Vicarel Studios: Quarter 4, 2021 Review
Vol. 69
Vicarel Studios: Quarter 4, 2021 Review
A quick bite:
2021 was one for the books. It was the second year of living through a pandemic, I caught Covid twice, I hired my first salaried employee, and we had our best year yet. Below is a quick highlight of 4th quarter 2021, a quarter that we are rather proud of here at Vicarel Studios…
Continue reading below…
2021 is behind us — wow it happened fast! For this week, I wanted to share with yall a quick review of the year.
So, why is this relevant to you?
At your core, you are an artist or creative individual. And, if I've learned anything over the years, it is that we MUST prioritize getting our work in front of our ideal clients. Running a successful creative practice is more than just being good at art and design.
I wanted to show you this email (below) that I send quarterly to my clients (past, present and prospective) to stay in front of them, intrigue them, and remind them why working with Vicarel Studios is awesome.
I hope the below inspires you and reminds you that you MUST:
And continue to chase the fog
If you embrace the above, in full, for 3 years — and you accept that failure is part of the process — I'm confident you will be blown away by what you're able to achieve in the next few years.
Vicarel Studios: branding, lettering, murals and a whole lot more.
Quarter 4, 2021 Review:
2021 was one for the books. It was the second year of living through a pandemic, I caught Covid twice, I hired my first salaried employee, and we had our best year yet.
We helped develop the visual identity and positioning for a tequila brand, we painted a bunch of murals, created a handful of custom typefaces, developed a bunch of visual identities, donated $1,000’s of dollars and so much more.
Does this all seem a bit boastful? Well, good. It is boastful.
Ya see, this recap is an opportunity for me to say “Hey, look at this awesomeness we’re workin’ on — don’t you wish you were a part of this?!” And, that’s when you think to yourself: “Dang, this stuff is awesome. Let’s hire these cats…” 😻
We are advocates for beautifully and artfully crafted strategic design. We connect consumers and customers to products and services with a sense of delight. Who doesn’t want that?
Below is a quick highlight of 4th quarter 2021, a quarter that we are rather proud of here at Vicarel Studios…
Nurture
Welp, this is LONG overdue. Nurture, a wellcare marketplace, launched at the beginning of 2020. Despite launching in maybe the least ideal time in history, they’re not only surviving, but thriving. We’re stoked to finally have this beautiful project for you to check out below.
See more >
Angi Office Murals
Angi (formerly Angie’s List) recently went through an acquisition, rebrand and consolidated their offices nationwide. Through all of this, they wanted to highlight their newly-established brand values through art in the Denver office hub. Painting 9 murals in 5 days, we were happy to oblige…
See more >
Telson Tequila
We helped create the visual identity and label design for Telson, a swaggy new premium tequila. Through use of a clean, minimal design aesthetic and bold color, we helped them tell their story.
Case study coming soon...
Milkman — a playful restaurant
We helped create the visual identity for Milkman, the 2nd of 3 restaurant locations in this Cincinnati-based Restaurateur’s portfolio. Bold, vintage, cheeky, illustrative, and playful — these words catalyzed the brand positioning and visual identity of this brand.
Case study coming soon...
Amador — a Cuban experiential restaurant
Again, helped create the visual identity for Amador, the 3rd of the 3 restaurant locations in this Cincinnati-based Restaurateur’s portfolio (Amador is Milkman’s sassy sister). Beautiful, elegant, sassy, sexy, and tropical — these words catalyzed the brand positioning and visual identity of this brand.
Lots more coming soon...
Traverse Fitness
Traverse, Denver’s newest and greatest HIIT gym has become my 3rd place. We recently had the fortunate opportunity to paint our second mural in their beloved altitude room.
Case Study coming soon...
Captain Morgan
We worked with Starpower, an entertainment marketing agency, to help promote Captain Morgan’s newest product, Sliced Apple Rum. To do so, we created a series of lettering and illustration lockups that told the visual story of Colorado + Captain Morgan. Bonus: some of the experimental lettering in this piece functioned as the foundation of our newest typeface, VS Dive Bar.
Case Study coming soon...
The Fitzgerald Mural
One of Denver’s newest boutique apartment complexes, we worked with Nine Dot Arts to create a vintage-victorian-meet-Denver-inspired mural to adorn their bicycle room. Complete with metallic paint, this was a personal favorite.
Case Study coming soon...
Magazine Covers
Typography and illustration are our sweet spot! We knocked out a few magazine covers — one for CoBiz Magazine and another for the National Conference of State Legislatures. Loved the opportunity to tell relevant stories through illustration and typography with each of these covers.
The Wild Visual Identity
The Wild is home to Denver’s finest coffee, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. We had the opportunity to create the visual identity for this elegant and captivating brand. Technically, the work was done last year, but you can see the full breadth of the work through the case study below.
Case Study Here >
Denver Tourism X Inkwell
Teaming up my buds over at Inkwell Media, I had the opportunity to collaborate with them and Visit Denver, Denver's Convention & Visitors Bureau, and create a video piece as well as a series of stills that highlighted Denver’s convenient location for both city-life and mountain-life.
Other Studio Updates
And, then there were 2!
Say hello to Carly Salzman, Vicarel Studios graphic designer and executive assistant. After 6 years of solo-ployment, I’ve officially hired a full-time role to help support the business. Carly is a master of craft, has a knack for type, loves illustration, is a closet-copywriter, and has a thirst for learning… I never planned to grow Vicarel Studios past myself and a few contractors, but Carly proved her worth, and I couldn’t not bring her on board. Carly has been workin’ with me for over a year now on a contract basis, and the partnership opportunity was too good to pass up. If you’re working with me currently, or in the future, you’ll have the pleasure of working with Carly in some capacity.
lululemon Ambasadorship
My ambassadorship with lululemon is in its home stretch — I’m sad to say that it’ll be ending soon. I’ve enjoyed continuing to look at ways to highlight my passion for both design and fitness through this partnership.
Rim 2 Rim
A group of friends and I decided to push ourselves (again) this past October. We made the valiant effort to run from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other: ~25miles with 10,000ft. of elevation change. Beautiful. Epic. Inspired. There aren’t really words to describe this 7.5 hr run across one of the most iconic locations on planet earth.
Marshall Fire Fundraiser
On December 30th, the Marshall fires ravished Superior and Louisville, Colorado. I wanted to make a donation, but felt that the power of art and a collective community mindset would be more powerful. In 1 week we were able to raise enough funds to donate over $2,600 to the Community Foundation of Boulder County. Don’t misread this copy — this was a community donation made possible by 84 supporters purchasing art through Vicarel Studios.
Read More >
Fonts for Sale (personal and commercial)
As our love for typography continues to evolve, Vicarel Studios has leaned into developing fonts. This has been a super fun expression on our end, but also an opportunity for us to hone the practice of creating custom fonts for our clients.
Cotton Blend
A few months back I was asked by my buddy Amy Kitt to contribute a design to Cotton Blend, a t-shirt art show that raises for DAVA, a non-profit that provides free after school and summer art classes for kids, many of whom don't have art in their schools in the Denver area. (davarts.org)
Monday Munch — Weekly Musings
I’ve always been a storyteller. And, quite frankly, long-winded. (sorry). This passion for writing stemmed from my grandfather, it was passed onto my father — who is an incredible writer — and I’m fallin’ in love with this art form myself. I’ve truly enjoyed engaging with the creative entrepreneurial community through writing a weekly article that highlights various aspects of my business-owning / creative experience.
Read some articles >
