The Future is Now

The Future is Now

Social media designs for Future Capital

Future Capital (by ProNvest) offers a suite of financial tools that takes the heavy lifting out of planning and investing for retirement by automating the day-to-day work of managing your retirement accounts. Their technology gives you access to institutional investment advice and management at a low cost.

While Widgets & Stone was helping develop designs and illustrations for an explainer video for ProNvest, we were also creating a graphic style that could easily move to their new brand: Future Capital.

The sharp and fresh illustrations we created paired perfectly with the expanded ProNvest / Future Capital color palette to create an inviting set of social graphics for the experienced members of the ProvNvest team to spread the word about their state-of-the-art account analysis tools.

Design Direction: Liz Tapp; Design: Liz Tapp and Travis Hitchcock; Illustration: Travis Hitchcock; Animation: Liz Tapp and Travis Hitchcock.

A Sea Change for Education

A Sea Change for Education

izzi web redesign

For almost 40 years, Izzi Early Education (formerly IHSD Inc.) has provided the highest-quality education and family services to ensure that all children in the San Matteo County, California community get the care they deserve.

Izzi believes that every child and every family deserve access to high-quality early child education. Their comprehensive early care, education, and family services ensure that all children, regardless of circumstances, get the care they need, where they need it.

Stitzlein Studio (founded by the creative team of Joe and Leslie Stitzlein) had recently led Izzi’s rebrand, and they approached Widgets & Stone about designing and building a website for the non-profit.

The new web design includes a revamp of their current content along with microsite news and information pages for 11 locations. Our design team built animated SVG files to help keep the site mobile friendly and  make use of the colorful vector shapes Stitzlein Studio created.

The new design showcases Izzi’s comprehensive program and service offerings, as well as the unique spirit that is behind Izzi’s approach— a surging confluence of culture and purpose, of hope and need, of talent and ambition, of will and willingness, of optimism and opportunity.

Visit the izzi web site here.

Creative Direction: Joe & Leslie Stitzlein, Stitzlein Studio; Design Direction: Liz Tapp; Design: Liz Tapp and John Le; Writing: Mark Gibson and Austin Howe; Photography: Joshua Chun and Izzi Staff.

ProNvest Explainer Video

Working Hard to Make it Easy

ProNvest Explainer Video

Retirement accounts, money management, a diversified portfolio—these are daunting phrases that most people would prefer not to consider unless they absolutely have to. The world of investing is one that’s often seen as complicated and scary, and not many of us have the time or know-how to oversee any of our investments on a day-to-day basis.

Thankfully, ProNvest has been helping people for the last 20 years by taking the heavy lifting out of managing a retirement account. Their knowledgeable approach to the intricate arena of retirement planning was a breath of fresh air, and we relished the challenge of helping them tell that story to their clients in an informative manner via an animated explainer video.

The sharp and fresh illustrations we created paired with the expanded ProNvest color palette to create an inviting video detailing how the experienced members of the ProvNvest team utilize their state-of-the-art account analysis tools to ensure that your hard-earned money is allocated properly.

Learn more at: www.pronvest.com/ or watch the video above.

Art Direction: Liz Tapp; Copywriting: Andrew Schneider; Illustrations: Travis Hitchcock; Animation: John Le.

Iconic Data by Design

Iconic Data by Design

Icons for Data Engineering

Widgets & Stone was tapped by Joe Stitzlein of Stitzlein Studio to help create a set of icons for client in the enterprise data engineering space.

Our team followed Joe’s creative direction to design over a dozen sets of possible icons solutions for the project before settling on this final set of winners.

Creative Direction: Joe Stitzlein, Stitzlein Studio; Design Direction: Paul Rustand; Design & Animation: John Le.

What if moving was fun?

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What if moving was fun?

Bellhops Promo Video

Bellhops provides manpower and online resources to help you with your move – anywhere in the US. This Chattanooga startup has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the moving industry. In late 2018 they launched a new brand identity designed by NYC based Gin Lane.

To coincide with the new brand launch, Bellhops Art Director, Adam Ewing, tapped Widgets & Stone to help create a promo video. Design Director Liz Tapp guided the team to create this playful video, showcasing Dotson Commercial’s photography and the new logo.

See the video here.

Creative Direction: Adam Ewing; Design Direction: Liz Tapp; Designers: John Le, Athene Ruiz, Victor Tyler; Photography: Dotson Commercial; Identity Design: Gin Lane.

Fun with GIFs

Fun with GIFs

Do we need a subtitle?

Showing action and transformation can often times be important in the design process. In developing concepts for several client projects, the Widgets & Stone created animate GIFs to show either interaction or transformation. 

The first design shown here is an invitation concept meant to animate, going from the date 1916 to 2016, with 2 complete different styles. The die cut envelope would both hide and reveal as the invitation is withdrawn, making it a form of “manual animation.”

The second design is part of a layering process of posters designed to emulate the natural layering (and decay) of billboards in a city.

Designers: Travis Hitchcock, Mark Slawson, Liz Tapp.