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JH Nordic Annual Event 2024 Case Study

Transcend Ideas is proud to continue our partnership with JH Nordic. We are proud to support their mission to improve winter trails access, education, and stewardship in the Teton. The Jackson Hole Nordic Alliance Annual Free Ski, Snowshoe, and Fat Bike Day event has become a favorite tradition for families and the community to come together to celebrate winter recreation in the Tetons. We are proud to have provided the illustration and marketing for the 2024 event this year.


JH Nordic Annual Free Ski, Snowshoe, Fatbike Day at Turpin Meadow Ranch

Transcend Ideas was proud to support the goal to provide education and increase awareness and community around winter trails use in the Tetons for visitors and locals alike.

  • Our team generated an illustrated vintage-style poster reminiscent of skiing and days spent on winter trails from the past. This appeals emotionally to viewers of both the physical and digital marketing campaigns.
  • Digital graphics were created for social media as a 10 day countdown to increase excitement and engagement online. A consistent digital presence promoting attendance at the 6th Annual Free Ski, Snowshoe, and Fatbike Day supported the success of the event.

Visit the JH Nordic website to learn more about all things winter trails and grooming in the Tetons.


Learn more about how Transcend Ideas can help with strategy and marketing behind your non-profits next big community event!

Dear Canva, I LOVE you!

A quick geek out over Canva!

This is a geek out blog post about Canva. If you haven’t guessed, I love the platform and what they provide businesses. Their platform continues to amaze me and what you can do with it. How may I count the ways.. I love you, Canva!

SVG Magic in Branding Your Business

DeLacy Tea Company – SVG rosehips

Let’s begin with SVGs, which stands for: Scalable Vector Graphics.
This handy-dandy format allows for your vector files to be colorized before your eyes. That’s right. Exactly how you can pull an element from Canva and change out a color to your liking? I recently designed something for Mariel’s DeLacy Tea Company. Delacy Tea Company wanted to utilize the rosehips element on different tea labels. Each label needing to be a different color, so making a couple of elements she can then colorize in Canva was huge! An important tip for Illustrator/vector designers: make sure the vector is completely closed so the element can be colorized effectively in Canva. For this sample of their rosehips (right), I had the lines in the leaves transparent and not white so that the rosy color or any color of their choosing can stand out on a contrasting background.

There are some smaller businesses that need to be able to “play” with their logo and with this versatility it allows for a business owner to take it upon themselves to make necessary changes on their own.

From now on, when I package my client’s graphics and hand them over, SVGs will be on that checklist of elements that are an absolute must. Exporting elements for your clients that can be the most useful allows them to move freely in their brand without constraints. All too often clients have shared stories where they are left hopeless with ownership over their own logo files, domain names, hosting for their website, access to their social media platforms, etc. All forthcoming topics I will happily share in our blog.

Some Canva templates provided for marketing campaigns:

Bravo goes back to Canva, an Australia-women owned business. Canva has revolutionized graphic design for so many ambitious dreamers. Now design is accessible to anyone that wants to build a business with the help of their design platform. I couldn’t be more excited to recommend them to anyone who works in design or wants to dabble in it.

Canva Custom Template Offerings

Unique Ways to Engage with Non-Profit Donors

I love helping nonprofit organizations with their marketing strategy and implementation. I have 15 years experience working with nonprofits and here is a peek into why I am so keen on helping them. Find unique ways to engage with non-profit donors.

Why my Heart is into Helping Non-Profits

People Spread Love

Nonprofit organizations are unique manifestations of good ideas that serve communities. Here in the Teton County, WY/Teton County, ID area we have over 400 nonprofits serving this region. Organizations do so much to serve the community’s needs in ways that government agencies and for-profit companies can not. The important work that nonprofits provide sparks a lot of motivation in me to serve them.

