Ring Brook Custom Instruments
One of my first freelance projects was for a local luthier based in the northeast named Ring Brook Custom Instruments. The goal of the project was to produce advertisements that could be used for promotional purposes. My work was released under the name Alphecca advertising, which is my freelance brand.
Creativity First
I wanted to highlight the unique custom nature of the instruments by utilizing the phrase “back to the drawing board.” However, because the phrase implies failure, I opted to change it to focus on the idea of getting exactly what you want, without regretting it later or having to restructure your dream instrument. Instead of using an easel or a sketchpad, I had the vision of a blackboard with chalk to convey the elementary and straightforward nature of choosing custom in the quest to find the perfect instrument. The easiest way to find the instrument you want, is to help design it yourself—when you start at the drawing board.
Always Sustainable
For my second advertisement, I wanted to highlight Ring Brook’s use of diverse, high quality wood, while also stressing their devotion to being a sustainable local business. Jim, the artisan, wanted me to promote their use of responsibly harvested redwood burl, so I worked to find the best way to convey the impressiveness of the redwood. I accentuated the sheer gargantuan size of the California redwood through a photo following the trunk all the way to the canopy. Since redwoods often lose their lower boughs because they are less photosynthetically advantageous, I had a clear shot all the way up to the top. I found that the perspective of this photo, combined with its portrait orientation creates a sense of awe in the reader. I harnessed this majesty and meshed it with the idea that you can own and preserve a beautiful piece of history and nature when you order a custom instrument from Ring Brook Customs. This reincarnation serves as a way to celebrate such an iconic name in the natural world.
Delicate Precision
After working with Jim on several different iterations of his brand logo, he decided on using a feather. He originally used the feather logo on a customer’s headstock and it stuck. I then digitized his logo and mocked up some different ideas and he then chose this. This logo was used on all of my pieces for him.
Business as Usual
The last piece of work I helped Jim with was mocking up business card designs. These were very early drafts that never saw the light of day, but the idea was to make a set of 8 different business cards that exhibited the specialty woods used, and a fact about each. The fronts of the business cards have been omitted for privacy purposes, but the two backs have been included as examples.