A bit about outreach
As a design firm with a passion for making change, we have created many campaigns throughout the years. The breadth of any campaign should include different channels of outreach. We create a pace and place to get the word out. The ways of outreach are always changing and we are here for it.
Do you have a campaign that you have been thinking about creating? Don’t worry, we got you. Take a look at some examples from past work that we have helped our clients with.
The brief
It all starts with a website. Fieldhouse Stories was our personal project that we built into something bigger. What originally started out as a blog to showcase stories focused on Chicago parks, now includes a broader campaign complete with email outreach and a blog, social media, posters, a stylish tote bag and even a good old print campaign.
Sadly, this project had to be put on hold due to the pandemic, but we are excited to get back to it. This multi-faceted project has became a way for us to find inspiration in our home town by getting OUT of our office and exploring the city’s parks and their fieldhouses. We’ve learned so much about the history of Chicago’s parks and these iconic buildings all while designing something that tells their story.
This project has been special in so many ways; the amazing people we’ve met, the parks themselves and a way to stretch our design practice to explore new ways of getting these stories out. This became an opportunity to work with different channels of marketing that we hadn’t used before and we are excited to share some of these approaches with you.
It is always about the story so let’s start at the beginning: the website.
“First, we brainstormed. What was the story we wanted to tell, anyway?”
A DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
What started as a web design project quickly expanded to content development, strategy and a full-on social media campaign. To further build awareness and an audience, we designed a social media campaign that promoted the visual blogs and stories.
This really was a wonderful way to meet people, explore Chicago and create a community of Chicago Park fans.
Printed Matters
To launch our shiny new Fieldhouse Stories site, we returned to our roots. These mailers were sent out to some of our favorite change-makers in the Chicago area, all were hit with a glossy varnish and hand-stamped with a seal by yours truly.
Each of the four cards showcased photography and messaging from our first two chapters, Independence Park and Indian Boundary Park. They were sent out weekly as a campaign showing off this beloved new personal project and to drive traffic to the site and our social media. It was truly something new from Forward.
Speaking of which, did you get one of these in the mail?
But wait, there is more!
We also designed tote bags to hand out at the parks we visited. Think of them as a thank you note for being part of the latest chapter in Fieldhouse Stories.
A retrospective
After writing, photographing and designing stories from the first seven parks, we put together this collector’s item. It is an oversized brochure that is filled with local color and inspiration.
Posters as outreach, with a side of street art
The final piece of our marketing strategy was literally to “hit the streets”. These posters were placed by a local paste-up artist, who worked closely with us to identify the best locations to reach our audience. We thought about things like, family-centric neighborhoods, longevity of the posters and where the most foot traffic would be. All of these things are pretty different from what a typical Forward Design project brief looks like. We loved trying on something new.
For the poster designs, we found inspiration in patterns found in nature as well as the fieldhouses themselves. These custom illustrations helped show off the project and push the branding a bit further.
Let’s just say, this was a fun way to Explore Local and to step outside of our comfort zones.
Long story short
As you can tell, this Our Share post is near and dear to our hearts. The Fieldhouse Stories project has been a fun one to document. We are grateful to the Chicago Park District for working with us to get inside these beautiful buildings and giving us a chance to talk to the people who use these facilities regularly. These buildings and parks really do mean the world to the people who use them and we are excited to see what is next for this project.
Speaking of which, are you struggling with outreach these days? Maybe we can help get your story out there! Let’s get to work!