Courtney Glancy

Go where no man has gone before.

How do you do justice to the vastness of space on a relatively tiny screen? Solving that challenge was our mission as we approached this behemoth of a site.

Partnering with JHU’s Applied Physics Laboratory Civil Space division, we crafted an approach that integrated every visual cue we could think of to transport users to the wilderness of our solar system.

Deep space blues, soft gradients, atmospheric imagery, and animations that seem to float all lend to the ethereal feeling of the final website. Small details, like the schematic-style typography and line elements, clever Easter egg terms, and thoughtful microinteractions create a sense of surprise and delight.

And all of that had to be accomplished without straying from the JHU brand.

Additionally, in a huge collaborative effort with APL’s fantastic 3D animators, we were able to take advantage of Apple’s iOS ARKit to seamlessly include AR assets for APL’s destinations and missions.

Design challenges aside, we also had to create a platform that works for both casual visitors and space enthusiasts along with professionals using the site as a trusted resource. We distilled complex taxonomies and content types into a user experience that’s easily navigated by all, no matter what they’re looking for.

Work completed at idfive.

idfive.com

When I started at idfive, I was struck by how much the agency’s brand didn’t reflect its true story and capabilities. Instead, it was dated and inconsistent, with outdated documents still in use, no true, cohesive visual language, and a generally haphazard appearance.

Coming from a brand-focused agency, I was determined to improve it. After starting with competitive and comparative research to make a case for a complete update, by the end of my first six months, we had updated the logo, color palette, and typography.

When our internal marketing department requested an expanded palette, I asked for the opportunity to flesh out a fully realized brand. And I got it. By the end of my first year, we rolled out an overhaul that was embraced enthusiastically by the entire office. The unusual choice of purple, a custom plaid, modern typography, subtly toned black and white photography, and other unique visual elements work to differentiate us from our competition and maintain a cohesive brand across all of our communication channels. View the full brand guide (PDF).

And, after nearly eighteen months of starting and stopping, more QC hours than I can count, and above-average levels of blood, sweat, and tears, we launched a brand new website. Built from the ground up to refocus on our why, our reason for existence, it showcases everything that makes idfive exceptional—our people, our work, our passion.

(Side note: I also shot almost all of the portraits on the team page, with the exception of some of our remote folks.)

Art Deco, but make it today.

More than just a cannabis brand, Gatsby Cannabis Co. envisions its influence reaching beyond the cannabis market. It’s luxurious yet attainable, opulent yet relatable, and always the life of the party. It’s a brand you want to be seen with. A brand you want all your friends to know about. A status symbol that’s backed up by a premium product experience. A lifestyle—the lifestyle.

The initial concepts were pitched as two unique parties, both upscale, but with completely different vibes. The first, titled Speakeasy, draws inspiration from the golden age of Art Deco but with a distinctive modern twist. The second, called Neon, leans heavily into a South Beach deco vibe with bright colors and geometric shapes.

View the website (for a fun AR surprise, use an iOS device)

Awards
2020 Gold Addy — Baltimore
2020 Baltimore Addys Special Judges Award for Interactive Design & Art Direction

Translating a complex print document into an immersive interactive experience presents unique challenges. Add in the need to preserve the previous year’s site structure while creating an entirely new experience, and this project’s challenges doubled. Working closely with our lead developer, I preserved the visual aesthetic of the print version created by the Smithsonian while ensuring the website brought its stories to life through carefully considered animations, microinteractions, and other details.

Work completed at idfive.

An art director. A copywriter. Eight hours holed up in a tiny conference room with giant Post-it notes all over the walls. One brilliant idea.

The American College of Financial Services, a leading accredited provider of advanced and continuing education for financial professionals, needed a reboot. Enrollment had been declining, along with the brand’s reputation.

Our job was twofold: bring awareness to the College’s reinvigorated mission and drive conversions, through one integrated campaign. The winning strategy? Pun intended—we based the campaign on, of all things, gaming.

Here’s why it works. The financial industry, despite an increasing number of professionals who are in it for altruistic reasons, is incredibly competitive. We harnessed the now-ubiquitous language of gaming to speak directly to that competitive nature. This theme informed everything from the photo shoots, which heroed real professionals who earned designations from the College, to simple search ads.

