NGO

Iron Launches Latest Interactive Map for The North Face

This month we published the latest in a series of interactive maps designed to reconnect city dwellers with some lesser-known but action-packed urban parks. The latest map – a collaborative effort between The Trust for Public Land and The North Face – is the second installment in an ongoing effort to help city dwellers enjoy nature without having to leave town. The map features the five boroughs of New York and includes over 20 parks.

The maps can be viewed at Planet Explore, The North Face’s online community designed to help individuals and families learn about and participate in outdoor activities and events in their area.

Read more about our interactive projects.

Iron Completes project for The Trust for Public Land and The North Face

When you live in San Francisco, it’s easy to get complacent about the incredible outdoor opportunities that surround this fabulous city. With the Headlands to the North, Tilden Park in the East, the Santa Cruz mountains to the South, and Ocean Beach to the West, option paralysis can set in. Not to mention, we’re often easily seduced by our world class restaurants and entertainment offerings.

The problem is, we are just not getting out into nature as much as we should. In fact, there’s clear new evidence that says that children who play and explore outdoors feel less stressed and may develop more confidence and greater social skills. It’s just that problem The Trust for Public Land and The North Face wanted to address. How do we get people out into nature again?

The two organizations came together and decided it’s high time someone promoted the incredible diversity of local parks and outdoor spaces, right here in the city. And so Iron was commissioned to write and design the “San Francisco Urban Nature Guide: 2009.” This handy pocket map features nine of the city’s lesser-known, but fun-filled parks, with suggestions on how to make the most of our time in the great outdoors. The guides are free and being distributed through The North Face stores this summer. It’s time to put on a pack and hit the park!

Iron Designs New Boys & Girls Clubs Web Site

This week the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco launched their new web site which we designed and helped to develop over the past 6 months. The site is intended to provide a more interactive, informative and user-friendly experience and is filled with great information about the Clubs and programs, their important partners and some history of the Clubs in San Francisco.

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Bay Area Retirement Community Campaign Takes Off

This month we received an ecstatic call from one of our favorite clients, NCPHS – a not-for-profit corporation which provides for the needs of older people and promotes their quality of life through housing and other programs of social care.

It was one of those fantastic moments when a client took time out of their busy schedule to call and thank us. Why? Well, their phones had been ringing off the hook as the ad campaign we had been working on started to click into high gear. This was the pinnacle of a six month effort which saw us radically improve their Bay Area media buy, revise their marketing strategy, and redesign their print campaign.

We are excited to see how the campaign helps the organization strengthen its position as the premiere destination for seniors, and we look forward to developing their marketing materials further.

Read more about our advertising work
Read more about our nonprofit work
Read more about our media buying experience

Gala Invite Helps Raise Record Funds for Bay Area Nonprofit

We recently designed the Gala Invite and event program for the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco, and we’re pleased to report the event was a huge success.

I was lucky enough to attend the event and was thrilled to learn it raised a phenomenal $550,000! Click here to see pictures from the event. With this money, the Clubs will continue to run vital programs that help kids succeed in school, build strong character, develop healthy lifestyles and graduate from high school with a clear post-secondary plan.

We’re also putting the finishing touches to the organization’s web site, which is due to launch in the middle of the month.

Read more about our nonprofit work
Read more about our web design work

NGO’s Need Branding Now More Than Ever

According to a recent Advertising Age article Nonprofits need to rapidly embrace modern branding strategies in order to reclaim the cause-marketing arena which has been co-opted by traditional for profit companies.

“It’s simple. In today’s market, brands matter. In fact nonprofits, NGOs and social organizations are starting to spend big bucks on marketing… And they have to. There’s calls to buy green. Support this cause. Threats of recession… It’s no wonder that donor fatigue has set in.”

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Timeless Design for Environmental Nonprofit

This month we launched the new brand identity for the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) – a small environmental nonprofit that consults and certifies state and national renewable energy facilities. Essentially they are a think tank for renewable energy providing services to both large entities and everyday consumers.

The innovative design we developed features a dynamic color palette and fluid mark, which is intended to evoke a Möbius strip. We chose the Möbius Strip – which has only one side and one edge – to reference the interconnectedness of our ecosystem and our essential role within it. The mark also references timelessness, strength and stability, while the color gradients call to mind energy and motion.

Check out some of our other nonprofit work

Helping Nonprofits Stand Out, Not Sell Out

As a nonprofit organization how do you ensure you stand out from the crowd without spending a fortune on your marketing? It’s not an easy challenge, and one that can divide even the most unified boardroom.

One solution is to produce a limited number of cutting-edge pieces that deliver on your brand promise, while generating a lasting emotional connection. And that’s exactly what we have been able to do working with the forward-thinking management team at Springboard Forward. Check out the latest piece we produced for them (below). This dynamic brochure features an accordion fold, a clever die-cut cover, and a clear foil emboss, to reaffirm that Springboard is a “fundamentally different” organization.

Venture Conference Goes Live With Viral Marketing Campaign

The last thing you’d expect from a venture conference would be an innovative viral email campaign. But that’s exactly what we just produced for the visionary folks over at Astia. Parodying the industry’s staid public image, we threw out the rulebook and repositioned the it Conference as THE place for forward-thinking investors.

Straight after its launch, Astia CEO Sharon Vosmek emailed us to express her delight with the video’s reception, “Let me start with how amazing the response has been to the piece you created. People LOVE it. Thank you so very much! We are thrilled!”

  • Read more abut the Astia it Conference branding project

Stationery Design Delivers On Nonprofit’s Strategic Promise

This week we delivered the full stationery system to Springboard Forward, as part of our larger re-branding project (see our July 8 posting for more on the story). The business cards, shown here, dramatically deliver on the organization’s promise that they offer a fundamentally new model for transforming the lives of entry-level workers, and the organizations who employ them.

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