This kite's gotta fly!

We've moved our blog!
It's now fully integrated into our new website!
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Something to talk about

"As new small business owners we couldn't be more pleased to have chosen kitestring for our initial branding, website, and ongoing creative communications needs. Their commitment to the success of their clients is obvious in every aspect of their work. Our relationship has come to feel very much like a partnership and we look forward to future projects with them."

Rebecca and Trevor, Citizen Kid - www.citizenkid.ca

Tis the season to get a portrait....fa la la la la, la la, la la.

Our good friend and fab photographer is offering a Christmas special. Marta is our photographer of choice for all our marketing materials. She rocks. See her post below!

Holiday Specials!!
It's That Time Again...
Let's get these portraits done!

If you know me by now, you know that I am not the type of photographer to take the "traditional" Christmas Portraits with the tree in the background and and the kids in fancy Christmas outfits. I like to keep it simple and focus on the people and their expressions and interactions. This way the images aren't limited to Christmas alone but can be timeless portraits that you can enjoy for years to come. This year my Holiday Special is for all of October and November. We want to get these photos done soon and not leave everything to the last minute!!! Photo Sessions can be done in the studio or you can have a fall/winter outdoor session. This year's Holiday Special is $100 off each session!! But this is only for October and November, so don't wait until December! The sooner we get the photo shoot going the more likely you are to get your Christmas Cards out on time!! Please call or email me if you have any questions or want to go ahead and book your session! See you soon!

www.martahewson.com



CONTACT INFO

905-389-5836
marta@martahewson.com

One Week Until Our Birthday!!!!!! BIG SURPRISE announcements to come!!!

kitestring's 2nd year of successful business in Hamilton will be celebrated on October 1st!!!



That week also holds BIG announcements! kitestring's new website launch will kick off the week providing eye candy for all!
TEDxHamilton is happens in the middle of the week on September 30th at McMaster Innovation Park!
AND (drum roll please)..... kitestring will be announcing the details of a BIG CONTEST for small business in the area!

Launching on our 2nd birthday, October 1st 2009, kitestring wants to give away a BIG present!!!!

Stay tuned for details! Check back soon!!

(we might even find time to have a birthday party)

Horizon Utilities recognized for helping to create sustainable communities... and we helped!

Horizon Utilities has just announced that they been named Company of the Year by the Ontario Energy Association for taking the ground-breaking step of being the first electricity distribution company in Ontario to publish a Sustainability-Based Annual Report!

Working with Horizon to design the report is something that kitestring is very proud of. Congratulations Horizon!

Art Werx 101

Tonight, Hamilton Youth Arts Network (HYAN) is holding Art Werx 101, a workshop with professor Judy Major-Girardin that will teach anyone interested the ins and outs of becoming a professional artist.

The event is at McMaster's campus, in Togo Salmon Hall Room 114, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

HYAN Coordinator, Sarah Bardwell, has the best ideas in support of youth in the city. HYAN's all about valuing Hamiltonian youth; without them, the city will never achieve its potential.

kitestring Goes for the Gold!

After months of training and hard work, we're ready..... to be in the goldbook!
Check out our new photos on our goldbook profile!
Thanks to Marta Hewson Photography for the amazing shots! It almost looks like we could pass for Olympians.... Almost.

Register for TEDxHamilton now!

TEDxHamilton spots are filling up and the event is getting closer. Our committee has been hard at work, and the first round of attendee rsvp confirmations are going out tonight! Register HERE at the TEDxHamilton website!
Registration is only open for another week! The event is on September 30th from 6:00 to 9:30 at McMaster Innovation Park.

Ten Weeks of Great Jazz

Jazz at the Corktown

THE DARCY HEPNER
JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Ten Weeks of Great Jazz Featuring World-Class Musicians and Many
Special Guests!
Weekly shows starting Wednesday, September 30 - December 2

The Corktown Pub - Sets at: 8 pm & 10 pm
175 Young Street / Hamilton, ON / (905) 572-9242

www.hamiltonmusiccollective.org



Brand, logo identity, poster and all communications designed by kitestring.

