Dani Ward

Designer | Teacher | Consultant

Process

Icon Graphics Website

By Dani Ward / September 6, 2016 / 0 Comments

I’m very proud of the work I put into the Icon Graphics site redesign. Some of the strategy options weren’t implemented for various reasons, but the process of planning and organizing and writing and designing for such a large project, along with helping to oversee the progress and ensure quality, was a process that helped me grow as a designer, writer, and web professional.

Antietam Cable’s Home of the Future Campaigns & Collateral

By Dani Ward / November 4, 2015 / 0 Comments

Antietam Cable Television approached the team at Icon Graphics to create full-page and banner-sized print ads for the local newspaper, matching the minimalistic strong tone of their new TV spots. I was tasked with creating a print strategy for this “Home of the Future” campaign. The client was thrilled with the result.

One of the struggles I had with preparing for the campaign was finding suitable images. They all needed to be easily masked from their backgrounds or have a white background, and be able to work together with other images. A decent chunk of the time spent designing these ads was in selecting and prepping the images. Typographically, I chose to go for high-contrast between Myriad Black or Bold and Myriad Light. I found that this communicated both strength and sophistication, which is exactly the feeling Antietam Cable wanted in their campaigns.

After the ad campaigns were so well-received, Antietam Cable came back to the team at Icon and asked us to redesign all of their collateral materials in the same theme as the ad campaign. This included their cable channel guide, digital phone booklet, services pricing guide, digital phone brochure, digital cable brochure, high-speed internet brochure, business-class services brochure, and business-class services stepped one-sheet inserts. Once again, these designs were successful: the client approved the design, which was created specifically for ease of use for their customers. All around, it was a win-win.

Read more to see the pieces designed for both the ad campaign and the business collateral.

Throwback Thursday: INFOCUS Marketing Rebranding

By Dani Ward / August 7, 2014 / 0 Comments

INFOCUS Marketing acquired a 25 year old print and direct mail firm in June of 2010. Months before the official acquisition took place, the marketing department needed to come up with a new face for the company as we would be offering our clients and customers a myriad of services beyond list management.

Having been a part of the team for months, I had already proven my skill set, so I was tasked with redesigning our corporate materials and a company logo redesign. My goal was to keep the visual language consistent without being overbearing. The following gallery shows the rebranding before and after.

PACK EXPO International / Pharma EXPO Playbook 2014

By Dani Ward / August 5, 2014 / 0 Comments

PMMI approached me to design the exhibitor handbook for their co-located PACK EXPO International Pharma EXPO in Chicago. The theme was once again that of a comprehensive playbook, so sports imagery, bold colors, and clean layout were in order to attractively and intuitively lay out the contents of the book. The copywriter, Kwame DeRoché, provided the visual concept of a locker…

PACK EXPO Playbook 2013

By Dani Ward / August 3, 2013 / 0 Comments

PMMI asked me to come up with a concept & a design for the exhibitor handbook for their 2013 PACK EXPO show in Las Vegas. The theme was a playbook, so I decided to go with a clipboard that would be full of “game plans” for the exhibitors. The clipboard was die-cut and slipped into a slit on the front to keep the booklet closed. PMMI and their exhibitors alike were incredibly pleased with the result.

Connect With Me

A mock-up of a letter-sized booklet or magazine. On the left is the magazine open to a spread. On the right is the closed booklet to showcase its cover.

8.5x11in Booklet or Magazine Mock-up

A mock-up of a letter-sized booklet or magazine. On the left is the magazine open to a spread. On the right is the closed booklet to showcase its cover.
2 versions of the Dani the Designerd logo, along with business cards, resume, and envelope, all arranged on a light gray background, to demonstrate logo design and samples of business materials for portfolios or project presentations.

Logo + Business Materials Mock-up

2 versions of the Dani the Designerd logo, along with business cards, resume, and envelope, all arranged on a light gray background, to demonstrate logo design and samples of business materials for portfolios or project presentations.
Designs for an RSVP and envelope, along with an invitation and envelope, are displayed on a light gray background. The purpose of the image is to demonstrate how you can present your designs for a client or your own portfolio.

Invite & RSVP Presentation Mock-up

Designs for an RSVP and envelope, along with an invitation and envelope, are displayed on a light gray background. The purpose of the image is to demonstrate how you can present your designs for a client or your own portfolio.
Small seed-envelope, front and back, displayed on a white and gray background. The name of a salon, Eminence Salon, along with the tip amount and who it's for, are included for the purpose of demonstrating how designers can use this mock-up for client presentations or portfolio.

Tip/Seed Envelope Mock-up

Small seed-envelope, front and back, displayed on a white and gray background. The name of a salon, Eminence Salon, along with the tip amount and who it's for, are included for the purpose of demonstrating how designers can use this mock-up for client presentations or portfolio.
The words "thank you" are written in a thick upright script, stacked on top of each other. The purpose of the graphic is for designers who are designing thank you notes or cards and want something unique to use for the text.

Hand-Lettered "Thank You" Graphic

The words "thank you" are written in a thick upright script, stacked on top of each other. The purpose of the graphic is for designers who are designing thank you notes or cards and want something unique to use for the text.

Testimonials

Chyrl Graham

student at HCC from 2017-2019

Cindy Garland

client via Icon Graphics from 2011-2016

Jaime Schwartzbeck

client via Icon Graphics from 2013-2016

Kwame DeRoché

freelance copywriter I worked with for a mutual client from 2012-2015

Samantha Field

freelance client

A. M. Leibowitz

freelance client

Matt Swain

marketing and copywriting colleague for one of his clients

Kelly Faist

former Senior Manager of Trade Show Operations at PMMI; one of my contacts when PMMI was a client of mine

Ellen Smith

former graphic design instructor from my college years at HCC

Skylar Swain

former Senior Graphic Designer at Infocus Marketing while I was Junior Graphic Designer from 2009-2011

Matt Swain

former Marketing Manager and Director of Marketing at Infocus Marketing when I was there from 2010-2011

Sean Maher

former web design and development instructor at HCC from 2006-2007

Jeannine Gibson

former Director of Marketing at Infocus Marketing when I was a Junior Graphic Designer there from 2009-2011

Despite her youth, Dani has a very solid grasp of how graphic design works with messaging. She is a consistent performer and her work ethic is noticeably positive. Without her, the Marketing department would not be able to keep up with the variety of projects and increase of special requests from Business Development, email list marketing, our current list products, external clients and company marketing initiatives…Dani is a solid pillar that can be relied on.