Travel Guidebook Redesign Case Study, part 1

In 2004, I was given the task to do a complete redesign of the famous Sanborn's Travelog guidebooks. This redesign project would include covers, log entry structure and content layout. In this article, I will discuss the project’s problem areas, the research and the solutions I proposed. In my next article I will discuss, in more detail, my cover design and page layout.

Previous cover design

My cover design

Guidebook background:

The Sanborn’s Travelog is a famous series of six guidebooks that cover all of Mexico with incredibly detailed directions along with tidbits of history and humor. These mile-by-mile guidebooks take the traveler by the hand to his destination. Each book calculates mileage and offers suggestions for alternate routes, as well as lists customer approved hotels and restaurants.

The Problem:

The latest guidebook covers were designed in the early 1990s and had not been updated in any way. All covers had the same unattractive color combination, stale design and outdated logo. The only thing that distinguished one book cover from another, aside from the title, was a large map highlighting the books’ target region. The interior pages had little to no design elements, other than maps, which made the reading experience a bit bland. Also, the structure of the log entries were difficult to follow because they repeatedly jumped from the front of the book to the back, then to the front again.

The Research:

I spent several afternoons at bookstores watching anyone that approached the Travel section. I wrote down their gender and approximate age. At the end, I looked over each book and map that was picked up by, what appeared to be, seasoned travelers. Afterwards, I looked over other guidebooks that also grabbed my attention. I studied the front covers and noted images and color combinations. I also made many notes on features within the interior pages of all those books. To this I added several hours of online research, and at the end compiled all my notes and presented them to the president and managers of Sanborn’s Mexico Insurance.

The Solution:

The log entries would be restructured to follow known travel routes, where before they spread out from the center of each city. This would eliminate much of the traveler’s frustrations with repeatedly jumping from one end of the book to the other, than back again. Also, the interior pages would feature a side bar to clearly show where additional information would be featured and to also provide travelers with an area where they could jot down their own notes as they followed the routes, instead of flipping to the end of the book for a Notes section. The cover design would feature a large image showing a well-known destination, landmark or activity. I proposed that the cover background be a textured image that would represent the region each book was dedicated to. The map of the region would be moved to the back cover and made much smaller. It would show the routes that the individual book would follow. Each book would also contain plenty of extras, such as maps, featured articles, redesigned hotel and restaurant information, unit conversions and English-to-Spanish translations.

This guidebook redesign project took approximately one year to complete. In my next article I will go into more detail about my cover design and page layout.

Thank you,

Pete C.

Brainwerx Design

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Wish I'd Done That! - Super Sexy CPR

The Sexiest Lingerie Ad Ever?



On May 12, a one-minute ad appeared on the video-sharing site Vimeo. It featured an advertisement for Fortnight Lingerie, shot in the style of a super sexy public service announcement. In this ad, two women demonstrate the proper way of performing CPR. On that day, the video earned a total of 15 views. After 5 days, the video had hit well over the 1 million mark.

No one ever knows which uploaded video will be a hit, but there’s an art form to creating viral advertisements. Does sex sell? Absolutely! Here, the Toronto based agency, Red Urban, used two sexy and attractive models dressed in frilly lingerie to promote CPR and Fortnight Lingerie.

So what’s the secret to this video’s success? Sex? Sure, but it’s also a legitimate instructional video. (Honestly! There was actually a medical expert on the set.) The truth is, more than anything, that this promotional video was brilliantly created for a lingerie company that hardly anyone had ever heard about. It was created by an advertising agency that wanted to go all out to show the world what they could do.

Red Urban’s creative director, Christina Yu, later admitted that the agency had created the spot at no cost to Fortnight Lingerie, and released it onto “the net” to see how it would do organically.

Now, all lingerie companies produce sexy bra commercials, but Red Urban did it with a twist. The concept was simple - Fortnight Lingerie makes anything sexy. And what’s the most unsexy ad an agency can possibly create? You guessed it, a mundane instructional CPR public service announcement.



