to that base and share content. In addition, the application features a GPS component that alerts users to nearby distribution channels offering wines in which they've expressed interest.

The application functions as a virtual open-source wine community and a real-time relevance engine, enabling valuable cross-pollination amongst users. Innovation is about insights that drive new solutions. This application was fueled by two key insights. The first observation is that relevance is shaping human behavior, as users demand information that is personally relevant. The second insight is that cross-pollination fuels relevance, as humans provide subjective data to one another. The innovation is creating a new mix of objective and subjective information, provided in real time that allows a user experience that would not otherwise be possible.

The Logo Lounge series has become an indispensable research tool and reference guide for identity designers internationally. The retrospective, published by Quayside Publishing Group will be released this summer.

The Peninsula Mandalay logo was designed as the foundation for this luxury development's overall brand experience. One of our tasks is to create the personality of a project to help enable buyers imagine the environment long before they set foot inside. Our concept leveraged the 3,600-acre wildlife refuge situated behind the signature building and utilized a Zen approach, expressed in the theme 'Embraced by Nature. Inspired by Design.'
 
This year, over 33,000 logos from around the globe were submitted for consideration by an international panel of judges. The panel was composed of Andreas Karl of Karl Design, Von Glitschka of Glitschka Studios, Michelle Sonderegger of Design Ranch, Sarah Moffat of Turner Duckworth, Jamie Koval of VSA Partners, Vince Frost of Frost Design, Bronwen Rautenbach of The Brand Union, and Alex de Janosi of Lippincott. We are honored to be included in the publication.

Lauded as the most comprehensive survey of graphic design in the US, the Annual represents the best design, illustrations, and photography being produced in 2009.
 
We are honored to have the BLU Sales Center included in the 2009 Regional Design Annual. This will be the second consecutive year Hutner Descollonges work has appeared in the design publication. To learn more about the Design Annual, visit www.Printmag.com or pick up the 2009 edition when it hits newsstands this December.

Social Marketing provides immediate access to a vast audience in a cost-effective manner. Leverage your knowledge to grow your business and gain market share. The conversation has begun; shouldn't you be a part of it?

As brand builders, we know that social marketing avenues like Twitter are great ways to flex your brand's muscle by connecting with customers and influencers, while bolstering your brand's reach. Each "tweet" can create new pathways of searchable information, increase SEO rankings and put the web's echo chambers to work for you.

Though the service was originally designed to give friends instant updates, Twitter has evolved into a valuable communication tool. From Gavin Newsom's recent announcement of his candidacy for Governor to becoming the preferred venue for posting Bay Area job announcements, Twitter's reach is as wide as your own knowledge and imagination.  

When viewed as part of an overall marketing plan, adding Twitter as a companion to a blog increases the range and depth of messaging. One of the most enticing reasons to use Twitter is that communications are sent directly to interested audiences, without spending additional advertising dollars.

Curious how we have helped our clients integrate Twitter into their overall brand strategy? Visit simpaticohomes.com to see how this green homebuilder uses social marketing to spread their company message and further their marketing goals.

The highly selective international competition features the best of annual reports, brochures, covers, environmental graphics, illustration, photography, letterhead, logos, packaging, posters, print advertising and 3-D objects.

The winning projects include:

1) THE ELLINGTON, Oakland, CA: Sales Center

Highlighting the colorful history of Jack London Square, Hutner Descollonges developed a brand experience that echoed the transformation of the Meatpacking District in New York. The fusion of jazz history and waterfront activity in a traditionally industrial area provided an intriguing arena for a luxury condominium development. From the the sales center to the marketing materials, that fusion is reinforced with the juxtaposition of eclectic neighborhood icons and luxurious modern amenities.

2) BLU, San Francisco, CA: Sales Center

The brand experience developed for this luxury product combines a clean Northern European aesthetic, with a hip San Francisco twist. From the dramatic sales center to the sleek brochure package, this is a new era for real estate design. Hutner Descollonges developed a name for the project that alludes to rich linguistic references: blue chip, blue ribbon, bluetooth and blu-ray. To position the premium brand for the penthouse units, a separate entity was created, aptly named ?SKY BLU?.

3) THE ARTANI, San Francisco, CA: Sales Brochure

The paradigm for city living has shifted in San Francisco and The Artani was positioned to reflect that new urban ideal. The brand echoes the aesthetic of a boutique New York condominium, imagined on a more intimate San Francisco scale. Leveraging the access to opera, symphony, ballet and museums, the full suite of marketing materials was designed to envision a rich and cultured urban lifestyle. The brand elevates the condominium experience beyond its four walls.

For more information please visit www.howdesign.com or pick up the April 2009 edition of HOW Magazine at newsstands.

Hutner Descollonges, a long-time presence in the Bay Area design community, today announced the launch of the studio's new name and website. Sue Hutner and Justine Descollonges have been a creative team since 2002 and have been jointly guiding and inspiring a diverse group of accomplished designers at Hutner Group since the firm's inception. The new name and website formally reflect the evolution of their working partnership.

"Good design is not enough," said founder and Principal Sue Hutner. "Justine and I both believe that the future of design lies in increasingly sophisticated branding. It is the balance of left brain strategy with right brain design that creates convincing solutions and forge an emotional connection." Principal Justine Descollonges adds, "Clients come to us not only for our design expertise, but for our ability to work across a broad spectrum of media to shape a compelling brand experience."

AIGA San Francisco invites its members to indulge their professional curiosity through private tours of selected San Francisco design firms. Twelve of the Bay Area's most sought-after design studios will be participating in the 2008-2009 studio tour program. Each host studio selects a theme for the tour and presents a lecture highlighting their work in relation to the theme. Hutner Descollonges will be featured in July 2009. Our theme is "Changing Hats, Changing Outfits," which addresses designing across a range of disciplines for a diverse clientele.

AIGA SF Studio Tour

Hutner Descollonges was honored with two winning websites in "STEP Inside Design". Foundry III received the "Best of Web" honor, for its cutting-edge marketing of the L.E.E.D. commercial development. 550 Moreland received a "Site of Merit" for its unusual design approach to a Silicon Valley residential development.