Posts in Greensboro
Client Spotlight: Stubbs Mobile PT
Lauren Stubbs, Owner of Stubbs Mobile PT

Lauren Stubbs, Owner of Stubbs Mobile PT

For our first client spotlight of the year, we’re excited to share a fresh branding project for a brand-new business. We partnered up with Stubbs Mobile Physical Therapy in late 2020 to develop a custom logo and corresponding visual brand elements. Owner, Lauren Stubbs, recently started this mobile concierge physical therapy practice as a response to COVID-19 pandemic. Many outpatient physical therapy practices pivoted to include telehealth and some started offering PT at home, but Lauren jumped at the opportunity to make a fully mobile and telehealth practitioner available to the Triad for years to come.

Stubbs Mobile PT brings physical therapy to your home or private workspace to save you time and unnecessary hassle – all while keeping you safer than a traditional office setting. Being outside of insurance, Stubbs Mobile PT also offers preventative physical therapy services including an Annual Wellness Visit, Health Coaching, or Evaluation and Treatment before you have an injury (i.e. if something "just doesn't feel quite right"). Their goal is to provide top-quality service with longer appointment times and one-on-one individualized care so that you are feeling, moving, and living your best as soon as possible. 

We connected with Lauren while teaching Launch Greensboro’s Marketing 101 class. After discussing the importance of marketing and branding, she wanted to start things off strong with a bold and eye-catching brand. Knowing that a standout look would be crucial to marketing her business, we wanted a logo that would translate flawlessly to polo shirts, sprinter vans, and client swag. 

In the initial branding stages, it was clear Lauren was looking for a pictorial mark to accent her logo type and wanted to emphasize a feeling of movement and energy. Friendly, attentive, trustworthy and proactive are just a few of the words that were used to describe the desired look and feel of Stubbs Mobile PT’s future branding. 

One of our favorite stages of the branding process, a mood board helps ensure we’re on the same page as our client. By assigning visuals to the words we’ve been using, we can begin to home in on a feel for the future brand. 

After presenting three mood board options, we refined Lauren’s favorite to have an even more high-energy and vibrant feel. Lauren had mentioned aquas and blues during our initial branding kick-off, and we ended up tailoring her favorite option to include two shades of blue. The final product? A look that hinged on vibrant colors and energetic scenes. Healthy eating, movement, and the outdoors are central to Lauren’s business and we wanted to reflect that from the very early stages of the process.  

StubbsMoodboard.jpg

After narrowing down Lauren’s favorite mood board concept, it was time to move on to the logo design phase. Ultimately, we went through 4 rounds of initial concepts, and four rounds of color options to narrow down the exact look and feel. 

Many of the initial concepts incorporated kettle bell imagery, hearts, play or motion. After some brainstorming, we landed on the wording concept of “pressing play.” Used with various action phrases, this tagline could be targeted to a wide range of clients. You’ll see the main logo incorporates the phrase “Press play on being pain free.” 

 
Horizontal.png
 

The final logo uses pops of bright oranges, aqua, and yellow – all anchored by a deep blue. These colors pop on any timeline, and the graphic mark adds an element of action. The graphic mark is a take on a press play symbol – which ties into the tagline and lends itself well to use on social media. When working in tandem, all these elements create an action-packed look that’s sure to be eye catching and memorable. 

Untitled-7-01.png

We’re thrilled with how this rebrand went, and we’re not the only ones. Hear firsthand from business owner, Lauren Stubbs, about the process: 

“I really enjoyed the entire process of working with Hannah at Hue & Tone Creative. Being a first-time entrepreneur, I knew little about the branding process. Hannah guided me through it with confidence and understanding... even when decision-making was tough because she had created multiple amazing logo options. If I could have two logos I would, because that's how great both of the final options were. Despite the Hue & Tone office and my home office being less than 1 mile apart, we went through the entire process virtually (due to COVID-19). The virtual experience didn't detract from the branding process, but I loved knowing we were both members of the same community. Knowing our proximity, ties to Launch Greensboro, and both being women business owners, gave me a sense of connection even though we never met in-person. Supporting small and local businesses, whether walking distance in downtown Greensboro or in the greater Triad area is a central tenet of Stubbs Mobile PT. Being able to work with someone locally yielded excellent results and I'm extremely excited about launching my new look. In fact, in the few weeks since we've unveiled our new logo we've already received positive comments on social media!”


Want to learn more about Lauren’s business? Head over to her website to learn more! Or, follow her on Instagram here for regular PT, fitness, and movement tips!

