Wren’s Nest Brochure
Written on May 11, 2007 at 4:40 pm, by Lain
Alright big news: our brochure is real close to being ready. All we need is a map, some directions, and a few edits on the text.
I know it’s the weekend, but in the off chance you’re reading blogs instead of doing something truly spectactular, let us know what you think of the cover.
We wouldn’t want to put these in every hotel, AAA office, and welcome center in the state without your approval, would we?
One thing to consider–we’ll probably go with old book parchment paper as the background.
Indeed, it’s the very same background that we use on the main site headers.
Now, have at it!
Edit:
See the resemblance?
Final Edit:
Compare and contrast. Good work, Rhodes Hall.
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Amber Suitt
Program Director
Lain Shakespeare
Executive Director
14 Comments to Wren’s Nest Brochure
looks good…..
I like it!
The text near the bottom (describing what the Wren’s Nest actually is) seems a little small, but that may be due to the fact that I’m looking at it on the computer instead of on paper.
I have two other things that may merely be a matter of taste – and although I believe my taste is the finest, the majority may not see eye to eye with me.
First, I’m not a big fan of all the semi-circles at the bottom. Those geometric shapes don’t quite fit in with the other designs on the page and therefore distract my eyes from the important stuff.
Secondly (and this one really just a suggestion – it may work, it may not), I think the animals’ arch and the primary text could be pulled down the page just a little bit. That may throw the whole thing out of whack, but it might be worth a shot – if for nothing else, just so you can say, “You were wrong, Scotty!”
It’s a pretty sweet brochure though and would definitely catch my eye. Good job, gang!
I agree with the second suggestion, actually. It makes sense. big white space in the middle right now…
I think the sihouettes and the swirlies look very Victorian. I like the white space.
2 ideas
We should have one of those people who cutu out your sihouette from a piece of paper at the Wren’s nest Fest.
Maybe we could make some silhouette ornaments for the christmas tree this year.
Maybe we could have an ornament making party this year.
We should put a Wren’s Nest tree in the Festival of Trees.
Oh that’s four ideas.
Ida Beth
Good suggestions, all.
Scotty, we have another option that does not have the semi-circles at the bottom. But then again, by taking out the semi-circles there’s more white space. You can’t have everything, I guess.
You might have already noticed this, but if you look closely the semi-circles very much resemble our front porch. I’ve added a picture of the house to the post to compare.
The white space doesn’t look that strange on the printed copy, and with the parchment background I think it’ll be lovely.
The writing at the bottom, however, could be bigger. We want people to know who we are!
The three characters at the top are great. They make me want to go frolick in the backyard.
Is that weird?
Ahhhh . . . Yes, I see now! To amend my semi-circle critique: they now seem quite appropriate. I would only suggest that you try to match the shape of the lower row of smaller arches a little better. They seem a bit pointier on the house than they do on the brochure – but that might be getting a little nit-picky.
The more I look at it, the more I like it.
Also – I’m not against white space. On the contrary, I think it is very valuable when designing something like this. My comment suggesting that you shift the logo and arch was more just about personal preference in terms of balance, and, like I said before, may very well not work out at all. But hey, it’s worth a shot!
And don’t get me wrong – even without any changes, this is probably still my favorite house-museum brochure cover of all-time.
Looking at this from the eyes of someone standing in a hotel looking at a rack of brochures and knowing nothing about the wrens nest, I still wouldn’t know what it is from the cover. The words Home of Joel Chandler Harris definitely have to have more prominence for people to get it and understand that this is a museum. I like that they introduced the characters but like the logo, i think the overall cover is a little too abstract and I’m a bit disappointed that the house isn’t featured at all. I wonder if they could add in a silhouette of the house up there with all those cute characters to ground it and tie it all together while also bumping up the type and focusing more on the text “home of Joel Chander Harris, author of Uncle Remus”. I would also suggest we add to that text something about “recorder (or however we refer to it) of the B’rer Rabbit tales” which then explains the rabbit, fox and bear. All in all I like it, but I’m not sure it will entice people to open the brochure and find out more about this place unless I had heard of it. Looking at the “above the fold” placement (i.e. the pictures and logo) I would think it’s some sort of nature conservatory or zoo. I know. I know. Everyone’s got an opinion – but hey you asked!
PS Happy Belated birthday Lain!
Hello Lain! I think you have received a lot of great feedback so far…I especially like the idea of having a silhouette of the house incorporated somehow. Maybe it could be slightly faded and set behind the animals at the top of the panel?
Also, instead of saying “Atlanta, Georgia” you may want to replace this line with something like: “Atlanta’s Oldest House Museum” or “Atlanta’s First House Museum”…isn’t it??? I think you should do this for three reasons: 1. Everyone knows where Atlanta is, 2. you can communicate to the brochure reader that it is a house museum and 3. it sets you apart from the rest of the fine, historic house museums in Atlanta.
That’s all I’ve got!
LL
Excellent work, everyone.
I’ll look into the backscreen silhouette of the house. I suspect, however, it may end up looking jumbled (we have some old stationary that used this same technique). I would be happy if I were proven wrong though!
For a frame of reference, I’ll post the cover of the brochure for Laraine’s spectacular house museum, Rhodes Hall. There’s is beautiful and to the point, in my opinion.
I like the brochure! I stongly feel that a silhouette of the house would be too busy in addition to what you already have. I also strongly feel that the phrases “Home of Joel Chandler Harris” and “Author of Uncle Remus” should be larger. I think this can be done and still maintain the empty space which sets off the wren on the branch – a great logo. Also, DO NOT change author to recorder!!! He took folk stories that he had heard and created a character who tied them all together. There is a lot of JCH in all these stories!
Karna, I’m so glad you have strong feelings about our brochure! I don’t think many house museums can boast that kind of enthusiasm. We are so in agreement, too!
[...] We have a sweet brochure courtesy of Huey + [...]