Aaron Kippola shares his musical endeavors

Aaron Kippola is a multi-talented musician who is known for his saxophone, guitar, drums, and more. He is currently working on several self-produced albums on which he sings and plays most of the instruments. Several years ago, I designed a logo for him and began work on his Album Covers. I also created a simple splash page in lieu of a proper website. After a long wait, I’m glad to announce the launch of his new site aaronkippola.com.

Design

Color Scheme & Layout

The site uses the same gray, white, and green color scheme as his logo. In fact, the logo is a key element in the minimalist site design. It stands out from the gray background in the upper left corner of the site. The layout is familiar with a horizontal navigation menu below the logo. Main content is on the left and a narrow sidebar is located on the right.

Boxes, Borders, & Backgrounds

Boxes with thin, white borders act as a unifying element throughout the design. The boxes surround regions such as the navigation menu, sidebar widgets, as well as individual page and post content. The separating effect of the boxes is increased by the creative use of subtle background images. An image of a stage floor with sprawling cables serves as the background for most pages. However, the contact page is bit more personal with a large image of Aaron faded into the background.

Webfonts

Embedded Webfonts are utilized for the navigation menu and widget titles. This allows for easy updating of widgets and menu items without having to create new graphics each time. Page titles use an image replacement technique to include graphical embellishments.

Content

News Updates & Blog Posts

Using WordPress as the Content Management System, Aaron Kippola can keep his site fresh by easily publishing his own dynamic content at will. The News page, which is also the home page, is where Aaron will keep us up to date on his musical endeavors including the progress of his recording projects and other important milestones. If you’re interested in learning more about Aaron on a personal level, his blog is the place for you. Here, he’ll share his thoughts on the music industry, review some gear, and maybe even rant about a thing or two.

Photo Gallery

The Photos page shows five thumbnail images from each of Aaron’s galleries. It also provides a link to each gallery. On the individual gallery pages, thumbnails are shown. When clicked, full-size images open in an overlay window. They open as a slideshow by default, but can be manually navigated as well.

Music

There’s no music on the site yet, but Aaron’s first album is in the mixing stage so it shouldn’t be long now. He plans on having free samples to listen to, and songs & albums available for purchase. Along with the music, he will also provide lyrics for all the songs. Eventually, he’ll add a calendar to promote upcoming gigs so you can see him perform and hear his music live.

Check out aaronkippola.com

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

Logo and Business Card Design for Middle Ear Media

I’m very excited about my new logo and business card design. Along with the redesign of my site middleearmedia.com, the logo and business card design are part of my 2012 rebranding effort. I’ll talk more about the website redesign in another post, but right now I want to explain my new logo and business card design in more detail.

Logotype Design

Great care was taken in selecting a clean, modern, sans-serif typeface for my business name. This is also the same typeface that’s used on my website for page titles, widget titles, and navigation menu links. An italic typeface was carefully matched to the sans-serif and used for the descriptive tagline. The size of each typeface fits a scale that is based on a two-stranded Fibonacci series.

Logo Design

The new logo represents my attempt to simplify my business name into an icon. I started with a slightly-faded red square over an off-white background. After superimposing the letter M (using the same sans-serif typeface) over the square at an angle of roughly 40 degrees counter-clockwise, I removed the part of the square that was covered by the letter. That left only two, small, right triangles and a trapezoid, but the viewer shouldn’t have any trouble seeing the letter M.

Business Card Design

Using my new logo and logotype separated by a horizon line, I created a powerful, minimalistic identity. The placement of the horizon line is based on the golden section, which is considered by many to be the most elegant proportion. I designed both one-sided and two-sided business cards, but ultimately decided to go with the two-sided version because it allowed for more white space in the design.

Front

Back

One-sided Version

Brand Identity

A strong brand identity is important to the success of your business. When potential customers see that you don’t have a logo, or one that’s poorly designed, they are much less likely to be impressed and therefore less likely to do business with you. If you’d like to enhance your image and increase the perceived value of your business, work with me to get your new logo and business card design started.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

White’s Party Store, a true Marquette original since 1947

White’s Party Store now has a web site! Known throughout the area for their personalized customer service, and great selection, White’s is the place to go. White’s is a classic Marquette neighborhood store specializing in quality wines, beers, liquors, and brewing and wine-making supplies. Their new web site includes a photo gallery, historical information about the business, a blog section that will be updated frequently, and many ways to make contact with them.

Along with the web design and development, I also developed their logo and branding, and designed a print ad. I used cream lettering inside a red circle for the logo. For the favicon (or bookmark icon), I simplified this and used a cream double u inside a red circle.

The site is dark, but vibrant and modern looking. I used dark gray backgrounds, cream and light gray text, and vibrant green, red, and blue for titles and links.

They are centrally located in the Village district of Marquette just a few blocks from Northern Michigan University, Marquette General Hospital, and downtown Marquette. For visitors who aren’t familiar with the area, there is an interactive map and step by step directions to help them find the store.