Client Spotlight: Revolution Mill One Pager
Image Copyright: Joey Seawell Photography.

Image Copyright: Joey Seawell Photography.

In September, our long-term client Revolution Mill asked us to design a refreshed one pager that they could use to market the campus as a whole. Anyone who has visited this revitalized textile mill knows exactly how expansive it is. In total campus boasts 250,000 square feet of Class A Office Space, 150 apartments, three dining options, two event spaces and numerous amenities. 

With so much to potentially highlight, how do you explain everything that’s going on to prospective tenants, potential residents, or campus visitors? That’s where we come in! After working with the Revolution Mill team we were able to summarize the most pertinent details into a digestible one pager that gives an overview of the entire campus. 

With a focus on amenities and commercial spaces, we incorporated some scenic shots from campus as well as condensed wording to describe both current features and future construction. 

The end result is an easy to read piece that coordinates with Revolution’s streamlined and neutral branding. Their branding is tied together with minimal fonts and incorporates the same warm greys, tans, and pops of red that you’ll see around the physical campus. 

To learn more about the campus – and to see their branding in action – check out the one pager below or visit their website (revolutionmillgreensboro.com).


Hue & Tone Creative: Your marketing partner

Inquiries and interest are partly driven by great design — whether you need help designing print materials, assembling a landing page, or running a great social campaign we’re here to help. Set up an initial consult and lets discuss your next project.

Color Schemes: Scenes from Greensboro

This week, we’re taking time out from talking marketing to celebrate a few vignettes from our city. From muted downtown streets to the Bicentennial Gardens, we’re finding color inspiration in some of our favorite Greensboro spots.

We’re big believers that every city offers inspiration – sometimes you just have to stop and notice it. With a bustling downtown and expansive trails, Greensboro offers the best of both city and nature views. No matter where you are in Greensboro, we guarantee that there’s a dynamic color scheme somewhere in your view.

Artboard 18.jpg

Dappled Depot

Soft blues, purples and pinks are diffused by the fog drifting in over the J. Douglas Galyon Depot in Downtown Greensboro. We love the soft hues of this nighttime scene.


 Botanical Brights 

Great for a short walk, quiet reflection, or reading on a comfy park bench, the Tanger Bicentennial Garden is one of our favorite spots in Greensboro. Rich colors line the pathways, and a variety compelling sculptures can be found tucked among the foliage. For more secluded scenery, pop right across the road to the Bog Garden. 


Clear Skies over Kress

Crisp blue skies highlight the pristine facades of the Kress and Meyers Buildings’ on South Elm Street. Changing leaves provide small touches of green and yellow to this palette.


Retro Revolution

Tucked in a quiet corner of Revolution Mill’s courtyard, this retro mural installation is a bright pop of color among a sea of brick. These colors are bright and muted all at once!


Artboard 12.jpg

Lite Brite LeBauer 

The sky is illuminated over LeBauer Park by Janet Echelman’s Where We Met installation. Our two downtown parks provide a great place to gather, celebrate, and play while immersing yourself in all the city has to offer. Bright colors are especially present in these fun and family-friendly spaces!


Artboard 2.jpg

South Elm Snow

On an all white day, the Green Bean’s bright facade offers a pop of color among an otherwise muted look at South Elm Street.


Guilford Grey 

On a rainy and grey day, the heart of downtown has mostly subdued tones to offer up. But this mood board is a favorite because you can see the Guilford Building in the upper right portion of the photo… can you spot us waving from our office windows in the top right corner? Just kidding…


Hue & Tone Creative: Inspiration and Color in Greensboro, NC

Whether you’re based in Greensboro or beyond, we’ll help breathe new inspiration into your brand. Let us help you refresh your visual branding, website, and print collateral today. Schedule a meeting to get your next project started.

Client Spotlight: Drive Moodboards
Triad Local First

Drive’s mission statement: Current and future women business leaders, connecting and building community through networking, mentorship and education. 

 More information here

When we connected with our friends at Triad Local First about their new women’s networking group, we couldn’t wait to be a part of what they were doing. Not only have we gotten to be a part of this amazing group – but we were also brought on to design the program’s new logo! 

Completed in May of 2019, we worked with the TLF team to create a logo, color scheme, and font palette that would speak to women entrepreneurs. Feminine, but not girly, TLF was looking to create a versatile and simple brand mark. 

