Your Capitol Hill

yourcapitolhill.com

In Spring of 2009 the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Sound Transit asked Dumb Eyes to respond to an RFP for a website that would help to mitigate the impact the six year long Capitol Hill Light Rail Station construction would have on neighborhood businesses. Our solution to create a platform for merchants to promote their businesses and connect with the neighborhood residents directly was applauded by committee members and we were granted the project.

Your Capitol Hill

yourcapitolhill.com

The basis for creating a strong user experience was developing an information architecture for the site built on a taxonomy to organize the 500+ merchants, services and organizations that would be represented. We did this through card sorting exercises, interviews with CHCC + S.T. and neighborhood residents. Our efforts resulted in a simple three tier keyword hierarchy that allows users to find the business profiles they are looking for with certainty (i.e., find vegan restaurants that offer a kid friendly lunch and a late night happy hour). These business profiles can be filtered in list form in the Explore section of the site or through an interactive Google map which offers walking and driving directions and public transportation options.

Neighborhood business owners manage, modify and customize their profile content and have the option to add events, promotions and pictures through a simple in-context Drupal framework CMS (content management system).

Your Capitol Hill

To help drive the creation of site content and create a community, we built a micro-social-networking platform that promotes a positive exchange of reviews, up to date list of members favorite businesses and events they are attending. The site is sustainable, accessible and developed using web standards on a Drupal framework. New members and businesses are joining and connecting through YourCapitolHill.com daily, and the site currently serves an online community of 15,000+ visitors.

Your Capitol Hill

Print and web advertisements

To capture the essence of the hill we used bold modernist iconography to represent the top-level sections of the site. This iconography was used to reinforce the brand on billboards, promotional materials, social media marketing, commercials, etc.

Prior to launch, minimal outreach and marketing efforts were made to generate awareness about the site. We proposed a multi-faceted phased approach to attract neighborhood businesses, residents, taste-makers and press. We started by placing print/web banner campaigns in city-wide publications.

Your Capitol Hill

Animated web banner advertisements

We created sets of simple eye-catching web banner ads utilizing the site iconography. These ads were placed in various online news outlets.

Your Capitol Hill

Social Media Marketing @yourcapitolhill

For the greatest impact, we’ve chosen to focus the lion’s share of ongoing marketing efforts on social media to quickly connect with business owners, drive traffic to the site and extend the brand’s mission. Within three months the YourCapitolHill Facebook page has gained 2,000+ followers and was quickly recognized as the best aggregate source of all neighborhood business promotions and events.

Your Capitol Hill

Billboard

Simultaneously, we created a striking thirty-foot graffiti and element proof metal billboard with street level placement at the busiest intersection in the neighborhood.

We also created a teaser advertisement video which was played before Three Dollar Bill cinema screenings during their Summer Outdoor Movies in Cal Anderson Park series.

Yourcapitolhill.com, along with the YourCapitolHill twitter page, continue to attract visitors, reinforce the brand and create the daily online conversations that are critical to the success of the neighborhood’s economy.

Black Up CD

Packaging & Patch Design

Gold Foil on Crushed Black Velvet Paper

Embroidered Patch

"Shabazz Palaces won't feature any credits with cover art achieving Factory/4AD levels of abstraction and mystique." - The Guardian

Black Up Vinyl LP

Packaging & Patch Design

Cover: Black ink on black shark skin paper

Embroidered Patch

"Shabazz Palaces won't feature any credits with cover art achieving Factory/4AD levels of abstraction and mystique." - The Guardian

Shabazz Palaces "Self Titled Album"

Packaging and Embroidered Patch

Shabazz Palaces "Self Titled"

Packaging

Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces of Light Embroidered Patch

Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces of Light packaging

Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces of Light packaging

Shabazz Palaces

icon

Shabazz Palaces

Sub-pop announcement poster

Shabazz Palaces

Shabazz Palaces poster

Shabazz Palaces

Poster for Shabazz Palaces Nuemos Show

Shabazz Palaces

Live at Sasquatch Album Cover

Shabazz Palaces

shabazzpalaces.com

Website built on WordPress framework.

Shabazz Palaces

icon

First Thursday

firstthursdayseattle.com

The First Thursday art walk in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood has been taking place each month for over 30 years, however, the art walk had never presented itself with any official branding. We approached the Alliance for Pioneer Square with the idea to brand the event, develop a social networking website and create a walking map.

"It shows you the weather. It gives you make-your-own maps. It is searchable by art medium. It has space for you to leave comments about the art. There are links to everywhere (social networking sites, galleries, press reports on the art), and glow-in-the-dark maps will be distributed. There’s bus, train, ferry, bike, and parking info... It’s the sort of thing you can’t believe didn’t already exist, and it looks good." —The Stranger

Read more on THE STRANGER

First Thursday

firstthursdayseattle.com

The website and CMS we designed and developed allows First Thursday participants to customize venue profile pages with information about their venue/gallery and exhibits. Visitors can search, browse and comment on venue profile pages. A comprehensive interactive online map also links to venue profiles and provides dynamic directions, public transportation, and parking info.

First Thursday

Logo

The First Thursday Seattle brand identity was composed of bold shapes and vibrant colors which exemplify the sophistication and fun of the monthly art event.

First Thursday

Walking map

The First Thursday Seattle walking map is distributed in Pioneer Square and throughout Seattle area hotels, tourist destinations, ferry terminals and information kiosks. In addition to creating the map, we developed and managed the distribution strategy with the selected vendor.

First Thursday

Poster

The reverse side of every edition of the walking map features a poster encouraging participation and acquisition of art at the First Thursday event. These posters are hung throughout the city.

First Thursday

Buttons

To launch the site and new brand for First Thursday Seattle, we created buttons for galleries to give to visitors.

First Thursday

Glow-in-the-dark Poster

The reverse side of every edition of the walking map features a poster encouraging participation and acquisition of art at the First Thursday event. These posters are hung throughout the city. The first poster edition was created with glow-in-the-dark ink.

First Thursday

Icon

FirstThursdaySeattle.com aims to further solidify and represent the community, venues, galleries and studios that makes First Thursday the most exciting and dynamic art event in Seattle. Beyond the monthly event, firstthursdayseattle.com is the ultimate resource for information about the art galleries, venues, exhibits and events happening in Pioneer Square every day of the month.