White’s Party Store is a century old, locally owned and operated small business. They take pride in offering locally produced products including the finest Michigan made beer, wine, and liquor. Check out the photos page to get a glimpse of what they carry or subscribe to the RSS feed to stay updated on what’s new.

So, the next time you’re thirsty for a tasty beer (or whatever), do yourself a favor and stop in at White’s.

Check out whitespartystore.com

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

January 2011 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

Happy New Year everybody! I wanted to start out 2011 with a clean, refreshing design. The January poster for Harley’s Lounge represents this with special attention paid to the white space (a.k.a. negative space) between elements. This gives it a very well balanced and inviting look. The design is framed by a dual border of yellow on the outside and dark gray on the inside. The light khaki background has a subtle noise texture added.

An abstract guitar graphic is located in the lower right corner and overlaps both borders, though because it is the same shade of gray as the inner border, it seems to be connected.

The color scheme is very simple. It consists of dark gray which is used for the title and the band names, and yellowish-green which is used for the dates and small print. I used two fonts for this design. NevisonCasD was used for the title because its hand-written style ties together with the curves of the abstract guitar graphic. Kabel Bk BT was used for everything else. The copy is left justified and presented in all caps for increased readability.

Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

December 2010 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

The December poster for Harley’s Lounge is designed to help you get into the spirit of the holiday season. Besides the festive wreath near the title, it features a blue sky and off-white snow banks with a few snow-laden coniferous trees scattered about. The placement of the trees was entirely inspired by Bob Ross, the famous painter. The red treble cleft with red ribbon represents the gift of music that is being offered by Harley’s Lounge this month.

The single font used throughout the design is Staccato222 BT. I used this font for its rounded, hand-drawn character more than it’s readability. To increase the readability, I used colors that strongly contrast against the background. Off-white with red shadow for the title, yellow for the sub-title and the dates, and off-white for the band names show up nicely over the dark blue background. Dark gray for the small text at the bottom works well over the off-white background. All of the copy is right justified and is sized and colored to lead the eyes from top to bottom.

Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

November 2010 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

As the seasons change, it’s a good time to reflect back on the pleasant Autumn weather we’ve had this year. In the November poster for Harley’s Lounge, I wanted to pay tribute to the end of Autumn by using faded, discolored leaves. They poke in from the top and both sides to create a pseudo border. It also incorporates a subtle hint of what’s to come with a pure white background. Am I California dreaming? Maybe.

The color scheme consists of dark gray and rusty orange for the copy and faded yellow, orange, red, and brown for the leaves. The single font used throughout the design is SquireD. The copy is centered and is sized to lead the eyes from top to bottom.

Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

October 2010 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

The October poster for Harley’s Lounge was inspired by The Twilight Zone. The intro scene to the television series featured a dark background with stars shining and various objects floating by as if they belonged in the depths of space. The poster includes a view of our galaxy from afar as the backdrop with the information floating about. Notice the apostrophe in “Harley’s” is also the tip of a comet hurtling through the cosmos with reckless abandon.

Only one font, Gogo BigL was used for this poster. It is a modern looking, blocky, sans-serif font. Various shades of red were employed for the band names and dates while the title and details are white and gray respectfully.

Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

September 2010 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

The September poster for Harley’s Lounge features a photo of an old Polaroid camera at the top. This camera represents those special moments in life that can be captured instantly, but will eventually fade away to be replaced by others. The camera sits on a wooden shelf and is peaking out from underneath a dark, grimy texture with the overall effect resembling old film that wasn’t stored properly or maybe a photo that was just pulled from a fire.

Only one font, Zurich LtXCn BT was used for this poster. It is a clean looking, easy-to-read font that contrasts with the dirty, grungy background. The title and the band names are green, the dates and details are purple. These aren’t just flat colors though, because I’ve employed a subtle gradient on them to make them stand out more.

Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

August 2010 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

The August poster for Harley’s Lounge features the Mayan calendar both as the center piece as well as the background. In the center, it is covered by white splatter which makes the title easier to read. For the background, I used a gray, brushed metal texture. Also, the large Mayan calendar in the background is offset to the lower left with blend mode set to luminosity and opacity set to 14% so the brushed metal texture comes through.

Three different fonts were used for this design. Most of the copy, including the dates and band names use AlternateGothic2 BT while the month uses AmerType Md BT and the title uses Action Is, Shaded JL.

Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency

July 2010 Poster Design for Harley’s Lounge

The July poster for Harley’s Lounge incorporates a military-industrial style in honor of my brother who recently re-enlisted in the service. The font used is Stencil BT for that “military crate” look. The color scheme for the copy is based on camouflage and includes various greens, rust brown and gray. A light drop shadow helps set the copy apart from the background.

The background consists of faded green schematics that look like they’ve just been pulled out of the glove box of an old jeep. Harley’s Lounge is one of the few venues in Marquette that supports local music and I am proud to design their monthly posters.

Web Design Marquette, MI | Middle Ear Media - Creative design studio & web agency