Our logo design process typically involves 8 main steps: 

  1. Initial Consultation 

  2. Branding Questionnaire

  3. Moodboard Design

  4. Initial Logos (in black & white)

  5. Tweaks and revisions (typically, 2-3 rounds)

  6. Color Options

  7. Tweaks and revisions (typically, 1-2 rounds)

  8. Compilation of all final elements in a brand board or brand book (this includes the logo in multiple formats, patterns, web elements, icons, color palette, and font palette)

Quick tip: The moodboard a client picks can serve as a helpful visual guide for when you are selecting imagery for your website or social media.

One of the most underrated steps of this process is the creation of the moodboards. The moodboard stages helps us turn the adjectives the client has been giving us into a visual and helps ensure we’re on the same page. By designing them as the first step in the process our client has a chance to give us feedback before we get too deep into the designing process. If we’ve had a miscommunication during the consultation or questionnaire stage, we’ll know before we even start designing the first round of logos. 

After the TLF team had completed our initial client consultation and branding questionnaire, we were ready to jump into designing a series of moodboards for TLF to respond to.  

We typically present 2-3 moodboards to our client: each with a different look, feel, and color scheme. During this part of the process, we're looking to nail down which of the options feels most on brand -- it's about figuring out the general feel and energy that the logo will have. 

The four moodboards we presented to TLF incorporated a wide range of colors, textures, and wording that all related to the adjectives we received on the branding questionnaire. We weren’t sure which look was our favorite – and neither was the client! After a few days of deliberation, they finally landed on their favorite moodboard:  

Drive Moodboard  |  Hue & Tone Creative

Featuring bold women -- and even bolder typography – this moodboard connected with the powerful and playful vibe that the team was looking for.  

Here’s a sneak peak of the other three moodboards that were in the running: 

Using the chosen look as guidance, we started designing our first round of logos. Rather than interpreting the chosen moodboard literally, we used the feel of the imagery to help guide the first step of our logo creation. 

From there, we completed the other stages of the process: logo options, tweaks, color choices, more tweaks, and the final branding sheet. While we want to focus this blog specifically on the moodboard part of the process, we’ll go ahead and give you a sneak peak at the final logo: 

 
Drive Moodboard | Hue & Tone Creative
 

Have a question about the process? Want to see how we ended up at this final logo?

Don’t hesitate to email us and ask! We love sharing what we do with past clients, potential clients, or even just interested individuals. To connect, contact us here.


Hue & Tone Creative: Your Branding Experts

Whether you have a new business — or are looking to rebrand your existing business — we can help. From logo development to creating custom social media packages, we’ll work with you to create a brand you can be proud of and brand elements that are easy to use.

Finding inspiration in Greensboro

We love Greensboro -- we often find ourselves stopping mid-step to snap a picture downtown or telling our friends about an upcoming event... and it’s all because Greensboro is a genuinely interesting place. With all of the history, parks, libraries, and murals in Greensboro it’s hard not to find something that will spark your creativity. We’ve picked out four places in the ’Boro that should be your first stop if you’re in need of a creative jolt. From murals and greenery to downtown shops, we’ve got it covered!

Elsewhere: A living museum set in a former thrift store, Elsewhere was just highlighted for having one of the world’s most unusual artist residencies. According to their website, “When you go Elsewhere, you enter the middle of an ongoing experiment of people, places, and things. We are constantly building, playing, trying, changing, inventing, and exploring new environments. Our artists, scholars, and creatives in-residence are excavating the past to design new futures. When you come to Elsewhere, you become part of this evolution.” This is a great place to go if you’re having a creative block. The giant array of artwork, artists, and creative energy is sure to spark a new idea.

Spring Garden Mural: These bright colors and unique patterns give Spring Garden a pop of color! But what really inspires us is the idea behind the mural -- members of the Greensboro Mural Project chatted with pedestrians in front of the wall to learn what issues mattered most to them. The Greensboro Mural Project is an arts organization that engages the people of GSO in the creative process of making a mural in their community. Their mission is to “make Greensboro a more colorful city.” Their work is scattered across Greensboro -- check out one of their pieces on Lindsay St., Friendly Ave, at the Interactive Resource Center, or Backpack Beginnings. Perfect if you need a little color in your life!

The Center City Park: A lot of times taking a break from your home or office can cause inspiration to strike! This park in downtown Greensboro is one the best places to go for fresh air. It’s lively, calming, and thanks to Action Greensboro something is almost always going on. With all of the events, food trucks, music, arts, and people around downtown is a great place to refresh.

