It’s super exciting to know that the dog and cat food illustrations I created for our Hagen client have hit shelves in PetSmart stores across Canada.

Our illustrations and design concept for their new packaging (under the Nutrience brand name) will help their new line of grain-free dog and cat foods stand out on shelf.

Our colorful, full-of-movement illustrations are sure to energize pet food aisles. Totes proud of these!

We’ve been designing a lot of websites lately. Some have been content-heavy because those clients had a lot to communicate to their client prospects. Others, like our new site for our friends at Made, have been more of a visual experience because those clients trust photography to more effectively tell their stories.

What all of our sites have in common is a behind-the-scenes simplicity. We believe in CMS that clients can understand if/when they log in. Because websites aren’t documents frozen in time. Or they shouldn’t be.

A simple CMS can make for a more dynamic user experience. Fresh, relevant content is what most visitors want from websites. That’s why we work with our development partners and clients to ensure that content management is a priority from the start.

Listening to Ad Age’s Editor Abbey Klaassen at this week’s Brand Matters program encouraged me to dig a little deeper into what exactly content marketing is, a topic she highlighted frequently in her short talk.

In an effort to learn more during a little lunchtime research, I came across the concept of “snackable content” on mashable.com. In this article, cluttered with cute (yes, cute!) food pictures, author Amy-Mae Elliot explains that snackable content is the idea of “short-term data” that consumers can interact with quickly while they’re out-and-about and/or on their phones. She gives examples of an infographic, image or short video. Elliot also points out that it’s getting harder for marketers to grab our attention in this fast paced, message-packed world.

Reading this left me thinking maybe these “bite sized” messages could be one solution to reaching the busy, message hounded consumer.  A shorter, smaller message might just be the perfect appetizer for nudging consumers to be hungry for hearing more from a brand and won’t leave them feeling like they’ve wasted time swallowing a huge portion of content.

Anyone feel like a snack?

Senior Account Manager

Breanna Vanstrom

My favorite age-inappropriate hobby is genealogy.

My dog Baxter makes me happy.

I am outstanding at making checklists.

A leading developer of web-based software that makes manufacturing more efficient and economical, Synchrono asked Kick to create a web experience that would educate visitors and generate leads.

The approved design concept for their website necessitated corporate identity and product iconography refreshes, too. Even in more industrial categories, strategic branding impacts perception. Refining visual and messaging hierarchies strengthens a brand’s presence —
and helps client prospects discover how and where to begin conversations.

Synchrono unveiled its new identity, new product icons and new online experience earlier this month at an industry trade show in Boston.

Pentair’s annual report has been a staple winter project for us since before Kick was known as HartungKemp. I started designing it for nearly 20 years ago. That’s a lot of design concepts — and more 10Ks than I care to recall. But Pentair’s annual for 2012 was a great reminder that there’s no phoning in what you think the client wants just because you think you’ve seen and done it all before.

Pentair’s 2012 annual report press run grew from 25,000 to 235,000 copies just four days before going to press. Which meant a switch in printers, new last-minute paper choices and an entirely different printing process. We closed our eyes and prayed a little more than usual, too. Maybe that’s why we’re so happy with the finished results.

There was a buzzing energy in the room at the Rock Health XX Retreat. You could see it on the eager faces of like-minded peers reaching out to connect and to network, to mentor and to address the real challenges of the healthcare system. What an honor it was to be there and to contribute with our friends from PepsiCo Nutrition Ventures and WelloWomen.com.

Our Rock Health conversations were rich. The full audience and smaller breakout groups met to discuss, dissect and even debate how women can improve the healthcare system. Improvement was our common, uniting cause.

At one of the smaller breakout sessions I attended, we spent some time talking about the importance of inspiring 70+% of us to strive to improve our health in small ways (e.g., to lose 5 lbs. or to be more active), rather than trying to convince 5% of us to lose 70 lbs. The impact to the whole system would be more measurable if a mass group of Americans could be motivated to change its habits, even if just a little bit. Some of us agreed to reach back out to each other to work on ideas on how to address this considerable challenge.

Although we’re just getting started, it was clear to everyone we talked to that women are going to be the ones who will bring about real change.