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Collateral Design

Promoting Prestige

IABC Silver Inkwell
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Background

Founded in 1970, The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) provides a professional network of over 15,500 business communication professionals in over 80 countries. With more than 640 members, IABC/Washington is the largest IABC chapter in the United States, and the second largest in the world. Chapter demographics represent a diverse group of communicators who work in the public and private sectors as consultants, independent business owners, and corporate staff in such diverse fields as marketing, advertising, corporate communications, government relations, human resource communications and shareholder relations.

Each year, IABC Washington/Baltimore hosts the annual Silver Inkwell Awards program. The Silver Inkwell Award "Signature of Excellence" is one of the most prestigious honors a communicator can receive as it is an acknowledgement from industry peers that recipients' messages are truly effective and memorable.

Last year, IABC/Washington wanted to create a new look and feel for the event to help restore the image and market the event as one of the most prestigious and well-attended awards programs in the industry.

JDG's Solution

After meeting with members of IABC/Washington's staff, JDG was determined to create a look and feel for the event that restored heritage and tradition and promoted a level of sophistication and refinement. After presenting various concepts, JDG moved forward with a design that was modeled after the original Silver Inkwell award—which in fact was a silver inkwell.

Using the silver inkwell design as a basis for the overall look and feel, JDG used a calligraphic font to help communicate elegance and grace. In keeping with this sophisticated concept, JDG chose a minimalist approach by creating a simple, clear and distinctive layout while incorporating the elegant logo. In addition, a very basic color palette comprised of shades of silver was introduced, and JDG chose to produce the materials using a very heavy cardstock. JDG supported the event by developing the event invitation and a series of save-the-date postcards, as well as an event program and posters to help drive attendance to the event and revitalize prestige for the event.