Graphic Design That Works

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skidmore inc.

Changing Perceptions

Because Skidmore began as a commercial art studio in

Detroit doing mostly automotive illustration and design,

they have been pigeonholed into that market. Since their

beginnings in 1959, they have expanded into other areas

and needed to communicate that to a more diverse audience.

“Because we have been in business for so long, there is a

stigma. The great thing is that people look to you for stability.

What is not so great is that you don’t necessarily get a lot of

breaks for being cutting edge,” remarks art director Mae

Skidmore. “With this brochure, we were trying to counteract

some of the impressions that clients had about us.” In

addition to their design and illustration work, Skidmore

also offers web development, retouching and imaging, and

marketing services.

Wanting to break into the corporate market, the design

team realized that its biggest challenge was determining

their strategic plan of attack. “Traditionally, we only called

upon advertising agencies. But in the last five years, we

have been making a real push to deal directly with Fortune

500 companies,” adds Skidmore. “Because we were going

after a new area, we really had to spend a lot of time thinking

about who we were, what we did, and how we could

leverage that to a corporate market. Putting the brochure

together was easy once we figured all that stuff out.” The

design team came up with a promotional brochure that

highlighted all of the firm’s creative and marketing services

in an interesting and captivating way. “We didn’t want to do

a brochure that said the same thing as everyone else,”

recalls Skidmore. “We really wanted to get out of that

rhetoric and really express the personality of the company.”

CLIENT:

Skidmore Inc. is a full-service

design and commercial art studio.

FIRM:

Skidmore Inc.

ART DIRECTORS:

Julie Pincus, Mae Skidmore, and

Sue Levytsky

DESIGNERS:

Julie Pincus, John Latin, Robert

Nixon, and Laura Lybeer-Hilpert

ILLUSTRATORS:

Gary Cooley, Bob Nixon,

Steve Magsig, Ann Redner,

Scott Olds, Dave O’Connell,

Rob Burman, Toni Button,

Jeff Rauf, Larry Dodge, Chuck

Gillies, Rudy Laslo, Bob Andrews,

John Ball, Wayne Appleton,

George Burgos, Carrie Russell,

and Ron Alexander

PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Rocki Pedersen and Jeff Hargis

COPYWRITERS:

Mae Skidmore and Sue Levytsky

ABOVE: Created to have an old-

fashioned notebook-like feel, the

promotional brochure is bound

with cloth tape and rivets and

accented with a punched label.

Focusing on the design process

and the various offerings of

Skidmore, the piece was distributed

in a specially designed envelope

that features various little

doodles about thinking.

Graphic Design That Works

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RIGHT: The brochure is broken down

into four major sections that detail

the creative process and highlight

the firm’s offerings.

What Works

With their brochure’s interesting use of production tech-

niques, illustration, photography, and type, Skidmore Inc.

was able to break away from their traditionally accepted

role and appear much more cutting edge. By highlighting

the design firm’s creative abilities and full-service

approach, the brochure was able to attract attention from

corporate clients outside the automotive industry. “With

this piece, we got work almost immediately. Everyone we

gave it to was so impressed,” shares Skidmore. “The

brochure was not only creatively rewarding but also great

for image building and increasing company revenues.”

RIGHT: An envelope in the back of the

brochure houses several portfolio

samples.

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