Strategy
A Collection That Stays Top of Mind.
The Brief
Douglas & Son Services keeps homes and businesses running across D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and the company spends its season meeting the community in person, from a town festival to a realtor awards ceremony. Our task was to ensure that the pieces handed out at those events carried a longer assignment than the events themselves, remaining in a household long enough to be within reach on the day their services are needed. The collection had to incorporate the client's logo, which included numerous colors and intricate details, ensuring that those details remained intact once applied to products small enough to fit in a hand. The items themselves needed to be compact household products that carried the company's full contact information and service area, all designed in a way that looked cohesive.
Our Approach
We had to be intentional about the audience, the items, and the households that would use each product within the collection, and we managed the project so that every decision moved the collection forward without adding work for our client.
Understood where the pieces would live.
We mapped the events on our client's calendar and the audiences at each one, which narrowed the options down to what a household would genuinely keep and use throughout the whole year.
Curated what a household would keep.
We selected products that complement the brand elements and suit daily routines, confirming that each offered enough decoration area for the logo and the full contact details.
Calibrated the design to every surface.
We composed the logo and contact information as one, matched the supporting elements to the brand colors, and refined the arrangement until every intricate detail held and read clearly.
Reviewed every piece before delivery.
We inspected every piece of the finished collection at our fulfillment center against the approved artwork, then delivered it to the office ahead of the season's first event.
Curation
Items a Household Actually Uses.
Drawing on our supplier network, we settled on three items that are durable, allow full color customization, and hold a natural place in a household's routine. They are a portable bone-shaped dispenser that clips onto a dog leash and gives dog owners a convenient way to carry waste bags on every walk, a custom floating pen that brings a note of humor belonging to both this industry and this client while staying easily within reach, and a phone grip that sits on the back of any device typically picked up a hundred times a day. Each was chosen with the artwork in mind, and together the three keep Douglas & Son present in the ordinary rhythm of a household long after the events where they were handed out. The client later named our creative recommendations among the things that stood out.
Production
A Keen Attention to Detail.
Due to the colors, the intricate details, and the limited imprint surfaces, we calibrated the design for each item so that the colors stayed accurate to the brand, the finest details remained legible, and the contact information read cohesively alongside the logo. Our production team sampled various orientations and arrangements to ensure the print quality and the details remained intact across all items. Every finished piece was then inspected at our facility against the approved artwork before it reached the client.
The Standard
Across various materials, each of which carries different color standards.
Composed as one design on every piece, rather than set beside one another.
Reviewed before it left the factory, then again at our fulfillment center.
Our client always knew where the collection stood, and every proof returned accurately.
Experience
A Hit at Poolesville Day.
The collection was delivered to the company's office ahead of the first event on the calendar. It went out at Poolesville Day, which draws between 12,000 and 15,000 visitors from across Montgomery County, and at realtor award ceremonies through the rest of the season, handed across tables to people who had never met the company before. The collection arrived on the date we committed to, with the schedule visible to our client throughout. Asked what they would tell someone considering us, the client answered that we are "professional and fast." As a way of showing our gratitude for the partnership, we upgraded the dispensers so that each one carries fifteen bags rather than ten, and added pieces beyond the ordered count, at no cost to the client.