Chris Farias - Hamilton Ontario – www.kitestring.ca
kitestring creative marketing + design – graphic design, marketing, illustration, web design, creative thinking, strategic marketing, total fun!

In Our Lifetime

The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation : In Our Lifetime

I'm a marketing guy. Marketing is my thing. I live it. I breath it. I had a bowl of marketing for breakfast this morning. (Actually, I did. Captain Crunch. And if that doesn't scream marketing, I don't know what does) When it comes to commercials I can be very critical. What works. What doesn't work. What's funny. What's annoying. You get the picture.

Not very often does a commercial have such an effect on me as the one below. The message is clear, the people are real and the music choice couldn't suite it more.

Nonprofit organizations sometimes find it hard to step outside the box when it comes to their marketing. I applaud the The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation for taking their communications to a new level. A level that makes people actually stop, think and reflect. By doing this it only helps in their mission to "conquer cancer in our lifetime". That's what they want. Isn't that what all want?

Eye Catching

I'm not sure why I like this new Cadbury commercial. It's kinda freaky. But I think that's part of it's charm. The song is catchy and you're just not sure how they got those kids to do that. All I know is I want some melt in your mouth goodness. What do you think?

Citizen Kid wants you!

The 2009 Hamilton Spectator Reader’s Choice Awards!



Our wonderful client, Citizen Kid, has been nominated in the following categories:

BEST NEW BUSINESS
BEST TOY STORE
BEST CHILDREN’S STORE


To vote go to www.thespec.com and click on the reader’s choice button on the right hand side.

GO VOTE!!!!

Devil in the...purple dress

I had the pleasure of working directly with author Michelle Rowen on a few illustration for her new novel "Demon Princess". Take a look at her blog post to see the result.

Launch time!

Here at kitestring we have been very busy launching many a website. We are lucky to have the best web team imaginable working with us and for you. Below are a few sites we have sent out to cyberspace in the past few months. Please have a look! If you are looking to have a face on the net or you need a face-lift, shoot us a message!

Your business. It's our passion.


MediaFace

Players Paradise Soccer

Training Innovation

Citizen Kid

Aecon Careers

The Home Staging Studio


kitestring will be launching a new site in the next few days. A fresh look with fresh photography by Marta Hewson Photography. Stayed tuned. I am so excited!

kitestring proud to sponsor TEDxHamilton

kitestring has partnered with Training Innovation and MediaFace to bring Hamilton it's very own TEDx Event! We are proud to be one of three founding sponsors of the TEDxHamilton event and want to invite you!

Click on the image below!




TEDxHamilton!

Buy one...

..give one away.

Awesome Book Tour from Dallas Clayton on Vimeo.

The Diary of Anne Frank

Uplifting spirits with genuine laughter and moving hearts with sadness, the opening of Theatre Aquarius' season last night with The Diary of Anne Frank was an experience that left me entrapped with emotion for hours after final bows.

Natasha Greenblatt as Anne Frank was the best performance I have ever seen in my entire Hamilton-based, theatre-going life. Anne`s account of life as a young Jewish girl in Nazi occupied Amsterdam is poignant and honest. She feels the weight of the entire Jewish community suffering around her, but then her tenderness can turn into sheer joy in a flash as she experiences an awakening to the new and exciting feelings of becoming a woman.

My mother shared this book with me when I was Anne`s age, and I think I was going through some of Anne`s misguided dislike for her own mother. Today I gave my own mom a hug, and apologized for being an emotional thirteen year old, and thanked her for sharing this story with me then. I think I will take her to see the Diary of Anne Frank on her birthday next week.

Thank you to Theatre Aquarius for bringing truly inspiring theatre to this city.

365 days of Hamilton at the AGH

Photography exhibition, Hamilton 365, opened September 12th at the Art Gallery of Hamilton
Artist Larry Strung has captured the faces of this city, one personality per day, every day, for an entire year.



Our very own Imaginitarian + Partner, Chris Farias, was captured by the lense, and poses as Mr.September 9th.