The Forge:  A ‘makerspace’ (think coworking for craftsmen + craftswomen) located in Downtown Greensboro, The Forge just recently relocated to a new building more than twice the size of its old space. They strive to provide the community with inexpensive access to a workshop area and a collaborative space, with separate areas for advanced software development, digital design, textiles, woodworking, and more. Perfect for tinkers and innovators alike, this space provides access to advanced equipment and high-end technology that would be hard for an individual to afford. Tours are available, so stop in and get inspired by the innovation!

Inspiration can come from anywhere… especially in Greensboro! Where did we miss? What is your favorite place to find foodie, design or innovation inspiration in Greensboro? Let us know in the comments!

A Year of Hue & Tone

On April 1, 2015, Hue & Tone Creative opened its doors. In a literal sense, we opened one door – to our office on the Revolution Mill campus in Greensboro, NC. Figuratively, it’s been a year of many more doors opening and closing for this business. New clients and partners have made their mark. Processes have been refined. In a personal and professional sense, it’s been a year of learning what works and what doesn’t. 

You only get one first year in business – and I want to celebrate all the successes and challenges that entails. So, with that in mind, here’s an overview of the last 365 days! 

 

Where We’ve Been

Getting the keys to our office!

Getting the keys to our office!

Hue & Tone got its start in early 2015 as the new, relocated home of Hannah Pomphrey Graphic Design. I’ve been a freelance graphic designer since I was about 19, and was coming off a 9-5 stint in marketing. I realized, though, that it was time to start up a bona fide business in my then-new home of Greensboro. Here’s how I described my freelance journey a year ago:

It wasn’t until my first client gave me a $100 “tip” that I realized I had just found my new side hustle. I set out with my VistaPrint business cards in hand to find myself some new clients. I cold-called and did pro-bono work for local nonprofits until I found enough momentum to begin working almost solely on referrals.

Recently, I took a break from freelancing full-time to try out a 9-5. I packed up my mismatched furniture and my massive shoe collection and relocated to Greensboro, NC with the intention of settling into my much more ‘normal’ 9-5 job.

Turns out this 9-5 thing isn’t for everyone. Even the parts of freelancing that I thought weren’t for me – the irregular income, quirky clients, and doing my own taxes – were some of the things I missed the most. While some might call irregular paychecks and lulls in work terrifying, it now seems like some much-needed work/life spice.   

A year in, I’d still describe it the same way. Owning your own business isn’t easy – it’s not even in the same universe as easy. But the ability to work for myself – to shape the business objectives of my organization, while still getting my hands messy with design – is rewarding and worthwhile in a way I have a tough time explaining. Given the decision to make again, I’d make the same one.

 

Growth as a Company

As I said above, Hue & Tone’s first year in business has been a year of refinement and learning what works. I’ve had the opportunity to work with fabulous clients, new and old, and have worked to improve processes both on the client side and internally.

On average, Hue & Tone typically works with 10 to 20 clients at a time, and the scope of work taken on varies by client. I’ve done print design, web design, videos, social media, and consulting for large corporations, small businesses, nonprofits, and individuals. Some clients seek assistance on a per-project basis, while others hire Hue & Tone on a monthly basis for ongoing projects.

Internally, I’ve worked toward greater cohesion and focus for Hue & Tone as a business. That’s meant asking tough questions about the type of work I do and the clients I seek out. (For example: do I primarily work with local clients, or web-based businesses?) It’s also meant diversifying our portfolio so multiple skills and competencies are being exercised through our current body of work. It’s never my goal to do only social media projects or only video projects or only (fill in the blank here). When possible, I love working with clients across a wide variety of their creative needs – simultaneously working on design, video, and social, for instance. There’s a lot of interplay between different types of creative and having a hand in multiple pieces of the puzzle can add some coherence and visual consistency.

Finally, the growth of the past year has meant I needed to continue defining and re-defining the way Hue & Tone itself is marketed. You may have noticed some changes on our website, and here on the blog as well. I’d love to hear your feedback as I continue to learn what works.

 

A Few Stand Out Projects

With year one in the books, I’d love to share a few favorites and highlights of the year. Every project was an opportunity to learn and grow, and I’m grateful for each one. Here are a few that stood out…

Comprehensive Branding for CSDHH | Website and branding for CSDHH, a nonprofit that provides communication services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Notable for the opportunity to start from scratch and a desire, on the part of the client, to avoid the obvious. 

Revolution Mill Social Media | Design and daily management of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for Revolution Mill. From social graphics to #RevMillGSO, a chance to engage with a broad range of stakeholders (from future leaseholders to the community at large) about the live-work-create environment of Revolution Mill.

Pitch Video for Brown Investment Properties | An opportunity to create something rich, visually appealing, and (no pun intended) creative, while serving a strategic (and serious) purpose.