Founder of People Spread Love

I founded a nonprofit, People Spread Love nearly 7 years now. The mission of People Spread Love (PSL) is to empower communities to write notes of love to those facing adversity.  This act of kindness expresses empathy and revives human connection across community lines. PSL had very humbling beginnings, very grassroot style with compassionate volunteers at the helm. This 501c3 nonprofit organization is now stepping into a new phase with funding our very first People Spread Love Starter Kit program. This is an exciting time for me and my Board of Directors and for the community that has loved and supported us for many years now. As part of the Starter Kit program, I put together these clever and fun hand drawn postcards to be included in the kits and as a way to entice our donors to donate to PSL’s operational costs.

Hand Drawn Postcards for LOVE

Like many nonprofit organizations there is a need to engage with donors in unique ways. This angle is a creative one. As Galentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Random Acts of Kindness Week is right around the February corner, I thought it wise to release these designs in late January to get a jump start on getting these into the hands of our donors. I put the postcards up as an incentive when donating a certain amount to PSL. I’ve priced the postcards as a way that was less expensive than a greeting card you would already buy from a shop/grocery store (those suckers are nearly $5-8 a pop these days – yikes!). This example of an incentive is a practical one, away to reconnect or express love to someone you care about.

Printed Products are NOT Dead & Gone

The dilemma these days is our world revolves around being online, Zooming in, and always being tethered somehow through social media. This separation from that world into the physical written word is a relief for many. This is one of many reasons that PSL is so effective and easily adopted into our volunteer’s routines. When you are marketing your nonprofit do not give up on printed products, they are still very much appreciated and effective ways to reach your audience.

Capture their attention through a unique approach like humor. Since PSL’s premise is inclusion, love, kindness and generosity, a few good puns is a complimentary vibe. The example below is a postcard mailer I helped GAP! send to donors. The postcard presented the problem and the solution, this captures the attention of the donor and gives them the call-to-action (CTA) clearly in the middle of the postcard, the QR code they can “Scan to Give.” QR codes are back and more are utilizing it in the USA.

Ways to Engage with Nonprofit Donors
Direct Mailer postcard from GAP (Girls Actively participating)
Direct mailer postcard from GAP!

Here are some other ways to engage with nonprofit donors;

  1. Monthly emails with Carefully Crafted Content with very direct call-to-actions (CTA) ie. Campaign and goal communicated directly tied to a project or program.
  2. Give them incentive to donate ie. Pun-ny postcards, stickers, etc.
  3. QR codes are “in” now and work effectively to expedite the donation process.
  4. Write and mail a “Thank You Note” – seriously that goes a very long way! Tell them what their gift went to better the community.
  5. Share your impact story – collect testimonials of people have been directly impacted by your organization. This measurable helps your donors see the impact you make on the community.

Interested in learning more about different ways to engage with non-profit donors? Let’s get coffee to chat about other ideas.

Case Study: Nom Nom Doughnuts

Nom Nom Doughnuts hand drawn logo

Client Request

Nom Nom Doughnuts company was looking for a hand-drawn logo to convey their mobile doughnut business. This little airstream makes donuts that are delightfully light with big flavor.

The company needed a light-hearted and airy design that would be eye-catching for the general bystander at concerts and events in Jackson and around western Wyoming.

Nom Nom Doughnuts Final Logo

Heather brought her illustrative expertise to this project. The hand-drawn effect of an airstream shows doughnuts of varying textures coming across the top of the vehicle in an arc effect. The use of color on this project was playful and vintage, lending to the vintage effect of the airstream trailer that they have revamped into a delicacy-baking food truck machine. The logo created represents the wide variety of doughnuts that could be purchased from their company. The airstream identity on the branding fits right in with the exploratory and laid-back vibe that many in the town of Jackson resonate with.

Location

You can find Nom Nom Doughnuts at concerts, community events, and all around the town of Jackson. Make sure to stop in and say hello to the team!

Designed with Gliffen Designs

Are you looking to hire illustration work for your business? Contact Transcend Ideas to discuss what you are needing for your business!