The campaign ran for seven months and resulted in 45 million impressions, nearly 100,000 new website users, 831 conversions, and an overall CTR of 0.33% across social platforms, programmatic and Google display ads, and search.

potsdam.edu

Award
2020 Silver Addy — Baltimore

How do you convince students to attend a state school in the middle of nowhere? Show them that the middle of nowhere is unlike anywhere else.

Potsdam is a unique college experience—and to be honest, it’s not for everyone. The school offers nature as a backyard, a close-knit community, and highly regarded arts and science programs. By looking to outdoor retail and adventure websites for inspiration instead of tried-and-true higher ed competitors, we crafted a distinctive visual approach that aligns with Potsdam’s new brand and messaging. It truly feels like getting away from it all, while also getting a stellar education.

Work completed at idfive.

Every year, Debbie Millman organizes a cohort of 30 designers who volunteer their skills to create covers for writers participating in National Novel Writing Month. With just four days to design and a choice of only three novel summaries, it’s a wham-bam whirlwind of a project that I always look forward to.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) needed to create brand clarity, responsiveness, and trust to reinforce the value of the ASHA brand to its members and potential members, legislative and regulatory bodies, and the general public.

From synthesizing research and stakeholder interviews, to development and art direction of multiple concepts, to the execution of the near-final brand, I functioned as the design and strategy lead for this project. One of the biggest challenges was managing the internal politics at such a large national association, but through empathy and a lot of communication, we achieved a brand that all major stakeholders understood and embraced.

The near-final brand (completed shortly after I left Design B&B) leaned heavily on the circle in the original logo, which was touched up during the brand process but not completely redesigned. The circle became representative of the the way that communication happens in a circular cycle, which, as a repeating element combined with sound wave graphics, clearly expresses ASHA’s mission and purpose. Clean typography and a dynamic color palette speak to both the science and the art of speech-language and hearing professions.

See the preliminary brand guidelines here.

Work completed at Design B&B.

How does a Catholic university convince non-Catholic—or even non-religious—adult learners to enroll in online learning?

Religion, and especially Catholicism, can a prickly issue. To subvert intrinsic biases, we focused on how Benedictine Catholic values are really universal values that have stood the test of time for over 1,500 years. Resilience, reverence, service, integrity, devotion—those are qualities that everyone can identify with. We specifically chose words that convey the same meaning as traditional Benedictine values but have greater impact and even more universality to appeal to broader audiences.

Visually, the large graphic M from the logo almost looks like a heartbeat as it showcases aspirational lifestyle photography that’s atypical for a university, further differentiating UMary from its competitors.

The campaign is currently in the production stage and will launch soon. Work completed at idfive.

One of my first tasks at Bryn Mawr was to strengthen and expand the brand. At the time I was hired, we only had a set of logos, colors, and typefaces to use, with a very lightweight brand guide. The vibrancy of the school's students and environment informed a brand experience that featured bold colors, uplifting original photography, and clean, strong typography.

Additionally, the redesigned admissions promotional materials contributed to an 18% year-over-year increase in inquiries and an 11% year-over-year increase in applications.

The were quite possibly the most fun projects to work on in the Bryn Mawr design office. I based each poster on the content and themes of the play. Whenever possible, I read the play start to finish before beginning the design process. Since these weren't required to conform to brand standards, I could push into really creative, conceptual territory.

“What I Did Last Summer” won a platinum MarCom Award in the Print Creativity // Design // Poster category. It's not an ADDY, but I'll take it.

The “Schoolhouse Rock” poster was such a hit with the theater department that they ordered 8-foot high banner versions to hang in the auditorium. Way cool.

As a lifelong resident of Baltimore, I felt moved to create something positive amidst all the protests, violence, and turmoil surrounding the death of Freddie Gray. I responded in the best way I knew how: I designed a Facebook cover image for sharing to generate community support and goodwill. 

The response on Facebook was overwhelming, so the design progressed to a full-fledged nonprofit t-shirt campaign with all proceeds donated directly to the Baltimore Community Foundation's Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore.

279 shirts sold in just two weeks, generating over $2,400 for BCF's rebuilding fund.