MCPL are regular clients from my hometown. They employ me to design print campaigns for many of their annual events. Their Thistle Cottage location is a historic building that is used for both special events and museum exhibit installations. This month long NASA display featured a replica space suit, meteorite remnants, plus more. Since this project fell into the director’s lap on short notice, I needed to turn this museum exhibit ad design around quickly.
Museum exhibit ad design story
As with many other short order projects, the director gave me creative freedom. She only requested that I include a rocket and/or astronaut in the design. The largest size the library requested for this project was a standard US letter format, which is pictured above. I also laid out small print ads for local newspapers. Facebook formats for an ad and the event page then followed.
I laid the letter sized poster out like a magazine cover. The bold headline at the top displays in in the “He’s Dead Jim” font. This creates a feel that is both instantly recognizable and futuristic. Subheadings and details at the bottom display in a bold sans serif font. Since I set the text in pale yellow and orange, it really pops against the bright blue sky background. I faded a photograph of an astronaut floating in front of a space station into the background. Then, I created a colorful badge in front of it. It is similar to those commemorating NASA space flights. The exhibit title “Beyond Earth: Space Exploration” displays over the space shuttle launching from Earth in the shield shape.
As always, the finished product went over huge with the library. They dropped it on their social media accounts right away. Finally, the printer received print ad files in plenty of time to promote the event.
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Whether you are a large metropolitan museum or a small town library system, I will work with you to find the right solution. Together, we can launch your exhibit’s print campaign into the stratosphere! Contact me today to get started!
Muhlenberg County Public Libraries / Thistle Cottage
Greenville, KY
For the second year running, MCPL once again hired me to make their annual Victorian Tea poster design. I started by laying this design out in kiosk size. Then, I resized the art into several smaller formats. Half page newspaper ads were the smallest size.
Thistle Cottage holds their annual Victorian Tea in downtown Greenville, Kentucky. The party is a Victorian themed event where both mothers and daughters dress up and enjoy a traditional tea party. It is a popular event where families can go back to experience a simpler time in history that their ancestors once knew. The air of nostalgia brings little girls’ tea parties to life. Servers and staff also dress in period attire. An elegant event such as this called for an equally classy poster design.
Victorian Tea Poster Design in Kentucky
I really enjoy sifting through vintage Victorian ads. Obviously, I patterned this poster design after them. I started with the featured black and white illustration of the mother and daughter characters. The poster’s background is dressed in a “shabby chic wallpaper” pattern with the drab colors that were fashionable in that era.
My favorite feature of any good Victorian ad is the variety of fonts and dingbats in use. Artists seem to always use a dozen fonts in any given piece. It looks like the advertiser aimed to use as many fonts as possible in one space. These warped font styles often remind me of the circus. It’s as if the carnival barker pulled double duty and was also hired to design the poster layout. Both the teapot and pointing finger ornaments give the composition an old time “over the top” feel. Step right up!
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A complete overhaul was in order for my hometown’s outdated library website design. The existing site was rife with errors at the time. It also had a lot of content that was very hard to navigate. The design was unattractive as well. Naturally, MCPL called me in to save the day.
I began by bringing their web presence up to date with a clean white design. It features their new logo, which I also designed. Then, I added a colorful image slider, which included relevant, royalty free stock photography. I also reorganized and streamlined their existing navigation menu. It now includes just four main headings with drop down menu items.
Library staff members worked with me to find the best way to simplify and condense the original content. We came together to create a system that staff could easily update by themselves. This is so important for a library website design.
Additionally, the sleek online calendar displays upcoming events. These include happenings such as storytimes and book signings. The website calendar can easily sync with iCal, Google Calendar, and others.
Patrons can access all of the libraries’ online databases in order to check out books and other media. The complete catalog is conveniently at users’ fingertips. It is directly searchable right from the library website design main menu.
I also built a separate mobile version of the site. This enables patrons to keep up with both library branches on the go using their smartphones and tablets. Customers may still access the full catalog and other features with the separate mobile site. This is a complete web solution.