The exhibition was curated by Sara Knelman, who will be missed as the Art Gallery of Hamilton's Curator of Contemporary Art, as she's off to England as of this week.

Punch for all!

No party is complete without punch; and no event should go without Punch Wedding + Event Co.

This boutique event planning company offers a fun, chic and stress-free planning experience for vibrant, creative, and confident events.





To make this brand come to life, Natalie's wedding and event planning business needed to re-imagine itself with a new name. For our “Name Game” workshop, we gather multiple textures, images, concepts, industry research and our honed research from the previously held branding "Discovery Session", and have some fun with words.

We`re in love with the visual identity kitestring created for the Punch brand. If this brand icon was a sound, it would be the “fizz” of a lime slice being splashed into a bubbly, refreshing cocktail. These colours work together to appear like a sugary and sour fruit candy falling into your hand.



Having a new name built a foundation for the brand's story. Now, just how the punch bowl can be filled with various ingredients to help support an event, Punch Wedding + Event Co. can be tailored to execute a diverse rainbow of event themes, styles and sizes.

Hint: It’s Something Big for Something Small

kitestring creative marketing + design has worked hard to stay smart and small in this city’s marketing + design agency climate. Now, as our studio’s second birthday approaches, we’ve cooked up some big surprises for small businesses, as a way to give back and help out.

This fall, kitestring creative marketing + design is going to be holding a BIG contest for small businesses in the area.

Get ready to enter. Get ready to vote. Get ready to celebrate.

Leaning Post

Here at kitestring, we just wrapped up the design and branding of a new wine label. We are very excited to present it to the world. Take a look below!




What is Leaning Post?
Leaning Post Wines are new vintners situated in the beautiful Niagara Peninsula wine region. Oenologist Ilya Senchuk and business partner Nadia Senchuk have cultivated grapes from the highest quality soil from Ontario`s finest wine region to craft distinctive wine in both red and white offerings. Quality is of utmost importance for the brand in order to successfully compete with VQA Ontario wines.

Logo Architecture
The logo was specifically developed to visually convey a distinctive, rustic, and authentic identity. The logo comes together to produce the look of a cultural, family connection that evokes the essence of a memorable vineyard experience.
The icon works to please your target audience in multiple ways.The illustration subtly mirrors traditional Ukrainian folk art through the use of authentic line work and high contrast. Both the post and the red “i” lean up and to the right to promote feelings of positivity and progress. The perspective angle of the post makes it seem as if it rises into the sky giving it an air of importance and making the piece memorable.

This style was developed to depict the authentic, handmade, and rustic qualities of the brand through the custom, hand-drawn illustration of a leaning post, as well as the high quality and distinctiveness through the clean lines and use of open space. Special attention was taken to detail specific important elements of the brand such as the red “i”.





Chris Farias - Hamilton Ontario – www.kitestring.ca
kitestring creative marketing + design – graphic design, marketing, illustration, web design, creative thinking, strategic marketing, total fun!

Wondering where we went now that summer is over? Apart from working hard at being the best little creative branding studio we can be, we've been busy ( along with the folks from MediaFace and Training Innovation) organizing TEDxHamilton! It's a wicked-cool, free event at McMaster Innovation Park on Wednesday, September 30th 2009, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. If you want to meet up with us there, go to the website and fill out this form to book a seat! TED events are all in the spirit of sharing innovative ideas, and we've been busy cultivating the brightest minds around to share their ideas with us. Lets thank our confirmed sponsors thus far: Thank you McMaster Innovation Park, FastSigns, The Printing House and Marta Hewson Photography!!!

Salute to Small Business!

Own a small business? Thinking about becoming an entrepreneur?

The Hamilton Small Business Enterprise Centre presents,"Salute to Small Business 2009", Hamilton's 10th annual learning and networking opportunity for entrepreneurs and those involved in small business in the city.

Dianne Buckner, host of CBC's Dragon's Den, will be sharing her "Top Ten Tips" for success in today's dynamic business environment.

You can check out the event on facebook here or register for the event at the Hamilton Small Business Centre through their registration form here.