Merola Designs the YMCA Retirement Fund’s 2010 Annual Report. The theme for the report is “Strength In Uncertain Times.” Bold headers and muted info-graphic styled charts and graphs grouped together, giving this years report more structure then previous reports. Merola Has been designing the reports for the YMCA Retirement Fund since 2006.

Merola Designs the YMCA Retirement Fund’s 2010 Annual Report. The theme for the report is “Strength In Uncertain Times.” Images of prominent financial institutions are used throughout the report. A diamond plate gradient was developed and used as page breaks. Brightly colored graphs and charts add life to this years report and a combination of duo-tone and color photos add visual interest. Merola Has been designing the reports since 2006.

Merola redesigns OneCoast logo

OneCoast is the largest and only national wholesale provider of gift, home, and collegiate products to retailers throughout the United States. They assist hundreds of leading vendors market and sell their products to over 60,000 independent retail stores, internet stores, interior designers, and retail chains.

Merola Design was hired to design Onecost’s new identity. Support materials such as Graphic standards, Market guide templates, letterhead, PowerPoint templates and Holiday cards were also created.

Visit the OneCoast website.

For the third time in four years Robert Merola designed the YMCA Retirement Fund’s Annual Report. The theme for the report is Weathering The Storm. The 36 page report contained dozens of duo-tone photographs of board members as well as clear, concise financial charts and graphs. Merola’s photograph featured on the cover is a composite of three different shots taken off the coast of Long Island’s Fire Island Lighthouse.

Merola also designed the 2006, 2008 as well as the funds 85th anniversary logo.

“Security, Integrity and Enduring Value” is the theme for the 2008 YMCA Retirement Fund’s Annual Report. Charts and graphs are featured demonstrating the strength of the fund over the past 85 years. Vintage photos and art from the YMCA library reenforces the theme.
Merola also designs Mid-year reports, Guide books, Signage, Mailers, Advertisements and online Informational videos.

Architect Charles Lauster and his partners opened a new multimedia company. The new venture required a corporate identity. Letterhead, signage, folders, and graphic guidelines to launch.

The creative by Merola Design, attempted to simply illustrate the meaning of multimedia, the movement of light to communicate information. The sundial formed by the company’s initials was an idea that was hard to ignore.

The logo was so well received that they used the identity for their architecture business as well.

Logo, brand guide and promotional graphics

Before the dot-com implosion, Office.com was one of the web’s most comprehensive business sites.
Office.com provides information on how to start a small business and provided a Virtual Office suite, Online Collaboration Software, Online Calendar, Groupware, and web based email for your small business made Office.com an ambitious and helpful resource.

In August 2009 Microsoft bought the url to promote their Office Suite.

Merola Design created the Office.com identity in 1990 and collaborated with New York branding agency nick+paul and developed brand style guides and promotional materials for the start-up.

]]> http://meroladesign.com/blog/logo-design/merola-designs-officecom-identity/feed/ 0 http://meroladesign.com/blog/logo-design/ae-and-history-channel-identity-standards/ http://meroladesign.com/blog/logo-design/ae-and-history-channel-identity-standards/#comments Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:29:07 +0000 Robert Merola http://meroladesign.com/blog/2008/01/11/ae-and-history-channel-identity-standards/

A&E network and History Channel corporate standards guidelines
In 1995 while part of William Snyder Design, our team was given the assignment to redesign the A&E network and The History Channel’s corporate identities. Each of these identities were being eroded and mismanaged and needed guidelines. We created a thirty-two page graphic standards manual for each company to help maintain usage and consistency. Topics covered include, logo variants, rules for logo use, color control and reproduction materials.

This fund predates Social Security and was created as an incentive to the attract and hold onto YMCA employees. Today, the Fund has more than $4.0 billion in assets and helps provide financial security for more than 75,000 Funds participants.

While researching the project we found a poster in the YMCA archives called “Lend Your Strength to the Red Triangle” by American artist Gil Spear. As soon as we saw it we knew this would be the type of iconic image we were looking for.

The process of redrawing the figure in Adobe Illustrator and reducing the full color painting to work as a logo was time consuming. The type treatment and color studies were done and a postage stamp border treatment was added to reinforce the commemorative feel and help add a sense of scale.

A holiday card design and alternate versions of the logo were done for one color, two color, three color and full color uses. A poster of this graphic is also in the works.

The original 1916 Gil Spear painting was part of the United War Work Campaign and it is among the best examples of United States propaganda during World War One.

Spear’s name is often mentioned among the top illustrator of the early twentieth century, along with James Montgomery Flagg, James H. Daugherty, Ben Shahn and Otto Fischer. Gil Spear Painting served as the design inspiration.

Robert Merola has worked on several YMCA Retirement Fund projects and been their Annual report designer for several years.