Strong Creative Creates Fluid Storytelling

We are visual creatures by nature. Keeping this in mind, graphic design is a subtle but crucial opportunity to tell the story of your organization. When you’re thinking about the look and feel of your event, it’s important to consider the role design plays as a tool for sharing your story.

Columbia Land Trust is a great storyteller with a strong brand identity. As an organization dedicated to conserving and caring for natural areas in the Pacific Northwest, they incorporate earth tones into their branding, along with beautiful landscape and wildlife photography. For their annual Wild Splendor gala, Ocelot Creative did a spectacular job of tying in the branding of the organization with creative materials for the event to reinforce the strength of the Columbia Land Trust brand.

From the invitations that went out before the event—getting people excited to attend—to the signage and printed programs on the night-of, the creative materials felt beautifully representative of the organization’s brand. They incorporated the same earthy tones used by Columbia Land Trust, along with illustrations of the Pacific Northwest plants and animals the organization aims to protect. On each page of the printed program was an illustration of a compass, a chipmunk or a pine cone, and the signage and PowerPoints incorporated similar illustrations. These details helped to convey a holistic message and theme for the evening.

Marketing materials are often your guests’ first impression of your event and the story you are trying to tell, and event visuals help tie everything together. Graphic design provides an opportunity to support your powerful story and to put the spirit of your organization into the hands of donors.