Designing for the Dogs!

Our family has been an involved part of the Downingtown Young Whippets football program for a number of years. Like many other community businesses, CGC has donated services to the DYW organization, some of which include developing a new logo, a new website and numerous apparel and promotional items, signs, banners and graphics. The annual DYW yearbook program is designed and produced in-house, featuring many ads designed by yours truly. We love football and enjoy doing our part to help the Young Whippets continue their successful reign as the premier youth football program in southeastern Pennsylvania.


Check out the Whippet's site at www.gowhippets.org.

There's that orange fish again.

Matt the Fish continues to bring a smile to our faces every time we see it around Downingtown. Mattioni Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning has been a long standing family owned and operated business in Downingtown for more than 60 years. When Dave Mattioni invited CGC to help breathe some new life into their advertising, we were honored to work with such a respected member of the Downingtown community.  

A wide assortment of campaign ideas were developed for Mattioni, but in the end, the one that everyone fell in love with was Matt the Fish. CGC conducted a survey to get opinions from a sampling of the Downingtown community and by an overwhelming margin, Matt the Fish bubbled to the top. Who else cares more about the comfort of his environment than a friendly dweller from the deep?


It was not long before Matt was on every truck in the Mattioni fleet, magazine ads, bus stop posters and community sponsored events. Matt the Fish continues to be swimmingly successful and we are proud to be the creators of the famous fish. Keep smiling Matt!  

The 7th Graders are Coming! The 7th Graders are Coming!

For a fifth year, Downingtown Middle School teacher, Anthony Basilio, successfully organized a class trip to Boston for students in the 7th grade. The trip coincides with their American History curriculum focusing on America's independence and the Revolutionary War. I was very pleased to be selected as one of the chaperones that would accompany the other 7th graders on a three day/two night Boston excursion.
My first thought was, what is any class trip without t-shirts? Like Paul Revere bolting from the stables, I drove straight to our friends at SPS Graphics in Downingtown to figure a way we could clad our tour in matching colors. While I worked on the design, SPS searched out the best deal they could find on shirts. They did a fantastic job printing our shirts, resulting in a great looking bunch of Downingtown historians!

It was a wonderful experience for everyone. As a parent, I feel that we are very fortunate to have such a quality group of dedicated teachers. Hats off.

First Niagara

In November 2010, First Niagara Risk Management, the insurance subsidiary of First Niagara Financial Group, acquired Pennsylvania-based firm Summit Insurance Group. Summit Insurance provides risk management, employee benefits consulting and investment services.

As part of the transition process, CGC was appointed the task of developing a series of design concepts integrating the existing Summit Capabilities Brochure content to reflect the established First Niagara brand and graphic standards. 

By referencing existing First Niagara collateral, researching appropriate stock photography and the creation of custom illustrations, we successfully developed and presented the client with the following schematic concepts. The client was indeed pleased with our work and we expect to execute one of the concepts soon.

Camelot Graduation

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Eagles' quarterback Michael Vick addressed the 2011 graduating class of the Camelot Schools of Pennsylvania. The event took place June 10th at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. CGC proudly designed custom invitations for the event and was granted backstage access to photograph Michael Vick as he greeted and spoke one on one with a select group of Camelot graduates and educators. Vick and the students shared details of the many challenges that they experienced and how they have been able to turn things around and back on the path to success. During the graduation ceremony, Vick awarded two students with scholarships that would aid them through their first year of college. “I stand before you a changed man” said Vick. “Use me as an example at how to become an instrument of change. You can do it as well.”

It was an exciting day for CGC and we were grateful to be witness to over 400 young people receiving their high school diplomas... the same students that for one reason or another were cast out of the public school system and left with limited options. Camelot Schools of Pennsylvania provides kids in trouble with an opportunity to get it right, get back on track, and a second chance at a brighter future. We are proud to be partnered with Camelot and hope to become more involved in helping the school grow and expand in 2012 and beyond.

To learn more about: Camelot Schools

Shiny Success.

Gamajet, a world leader in tank cleaning technologies, was trapped under a fragmented and unmanaged mountain of media promotions that had no cohesiveness or polished, professional appearance. CGC was provided an opportunity in 2009 to design a series of ads to prove our worthiness in becoming Gamajet's new agency of record. CGC successfully developed a new aesthetic direction for Gamajet and launched a comprehensive media blitz into dozens of trade publications.

Gamajet's products overlap into several very different industries, but the new shiny and clean looking branding CGC illustrated and developed allowed Gamajet to consistently brand their products and services to these varied markets and rise even higher above their competition. CGC recreated Gamajet's tradeshow banners and retooled their library of product data sheets, promotional DVD mailers, and new product promotional launches. CGC managed all of the Gamajet's media publications and submissions, with a more mature and professional pop. Today, Gamajet continues to lead the world in new and exciting cleaning innovations and CGC remains proud of their role in taking Gamajet to the next level.

Meet the Artist Day 2011

Each May West Bradford Elementary School art teacher Mary Fran Giunta invites local Chester County artists to participate in "Meet the Artist Day." By far this is one of the highlights of the year for us at CGC as we get a chance to show off our really "cool" computer design "magic." It is always an eyeopening experience for both the students at West Bradford, and for us. Focusing on symbols and logo design, we challenge the kids to guess famous national logos by showing them a very small portion of the mark. It is astonishing how quickly the students are able to recognize each and every logo from such a small amount of detail. Two horizontal grey dots? The kids call out "Wii!" A green and white vertical stripe? The kids know it's Rita's Water Ice. A mermaid's face? Starbucks coffee, followed by "My Mom drinks a LOT of that!!" The lesson here? Consistent branding leads to recognition... and kids say the darndest things!

Most would agree that our day to day work does not generate shouts of excitement. It is significantly exciting for us to see young people discover an area of design and art that we have chosen as our careers. One can sense when the students begin to make that special connection of how doing something you enjoy can actually be called work. At the end of the day Jen and I both feel that we have been blessed and that "It's A Wonderful Life" doing what we do.

Here's the game we play with them. See if you can guess the logo.