 

Favorite Blog Posts

Throughout the year, this blog has been a reliable place to share the ups and downs of Hue & Tone’s first year in business. Increasingly, it’s also become a place to share design inspiration and a few hints of the colors, textures, and patterns that fuel my imagination each day. Here are a few favorite posts from the year…

IMG_4726.jpeg
IMG_1234.JPG

One of my favorite aspects of being a local business owner is the opportunity to interact with the community. Here are a few of my favorite Greensboro events!

Coffee & Conversation | A Greensboro Chamber event with for networking and learning about a new, focused topic each time.

IdeaNetwork | Organized by Cochran Creative Group, IdeaNetwork is an opportunity to come together, hear a speaker, then participate in a group discussion on the ideas raised.

Craft Freedom | An initiative to change the North Carolina law that restricts the growth of breweries by placing a cap on the amount of beer they can self-distribute, and a chance to support small businesses’ rights.

 

Thank You!

When all is said and done, the past year has been a big one – a wild one – a just-plain-irreplaceable one. It’s involved a lot of hard work, both of the creative variety and the messy, hauling-furniture-into-offices variety. None of it would have been possible without the support and partnership of many, so a few thank-yous are in order!

To Hue & Tone’s clients, thank you for your partnership, and for allowing Hue & Tone to help tell your story. It’s an honor every time!

To the community of Greensboro-based designers I’ve met, your advice has been invaluable.

To Sirtuah, and to my family, thank you for your patience and support through the crazy journey of the last year.

To the Greensboro community as a whole, thank you for welcoming me, welcoming Hue & Tone as a business and being a wonderful place to call home.

With all that said…that’s a wrap on Hue & Tone’s first year. It hasn’t been perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Here’s to year two!

Friday Links: Greensboro Favorites

For a twist on our usual Friday Links we’ve compiled a list of our favorite Greensboro things! We’ve been in Greensboro a little over a year, and while we still have a mile long list of things to try out, we definitely have some favorites -- here’s a quick list of everything we’ve been loving!
 

Favorite Spot: Our office at Revolution Mill!
Haven’t seen our space yet? Drop in and see us! You’ll get why we love hanging out in our office.

Favorite Restaurant: Boba House
We recommend the springs rolls and Hawaiian stir fry,  but everything we’ve sampled at this healthy and compassionate eatery has been vegan heaven.

Favorite Brewery: Red Oak 
We might be a little bias because they’re a client, but you can’t beat the clean, unfiltered taste of a Red Oak beer!

Favorite Coffee: Green Bean
A GSO staple, the Green Bean regularly makes lists “best coffee shops” and “must go to” lists. We love them for their amazing baked goods, vegan cream cheese, and close proximity to the office!  

Favorite Local Non-profit: CSDHH
There’s so many great local non-profits to pick from, but after working with CSDHH, we were blown away by their commitment to empower and inspire change for the deaf community.
 

What did we miss? Where do we need to try? Leave us a comment and let us know!


( Love Greensboro? Drop us a line and we’ll send you some I <3 GSO stickers! )

 

What We're Working On: Lead Your City & co//ab anniversary
What We're Working On: Lead Your City & co//ab anniversary -- Hue & Tone Creative

One of my favorite parts of being a business owner is the opportunity to get involved in the community. Today, I want to share two upcoming community events I've gotten to take part in.

First is the Lead Your City Summit hosted by SynerG, an organization for Greensboro's young professionals. A little more information on the event, directly from the organizers: 

Join the synerG Young Professionals for Lead Your City – a summit that will bring together Community Leaders & Activists to help young professionals GROW their leadership skills, BUILD on their ideas, SERVE the community and CONNECT their network.

Hue & Tone donated a custom-designed resume for one attendee! I'm excited to work with the winner and create a resume that helps them reach their goals. 

The second event is the one-year anniversary of co//ab, a flexible coworking space in Greensboro. Again, here's a little more about the event directly from the folks at co//ab:

co//ab will have its one-year anniversary this November and we want YOU to help us celebrate. Join us on November 16th at 5:30pm (immediately following the monthly Idea Slam @ 4pm) for a night of food, drinks, and ping pong. Sign up to challenge local "celebrities" in a ping pong tournament you won't want to miss! 

For co//ab, I designed event collateral that uses bright, clean colors and imagery to get the spirit of the event across (see the image above for an example).

If you're in Greensboro, come out to these two events! You can register for the Lead Your City Summit here, and the co//ab anniversary here.