Archive for March, 2010
March 31st, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Design, Informational. No Comments.
Very soon, a select set of Players Club members will be receiving a very tasty offer from Little Creek Casino Resort… steak and lobster. A marriage of gourmet excellence from the land and the sea served on one plate in one place… Island Grille. Island Grille is Little Creek’s upscale restaurant with a serene ambience, sincere service and delicious, mouth watering meals… everything on their menu is top notch and superb. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in the Olympia area that I recommend anyone experience for a memorable dining occasion… but, as with any high-end, high-quality restaurant, be prepared to pay for the savory sophistication. So back to this tasty offer I mentioned that will be arriving to a certain mass of Players Club members in the mail. On this 9″w x 6″h postcard, Little Creek’s Creative Manager asked me to branch away from their typical brand for this creative and take a more rustic approach to distinguish Island Grille by using dark woods, faded images, heavy textures and rich colors. Once the final graphic design was finished and on its way to the printer, it gave me a feeling of being rather historical, yet having longevity… just like the traditional combination of Steak and Lobster. If you have any graphic design or advertising needs that you hope to be sophisticated and savory, please contact me… and let’s get started today!
So why do I have this image below alternating from a Filet Mignon to a Top Sirloin? It is the food visual used above for the mail offer. Little Creek really liked this stock image that showed Filet Mignon with a lobster tail (I did not take this photograph)… but the problem was the mail offer is good for a Top Sirloin and lobster tail, not Filet Mignon. So I used this stock image of a Top Sirloin (again, I did not photograph this image either) and I fused it into the Filet Mignon and lobster tail image. Photoshop is the best friend a photographer and graphic designer can have!
Tags:Digital Art, Direct Mail, graphic design, Little Creek Casino Resort, Mail Offer, Mason County, Olympia, Photoshop, Post Card, Rustic Design, Shelton, Steak & Lobster, Thurston County.
March 24th, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Design, Informational. No Comments.
If you’re not a local in the South Sound you probably aren’t aware that every year we get a chance to vote for our favorite business establishments in the area. The Olympian hosts this competition via online polls or people can physically drop off ballot cards. It’s a big event and a big deal because practically every category of business you can imagine is on the ballot… and the one category that had my full attention was for “Best Casino!” If you follow my blog much you won’t be wondering why… Little Creek Casino Resort (or The Creek) is one of my clients I provide graphic design and print advertising for. So, very anxiously I waited on pins and needles for the results… and as you can see… THEY WON! Not just Best Casino but Best Hotel, Best Buffet and Best Place To Dance! Out of all the local casinos to contend with such as Red Wind, Lucky Eagle and Hawks Prairie (just to name a few), Little Creek has some good competition… but, for every person that voted in the South Sound, those people felt Little Creek is “The Best!” As excited as I am, I am not surprised… this is Little Creek’s fifth consecutive year of being voted the South Sound’s Best Casino. Ironically, or coincidentally, I’ve worked on their account for just over five years. Sure I’d love to think their advertisements and graphic design might play some roll in their success as being “The Best,” but anyone who has been to Little Creek has surely been impressed by their massive size, beautiful architecture, friendly staff, one of their five restaurants, their giant event center that hosts huge name concerts, upscale hotel rooms fit for royalty or most of all, their gaming floor! True gamers know that the newest and largest selection of slots and table games are always growing at The Creek. If you have graphic design or advertising needs and hope to be voted one of the South Sound’s “Best” businesses in the near future, please contact me… and let’s get started today!
“Voted Best” Backpage Ad – Graphic Design by Erik Eikenberry
Tags:Advertising, Best Buffet, Best Casino, Best Hotel, Best of South Sound, Best Place To Dance, Erik Eikenberry, five consecutive years, graphic design, Little Creek Casino Resort, Shelton, Voted Best.
March 21st, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Design, Personal. No Comments.
My wife asked me a few weeks ago if I would create a butterfly for our [soon-to-be] daughter’s nursery. It’s not often I get to illustrate for a child and it’s even less that I get to think like one, so I accepted her request as a unique experience to be a kid-at-heart and started sketching away. One of my favorite childhood illustrators is Dr. Seuss and I’ve become something of an onlooker at Sesame Street with a one year old fixated to the show each morning. My new butterfly I feel is something of a mix of influence between Mr. Brown Can Moo! and Abby Cadabby. I’m not completely certain why I turned this [was-to-be only a] sketch into a full-blown graphical art piece, even with a title… I guess as an advertiser and an artist I couldn’t let it rest until the illustration looked something like a completed children’s book cover and, as well, my daughter [to-be] is quite the muse. This process actually has given me a lot of foresight as to what it would take to illustrate a children’s book… a lot of care-free fun. I can see why Dr. Seuss made it his career… well, I guess the care-free thing and the fact he was uber-talented with rhymes and words. For now, I’m going to stick with my present career in advertising, but figured I’d share the experience I had to step away from the serious side of graphic design and advertising for something much, much lighter. If you have any illustration needs that range from the unborn to the seasoned adult, please contact me… and let’s get started today!
