What seemed like a straight-forward concept — to create a typography-based design that mimicked the look of a knitted sweater — turned into more than 17,000 faux stitches.
Carolyn hadn’t expected the illustration would require that level of complexity, but as she created the stitches, she decided each stitch needed a slight variation in color to capture the look of real yarn. Dozens of slight color variations soon became hundreds of slight color variations.
The back side of the card has a reversed knit pattern — just like an actual sweater. A faux garment tag includes social media and contact information, and a size tag proclaims “XL ideas.”
When Travelers Insurance needed to create a tool agents could use to help explain and promote an insurance product designed to meet the unique needs of high-tech companies, they hired Carolyn to help.
CyberFirst® provides a modular approach to insurance coverage that meets the complex needs of state-of-the-art technology companies. The folder and industry specific sell sheets could be used by insurance agents when talking to prospective customers; the content explained coverage options for Technology Errors and Omissions Liability, Network and Information Security Liability, Communications and Media Liability, and Expense Reimbursement Coverage.
The Patient Education team at Boston Scientific hired Carolyn to design an interactive education tool cardiologists and electrophysiologists could use while meeting with patients.
The free-standing binder featured dry-erase pages that could be combined and written on. This allowed the physician to show the exact ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) and lead combination they were recommending. The tool helped patients visualize the procedure, understand proposed ICD and lead position, and facilitated thoughtful discussion about the patient’s healthcare choices.
Lower left image: Background artwork and three acetate pages showing two leads and one ICD device Lower right image: Composite solution
“All I can say is that you are the best bargain around! As a vendor, your level of expertise, project management skills, and customer service is superior to anyone I can ever remember working with. I especially appreciate your careful attention to detail and valuable suggestions related to the copy. Thanks again!”
When Boston Scientific needed an interactive iPad app their sales force could use to compare features and performance of the SENTAI™ line of guidewires, they reached out to Carolyn for help.
The app contained four categories of content: an educational section on guidewire construction and performance measures; detailed features of the seven guidewires in Boston Scientific’s SENTAI portfolio; head-to-head comparisons between SENTAI and competitive guidewires; and ordering information.
The section on guidewire performance included information on torqueability, crossability, rail support, tip durability, and traceability measures. To show how performance was measured, Carolyn created animated gifs that showed the testing/measuring process.
The head-to-head comparison section allowed sales reps to select a Boston Scientific SENTAI guidewire, and compare specifications such as tip load, tip diameter, and coating/cover/core materials against competitor’s guidewires. Head-to-head performance information on torque performance, rail support, tip durability and traceability was shown, if available.
When the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness decided to publish a comprehensive report on the state of the BWCAW, they hired Carolyn to help.
At sixty pages in length and with more than a year of research and writing behind it, the “State of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness” was the organization’s first comprehensive report on the health and future of the Boundary Waters since the passing of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978.
The report included an assessment of risks of global warming and sulfide mining; status reports on the health of moose, lynx, wolves, black bear, fish, birds and wild rice; an assessment of ecological risks from invasive species, air quality, and fire; visitor impacts on campsites, water quality, and trails; damage from the 1999 “blowdown”; and the regional economic impact of BWCAW visitors. The report was distributed to Friends’ members, lawmakers, and other stakeholders.
The challenge presented to Carolyn was to design, organize, and present information in a way that would ensure readers remained engaged throughout this comprehensive report. The solution involved creating multiple custom maps, the use of compelling photography and custom lettering, and included surprises such as footprints of an elusive vole scampering across the page. A few design elements, such as the tree pattern seen at the bottom of some pages, visually coordinated with the Friends’ newly-redesigned website (website work completed by separate vendor).
This report was shortlisted for a 2019 Communication Arts award in the Annual Report category.
When Boston Scientific wanted help refreshing the look and content of an existing WATCHMAN brochure, they called on Carolyn to help.
The WATCHMAN™ implant is a safe alternative to long-term warfarin therapy and offers a lifetime of stroke risk reduction in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The Boston Scientific sales force already had a brochure to help tell the WATCHMAN story, but the brochure had been in use for nearly two years and the marketing team felt a refreshed brochure was warranted.
Using a combination of new design elements, and graphics and product photography provided by Boston Scientific, Carolyn’s refreshed design featured faux tabs to aid in quick document navigation, clearer page hierarchy, and greater visual variety between page spreads.
In conjunction with the brochure, Carolyn created tools to streamline the patient communications, including forms, contact cards, and a piece that explained the patient referral process.
“A million thank yous again for your wonderful work on these materials … I cannot wait to gauge reactions and watch them fly off the ‘shelf’ … It was a pleasure doing all this quick work with you!”
When it was time to tell prospective clients about the range of services Carolyn offered, she developed an eye-catching and memorable promotion. Since the mailing was going out in the springtime, Carolyn leveraged the change in season and developed visuals and messaging that encouraged clients to plant seeds for success.
Carolyn identified specific tactics she could help with — e.g., social media marketing, designing infographics, developing technical or marketing collateral — and had those tactics letterpress printed onto strips of paper embedded with flower seeds. Clients could literally plant seeds for future growth and success.
You may not think a document outlining commercial insurance coverage is exciting — unless you are an insurance agent who needs to quickly and accurately access this information.
The challenge presented to Carolyn was to take a very complex, very long list and completely reimagine how the information was organized. Data included business class descriptions, proprietary quoting codes, SIC codes, property/liability, auto and workers compensation availability information, risk size categories, and a listing of the company’s “appetite” for the business. Several techniques were employed to make document navigation a breeze.
The result was a 32-page book that proved to be Travelers most highly requested document of the year. In fact, it had to be reprinted — twice — simply to fulfill audience demand.
When Boston Scientific needed help developing a tool for hospitals to implement marketing initiatives for their innovative WATCHMAN™ product, they called on Carolyn to help. The client initially expressed interest in developing an iPad app, but it was determined a less-expensive interactive PDF would meet all business and communication objectives. Plus, an interactive PDF meant the document could be accessed on any tablet, laptop, or desktop device.
Sections in the PDF provided guidance on developing marketing infrastructure, accessing resources, educating referral partners, and media outreach. The interactive PDF even included a worksheet users could use to track marketing initiatives.
Though Carolyn now lives in Minnesota, her childhood home was in southwestern Wisconsin’s beautiful “Driftless” region.
The “Driftless” region that spans Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa was not flattened during the last ice age. As a result, the landscape is characterized by steep hills, forested ridges, and carved river valleys. In fact, those very features could be seen in the valley directly behind Carolyn’s childhood home.
When the opportunity arose to work with the team working to establish a 100-mile footpath through Minnesota’s Driftless region, Carolyn jumped at the chance to help. The logo — or logos, more correctly — combine colors found in the forest landscape, a custom illustration, a map of the region, a boot print, rugged typography, a social hashtag, and a five-sided shape that evokes the landscape’s iconic “cabbage rocks.” These combinable elements provide flexibility to create branded badges, banners, apparel, patches, stickers and more.
“Carolyn was an amazing partner in our design process. Not only was the final product great as evidenced by the constant compliments we get at events, but Carolyn was incredibly thorough and thoughtful in the design process, listening but also teaching us about opportunities in our logo. If you’re looking for a meaningful, smart, and attractive logo, I cannot recommend Carolyn enough!”