Library Website Design in Kentucky
Check out the site here! Does your business or nonprofit have a large amount of content that needs an update? Perhaps your site is in need of a fresh makeover. I would love to help! Contact me to get the ball rolling.
Back in the year 2013, my home county’s library system contacted me for a huge rebranding project. They called on me to create a new public library logo design and website for them. Back when I was growing up in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, I fondly remember participating in their annual summer reading program each year. I also would often stop in to check out books while I walked home on my way from my school, Greenville Elementary. Because of this, I considered the project to be a very special honor.
Public library logo design in Kentucky – fonts and Image
First, I created a line drawing based on the iconic county courthouse tower using the Adobe Illustrator application. This building happens to be the largest open belfry anywhere in the United States. The courthouse tower resides right across the street from the Greenville (Harbin Memorial) branch of the public library. MCPL also has a branch situated in Central City, KY.
After I drew up the focal vector image, I spelled out the words in the main title “Muhlenberg County Public Libraries”. I chose the Museo Slab serif style font. I love this font, since it creates an identity that looks both classic and modern at the same time. A simplified book shape opens up in the foreground in order to provide a tasteful contrast to the architecture portrayed behind it. It avoids the pitfall of potentially making the design too complicated by still not being too obvious or complex.
All of the elements’ weights are distributed evenly. The book’s shape gives the correct emphasis on the text. To give the piece some more variety, I set the words “Public Libraries” in a larger size at the bottom. The words “Muhlenberg County” reverse out of the book shape in white.
Public library logo color scheme and finishing touches
The dark blue and lime green color scheme is strong and eye catching, while still keeping things simple. Depending on the application, I set the background color in either a solid blue, or the gradient fade you see displayed here. As with all of my logo designs, I created a separate, simplified version in black and white. I have always maintained the belief that the best logos can be reduced down to this format. I love going “back home” to Western Kentucky and seeing my work displayed on signage and billboards. The library was such an important part of my childhood growing up in Muhlenberg County. Therefore, it is a good feeling to know that my work represents it to kids growing up there today.
Thistle Cottage history and public library logo design colors
Later on in that very same year, MCPL returned to me for a new task. They requested a new variation of my original public library logo design. The new spin on the brand first involved a change in the color scheme. For this particular version, I decided we should incorporate a rustic copper brown and army green combination.
Both of these muted colors combine and hearken back to the heritage of the building represented by the mark. Thistle Cottage is a historic early 20th Century home on 122 South Cherry Street in downtown Greenville, KY. It was built in the year 1912, back when the Western Kentucky coal mining industry was still booming. It is located just around the corner from the Harbin Memorial library branch.
Thistle Cottage was formerly a cultural center that hosted touring exhibits. The city gave it to the public library system in 2013. They then converted it into a museum and art gallery space. MCPL holds their annual community events there as well. These events include their Mother’s Day Victorian Tea party in May, along with their Pictures with Santa holiday series.
Thistle Cottage logo fonts and finishing touches
A fun handwriting script font comes together in order to spell out the main title phrase “Thistle Cottage”. Once again, I reversed the title out of the large open book shape in white. Then, I made the book shape taller. This way, it would frame in all of the main title text. I kept the “Muhlenberg County Public Libraries” text intact from the original logo design in this particular variation. Then, I arched it around the courthouse image from the original logo in the copper brown shade. Finally, I recolored the county courthouse in the olive shade of green.
The finished product I provided made the staff at MCPL very happy in the end. While it is obviously associated with the Kentucky library system, the muted color scheme and classic script give the logo a vintage feel of its own.
Thistle Cottage logo signage gallery
Check out the finished product in print in the photo gallery below. The library features it prominently on the sign in front of the Thistle Cottage building.
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Are you a library director in the process of launching a brand new library system or branch in your community? Perhaps your own library system has been using the same outdated logo for many years. You may very well be in need of an image rebrand! Whatever your situation may be, you should contact me! Everyone in your town will be checking you out! Sorry, for better or worse, I just can’t help myself when it comes to a good pun.
Muhlenberg County Public Library
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