Tags:Abby Cadabby, Advertising, art piece, artist, butterfly, children's book, children's illustration, Dr. Seuss, graphic design, illustration, Illustrator, nursery, Olympia, Sesame Street, sketch, Thurston.
March 16th, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Design, Personal. No Comments.
Whenever I am out and about, I keep my eyes focused on the surrounding advertisements in our community, mainly on bus ads and billboards (or outdoor advertising as the industry calls them). As an advertiser (who started his career in the outdoor advertising business in Los Angeles) I truly believe outdoor advertising is a great medium and a powerful one (if done correctly). The Sunset Strip would be nothing without billboards, tall walls or transit ads and the same is true for our own North West, I-5 Fife Corridor, which is notorious for its jam-session of 4-story tall billboards. So, when one of my advertisements is on the street (being driven around somewhere) it’s no surprise that I’m going to track it down. I have to admit I have gone to many lengths (and miles) to track down a simple,”nothing to brag about” snapshot, all in the name of advertising. Yes, advertising is my passion and so, I kept my passion alive Friday night when my wife and I were on our way to dinner and a movie and I spotted a “Half Back” ad of mine. I went from date-nighter to bus-chaser in zero to five seconds. I suppose I should rewind why I was so intent (aside from being passionate about advertising). Friday afternoon, after receiving an “unpostable” and horrible quality “proof-of-performance” photo from Clear Channel Outdoor of the Power To The Player “Half Back,” I realized I might never have an image of this graphic design piece unless I take matters into my own hands. So having the understanding and uber-patient wife that I do, I chased this bus… right turn after right turn after right turn, all the way to the Intercity Transit station on State Ave & Washington St. in downtown Olympia. Vehicles are not allowed in the bus terminals, so after wedging into a parking stall I ran across the station grass field, through a few crowds of people and finally was up on it and snapped… the… below… image (sorry, I had to catch my breath). If you have any advertising or graphic design needs there’s no need to chase me down, please contact me… and let’s get started today!
Power To The Player Bus “Half Back” Designed by Erik Eikenberry
Tags:advertisements, advertiser, Advertising, billboards, bus ad, Clear Channel, Erik Eikenberry, graphic design, Half Back, intercity transit, Little Creek Casino Resort, Olympia, Power To The Player, Thurston.
March 12th, 2010 by Erik Paul under Informational, Personal, Photography. No Comments.
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Last week I met up with the creative team from Little Creek Casino Resort and we set out into Washington’s South Sound for a “texture adventure.” What’s a “texture adventure?” In our case, it’s research and observation of the surrounding landscape around Little Creek Casino Resort. We took in the environment which meant we had to physically get “into” nature. Wearing our mud boots and clenching our cameras (literally over the river and through the woods), we journeyed to Kennedy Creek, Oyster Bay and ended our venture at the Squaxin Island Museum (minus our mud boots). The purpose of this outing wasn’t just to have an unusually relaxing day of “work,” Little Creek’s creative team hopes to incorporate visual elements-of-nature into their future promotions and advertising. I figured I’d share this day for two reasons; I feel these photos show some of the beauty that is unique to Washington and because I don’t have too many opportunities to take in nature and work at the same time. Enjoy!
Tags:adventure, Erik Eikenberry, Kennedy Creek, Little Creek Casino Resort, natural elements, Nature Photography, Oyster Bay, Squaxin Island Museum, texture.
March 5th, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Design, Informational. No Comments.
When it comes to casinos, or at least gambling in general, I really have never thought of darts as being a high stakes betting game… but I was wrong! This summer, June 25th – June 27th, Little Creek Casino Resort is hosting the 2010 Northwest League Finals. This three day tournament consists of champions from all over the world who will have already competed in the 2010 Spring League Finals taking place in Dayton, Ohio. I was very excited when I was asked by Little Creek’s Creative Manager, Brandi Peters, to design a visual image to represent Little Creek’s participation in this dart league. It’s rare I get to play with darts! I created the below visual which is for pre-teasing exposure of the event. This graphic will be displayed on flat screen TVs everywhere the dart league marketing company, Medalist advertises their upcoming tournaments. If you remember the Power To The Player campaign, you will see the visual similarities I tried to tie together… same concept, different hand model. By the way, if you’re as uninformed about dart tournaments (and professional darts) as I was, the dart in the guy’s hand is a soft tip dart (which has a flat nosed, rubber tip). If you have any graphic design needs that you want to hit the bulls-eye, please contact me… and let’s get started today!
Northwest League Finals “TV Marketing Frame” – Graphic Design by Erik Eikenberry
Tags:bulls-eye designer, dart tournament, Erik Eikenberry, graphic design, Little Creek Casino Resort, marketing, Medalist, Northwest League Finals, Olympia, Shelton, Thurston County, Tumwater.