In June 2010, the Super Sexy CPR site was launched and added its Super Sexy Abdominal Thrusts video, (also legitimately educational!) along with that cool, minimalistic soundtrack used in both videos.

Saving lives has never been sexier.

Thank you,
Pete C
Brainwerx Design

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When good logos go bad, who's to blame?

The original logo design I created in 1999.

In 1999 a local coffee house, MoonBeans Coffee, asked me to create a logo for their new business. One of the main requests, by the company owner, was that the logo appear as if the company had been a well established franchise. With that in mind, I dove into my research and worked closely with my client while developing sketches.

At the end of the entire process, the client choose the logo that you see here. I developed a full brand identity system for MoonBeans that included stationary, disposable cups, menu boards, etc. I even painted a mural on a wall and helped design the interior of their original establishment.

After months of collaboration and hard work, the client and I slowly stopped working together. He concentrated more on radio advertisement, which is a media that I do not work with. Days became months, and months became years. On a rare occasion, the coffee house owner and I would get together and work on a small project but our business relationship never blossomed again.

Flash forward to 2 1/2 weeks ago (1-15-11). I walked into a local burger joint and saw that same logo I created 12 years ago on a T-shirt, but it had been (how can I put this kindly) revised. As soon as I saw the altered logo, my first thought was, "Somebody changed it, and it doesn't look good." Honestly, I would have had the exact same thought whether I had designed the original logo or not. Knowing what the original logo looked liked and seeing what it became, makes me think that "the change" did not improve the logo or my ex-client's business. It seems that whoever altered it had a very specific audience in mind. Or absolutely NO audience in mind.

Altered logo.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't feel bitter about this at all. No designer should expect their artwork to live forever without being adjusted after so many years. As a general rule, graphic designs rarely last more than two years, due to changing trends. Most well designed logos will last 8 - 10 years before someone changes "something" about them.

So who's to blame here? Me for not keeping up with the client? The client for allowing a negative change to his image? The designer who made the change for not having a broader audience in mind?

I've passed by the coffee house many times. Each time, I see the exterior light sign that still bares the original logo. That gives me hope that not all branding efforts are lost for my ex-client. Maybe it's time to stop by for a cup of coffee???

-Pete C.
Brainwerx Design

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Creative business card design

Everyone knows that marketing and branding go hand in hand. I'm a firm believer that every point of contact your business has should make a statement. It should say exactly what your business is about and it should be memorable.

When I began sketching design concepts for my business cards, I knew that emphasizing the gears (or one gear as it would turn out to be) would compliment my logo. It would also make a statement about my work process, which I touched on in my previous blog article, Logo Design Case Study: Brainwerx Design.

I wanted my potential customers to have an "interactive feel" to the card and "moving the gear" (opening the card to reveal my contact information) would convey that feeling. For this to work properly, I had to keep the gear graphic to a specific size so that the information below would still be at a legible font size. Doing this would keep the logo on the front of the card, smaller than most start up companies would care for. Many companies would rather have their logo or company name as large as possible. That's part of marketing and advertising. I wanted my customers to "feel" what my work is about. That's branding.



Now, there are hundreds of ways that I could have dealt with the main gear graphic in the front of my business card. I could have used metallic inks, foils, even casting actual metal, but all those options are quite expensive. Anyone that has ever created their own business cards and wanted to do a custom die cut (the use of a metal template to cut away a specific shape) has found out that this is a very expensive process. So what's my big cost cutting secret? That's simple - having a very steady hand.

When I had decided to treat the gear graphic as a die cut, I knew that I could do the cut on my own for a very low cost. I bought a 1/4" hole punch, a 1/2" hole punch and very sharp X-ACTO knife, all for approximately $20.00. Whenever I have some free time, I sit down in front of the television and cut and hole punch the cards. I've never thought of it as a tedious project since I enjoy being constructive away from my computer. Plus it reminds me of my final semester at the Art Institute of Houston, preparing my final portfolio presentation.


 Pete C.

Brainwerx Design

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